Donathan sits in the dark going over the plan in his head. He had to admit Froacious made a lot of good points about things he hadn’t thought of yet, he was glad, for the first time, to have the stranger on his side. Gripping the pistol in his right hand he strains to listen to the noises outside the store room.

Step one in Froacious’ plan was to have them turn off the lights so it would look like they had gone to bed. Since the quake had taken out the grid, there were no streetlights; this made things pitch black inside the station. In theory, this would give the orcs a false sense of security provoking them to attack thus revealing themselves. As Donathan went over what he did know about orcs, he wasn’t so sure that close combat in a restricted space was a good idea. Then again, neither was being out in the open not knowing from which direction the enemy would attack. It seemed picking the better of two evils was becoming an everyday thing now.

Glancing to his right, he could see Sarah crouched, leaning against the wall breathing heavy. Lord knew she wasn’t built for these intense combat situations. He felt sorry she’d been dragged into so many of them since they left St. Louis. This new world was savage. They had to fight to live.

Donathan looked behind him barely making out the shadow of Froacious. The man was a sculpture. He knelt perfectly still, balanced, with no expression on his face at all. He seemed completely calm as if he’d done something like this a thousand times over. It seemed to Donathan that this was quite a shift from the “aww gee shucks” guy they had met when they arrived. When they were safe again, Donathan was going to sit down to have a long talk with Mr. Froacious.

Lost in thought Donathan is jerked back to reality when he hears the bang of something cumbersome slamming into the gas stations front door. The bang was followed by the rustling of bodies as feet shuffled through the doorway. Cold spears of icy fear run through his brain as he realized that their worst fears. They were indeed being hunted by these monsters.

He looks at Froacious, who holds up a hand to signal for Donathan to wait. Donathan understands immediately settling back on his haunches. They needed as many of the orcs in the building as possible before they made their move. The more that were inside meant that there would be less scattered around the outside of the building. They needed as many of them as close to or inside the building as possible if they were going to make this work.

Froacious makes his way to Donathan giving him hand signals to initiate the plan. Donathan was aggravated that Froacious was wasting his time by going over it, but he understood that they had the best chance of surviving this mess if everything went off without a hitch.

Donathan nods at the end of each gesture continuing to listen to the noises that were building in the other room. He heard the snorting of what sounded like wild animals sniffing the air. He realized that they had just been found when the snorting stops.

Froacious must have sensed the same thing because he jerked his head towards the door while pointing his open palm at Sarah. He then pats the open air in her direction indicating she waited before making her move.

Donathan felt for the ma-gem in his pants pocket as he remembered the conversation he had with Froacious before they closed themselves up in the store room. As long as the gem was close to his body he would be able to access its powers simply by thinking about it. It took him a couple of tries to get a feel for exactly how the gem reacted to his mind and body while using the gem. He hoped he had a pretty firm grasp on the basics because he was about to go toe to toe with one of the top land-based predators of all time. One mistake could get them all killed.

Froacious moved up to the door leaning against it before grasping the knob. He held up three fingers folding them down individually counting down the time until they would attack. When he reached zero he turned the knob concentrating on the speed gem to fling the heavy steel door open with incredible force. He caught one of the orcs off guard bouncing the corner of the door off its head popping it backward, off its feet, landing on its back unconscious or dead.

Donathan and Froacious erupted from the back room in a blur of speed and steel as they begin to pick off orcs with Donathan’s 1911’s trying to kill as many orcs as possible before they realized what was happening.

Working in tandem, the guys move from left to right in front of the drink cooler taking turns kneeling or standing as they weave in front of and behind one another, in an effort to keep the orcs off balance. The tactic seems to be working as they systematically pump bullets into the head, necks, and throats of the orcs.

Six orcs fall before finally catching on pulling out their shields to cover their faces or diving for cover behind shelves or displays. The noise of the gunshots must have alerted the orcs outside as waves of fresh bodies pour through the front door.

Donathan takes advantage of their ignorance, killing the first few who step through the door. Froacious follows suit killing another three in quick succession. With the doorway full of bodies, the orcs outside smash the large picture windows that that made up most of the front wall continuing to rush inside.

Having finally caught on to what was happening, heavily armed orcs with shields started coming in first. The orcs use their shields to create a bulletproof wall for the orckin archers behind them. Archers let loose a volley of arrows piercing shelves or smashing the glass of the coolers.

Using the ma-gems, Donathan and Froacious are able to dodge the arrows as they sliced through the air around them. It was becoming apparent, from the sheer number of orcs pouring into the gas station, that not only were they outnumbered, but soon they would be overwhelmed.

