Felicity's Beast World Apocalypse-Chapter 66: On The Road

Always there.

Always waiting.

"No cars," Victor said, voice carrying. "Too loud. Too obvious."

A ripple of agreement moved through the group, One by one, bodies shifted.

Bone and fur and scale rolled like waves through the camp as Snow Team and Ivan’s people took their beast forms. Wings unfurled. Hooves struck concrete. Shadows thickened. Muscles bunched and reformed into something built for distance and destruction.

Damien crouched in front of Felicity and glanced back over his shoulder. "Up."

She climbed onto his back easily, settling between his shoulders as if she’d always belonged there. He rose smoothly, tail flicking once in satisfaction. His top half of his body but the bottom half Snake.

From her vantage point, she could see everything, Her people.

Her responsibility.

Victor took to the air, circling once before falling into formation. Voss paced below, massive and unhurried, eyes never leaving her. Damien adjusted his stride instinctively to keep her steady.

Felicity inhaled.

The city loomed ahead.

"Okay," she said softly, more to herself than anyone else. "Let’s see who we can save."

The team moved.

Behind them, the Church of Light gleamed wetly on concrete.

Ahead of them, the ruins waited.

And this time, Felicity didn’t feel small at all, They hadn’t even cleared the first block when Sarge snapped.

"I want it on record," he said loudly, marching at the front in his rhino form, "that if this turns into a religion, I am retiring. I did not survive three wars and the end of the world to be outvoted by a mural."

Ash jogged along the wall beside them, hands clasped behind his head, smug. "You say that now, but wait until the first pilgrimage brings snacks."

"There will be no pilgrimage," Sarge growled.

Legend’s shadow peeled slightly off the wall beside him, stretching tall and thin like it was thinking very hard. Legend himself tilted his head, eyes thoughtful.

"Well," he said mildly, "he does have a point."

Sarge stopped dead. "Do not finish that sentence."

Legend finished it anyway. "She healed six people, reversed a commander-tier entity, and knocked out three elites by existing. That’s... statistically compelling."

Ash lit up. "THANK YOU."

Sarge pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate all of you."

From Damien’s back, Felicity blinked. "What’s happening?"

"Nothing," Victor said instantly, flying low enough that his wingtip brushed her shoulder. "Focus forward."

Voss rumbled a laugh from below. "They’re arguing about whether you’re a god."

Felicity choked. "What."

"Moving on," Victor said firmly.

They did not move on. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Tommy jogged up beside Kai, water sloshing gently around his hands as he shaped it into little floating cubes. "So hypothetically," he said, "if there was a church, would we do uniforms?"

Kai gave him a look. "I am not wearing robes."

"They wouldn’t be robes," Tommy said quickly. "More like... coordinated athleisure. With symbols."

"Stop talking," Kai muttered, then paused. "...What kind of symbols."

Ivan walked just close enough to hear that and shook his head. "Absolutely not."

No one asked him which part he was objecting to.

They moved through the city in layered formation, beasts padding and flying and stalking through ruined streets with the ease of people who had learned how to survive together. Felicity felt it again, that quiet, constant hum beneath her skin. She wasn’t casting. She wasn’t focusing.

She was just... there.

And everyone around her was sharper for it.

Frost trotted near Damien’s flank, small but proud, tail flicking. He glanced up at Felicity, eyes bright. "I feel really strong today."

She smiled at him. "You are strong."

"No," he said seriously. "I mean like... if I fell off a building, I think I’d bounce."

She laughed softly. "Please don’t test that."

Victor heard it and immediately said, "No one is falling off buildings."

Ash, without missing a beat: "Unless it’s symbolic."

Sarge snarled. "ASH."

Legend’s shadow leaned closer to Ash like it was whispering encouragement.

Kai glanced sideways at Felicity again. She was humming now, barely audible, swinging her legs slightly against Damien’s sides, tail flicking in a lazy rhythm.

She looked... happy. Relaxed. Completely unaware that every step she took was rewriting the power balance of everyone within fifty meters.

Kai swallowed.

"...Hypothetically," he said slowly, "if someone wanted to join a thing without believing in it."

Ash gasped. "A skeptic convert."

Pope appeared at his shoulder like he’d been summoned by the word. "Faith often begins with doubt."

Kai made a sound of distress. "I hate this road."

Ivan watched all of it with careful eyes, staying just far enough back that Victor or Damien didn’t instinctively bristle. He noticed how Felicity’s presence pulled the team into tighter cohesion without effort. How arguments didn’t fracture anything. How even Sarge, grumbling and furious, adjusted his pace to stay aligned with her position.

"She doesn’t even know she’s doing it," Ivan muttered.

Voss heard him anyway. "That’s why it works."

Felicity leaned forward suddenly, peering over Damien’s shoulder. "Are we okay? Everyone’s really quiet."

The entire team collectively pretended nothing was happening.

"Yes," Victor said.

"No," Ash said at the same time.

