"So, what does it do?” Adam asked, quickly changing the subject. “The name is a little obvious, but I'm guessing there's more to it?"

  Adam stared at the stone, watching the lines of silver and gold intermingle.

  The Salesman reached out and offered it to him. "Take it."

  Adam frowned, hesitated, then reached for the stone. His fingers brushed the surface, and he immediately felt like he'd licked a battery. A sharp, not-quite-painful tingle ran through his nerves as his brain struggled to make sense of the incoming information. He jerked backward, nearly toppling out of his chair.

  "What the fuck was that?" Adam's throat felt strange, like his muscles weren't working the way they were supposed to. He swallowed several times until the sensation faded.

  "That was the result of touching a Seeker Stone while inside of a tunnel." The Salesman's smile was amused, like he'd just watched Adam do something incredibly stupid. "The Stones were designed to detect and guide individuals to and through local tunnels. The results on individual physiologies can... vary."

  "The stone just told Adam to go in every direction at once, didn't it?" Samantha said, sharing The Salesman's smile.

  "Exactly. Very good." The Salesman nodded.

  "Kiss-ass," Adam mumbled, feeling like the butt of a very unfunny joke.

  Samantha laughed and shrugged helplessly.

  "Wait. We're inside of one of these tunnels?" Hector asked, looking around like he was expecting the room to reach out and bite him.

  "Did you think you were inside of a recreational vehicle?"

  Hector drew his eyebrows together in annoyance but stayed silent.

  "You may have the stone..." Adam thought the Salesman was having a tooth pulled from the way he said have. "If you are willing to close the local tunnels. I believe this will be a mutually beneficial arrangement."

  "Closing the tunnels will be the first step toward killing The Voice, right?" Natalie said, standing up and holding out her hand.

  The Salesman placed the stone in the case and handed it to her. "If you insist upon such a suicidal course of action, then yes. Closing the local tunnel will be the first of many, many steps."

  "So, do nothing and die. Or, try to close this thing and maybe die." Adam laughed, shaking his head. "Seems pretty obvious to me. I guess I’m in."

  "Yeah, okay." Hector's response was so noncommittal Adam wasn't sure it could even be considered agreement.

  Samantha stood up and put her arm around Natalie's waist. "Not that I have to say it, but yeah. Let’s do it."

  "Excellent!" The Salesman brought his hands together in an excited clap. "I believe our business is concluded. Allow me to show you out, as soon as you finish your refreshments."

  He walked the group down a short aisle, past the nearly gone puddle of goblin and to a doorway that hung in the air. The edges shimmered gently as if they weren't completely there. The Salesman walked through, and Adam followed, his ears immediately popping again as he walked down the stairs and onto the patch of concrete.

  When everyone was outside and staring up at predawn sky, The Salesman shook Adam's hand. "It was a pleasure to do business with all of you. I look forward to our next meeting." He turned on his heel and walked up the short set of stairs, but paused and looked down at Natalie.

  "Miss Natalie. I may have forgotten to mention something regarding your purchase." The way The Salesman spoke made Adam's insides crawl. "Using it will be the single most painful thing you will ever experience. Good luck." He grinned his sharklike grin and closed the door, the neon sign on the roof flicking off.

  Natalie threw her hands up. "What the fuck did I do?"

  ***

  “Remind me again why we didn't try to buy a car? Or steal one?" Adam asked, the gravel crunching under his feet as he walked. He wasn't sure if it even counted as stealing anymore, if everyone was dead, eaten, stuck in another reality, or all of the above.

  Natalie kicked an empty bottle, sending it skittering into a nearby ditch. "Because whatever mind juju The Salesman was doing made us all way too comfortable to think straight. Also, none of us knows how to hotwire a car."

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  "Ahh, that's right," Adam said, glancing at Hector.

  "What, you think I know how to steal a car?" Adam turned fully toward him, bristling at his tone, until he caught Hector's grin and relaxed. "Easy man. I'm messing with you. We were just really unlucky with the cars we checked.”

  "Funny. And yeah, I was just going to make fun of you for not knowing how to drive." Adam wiped a trickle of sweat from his eyes as he trudged along. "Is it warm to anyone else?"

  Samantha handed him a bottle of water. "I think the weather patterns are changing. I don't know much about meteorology, but I imagine holes in reality might mess with the climate."

  "As if we needed more climate change. Thanks." He took the bottle and upended it, downing half before replacing the cap and handing it back.

  "It looks like skirting the city almost worked. Almost. Heads up." Natalie pointed toward something approaching in the distance.

  Adam drew his bat and grimaced. So far, their plan to walk the city's edge had paid off. The creatures they'd spotted had kept their distance, and they hadn't seen any signs of people, just the usual trail of trash.

  "Hector, do you think you could hide us?" Adam asked, squinting at the thing coming closer, trying to make out its features.

