Chapter Fourteen

At sundown, despite a hangover and Bear’s warning that he is unfit to fight, Harry leads Bear and Fitz to a scavenger camp near Michigan Avenue to intercept ghouls preying on people. They wait in silence while Harry focuses his senses, Listening to the camp and the quiet, car-less city.

When Harry hears ghouls emerging from the rubble, the team advances. Bear launches a flare to alert the camp, and Harry uses kinetic rings and his staff to crush and batter the first attackers, while Bear’s four-bore annihilates two more. The immediate threat seems contained as Harry scans for additional enemies.

Suddenly Fitz shoves Harry aside as shotgun pellets rip past—fired by the supposed sentry, who transforms into a ghoul. Ghouls erupt from tents, more arrive from a neighboring camp, and still more bound from the ruins, swelling the pack to thirty or forty, all fixated on Harry.

Harry tries to channel rage and power through his staff, but no magic comes—no energy, no fire—only exhaustion. Recognizing the danger, he orders Fitz to run as the mass of ghouls descends on him, leaving the team caught in a carefully prepared ambush.