Zero Logic: The Hunter Gambits

Chapter 04. The Physics of Death

The sound of a body hitting the tracks from a height of ten feet was sickening. It was the sound of a trash bag full of wet meat being dropped from a second story window. A heavy thud was followed by the dry, snapping sound of breaking bone.

Oliver Warner crawled to the edge of the platform. His breath came in ragged gasps, and his eyes searched the darkness of the pit below. He remained on the ground not because he chose to, but because his legs had finally surrendered. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him from losing consciousness.

"One," Oliver counted again, his voice trembling. "Two. Three."

Silence.

"Dead?" Oliver muttered hopefully. "Come on, System. Tell me she's dead with a snapped neck."

However, the holographic screen in his vision provided an answer that made his stomach churn.

[TARGET STATUS: ACTIVE]

[HP: 85% (REGENERATING)]

From the darkness below, a low growl emerged. It wasn't a groan of pain, but a sound of pure, unadulterated rage. A pair of yellow eyes ignited in the black pit, staring upward, locking onto Oliver.

"You." Bella’s voice echoed, sounding raspier and wetter, as if her throat were filled with blood. "You cut my tendons. You are a cunning little human."

Oliver watched Bella’s silhouette move. The monster wasn't dead. She was resetting her twisted legs. A gruesome grinding sound filled the air as her bones forced themselves back into alignment. The piano wire gashes on her thighs began to seal shut, thin wisps of steam rising from the knitting flesh.

"Dammit," Oliver cursed. "Regeneration? That’s cheating, you idiot! Where are the laws of biology?"

"The laws of biology?" Bella laughed, then spat a glob of black blood onto the rails. "We creatures of the night do not submit to your rules."

Bella began to scale the platform wall. Her claws dug into the hard concrete as if it were styrofoam. Stab, pull, stab, pull. She climbed with an unnatural, fluid speed.

Panic flared in Oliver’s chest as he scanned his surroundings. A weapon? Nothing. He had only his extinguished Zippo and the walking cane lying six feet away. He tried to retreat, dragging his body away from the platform's edge.

The pain in his joints exploded. It felt as if white-hot nails were being driven into every hinge of his skeleton.

"Argh... Fuck!" Oliver groaned, cold sweat washing over his pale face.

Bella’s clawed hand hooked over the edge of the platform. Then came her head. One side of her face was mangled from the fall, but it was already mending. She hauled herself up, looming over Oliver as he lay helpless on the floor.

"Game over, old man," Bella hissed. She stepped closer, her gait slightly uneven but steady. "Now, I will break every one of your bones, one by one, before I eat your heart."

Oliver was cornered against the cold ceramic tiles of the station wall. There was no escape. The System in his eyes blinked red with frantic intensity.

[DANGER: DEATH IN 10 SECONDS]

[SUGGESTION: RUN (PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 0%)]

[SUGGESTION: FIGHT (PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 0%)]

"Stupid System," Oliver panted. "You’re completely useless. Give me a weapon. Give me eye lasers or something!"

[The Hunter X System only facilitates the Host’s potential. You possess no physical potential.]

"Thanks for the honesty, you bastard," Oliver shot back sarcastically.

Bella was only two steps away. The stench of copper and rot wafted from her, making Oliver’s gorge rise. The monster raised her claws high, prepared for the final strike that would sever Oliver’s head from his shoulders.

But with death staring him in the face, Oliver did something bizarre. He laughed. He glanced at his cracked Rolex.

02:14 AM.

"Why are you laughing?" Bella paused, confused by a prey that didn't weep. "Have you gone mad with fear?"

"No." Oliver wiped blood from his nose. He looked into Bella’s yellow eyes. "I’m just calculating basic physics, lady."

"Physics?"

"Do you know why this station was never opened to passengers?" Oliver’s words flew like bullets. "Because the foundation is too unstable for passenger trains to make frequent stops. But the tracks are still active. They’re used for interstate express cargo."

Bella knit her brow, her patience reaching its limit. "I don't care about the history of this rot—"

"Wait!" Oliver shouted. He pointed at the concrete floor beneath their feet. "Do you feel that?"

Bella went still. She looked down. The platform floor was vibrating. It was faint. Very faint.

The vibration grew stronger by the second. Small pebbles on the floor began to dance.

"The Midnight Express cargo train from Utah," Oliver explained, a manic grin spreading across his face. "Five thousand tons of steel. Average speed through this empty stretch is about seventy-five miles per hour. And according to the schedule I know by heart because I funded this failed project, it passes through at exactly 02:15."

Bella’s expression shifted. Her sharp ears caught a low rumble from the dark tunnel behind Oliver. It was the sound of air being forced through a needle by a giant mass.

The wind began to howl through the station, whipping up dust and plastic debris.

"So?" Bella challenged, trying to mask her doubt. "I am on the platform. The train is down there. You think the wind can kill me?"

"You’re right," Oliver said. "The train is down there. We are up here. Safe."

Oliver reached for his cane lying nearby.

"But the problem, lady," Oliver continued, his eyes glinting, "is that you are standing on a maintenance trapdoor. And I am holding the lever."