As more orcs pour in, the orcs inside are pushed closer to where the guys were firing from. The closer the orcs got the harder it was to find good shots with their pistols. Frustrated, Donathan tosses the gun pulling a survival knife from a sheath on his belt. Reversing the grip on the knife, he begins attacking the orcs hand to hand as they push closer to him.

Donathan streaks across the small distance between him and the nearest orc, sweeping the knife over the top of the orc’s shield he slices through the muscle and tendon rendering its arm useless. Using the momentum of the slicing motion Donathan allows the inertia to spin his body a full three hundred and sixty degrees before coming to a stop burying the knife in the throat of his enemy. Pulling the blade out, Donathan ducks under the swing of an ax causing it to slice through empty air burying itself in the chest of another orc behind him. While ducking Donathan plunges the knife into the inner thighs of his new assailant before rising up, as the orc falls, slashing its throat before it can hit its knees.

Bouncing back, Donathan looks briefly to get the lay of the land seeing that Froacious had also dropped his gun for a hands on approach. Froacious had already taken out three orcs and was currently engaging a fourth. Donathan saw no weapon as Froacious ducked, floated, and danced around every blow the orc threw at him before kicking out its kneecap out, forcing the orc to lean forward. In a blur, Froacious turned, kneeling away from the orc catching its head on his shoulder with both hands, then twists his body another one hundred eighty degrees wrenching the orcs head from its spine leaving it to die on the floor.

Donathan was stunned with the way that Froacious handled himself. Froacious was not the person that he and Sarah had met yesterday. There was no sign of the shyness or ineptness that he had shown them. Not only was it apparent that Froacious had lied to them it was apparent that the level of skill he possessed far exceeded Donathan’s.

Hearing the grunt of muscles applying force on the respiratory system Donathan snapped back to reality sliding to the right avoiding the downward slice of a crude sword by mere inches. Turning, he kicks the sword out of the orcs hands forcing the orc’s body to twist, giving him the opportunity to bring the survival knife down across the right jugular. Blood gushes from the open wound, causing the orc to reach for his throat to stop the bleeding. Reversing the grip on the knife, Donathan thrusts it up through the orcs jaw into its brain rendering it dead instantly.

Donathan pulled the blade from the orc looking back at the store room. He heard the hard clunking sound of the storeroom’s back door handle being opened. Seeing Sarah holding it open with her foot as she stood directly in the doorway, he knew it was time to go.

“Froacious!” He hollers across the room.

Froacious rains a flurry of gem powered blows on the orc in front of him before spinning a driving elbow into its eye socket, bringing it to its knees, kicking it in the chest, he drives it into the oncoming horde.

Finished with his last opponent, Froacious gives Donathan a nod before they both speed out of the store room grabbing Sarah under her shoulders carrying her over a hundred yards outside the back door of the gas station before stopping.

Looking back at the gas station Donathan, Sarah, and Froacious were just in awe of the number of orcs that were crawling all over it.

There was no way Donathan could come up with an exact count, but a rough estimate put the number around a thousand. It didn’t make any sense. How could so many of them be here without them knowing about it?

Then it dawned on him. They weren’t just inside of the orcs hunting grounds. They had stumbled into the middle of their settlement. The whole clan had come out to eliminate them. Donathan was furious. How could Froacious not have told them? Sarah had been in danger the entire time.

“How long have you known they were here Froacious?” Donathan asks.

Froacious looks over at him with a blank look on his face. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“This is their nest, Froacious. This town is where they live. You’ve been smack dab in the middle of it this entire time.” Donathan looks over at him getting angry at the mock ignorance Froacious was feeding him. “How the hell did you not know they were here?”

“I would love to get into the details about that with you Donathan,” Froacious says dropping the mild-mannered facade altogether as he speaks. “But at the moment we are completely outnumbered and in danger of losing the element of surprise. Do you think the answers could wait until we find out whether or not we leave this place alive?”

Donathan wanted to punch him in the face. He wanted to do well more than that but knew now was not the time. Instead, he steps up to Froacious shoving his finger in his face. “Me and you are going to have a long discussion about this if we manage to survive the night. Understand?”

“Completely,” Froacious replies.

Sarah stands beside Donathan and Froacious coming to terms with the turns of events that had just taken place in such a small amount of time. It was incredible to see so many of the hulking beasts attacking or surrounding the gas station that she slept in the night before. Fear was beginning to creep into her heart as her knees weakened, and her stomach started to knot.

