Wrong Place, Wrong Time

I wasn't too fond of this assignment. To be fair, I wasn't fond of any assignment that required me to go halfway across the world. Why me, anyway? I wasn't normally the guy to send about this stuff.

My cameraman was nice enough to let me sleep because of the rotten night I had. Until we started arriving, anyway.

"Hey. Hey, Dav. We're getting close." He said while nudging me.

I allowed myself a quick stretch before readjusting my seat. "Thanks. And, it's Dafydd, not David. I know they're similar but please try to remember." I supressed a yawn.

"Sorry. Not used to Welsh." He responded, sheepishly.

I felt a little bad after that and decided to try make a joke. "Don't worry about it, neither are most Welshmen." The befuddled look told me it didn't land well. "Forget about it. Now, what are we here for again?"

There was puzzlement in his voice when he asked, "Weren't you told when you got the assignment?"

I rubbed my eyes, still trying to wake up. "Yes, but I've been asleep since then and would like a reminder." I didn't need to be told how aggressive I sounded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

"That's OK." He said, still sounding a little hurt. "Basically, there was a company, Radiant, that was trying to make some kind of super fruit that could grow anywhere and solve world hunger. But something exploded and released some kind of gas or something and people have been getting sick. Other people started getting powers."

That sparked a memory. "Oh yea, Novaport City. The company collapsed soon after. Honestly, it was the first time I ever heard of the place."

"I was born there. Moved away when I was 6."

Weird time to recall but I realised I didn't know his name. "Sorry to ask but, what was your name?"

"Louis." I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "Louis Zass." He finally said, embarrassed.

I just stared at him, hadn't heard that name since Charlie's Angels. "Let me guess, you get a lot of "Louis's ass" jokes?" He wouldn't even look at me. "Relax, I'm not saying anything."

He seemed to relax a little before slowing down as we reached the Quarantine Line.

A muscular guy in black body armour and holding a machine gun walked towards us. "You have to turn back, this city's been quarantined."

"We're reporters." I showed him my credentials. "We're supposed to have permission to cross."

He took a look before walking away. He was talking to someone in a booth before he came back. "You can pass, but you'll have to be careful. City's gotten dangerous these past few weeks.

He opened the barrier and let us through.

It was going to be a slow drive, so I decided to ask something. "Yankee or limey?" He looked at me confused. "You said you were born here. Are you a yankee or a limey?"

"Does it matter?"

I shrugged. "No, just curious. You can always tell me to fuck off if you want, I won't be offended."

He grinned, finally starting to relax. "Well, I guess if I had to choose-"

He didn't get to finish as what could only be described as a 6 foot hairless dog jumped infront of us before jumping away.

"What the hell was that?!" I near screamed.

"I don't know!" Louis said with equal panic. "Maybe it's one of those superpowered beings?"

"Not unless everyone has that power." I stated, pointing to more of them down the road. "Grab the camera and run!"

He didn't need to be told twice and we ran for cover. Now that we weren't being distracted by our conversation, we could hear people screaming and panicking.

"What the hell are those things?!" He asked when they were gone.

"I'd say they were new. Otherwise, there's no reason we haven't heard of them by now."

"But those guy have guns, why don't they do something?!"

"I don't know!" I screamed at him. "I'm a reporter, not the military!" I looked down at the camera then back at where the creatures went. "Fuck. We have to follow them."

He looked at me like I was mad. "Are you crazy?!"

"We're the only ones here right now! Who else is going to tell people about these things?"

"Well I'm not going and you can't make me!" He said definitely.

"Fine." I held out my hand. "Give me the camera, I'll tell them you twisted your ankle."

"You're serious?!"

I looked at him for the longest second of my life. "Yes." I sounded scared, even to me.

He gave me the camera and looked at me apologetically.

I didn't blame him for being scared. I just wondered why I was able to keep going forward.

Remembering the ear piece, I went back to the car and put it on.

I stalked them for half an hour when I heard from the studio that I was about to go live. I pointed the camera towards the street and waited.

"And now we're going to Novaport with Dafydd. What's happening there, Dafydd."

"Hey, I have to be quiet because there are these things running around." I told them, trying to find the creatures again. "There was panic and screaming when we got here , and-" I jumped back as I finally found one.

"Uh, Dafydd, what was that?"

"I have no idea, but they've been running around for who knows how long. Sorry this isn't the story I was meant to be reporting on but-"

The creature turned towards me and started running.

I know I swore but I didn't care about that. I turned to run, only to find another one right behind me. Too scared to even say anything, I dropped the camera.

Before it could bite my heard off, a piece of sharp rock stuck into its side.

A woman with dark skin and wearing rock armour then slammed into it and began slamming her hand across its head.

I heard a snarl from behind me and saw the one I forgot about practically on top of me before a blast of air sent me flying to safety. I landed rough but was just happy to be alive.

"Now just you, fido." Said the dark skinned woman.

She grabbed onto it as it slammed into her. Before she could pin it to the ground, it sent her flying with a single swing of its claw.

It turned back towards me and pounced, but got slammed into the ground by a blast of air.

From above, a nordic woman landed between me and it. She held her arms out, creating what looked like hurricane level winds.

The creature stayed down but its eyes were closing, she was suffocating it.

After about 10 seconds, it went flying and its head slammed against a wall.

She turned towards me. "I suggest you linger here no longer. As you have perceived, it isn't safe."

I agreed but then remembered Louis. "Wait, my friend! I need to-"

"He was the one that 'ad us coming here, looking for you." The dark lady said, the rocks gone from her body. "You should be thanking him when you are seeing him next."

I nodded. "I will."

They left, probably looking for more of those things.

I suddenly recalled the camera. I couldn't hear anyone so I felt my ear, the ear piece was gone. I ran to where I dropped the camera and found it broke. I don't know how much of that they saw but they saw it, that's what mattered. I picked it up and started running back where I came.

When I find Louis, I'm going to owe him more than just a beer.