Amber tilted her head. They didn’t need to kill it, though it was remarkably close to where they were going. A shotgun would make a lot of noise. They could try and creep in, but it was risky especially with all the broken glass everywhere.
Ghost paused in thought. He knew they were going to have to climb down to get to the corridor and that climbing back up wasn’t going to be something they could do in a hurry if they were being chased by ghouls. This ghoul was blocking one of the ways they could run. He reached into his pack and pulled out the length of rope. Cautiously he tied the end around a part of the roof that jutted out. He found a He tested his weight against it and began gently climbing down through the gap in the broken glass, careful to keep the rope away from the edges.
Amber laid down and aimed her shotgun at the sleeping ghoul. She had chosen a position so that she had a good field of fire covering both doors in case anyone unexpected turned up. Now came the tricky part, focusing on covering Ghost, but staying aware of her surroundings so that she’s notice if anyone tried to sneak upon her on the roof. It was so easy to get tunnel vision looking down the length of a shotgun. She concentrated on her breathing.
As Ghost reached the floor, he shifted through realities until he found the one where he could walk across the glass without disturbing it. He let that reality gently impose itself, leaving him just out of arms reach of the ghoul. He could see two choices before him, but the consequences of them stretched out father than he had the ability to perceive. He could simply shoot the ghoul with his shotgun or he could be more subtle. He dismissed using his knife. The ghoul would die, but it would take time and it’s paralyzing touch meant that he could suffer a lot of damage in that time, not to mention all the attention it would attract. No, if ghouls were going to come, he wanted to be ready for them, not lying frozen under a berkserking creature hellbent on rending him limb from limb.
He looked closely at the ghoul’s face. His night vision wasn’t nearly as good as Amber’s. The ghoul seemed to be asleep. Its breathing wasn’t quite even, a mistake many people made when they feigned sleep. And, Ghost reflected, feigning sleep wasn’t really a ghoul’s approach. He cast one last careful look around the room, thankful that Amber was there with her shotgun.
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