Donathan notices the distant look in Sarah’s eyes as well as the shakiness of her body. His first reaction was anger, but he realized that the anger was more a reflection of Froacious and the orcs, which were not actually Sarah’s fault. Yelling at her was not going to make things any easier for them or bring her back to reality any faster.

Gently, Donathan reaches out placing his hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Babe,” he says softly “You can do this.”

Sarah snaps back to reality giving Donathan a smile and a nod. “Thanks.”

Turning her full attention to the gas station she held out her fist, closing her eyes, trying to imagine the building and its surroundings as clearly as possible. After a few seconds of quiet concentration, a soft green glow begins to leak out from around her fingers.

Sarah opened her eyes wide as a loud snap erupts from deep within the earth. Taking a minute to steady himself Donathan looks on as Sarah performs a feat he’d only ever seen in blockbuster movies.

The earth begins to splinter like wood planks under too much pressure. As the pressure grew too great the ground split just outside of the gas stations canopy in a grassy area that ran into the road. The fragments starts traveling in opposite directions begin to trace an enormous oval around the parking lot, gas pumps, and main building. When the cracks finally meet up again on the rear side of the station, Sarah closed her eyes again then quickly pulls her fist back towards her body. The moment she does the earth groans as if it were a living animal kicked in the stomach as flumes of dirt and rock erupt from the cracks around the station.

Donathan struggled to stay on his feet while covering his ears to protect them from the awful groans and snapping sounds that are coming from below. The earth oval sinks on one gas pump end lifting the main building into the air. The orcs inside the building are trying desperately to escape as the ones on the outside start to run for their lives. Another large deafening crack reverberates through the ground as the earth beneath the gas pump juts up into the air dumping the fleeing orcs into the sinkhole where the building once stood.

Donathan stared in awe at the destruction they had brought down on the orcs. Lost in thought, he flinched away from a hand that touched his shoulder. Froacious was looking him in the eye and yelling something, but Donathan couldn’t make out what it was over the noise of twisted steel and rushing dirt.

“... Need to get moving,” is all Donathan could make out the second-time Froacious yelled at him.

Snapping back to reality Donathan grabbed Sarah’s hand and began to run towards the dirt bikes they had stashed before they turned out the lights.

Pushing Sarah towards one of the bikes, Donathan reached around grabbing Froacious by the shirt collar pulling him onto the bike behind him. Donathan gave the starter a good kick feeling it vibrate to life between his legs. It was impossible to hear the motor over the deafening cries of dying orcs and explosions.

Putting the bike in gear, he pulled back on the gas handle and made a beeline away from the destruction of the gas station. Looking behind him to make sure Sarah was there Donathan swings wide around the gas station steering the bike back on the road heading toward the exit.

Froacious leans in close and so Donathan can hear him better. “You said the gas is flammable?”

Donathan nods his head yes.

“Stop the bike.” Froacious screams.

“Why?” Donathan asks.

“No time, just do it.” Froacious barks.

Begrudgingly, Donathan locked up the brakes bringing the bike to a screeching stop sideways across both lanes on the city street. Once he had stopped there was a blur as Sarah flew past them at full speed. Looking back at Froacious for answers he saw that he has his arm outstretched, much as Sarah did, with his eyes closed. Suddenly, Froacious’ eyes flew open, as a lance of flame burst out of the air mere inches from his outstretched fist. The flame streaked through the air before colliding into the now sinking gas pumps. A vicious explosion drowned out all the other sounds and created a concussive wave that throws dirt, rock, and debris in every direction.

As the dust settled, Donathan saw the fires raging throughout the sinking station. He could still see movement in the sinkhole that indicated not all the orcs were dead though a great many of them were on fire or actively burning. Burdened with the weight of a million new questions about their new friend and this new world Donathan found solace in knowing they were alive and safe for the moment. Shaking his head he filed the questions away to for another time.

“Are you okay?” He asks Sarah as she drove back from overshooting them when he’d stopped his bike.

“As can be expected,” She replies.

He knew what she meant and nodded his head before looking back at Froacious, who nodded his head to show he was fine as well even though sweat soaked his brow, and his breathing labored.

Nodding back, Donathan faced forward, put the bike in gear, revved the engine, and lead his battle worn group away from harm back in the direction of their hometown speeding away in the lead. Sarah waited a few seconds before following suit.

A lone orc archer pulled his burned, battered body out of the sinkhole. Seeing his prey getting away he quickly grabbed an arrow from his quiver, notched it then pulled the string back taught against his face. With a sickening grin, he aimed his arrow at Sarah. Then he let go of the string.