It took me longer than I expected to finish the barricade. Finally, when I was done, I decided to drop by my stash and grab two cans of food and a liter of water. I ate under a moonlit window. I decided to also change my clothes, the air was a bit chilly; It wasn't worth the trouble of sleeping in the cold just for appearances sake.

At this hour most of the people going solo would probably be going back to the auditorium for the night. It was, after all, the only building with lights. And even though some people didn't want to stay with the group, sleeping in a place full of people was probably safer than alone. We didn't know what could be lurking in this place.

I didn't see anything during daylight, but could I guarantee it would be the same at night? Even with the bright moon hanging in the sky, it didn't mean that dark places didn't exist. Especially in the larger buildings and some alleyways. I took one look at the sky clock before heading back to the auditorium.

09:32:07

As I suspected, the people who were wandering around solo seemed to have flocked back here. Even the blond girl from earlier. She was lying down inside a sleeping bag in a corner. Someone else was close to her, a woman it seemed, but it was hard to tell any details besides her brown hair and tan skin under the blanket she was in. Blankets, huh? Some people were really lucky.

The blond girl wasn't the only one with a sleeping bag, I could see one or two more around the place. Probably people who were caught camping or something? Hard to imagine why anyone else would have a sleeping bag with them. Maybe it was a rare find? They did seem kinda the same, but then, I wasn't exactly an expert in sleeping bags. What if they all looked the same? No matter. I would eventually find one if it was possible. I was planning on focusing my efforts on scavenging the place.

Mrs Aya and Mr Kando were probably sleeping somewhere among Johann's group. They had taken a sizable part of the auditorium and organized the chairs in a way that everyone could sleep while keeping close to each other. A couple guys seemed to be on guard duty.

Moving around the rows of chairs, I decided to pick a spot that wasn't close to any doors, but also comfortably distant from anyone else. Suddenly, I felt like I was being observed. The uneasy feeling made me wary and I started scanning the auditorium. Unfortunately, it was hard to make out details with the lights dimmed down. Someone might be lying down, observing with half closed eyes, and I wouldn't be able to tell.

I pushed the feeling away from my mind and lay down to sleep. It was uncomfortable and weird, but I had slept in worse places before. Drunken nights with friends didn't always end up on a happy note. Thankfully it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. I was more tired than I thought. Thinking of my bed, I slowly receded into the darkness of sleep.

"...Mr Leo. Mr Leo, wake up. Something is not right."

Mrs Aya's voice brought me out of my sleep. I opened my eyes to see her worried face staring right down at me, while she shook me gently. Mr Kando was standing right behind her, a worried look on his face while staring at something away from us.

I stood up and scanned the auditorium while thanking Mrs Aya. There were a lot less people than last night, and certainly no one was sleeping anymore. Some people seemed to have recently woken up, but I was likely the last of the batch.

Johann's group was split. Most of the people who weren't physically ready for combat were in the same general location they had slept last night. Four guys were there with them, but they seemed more worried about the supply bags than anything else. The rest of the people, Johann and John included, were making their way to one of the exits. There were around two dozen people with them, maybe more, and they were all armed. Batons, baseball bats and crowbars seemed to be the more common weapons. But I could also see a couple of knives, one axe, the kind firefighters would use, and even a machete. Johann had the axe in hand and the machete was with John.

"Mrs Aya, what is happening? Where are they going? They seem ready to go to war." I asked, flabbergasted by the scene.

Mrs Aya started speaking, but before she could even finish, it clicked for me. The sky clock. They were getting ready for whatever might happen. Smart. And here I was, oversleeping again.

"Thank you for waking me up, Mrs Aya. I owe you one again." I started jogging my way out of the auditorium. Mrs Aya said something as I left in a hurry, something about danger, but I couldn't understand the whole of it. She was probably just worried about me.

There was lots going through my head right now, but I needed to get to my stash and back if there was time. I had considered bringing my sledgehammer with me last night, but didn't seem like a good idea. I didn't want to risk having it stolen in the middle of the night. Even though it was a somewhat awkward weapon, it gave me a better reach than the knife at my waist. If I was going to fight, I wanted it with me.

Picking up my speed, I made my way through the people at the entrance and outside the building. Was that a sword? Jesus, where did someone find a sword? 

