Chapter 5 – Campus Bell in Distress

The Pink Fog hovered at the edge of the Safe Zone, shifting and swirling as if waiting for someone to step in. Bob stood there casually, arms crossed, like he was waiting for a bus.

Meanwhile, Gabe was pacing in circles behind him.

"Alright... come on... any second now..." Gabe muttered under his breath, staring down at his hands. The first time he transformed, it had taken what felt like half a day. But this time? His body already tingled with that familiar heat. The fog seeped through his lungs, coiling into his bloodstream like smoke filling an empty house.

And then it hit.

The shift was quicker, sharper, and cleaner. His bones cracked, feathers sprouted down his arms, and within moments, the man was gone, replaced by a sleek, silver griffin.

"Huh," Gabe said, flexing his wings as if trying on a new jacket. "Quicker than last time. By, like... an hour? That's gotta mean something, right?"

Bob just shrugged. "Ready?"

Gabe sighed, stretching his wings. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go find some food before I pass out."

They started walking, but after a few blocks into the fog, the distant sound of screaming cut through the silence.

Gabe slowed. "Uh… did you hear that?"

---

The deeper they moved into the fog, the thicker the noise became.

First came the growls. Deep, guttural, and hungry.

Then the snarls.

And finally, the screams.

Human screams.

They ran toward the sound without hesitation.

The moment they turned the corner, the street exploded into chaos.

A pack of dire wolves circled the crumbling building, their massive, matted bodies weaving through the Pink Fog like sharks around a sinking ship. Between them, werewolves stalked on two legs—taller, leaner, their claws scraping the ground as they waited for the perfect moment to strike.

And in the middle of it all, bleeding and cornered, was a Valkyrie.

Her once-shining silver armor was now dented and smeared with dirt and blood, the elegant engravings barely visible beneath the grime. From her back stretched a pair of large, ethereal wings, feathers like shimmering steel, though many had been torn or ripped out in the chaos.

A Valkyrie—a figure pulled straight from ancient myths, a warrior said to descend from the heavens to carry fallen heroes to the afterlife. But this wasn't some ancient battlefield. This was the apocalypse, and this Valkyrie wasn't guiding the dead—she was fighting to stay among the living.

Her long hair, normally tied back in a soldier's knot, whipped around her face in the thick fog, damp and sticky with sweat. In her hands, what remained of her spear—a golden weapon now snapped in half—was gripped tight, the jagged end doubling as a desperate blade. Sparks of faint, radiant energy still flickered along the broken tip, but the power was fading fast.

Her breathing was ragged. Cuts and claw marks lined her arms and legs, and blood dripped steadily from a deep wound across her shoulder. Her wings, powerful as they were, drooped low—too damaged to take flight again.

And yet, even as the dire wolves and werewolves snapped at her from all sides, circling like vultures, The Valkyrie stood her ground.

A Valkyrie was meant to be the last one standing.

And she wasn't going to fall without a fight.

Gabe flapped his wings. "That's her! We gotta move, now!"

Bob cracked his knuckles, already stepping forward. "Alright... let's play."

Before Gabe could even reply, Bob grabbed the rear bumper of an abandoned car beside him. With one grunt, he yanked the entire vehicle off the street like it weighed nothing and hurled it into the nearest cluster of wolves.

The car flew end over end.

CRASH.

It flattened two dire wolves on impact, sending debris flying into the fog. The others barely had time to react before Bob scooped up another car, this one a crumpled taxi, and sent it spiraling toward the werewolves gathering on the left flank.

BOOM!

"Okay!" Gabe shouted. "We're doing cars now. Sure!"

One werewolf darted around the wreckage and leapt at Bob's back. Before it could sink its claws in, Gabe swooped down from above, his talons raking deep across its shoulders as he lifted it into the air.

"Going up!" Gabe shouted, flapping hard. At about twenty feet high, he let go.

The werewolf hit the pavement headfirst with a thud and didn't get up again.

But the rest of the pack didn't flinch. Two werewolves lunged at Bob from behind, slamming into his back with enough force to send him stumbling forward. One wolf might not have been enough, but two? Even Bob had to grunt.

"Alright, alright," Bob growled, shrugging them off. "You're annoying."

One of the wolves snapped at his leg, teeth sinking into his calf. Bob winced, grabbed the thing by the scruff of its neck, and threw it into the side of a bus stop shelter, shattering the glass.

Meanwhile, Gabe spotted another werewolf preparing to leap off a nearby rooftop.

"Gimme a sec!" Gabe shouted.

He flew toward a mangled iron gate, ripped a row of spike bars loose, and jammed them upright into the cracked concrete below.

"Bob, toss him here!" Gabe yelled, pointing at the leaping werewolf.

Bob didn't even look. He caught the creature mid-air, twisted, and hurled it straight down toward Gabe's trap.

The werewolf landed chest-first onto the spikes with a wet crunch.

"Perfect aim!" Gabe grinned. "Man, we're good at this!"

Another dire wolf charged Gabe from below, trying to leap up and catch him mid-flight. Gabe, thinking fast, grabbed a length of fallen electrical wiring from a nearby pole and looped it around the creature's neck as it jumped.

"Whoa there, big guy!" Gabe yanked hard, the makeshift leash snapping the wolf mid-air and slamming it back into the pavement.

It thrashed wildly, trying to bite through the wires, but the tangled mess kept it from dodging as Bob lumbered over.

"Hold it still," Bob said.

Gabe tightened the grip. "All yours!"

Bob's fist came down like a sledgehammer.

One punch.

The wolf's skull caved in, pink fragments scattering like marbles across the ground.

Bob scooped a few up and popped them into his mouth like snacks between rounds.

