Martin nodded. “Yeah. We took out all the level twos and threes pretty easily, but it took almost all of the Zappers’ ammo to bring down just one level six. The Disruptor saved our asses a few times. In the end, we just conserved our shots and fired on those that tried to climb to reach us. We were running low, and that level nine behemoth nearly took down the Ferris wheel. If you guys had come five minutes later …” He shook his head.

Diamond finished seeing to his wounded guards and approached the other shelter leader, offering his hand. “I’m Diamond. Heard some good things about you from Cattie. That woman is a natural Warped killer.”

“Thanks.” Martin shook the offered hand and looked at the Sharpshooter. “I was starting to regret sending you away; we could have used your help against that horde.”

The woman shrugged. “What can I say, boss. I go where I’m told.”

The Justicar looked at the other shelter leader. “I’m glad we’ve got a chance to finally meet in person. Now that we fought off the monsters, we should discuss cooperation.”

Diamond shook his head. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Tell him, Nori.”

“Those attacks were just a prelude,” the Navigator said. “There’s a ton more at Lou’s Yard. Looks like they turned the place into a nest of some kind. They have a gigantic Warped there that controls the others—it’s referred to as a Broodmother.”

She was not trying to keep her voice down. Several of the fighters heard her and started muttering amongst themselves.

Bulco stepped forward. “We survived the first attack, but if we don’t take care of the problem at the source, we might not make it through the next one. We’re going to gather everyone who can hold a gun, from both shelters, and grind that place into the ground.

The Justicar shook his head. “We have barely ten Zappers among us and no more power cells.”

Nori’s corner mouth twisted. “You have normal guns, though, right?”

“Yeah, but we might as well be throwing confetti at those mutants.” He looked down at the few scattered empty ammo boxes. “I saw your guns did some damage, but it looks like you’re all out of ammo. So where does that leave us?”

Bulco grinned wildly. “Oh, I wouldn’t say we’re all out of ammo just yet.”

Martin raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? How much more can you possibly have left?”

The Engineer stepped to one of the large shipping containers and patted it affectionately. “About a million. Give or take.”

The Justicar’s eyes opened wide.

“And the best part,” Nori said, “Is that everyone can use them, even at level zero.”