  Hector looked up at the sun, then at the creature. "I don't think I can hide all of us. Maybe two or three tops. But... I don't see any eyes."

  Adam shielded his eyes as the mound of fur lumbered closer. "Yeah, that figures. What do you think our chances are if we just move out of its way?"

  "Pretty bad," Natalie said, drawing her gun and sighting down the barrel. The creature let out a low grunt, and a foot long quill slammed into the ground beside Adam's foot.

  Adam stared at the quill as the creature made another grunting sound, throwing himself to the side on instinct as two more quills kicked up dust where he had been standing just a moment before. “Killer porcupine?!” He had to fight the urge to laugh at the sheer absurdity.

  "Killer porcupine!" Natalie yelled in agreement, dropping to one knee and squeezing off three quick shots. The gun's report drowned out the world in a ringing whine and the creature shuddered. She'd definitely hit it, but it kept coming anyway.

  Gaps opened on its sides, four large quill tips appearing before launching like living artillery toward Natalie.

  Samantha's hand jerked up as the quills flew, the air shimmering in front of them like a soap bubble. The quills slammed into the shield with a sound like a ringing bell, stopping in midair. Samantha's knees buckled and she went down, the shield collapsing with her.

  Natalie fired four more times and the slide locked back, empty. The creature staggered, but didn't stop.

  It reared up on two stubby hind legs, unfolding like a hedgehog from hell. Adam saw it wasn't fur covering its body, but spines packed so densely it was hard to see where one ended and the next began. Two bearlike arms uncurled from the top of the monstrosity, sweeping back and forth.

  Adam forced himself up and charged. He swung the new bat in a wide arc, the strange metal slicing through the air like a blade. It struck the creature's side, smashing into the quills with a sound like breaking glass.

  The quills shattered on contact, the cloud of fragments slicing into Adam's knuckles before bouncing away. He jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the creature's arms as it crashed down behind him.

  He pivoted and brought the bat down in an overhead swing, smashing into the arm joint. A vertical slit opened between the two arms and a long translucent pink tongue unfurled from the gap. Adam could hear sucking sounds as the tip darted around, searching.

  A second later, it found him, latching onto his upper arm. Adam felt a sharp stinging sensation as the tongue began to pulse, red liquid climbing up the living straw.

  "Hector, a little help!" Adam shouted, looking over his shoulder. "I think it's trying to drink me!"

  "What the hell do you want me to do! It's covered in sharp shit!" Hector yelled back.

  "Jesus Christ." Adam grabbed the creature's tongue, clamping his fingers shut and stemming the flow of liquid. "I don't know, throw a rock or something!"

  Almost immediately, a rock struck the creature just a few inches from Adam's face. He jerked his head away and a spine fragment lodging in his cheek. He pulled on the tongue, but it was firmly stuck. The creature's arms waved lazily, content to let the tongue do its sanguine work while keeping Hector at bay.

  Adam threw his bat over his shoulder in what he hoped was Hector's direction. He grabbed the tongue with his other hand and forced power down his arms. Electricity snapped and bit from his fingertips, racing up the creature's tongue and into its body.

  The creature went mad with pain, flailing about and grunting. Spines fired at random, and Adam felt one graze his side. One of the swinging appendages collided with his other side, sending him skipping across the ground like a stone, sliding to a stop with a grunt of pain.

  Hector snatched the bat up from the ground and awkwardly chopped at the thing's stubby legs, looking like a lumberjack working a stubborn stump. Adam watched, mustering the strength to get up and rejoin the fight.

  The creature slammed down with both arms, nearly flattening Hector as he fell back. The impact sent gravel flying in every direction. Adam got back to his feet, and pushed himself toward the creature.

  "Hector, bat!" he yelled.

  Hector took the cue and chucked the bat end over end. It sailed over the top of the creature. Adam reached up and concentrated on it landing in his hand. The bat dove toward him and he caught it, gripping it in both hands as he charged again.

  Adam pivoted his hips and swung into the creature's knee, and he was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as the leg buckled. The creature fell forward, its arms sprawling out to support its bulk. The tongue darted back and forth in an attempt to latch onto fresh prey.

  Adam dropped the bat and snatched at the tongue with both hands. He pulled hard and the creature made a series of rapid grunts, quills firing at the ground as he yanked.

  Hector rushed to his side, grabbing the tongue and helping him pull. The arms stomped at the ground, but couldn't swing while bearing the thing's weight.

  They dug in, straining against the creature’s bulk.

  Adam felt another pair of hands join in, then another as Natalie and Samantha found handholds on the monster's tongue.

  "On three. Three!" Adam bellowed and they all pulled.

  The tongue tore free, dragging a pulsing basketball-sized organ with it in a gout of bloody fluid. The creature let out a pitiful groan and went still, leaking thick gore onto the gravel.