Slatepocalypse: Unlocked Arcanum

CJ fell on his ass after hearing Monty speak. He then heard another thud to his right. Turning his head he noticed that Tommy had collapsed on the ground. A small puddle of blood was pooling around his body. That’s when CJ remembered the wound Tommy had received in the fight. Putting the situation with Monty on the back burner he scrambled up to his feet and bolted for the bathroom. In the cabinet under the sink CJ found his first aid kit.

Having to practice for years to master various tricks of the trade, CJ managed to rack up quite the collection of wounds and scars. He found it more economical to have a kit on hand. CJ lifted the clear plastic lid and fumbled around looking for the necessary implements to staunch the bleeding. Grabbing gauze, disinfectant wipes, and thread, he ran back into the living room. It was another fifteen minutes of moving Tommy into a position that he could appropriately address the problem. Tommy’s breathing had become shallow, but CJ had him upright seated on the floor in front of the couch. Not putting him on the couch served two purposes; it kept blood from getting on the cushions and prevented Tommy just rolling off back to the floor. His breathing began to normalize so CJ made him as comfortable as possible. That’s when he heard more crunching from the kitchen.

Making his way across the living room and around the small end table that marked the break between living room and kitchen in his small apartment, Monty could be seen seated on CJ’s small two person kitchen table. He was eating a dry packet of ramen.

“You know, those are better if you cook them first. Less stale that way,” commented CJ still in disbelief at everything that’s gone on today.

“If you were any kind of a cook, you wouldn’t have instant noodles in your cupboard,” countered Monty.

“How the hell is it you can talk? Dumb question considering the day I’ve had. I’m just struggling to understand everything,” commented CJ as he leaned against the kitchen counter and folded his arms.

“You should check your slate messages. Plenty of answers in there,” said Monty going back to chewing.

The little black haired rabbit kept going to town on what was left of the noodles. CJ took that to mean the conversation was over. He was not surprised at how ornery the bunny was. While practicing the rabbit in the hat trick, Monty would always try to escape before it was time to come out. So much so, CJ had to scrap that trick all together from his birthday party bag of tricks. He’d made his choice at that time and there was no going back to the store with this one.

Then he focused on what Monty just said. Slate messages. He didn’t know what they were, and Tommy was in no condition for questions. Of course, as soon as he thought it, that window popped up in his vision again with that same line of text he couldn’t read. His frustrations mounted when he couldn’t do anything with window. CJ calmed his mind, an old trick he learned during his underwater breath training. Back then the major lesson was extremes weren’t that bad if you managed yourself. A crash then sounded from outside. CJ ran across the room to look out of his balcony window. There was an old fire truck, like old, belching black smoke out of its tail pipe smashing cars off the road. The whole thing was red, and it had a huge water tank on the back with a turret hose positioned on top. It looked like someone had welded a cow catcher to the front end.

That huge flying snake kept swooping down and crashing into it. The guy on the hose did his best to keep it away but as it curved back up into the moonless sky, he lost track of it. Upon closer inspection, CJ realized he knew that guy. It was Jerry the goon Skipper had sent to collect his money. The guy driving must be one of the other guys he was with. CJ thought that plan was industrious for a couple of thugs. They kept moving slowly down the road when someone leaned out of the passengers’ side window with bull horn.

“You must leave the town. There is safety outside of population centers. For some unknown reason, the monsters congregate in heavily populated urban sprawls. Wait for the sun to come up and make your way toward the Pine Barrens. If you didn’t see Fate’s message on a screen, please find someone who did. People with a working Slate can help you. No one is coming to help,” said the voice.

“He’s right you know. All the creepy crawlers are going to end up in towns and cities. It’s where the scent of humanity is strongest. Gotta cull the victims for the next generation. We should stock up on a ton of supplies if we’re leaving,” came the voice of Monty down by CJ’s feet.

“How do you know that?” asked CJ incredulously.

“My slate works just fine. I’m guessing from your reaction to that guy, you didn’t have a screen. That’s gonna make this next bit a little harder,” answered Monty.

“Monty, what are you getting at?” questioned CJ.

“Pack your sneakers. There’s going to be a lot of running,” sneered the rabbit before turning from the window and hopping onto the couch.

Monty proceeded to lay back on the couch like a human. His big rabbit feet sticking straight up. Both ears flopped down on either side of his head while his right paw scratched his belly. CJ thought the sight was weird considering there was man on the floor not a foot away from the bunny.

“The guy said we should wait till morning before we leave. I’m going to put Tommy, that’s Tommy by the way, on the couch now that his arm isn’t bleeding anymore. Then I’m going to bed. Hopefully, I’ll wake up and this will all be some fucked up dream I was having,” commented CJ as he lifted Tommy up from under his shoulders.

Monty began to protest before shrugging. He hopped off the couch as CJ placed the injured man in a comfortable position. CJ could swear Monty had gotten bigger since he got back to the apartment. Maybe that had something to do with why he was eating him out of house and home. He decided to let it go for now. Exhaustion from the fight and the shock of the dead bodies, never mind the giant flying snake, had set in. Entering his bedroom, he figured out where Monty had gotten off to. Dead center of the mattress curled up around himself. CJ was going to have to sleep in an L shape.

It felt like only a few minutes after he closed his eyes did CJ feel hand over his mouth. His eyes popped open wide to see Tommy standing over him. There were the first rays of sunlight peeking through the windows telling CJ was asleep for longer than a few minutes. Tommy made silence gesture with his index finger and his lips. Then he pointed out of the window. Monty was standing on his back feet with both ears pointed straight up. He was also on the windowsill. Tommy removed his hand from CJ’s mouth and crept over to the window.

“No time to pack now. We gotta get the fuck out of here,” said Monty his fur standing on end.

Tommy peered out of the window then quickly stepped back. He tried to become one with the wall at his back. CJ sat up ramrod straight. Then he slowly slid off the bed. Slipping his feet into shoes, he turned toward the two others in the room while shouldering up his tux jacket and whispered.

“What’s out there?” he said.

Monty hopped off the windowsill and scuttled into the living room. He was quickly followed by Tommy who inched along the wall toward the doorway. CJ didn’t understand why until he heard the breaking of glass outside and then a rumble in his building. That sound was followed by screams and the gnashing of teeth. Tommy waived him forward from the center of the living room. CJ stopped fucking around and jogged out of the bedroom.

“What the hell was that?” asked CJ, sweat starting to bead on his bald head.

“The snake. It figured out that windows have tasty treats inside. The rabbits right, never thought I’d ever say that, but we need to get out of here. That was only five apartments down. You are a really heavy sleeper, dude,” whispered Tommy.

“The rabbit has a name and it’s Monty. I’ll thank you to remember it,” snapped Monty.