Ballistic Coefficient

The three girls made it back to the tavern just as the heavens truly opened, the falling snow reducing visibility to near-zero. The moment they were back inside, they all moved tables to block the front door, and Pale posted up near a window, peering out with her pistol in-hand.

Just outside, through the howling wind, she could hear steel clashing against steel, followed by screams that were cut short. She grit her teeth at the noises as they resounded through the town.

"Pale, what do we do?" Evie asked. "Every person those ghouls kill is going to reanimate as a ghoul themselves. If we don't act fast, the entire city is going to be turned! It only takes a single scrape or bite for a ghoul to turn someone!"

"I'm thinking," Pale insisted. "We need to get back out there and take down the ghouls before they're able to turn even more people. You said fire kills them?"

"It does, for sure," Evie confirmed.

"Good." She reached into her jacket and pulled out another Molotov cocktail, then passed it over to her. "Start making more of those, as many as you can. Arm the other patrons with them and tell them what's going on. We'll need them to hold this position as a fallback point in case things get too intense."

"Other patrons…?" Kayla asked. She looked around, blanching when she saw several other people plus the tavern owner staring at them in wide-eyed shock.

"What's going on?" the bartender asked, concerned.

"Ghouls," Evie told him as she approached the bar. "Unless you want to die along with everyone else in this town, you'll do exactly what we ask of you. Do that, and maybe we'll all make it through this."

The bartender hesitated, but after a moment, he gave her a nod. "Alright… what do you need?"

"As much high-proof alcohol as you can get, plus some rags and some liquid tar, or some other accelerant. Do you still have all that lying around?"

"Aye," he confirmed with another nod. "No shortage of high-proof booze or rags, and I've still got some old liquid tar in the basement lying around from when the roof needed to be patched last season."

"Good. We're going to use all of it." Evie turned back to Pale and Kayla. "I'm going to help them. Do you two need anything?"

"We have it handled," Pale told her, once again looking out the window. "Go."

Evie didn't wait for further confirmation, instead taking off running along with the tavern owner. Kayla watched her go for a moment, then looked back to Pale.

"What do we do?" she asked, concerned.

"I'll need a new weapon," Pale said to her. "My rifle is upstairs, but it's useless against the ghouls."

"Do you have something fit to deal with them?"

"Yes, but we'll have to go get it. Are you okay to go outside?"

Kayla swallowed nervously, but gave her a nod of confirmation. "...Where you go, I go."

"Good." Pale snapped her fingers; a few seconds later, there was a resounding crash as a pod descended to the ground a short ways away from the bar. A few of the patrons jumped, panicked shouts escaping them, but Pale ignored them all, instead gesturing for Kayla to follow her.

"Let's move."

XXX

Glass shattered, spilling across the street as Pale smashed a window with the grip of her pistol. The ghouls that had been crowded around the front door, scraping at it in an attempt to break in, quickly had their attention diverted towards them, only for several to immediately catch fire when Kayla pointed her hand at them, hosing them down with flames.

"Keep them off of me!" Pale shouted.

"Right!" Kayla called back.

Both girls advanced down the street, Kayla occasionally loosing fire towards any ghouls that drew too close. Already, the horde had grown exponentially; given the late hour, they must have taken people by surprise. Still, the citizens who hadn't been caught completely unaware were still attempting to put up a fight, if the bolts of magic and clashing of steel against steel echoing through town were any indication.

But as valiantly as the survivors were fighting, there was only so much they could do, especially since Vincent was surely still going around, turning people as he saw fit.

Pale turned a corner, leading with her handgun. The pod was resting on the ground a short ways away, the door already open on it. Pale swept the area, making sure it was clear, and then advanced towards the pod. She holstered her gun, then began to pull on gear, slinging a bandoleer of shotgun shells across her chest, and clipping a battle belt adorned with shotgun caddies to her waist. Finally, she reached for the nearby semi-automatic combat shotgun, checking to make sure it was loaded with bright orange shells before shouldering it.

Several ghouls rounded the corner just as she turned, and Pale opened up on them, squeezing her new shotgun's trigger as fast as she could. Flames burst out from the end of her weapon, smacking into the undead with enough force to drop them instantly. They all writhed on the ground as the incendiary buckshot burned them from the inside out, and after a few seconds, they laid still.

