A multi-hued archway appeared on a deserted street and a man in all black stepped out. As the colors faded behind him he shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand and drew a complicated pattern in the air with his other. An arrow shot out towards a house in the far distance. He walked laterally to the arrow, stopping a block away to cast another arrow. They triangulated on a house near the end of a cul-de-sac.
He's here, Ed thought, his heart pounding in anticipation. He looked around for the telltale signs of damage but there was no smoke in the air, no bodies littering the streets. It was a quiet neighborhood with seemingly everyone hidden in their houses. He'd been to too few neighborhoods lately with anyone still living, but the ones with actual living people had fallen into two groups: Either the neighborhoods had a strong bond and everyone teamed up, or everyone hunkered down in their homes hoping to avoid the apocalypse unscathed. This one seemed to be the latter, although he spotted what looked like a massive structure almost the size of a football stadium carved out of a huge section of the woods behind it. Maybe everyone was living there?
He didn't know what to do, he'd never caught up to Father Gabriel before the destruction before. He knew he couldn't face him head-on - he didn't think Gabriel had any offensive skills, but he didn't have any himself and wasn't willing to take the chance. What am I going to do, beat him to death with a paintbrush?
No, this would require some planning and allies. He had to find someone strong enough to overcome Gabriel's influence and that would be willing to do what needed to be done. He would have to insinuate himself into this neighborhood somehow, but wasn't sure the best way to do it. Did everyone here know each other? Would they recognize a stranger?
With no other options coming to him he pulled out his brush and drew a symbol that searched for life, then tapped it and the air around him, copying it as easily as the Paste feature in any of his pre-System softwares. They flew off in all directions, hovering over the houses with people living in them. He looked for the gaps signifying empty houses and hoped that they were just vacant, or that the people had been on vacation before The System arrived. He hated finding houses that were empty of life, but not their residents. He picked one far enough away to be a plausible alibi for no one recognizing him, but not so far away that he wouldn't be included in what came next.
He walked to the closest one and stalked the perimeter of the house, looking in all the windows. No bodies - that was a good sign. He tested the doors but they were all locked. Not wanting to be seen breaking and entering he moved to the back of the house and used his pen to create an image of a cartoonish skeleton key. Plucking it from the air he inserted into the deadbolt lock, the oversized key deforming itself to fit into the lock. A moment later there was a click and the door swung open.
"Hello?" he poked his head in. He knew nothing living was inside, but old habits died hard. He moved quickly to the garage and saw that the cars were still there. "Okay, they're not just out on errands, that's good." He continued his walk through the house and found moldy food in the fridge, a light coating of dust covering everything, and the smell of dry emptiness that abandoned houses had. He didn't know what happened to the previous residents here but he was certain they weren't coming back. That should have saddened him but he was numb to it all by now. In this world a lot of people didn't come back, no matter how much you wished it. All you could do is move forward and hunt monsters.
He began weaving patterns in the air and smiled to himself at the Disney-like animations that cleared dust, cleaned dishes and stacked them in the appropriate cupboards, and made rotted food vanish in a floating line out the back door. It wouldn't do to have his place look unlived-in to any visitors, and he was absolutely sure he'd be visited by a monster sooner rather than later.
Magical chores completed, he searched the house until he found the master bedroom. He showered, shook out the sheets on the bed, then collapsed into it for some much needed sleep. He'd pulled at his attributes too much with the last few jumps and he wanted to be at full strength before he started looking for allies.