Bella’s eyes widened. She looked beneath her feet. There was a thin, square outline in the concrete where she stood. A disguised steel plate.

Oliver wasn't holding a lever. He was lying. But the lie was enough to make Bella panic for a single, crucial second. She instinctively jumped backward.

Oliver didn't pull a lever. He swung his cane with every ounce of strength he had left. He didn't aim for Bella. He aimed for a stack of empty oil drums he had piled against the wall.

Clang!

The drums tumbled and rolled toward Bella. She swiped them away easily with her claws, slicing them in half.

"Cheap tricks!" Bella screamed in fury. "Die!"

She lunged forward. She forgot the train. She forgot the trap. She wanted only to kill this cunning man.

The distance was zero. Bella’s claws were inches from Oliver’s face. Oliver saw the numbers above her head.

[ATTACK MOMENTUM: 100%]

[TRAIN ARRIVAL: 0.5 SECONDS]

Oliver didn't dodge to the side. He couldn't. His legs were paralyzed. So he did the only thing he could.

He let himself fall. He released all tension in his muscles and allowed gravity to pull him flat onto his back. He surrendered completely, like a sack of grain with a snapped cord.

Bella’s claws hissed just above Oliver’s nose, clipping a few strands of hair but missing their mark. Because her attack missed, the momentum of her full-strength leap carried her forward. She flew over Oliver.

Toward the edge of the platform. The edge made slick by the remaining oil.

Bella tried to grip the floor, but her claws skidded on the lubricated concrete. Her eyes went wide as she looked back at Oliver, who lay on the floor with a satisfied smile.

"Newton’s First Law, sweetheart," Oliver whispered. "An object in motion stays in motion."

Bella was thrown off the platform.

At that exact moment, the world exploded into noise. A steel locomotive weighing hundreds of tons roared past at full speed. Bella didn't have time to scream.

Her body, suspended in mid-air, was struck by the steel wall of the locomotive traveling at 75 mph. There was no fight. There was no regeneration. This was pure physics. Mass times velocity equals total annihilation.

The impact sounded wet and heavy. Like a mosquito hitting a semi-truck.

The Ghoul’s body was pulverized instantly. It exploded into a red mist and fragments of flesh that sprayed in every direction. The side of the passing train became a canvas for an abstract painting of black blood and monster guts.

The wind from the passing train was so violent that Oliver’s body was nearly dragged along the platform. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath to avoid inhaling the scent of death that suddenly filled the air.

The train took a full minute to pass. Car after car. The sound was deafening. The vibration made Oliver’s teeth ache.

Then, silence. Only the remaining wind and swirling dust remained.

Oliver opened his eyes to the grimy station ceiling. His entire body throbbed. He felt like fainting and vomiting all at once. He had just killed a living thing with his brain, a set of traps, and a train.

"Crazy," he whispered. "I’m officially insane."

Suddenly, the system notification sound chimed repeatedly in his head like a slot machine hitting a jackpot.

[TARGET ELIMINATED: GHOUL (BELLA)]

[METHOD: ENVIRONMENTAL (CREATIVITY BONUS)]

[CALCULATING REWARDS...]

A gold coin fell and clinked onto the floor beside Oliver’s face. The coin appeared out of nowhere, perhaps cast out from Bella’s remains or materialized by the system. It glowed faintly in the dark.

Then, the red numbers in Oliver’s vision began to spin. They moved as fast as a racing car’s odometer.

[TIME ADDED: +24 HOURS]

[TOTAL REMAINING LIFESPAN: 140 HOURS 15 MINUTES]

Oliver felt a strange sensation. The pain in his joints eased slightly. His breathing became a little deeper. The cold piercing his spine warmed a fraction. It was as if someone had injected pure caffeine into his bloodstream.

He let out a weak but genuine chuckle.

"Twenty-four hours." Oliver reached for the gold coin with a shaking hand. It felt warm and pulsed like a tiny heart. There was an engraving of a smiling skull on one side.

"The price of a monster's life is only one day for me?"

Oliver forced himself into a sitting position against the wall. He looked toward the tracks. Bella was gone. There was only a long, black smear along the tunnel wall.

"Okay, Lucyan," Oliver said to the void, gripping the coin so hard his knuckles turned white. "I’ve got one more day. You want to play? I’ll play until I bankrupt your casino."

The victory did not last long. The system provided a follow-up notification.

[ITEM DROP DETECTED: PURGATORY COIN (RANK F)]

[FOLLOW-UP QUEST OPENED: ENTER 'THE PURGATORY']

[OBJECTIVE: UPGRADE SKILLS OR DIE IN THE NEXT HUNT]

[LOCATION: THE RUSTY SPADE CASINO, DOWNTOWN]

"What now..." Oliver groaned in frustration. "No rest for the wicked, I guess."

He tried to stand using his cane. His legs still shook, but he could stand. He was alive. For now.

However, as he limped toward the station exit, he realized something terrifying. He was hungry, but not for food. As he looked at the pulsing gold coin in his hand, he felt an urge to eat it.

"Dammit," Oliver muttered, shoving the coin into his jacket pocket. "I need a drink, sleep, and I need a lawyer."