Pale threw the stock of her weapon onto her shoulder, then began to thumb loose shells from her bandoleer into it. Once it was fully topped off, she turned back to the pod, taking a final pack of ammunition with her and slinging it over her back. By the time Kayla came running over to check on her, she was fully loaded.

"Are you okay?" Kayla demanded.

"Fine," Pale reported. She snapped her fingers, and the pod closed, then began to ascend into the sky. She looked back to Kayla, then nodded. "Back to the tavern, now."

Kayla didn't argue, and they both took off towards the tavern once more.

XXX

By the time they made it back to within sight of the bar, the crowd of undead surging around its doors and windows had multiplied. There were dozens of them now, all clawing at the exterior of the building. Pale and Kayla wasted no time, opening up on them with incendiary buckshot and fire spells.

"Watch your fire!" Pale called. "Don't set the tavern ablaze, whatever you do!"

"Right!" Kayla confirmed.

Sensing another threat, the crowd of undead turned towards them and began to lurch forwards. Pale's shotgun ran dry, the bolt locking to the rear. As fast as she could, she ripped a shell from the side saddle and dropped it in the open chamber before smacking the bolt release, and then started loading its tube once more, all while Kayla backed her up. At the same time, spells were erupting from inside the tavern, though unfortunately, few of them were fire-based – gusts of wind cut the ghouls down to the bone and shards of ice dug into their flesh, but none of it had any effect.

That changed when a Molotov cocktail came flying out from one of the windows. It struck a small crowd of three ghouls, setting them ablaze in an instant.

"Looks like Evie let them in on what to do!" Pale observed.

"Shame there aren't any fire mages among them…" Kayla muttered.

"Let's change that, then. Clear a path to that window, we're getting back inside."

Kayla nodded, then began to advance, loosing bolts of lightning as she did so. Undead fell, their corpses smoking from the impact of the bolts of electricity. Pale joined her with the occasional shell from her weapon, though she was careful to try and conserve ammunition – she had precious little incendiary shotgun ammo to begin with, and something told her this fight was going to take all of it.

Eventually, however, they managed to cut through the crowd of ghouls enough to make a mad dash for the window, then jump inside. The moment they landed on the ground, several patrons moved a large table in front of the broken window, and one of them conjured several medium-sized rocks to hold it in place.

Both girls sat there, their chests heaving from exertion. Evie ran over and helped them to their feet, glaring at both of them.

"What were you thinking?!" she demanded. "You could have been killed!"

"I needed to arm up, and I needed Kayla for backup," Pale reported. "I apologize for worrying you, but it had to be done."

Evie grit her teeth. "Just… a bit of warning next time, would you?"

Pale nodded. "How is the bar holding up?"

"It's stable, despite the ghouls trying their best to break in," Evie explained. "The people here are frightened, obviously, but they know what to do. I just wish we had a dedicated fire mage aside from Kayla here to help."

"About that…" Kayla ventured. "I'm about out of spells. I've got a few more left, but not many… Sorry."

"Don't apologize; you're doing as much as anyone can ask of you," Evie said to her.

"Ah… thanks," Kayla said softly.

"If she needs to get her magic back, then she should rest here," Pale said. "And no offense to you, Evie, but I don't think you'll be much help to me."

"What do you mean?" Evie asked. Her eyes widened in shock. "You're not going back out there, are you?"

"I have to," Pale told her. She checked her shotgun to make sure it was fully loaded, then shook her head. "We can't allow more people to be turned. If we do that, they'll overwhelm us with sheer numbers alone, and that's before Vincent makes his move. Whatever he's got planned, it can't wait until we're well-rested before dealing with it. But Kayla needs a break, and you're more help to these people than you will be to me."

Evie's eyes narrowed. "You're a huge pain, you know that? We just got done discussing how you're being selfish, and yet here you go again, putting yourself in danger like this once more."

"Evie-"

"Don't, Pale," Evie warned. "At some point, this has to end. You can't keep putting yourself on the front lines like this. I won't stand for it."

"Argue with me about it later, then," Pale told her. "For now, I need to get to work."

"Get to work doing what?"

Pale's expression darkened as she hefted her shotgun. "Seeking out and destroying the enemy, room by room."