"We’re spiritually thriving," Pope added.

She frowned, concerned. "Do you need snacks?"

Tommy perked up immediately. "She does provide."

Sarge groaned. "I’m begging you."

They pressed on, banter carrying them through shattered streets and creeping silence. Zombies skirted their path without realizing why. Lesser monsters hesitated, then backed away. Even the air felt different, as if the world itself was leaning in to listen.

Felicity rested her chin briefly on Damien’s shoulder, content, fingers brushing the chipped marble in her pocket.

She felt safe.

Behind her, Victor and Voss closed ranks without speaking. Damien adjusted his grip to keep her steady. The others followed instinctively.

On the road, the Church of Light gained one reluctant skeptic, one very enthusiastic planner, one furious enforcer, and a shadow that whispered encouragement at exactly the wrong moments.

And Felicity, at the center of it all, just kept humming, The supermarket had once been enormous.

Now it was a carcass.

One wall had collapsed entirely, leaving the interior open to the pale gray sky. Wind moved through the hollow structure in long, mournful currents that stirred dust into slow spirals. Stripped shelves stood like ribs. Shopping carts lay overturned in skeletal heaps. Somewhere deeper inside, a sign creaked rhythmically as it swung from a single bolt.

Victor had chosen the stop without comment, That meant it was necessary.

Snow team fanned out automatically, movements fluid and unspoken. Sarge and Ivan took the perimeter. Ash and Pope lingered near the broken entrance, eyes scanning the horizon with an almost reverent stillness, as if expecting the Light itself to descend through the clouds.

Voss remained closest to Felicity, forearms resting loosely on his knees while she perched atop the checkout counter, her boots swinging slightly over the edge.

Damien stood between her knees.

Not touching.

Just there.

He had been watching her for the past several minutes with that steady, considering gaze of his, the one that made her feel like he was memorizing something she hadn’t realized she was giving away.

"What?" she finally asked, arching a brow.

His tail shifted lazily behind him, brushing against a fallen receipt printer. "You smell different today."

She blinked. "That’s either a compliment or deeply concerning."

"It is an observation."

"Damien."

He leaned in slightly, close enough that she felt the heat of him but not enough to cage her in. "You smell like rain."

She stared.

"Rain."

"Yes. But warmer." His expression remained utterly serious. "Like rain that decided to stay."

For half a second she tried to hold composure.

Then she laughed.

It came out bright and unrestrained, bouncing off empty aisles and hollow metal. The sound startled even her. Laughter in a place like this felt rebellious, like graffiti scrawled across a gravestone.

Behind them, Ivan muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "We’re doing weather poetry now."

Victor did not turn from his watch position near the open wall, but one broad shoulder shifted subtly.

Damien frowned faintly at her reaction. "Why is that amusing."

"You sound like you’re reviewing produce."

"I am not."

"You absolutely are."

She leaned forward and poked his chest. "Rain that decided to stay? What is that."

He considered this deeply. "I can compare you to meat instead."

The laugh that left her this time was louder, edged with disbelief. "You will not."

"Tender," he began thoughtfully. "Rare. Difficult to-"

She clapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish.

He went very still.

Her palm rested against warm skin. His breath brushed her fingers. His eyes softened in a way that did something quiet and dangerous to her chest.

"You are banned from metaphors," she informed him.

His tail slid around her calf, not tight enough to restrain, just enough to anchor. He did not pull her closer. He did not need to.

"You are easier to protect when you are laughing," he said after she lowered her hand.

The humor faded gently from her expression. "That’s not how that works."

"It is for me."

Before she could respond, metal crashed somewhere deeper in the store.

The shift was immediate, Snow team did not panic.

They sharpened.

Victor moved first, fluid and controlled, stepping slightly forward as his hand lifted in a silent command for stillness. Ash straightened near the entrance, posture altering from thoughtful to lethal in a blink. Ivan’s casual slouch disappeared entirely.

Another sound followed.

Dragging.

Wet.

Felicity slid off the counter.

Her pulse spiked but her mind stayed clear. She felt the Light stirring beneath her skin, responsive, coiled.

A shape lurched into view between the pharmacy shelves.

It had once been human. The proportions were wrong now. Bloated tissue pulled tight across its limbs, veins dark and webbed beneath translucent skin. One arm hung at an unnatural angle while the other clawed forward, fingers scraping tile. Its eyes were lucid in a way that was worse than mindless decay.

It saw them.

Victor did not hesitate.

He crossed the space in three strides and caught the creature by the skull before it could fully lunge. There was no wasted movement, no dramatic display. His other hand snapped behind its neck. The sound was decisive. Final.

The body dropped, Silence reclaimed the store.

Then something small skittered from behind a freezer aisle.

Faster.

Lower.

Felicity’s stomach tightened before she even saw it fully. The shape was smaller, twisted by mutation rather than time. It scrambled across the tile toward them with jerking, unnatural speed.

"Felicity," Victor said sharply.