Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 11 - SURVIVAL

I woke up in the morning and felt something change inside of me. Today was not just a normal day; it was a morning on the battlefield, and this battlefield was different from anything I'd ever faced.

I got up about an hour before I usually did. That meant it was still dark outside and I could hear Eli getting ready to leave for work. As he shut the front door to head out to his job, I was in the bathroom washing up, and I was soon out the door myself. I had work today, too, but I didn't start until seven AM, so that meant I had an hour or so to take care of some things.

I left the apartment carrying a large backpack and, hardly feeling the cold, took a bus uptown. The early, cold morning was pitch black, and I was among only a few other passengers out and about at this hour, all of us bundled up against the bitter cold.

I took out my phone as I waited for my stop and texted Huang: Call me when you're awake, we need to talk. Come to think of it, I had no idea what his schedule was like: did he have classes all day? Was he up as early as I was? If we were going to be coordinating to survive the Grey City, that was something we'd need to work out.

The bus pulled up to my stop and I hopped off into about a foot of snow. From there, it was a short walk to the department store. I had a brief think about my bank account and then I got shopping.

Military-grade, three pound flashlight: check. First-aid kit with bandages and gauze: check. I didn't have the credentials, the know-how, or the money to try obtaining a gun somewhere, but there was a hunting and survival section that provided me with a pretty decent hunting knife. I winced at all the money I was spending, but if there was a time to be cheap, it sure wasn't when my life was on the line. I'd just have to live on instant noodles for a while. And, as usual, skimp on Christmas presents.

I picked up a few other odds and ends I thought might come in handy, went to the checkout, and hoped to God my debit card wouldn't be declined. If the cashier thought my collection of survival equipment purchased in the middle of winter was odd, she didn't say anything, only handed me my receipt with the dead eyes of a night shift worker. I thanked her, stuffed everything in my backpack, and headed out.

Huang called at about quarter after six; his voice sounded strained and exhausted. "Listen," he said, "I wasn't able to think of anything, and I have two classes today I really can't afford to miss. I know that sounds stupid, but I still need to..."

"It's fine," I said, amazed at the utter calm in my own voice. I was standing alone at the bus stop, waiting to catch a ride over to my workplace. "I had another dream."

"Uh, okay?"

"Something is trying to communicate to me through them, like you thought," I explained. "Whatever it is, it's been... watching us, I think. It commented about how we got our asses beat by the giant spider."

"Yeah," Huang said cautiously. "Are you... Camilo, are you sure it's real? It seems kind of strange to me."

"We talked about it before—we decided it had to do with the Grey City."

"We said it was likely, not that we knew for sure," Huang pointed out. "What could possibly be watching us in there? We know we're the only living things aside from those demons. You said before that it even looked like a demon. That doesn't sound exactly trustworthy."

I hesitated, staring up into the still-black sky. "I'm not saying I trust it completely, but I believe it this time." I did my best to explain the dream and how I'd seen the gargoyle overcome the spiders.

"Maybe there's something there," said Huang, "but here's the thing: I've tried to control the glow in the past. If I wanted to sneak around, for instance, I tried to dim it, but I couldn't figure out if there was a way."