"Mmm... crunchy."

"Seriously?" Gabe groaned, wiping sweat from his brow. "Mid-fight?"

Bob shrugged. "Hungry."

---

The Valkyrie, forgotten for the moment, blinked as she watched the two of them work. She'd been ready to fight, ready to die if it came to it. But now?

She just stood there, dazed, blade dangling uselessly in her hand.

What... were these two?

They weren't fighting like people surviving.

They were fighting like people having fun.

Every time she tried to step forward to help, another monster fell. Every time she thought the tide might turn, one of them did something insane—like the part where Bob uprooted a traffic light pole, swung it like a baseball bat, and knocked three wolves aside in one wide, arcing sweep.

CLANG.

Three bodies hit the ground.

Fragments scattered.

Bob casually stomped on a wolf's tail as it tried to crawl away, finishing it off with a second swing of the pole.

"Any more?" Bob called out, glancing around like someone might schedule the next batch.

Gabe landed beside him, feathers ruffled but mostly intact.

"I think that was all of them." He looked around at the carnage. "Jeez... I thought we were supposed to die in this fight."

Bob popped another fragment into his mouth and shrugged. "Easy."

Silence fell.

The Valkyrie fell to her knees, exhausted, still clutching her side.

The last dire wolf collapsed in a heap, its body twitching once before going still. The street finally fell quiet except for the sound of heavy breathing and the distant hum of the Safe Zone barrier.

The Valkyrie leaned against the broken wall, clutching her side. Blood dripped from her shoulder, and her face was pale, but her eyes stayed sharp as she stared at the two strangers who just saved her life.

"Who... who are you guys?" she managed between breaths. "That... that was insane. You saved me."

Bob just blinked at her, cracking his knuckles lazily as if he hadn't just wiped out a small army of monsters.

Gabe, ever the diplomat, gave a small bow. "Just a couple of guys passing through. Try not to die out here next time."

The Valkyrie coughed a laugh, shaking her head. "I owe you. Seriously. Whatever I have—if we make it back to the Safe Zone alive, name it. I'll get you something as thanks."

Bob perked up immediately.

"Food," he said without hesitation.

The Valkyrie squinted. "...Food?"

"Lots of it," Bob added. "Noodles, if you got 'em."

Gabe rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. "Honestly... yeah, food sounds good. We haven't eaten since morning."

"Yeah," Bob said with a shrug. "I'm hungry."

The Valkyrie smirked weakly. "Consider it done. You've got yourself a feast if we make it back."

And as they crossed back into the Safe Zone, leaving behind a street full of broken bodies and glowing fragments, the Valkyrie couldn't stop staring at them.

Especially Bob.

Even if she were at full strength...

There was no way she could have done what he just did.

---

And then, as they finally crossed back into the glow of the Safe Zone and the fog fell away from their bodies, the Valkyrie paused.

Bob, already shrinking back to his human form as they crossed back into the Safe Zone's edge, wiped his hands on his pants like this had all been completely normal.

"That was a lot of them," Gabe finally said, landing beside Bob, chest heaving. "First real group fight, huh?"

Bob shrugged. "Could've been more."

Of course.

The woman finally looked up at them, brow furrowing as their transformations fully faded.

Her eyes lingered on Bob, and after a few seconds, she squinted, tilting her head.

"...Wait. I know you."

"You're Bob, right? From my old school? The quiet guy who was... well... huge?"

Before Bob could say anything, Gabe snapped his fingers, pointing at her in surprise.

"Hold on! You're Iris! The campus bell! I knew I recognized you!"

Iris gave a tired laugh. "Yeah... that's me."

It was hard not to notice her, even now. Long, flowing hair that somehow still looked good despite the end of the world, sharp brown eyes that didn't miss much, and a figure that made it obvious why every brand wanted her face on their ads back in school. She wasn't just pretty—she had that effortless kind of beauty that made people stop and stare. But the dirt on her cheeks and the scratches on her arms? Those said she hadn't been living off compliments lately.

Bob scratched his head, completely uninterested. "Cool. Anyway, about that food?"

Iris blinked, thrown off by the complete lack of context. "Uh... yeah. Sure. I did promise you a meal."

Gabe stepped forward, trying to smooth over the awkwardness. "Sorry about him. He's always like this." He extended a hand to her. "I'm Gabe. We were in the same year, but... we never really talked."

Recognition lit in Iris's tired eyes. "Right... I remember seeing you around. Thanks for the help back there."

"No problem," Gabe said with a small smile. "We couldn't just let you get torn apart."

Bob was already starting to walk ahead, completely unconcerned. "Are we eating, or what?"

Iris glanced at Gabe, half amused, half confused.

"He's serious about the food, huh?"

"You have no idea," Gabe sighed.

Bob shrugged. "Hungry."

Iris shook her head, laughing despite herself. "Good thing you saved the right person, then. I work as one of the district's protectors. I can get you both set up with food, no problem."

Gabe raised a brow. "Protector?"

"Yeah," Iris said. "With the fog cutting us off from everything, we still need people to go out for supplies. That's what we do—escort runs into the fog, keep the creatures off the citizens while they gather what we need. It's dangerous work, but someone's gotta keep this place running."

Bob nodded thoughtfully, though it was unclear if he cared more about her job or the food attached to the reward.

"Food first," he said.

"Deal," Iris said, shaking her head. "After what you two just did out there, you deserve it."

And just like that, Bob was already walking ahead, as if they hadn't just fought a small army of monsters, his mind set entirely on dinner.

Gabe sighed. "Unbelievable."

Because no matter how many monsters they fought, how many lives they saved, or how bad the world got...

Bob stayed Bob.

And dinner came first.