“You’re getting good at this, girl,” Bulco noted approvingly.

The corner of Nori’s mouth twisted. “Practice makes perfect.”

The monitors on the central dais flickered to life, showing the landscape below.

“Where to first?” Nori asked.

“I’d like to swing by the Grand Mall and catch up with Diamond,” Bulco said. “But maybe do a fly-by above Lou’s Yard first to check up on them. It’s on the way.”

“Alright,” Nori said, working her light console. “We’ll be there in three minutes.”

“What’s Lou’s Yard?” Lana asked. “I’ve never heard of that shelter before.”

“It used to be a junkyard just outside the city,” Bulco said. “The survivors built thick walls from all the junk. It even has walkways for scouts and snipers. I’ve been there once before. It doesn’t have a roof like the other two shelters, but it looks like a fortress, and the survivors can take care of themselves. The other gangs left them alone, so I had no reason to visit them too often.”

“Almost there,” Nori said. The large monitor showed a distant image of a thick metal wall.

Lana manipulated her console. The image zoomed in, showing the place in greater detail.

Lana’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, no,”

The place was a mess.

Thick columns of smoke spewed from within the enclosure, and a large chunk of the wall was missing. A throng of Warped moved inside the enclosure, clawing and slithering over the remains.

“Dear god,” Bulco whispered. “They were overwhelmed.”

The shuttle flew over the destroyed shelter, and the monitor showed a condensed mass of Warped, snarling, and brushing against each other.”

“What … what are they doing?” Lana said, her face pale.

Bulco’s face darkened. “Feeding.”

From the mass of Warped bodies, a head the size of a car rose up. It was a monstrous thing, covered with thick metal plates, and with a huge maw full of sharp teeth and buzzing saws. The nightmarish creature craned its head toward the shuttle. Nori manipulated the controls and they sped away.

“Everyone’s dead,” Lana whispered, shuddering. “Those poor people.”

“That giant Warped must have breached the wall, letting the others inside,” Bulco said grimly. “That thing must be at least level ten.”

“Did you see the amount of smaller Warped it had with it?” Lana said weakly.

Bulco nodded grimly. “I think we just found out why there have been fewer encounters lately. It looks like most of them congregate right here.”

“I think you’re right,” Nori said. “When I went hunting with Martin and his crew, it took us hours to find them. But what are they doing there? They already killed everyone, why aren’t they spreading out?”