I caught a glimpse of backpack girl and the person standing next to her. They were looking at me as I ran through the street, most people were. It was definitely a woman next to her, and she looked quite badass with a sword. I didn't have time to observe in detail, but the woman had a very athletic build. Not huge, but with more definition and volume than you would normally see. Probably a fighter or an athlete? She had the sharp eyes of a fighter. That would be my bet.

Focus Leo, focus!

I looked at the sky clock.

00:05:37

Fuck! I'll be cutting it super close.

I pushed myself a little harder, but not too much. I don't want to pull a muscle. I just woke up after all. Plus, I'm really thirsty.

I reach the stash building and make my way to the second floor with broad steps. Without much care for stealth I just throw the pillows around and pull the bags from the couch. The sledgehammer is underneath them, lying comfortably on the bottom of the frame. I pull it out and the weight of it suddenly feels reassuring in my hands. I set it aside and pull a bottle of water from one of the bags. With large gulps I drink as much as I can handle. I then shove the backpacks inside the couch, together with my suitcase and set the pillows on top of them again. It wasn't perfect, and if someone saw it, they would definitely want to check it out. But I couldn't worry about that now. I grabbed the sledgehammer and started to make my way down.

A wave of malice floods the building and crashes against me. I use the shaft of the sledgehammer as support, lest I buckle on my knees. A message from the system popped in the bottom of my view.

[The first wave has started.]

A horn roared in the distance, as if ushering an army for war. I recovered and made my way to a window. The sky clock marked:

23:59:53

Fucking thing! It's already counting down for the next one?

I turned my head towards the horizon and an unnatural beam of red light coming from the top of the pyramid slowly encased us. Like a dome of red, it came from the top and slowly made its way down towards the ground. It threw a tinge of red in everything underneath it.

Faint sounds coming from afar make me focus on my ears to try and listen with more accuracy. High pitched shouts mixed with snarls and the shuffling of feet. I can't discern how far or how many, but I can't help but imagine a horde of something coming our way.

No.

The emissary said this would be an opportunity for us to grow. I'm not so keen on trusting that creature, but I'm grasping at straws here.

I descend the stairs and exit into the street. I need to decide if I'm going to risk moving back to the auditorium to fight with numbers or if I should stay here and use my barricade house. I'm a bit reluctant on using my plan B so early, but the fear of being caught halfway and alone is terrifying. I have no idea what is coming, much less if I can outrun them. And what if they can throw things at me? No, no. I'm better off here. I hope Mrs Aya will be fine. Actually, there were a lot of people there, if anything I should be worried about myself.

I decided to get inside the prepared building and make it my battleground. Passing the barricade, I move up to the rooftop terrace. I set the sledgehammer on the ground, it comfortably rests on its flat head, while I crouched at the edge to see the street below. I don't have a perfect view since the building is only one story tall, but it's better than looking out the window.

Slowly the snarling noises, the shuffling of feet and the high pitched screams grow louder and louder. Two minutes have passed when I finally see the first shapes appear in the corner of the street. A few quickly became a dozen and then suddenly there were a hundred or more flooding the street below..

They are stubby, with short legs and long arms. It's hard to tell looking from above, but they can't be taller than a meter. They were all unarmed, but their natural weapons posed enough of a threat for me.

They look extremely disgusting. Their green skin is full of what reminds me of boils and other skin maladies. They also have odd shaped bumps of varying sizes along their bodies, eerily similar to tumors. Their jagged teeth protrude at all sorts of angles from their oversized mouths, which dripped with saliva as they relentlessly screamed their lungs out. Fighting with those creatures seems like an awful idea. Whatever they have going on with their bodies, I want none of that splattering on me if I can help it.

I keep observing them with a clenched sphincter. They make their way past my location without much care, as if drawn to something else in the distance. These fucking things are probably drawn to the people in the auditorium somehow. At this point I wouldn't even be surprised if they could somehow hone in on us like fucking missiles.

Helping me prove my point, a few of them decide to stay behind, lagging away from the horde. They start sniffing about, looking for something. Me.

Fuck.

It's around three dozen of the fucking creatures, but three fucking dozen too many. I slowly creep away from the edge with my sledge hammer. I won't bet that I can stay hidden from this fucking things. If I'm going to fight, it might as well be on my terms.

I quietly make my way down the stairs and towards the barricade. I can see a few of them under the red hue cast by the dome. They inch closer to the window in front of me with every passing moment. Their noses perked up high as they tried to pinpoint my location. My heart is thumping like a battering ram against my rib cage and adrenaline is pushing me to fight. Standing tall being the small barricade, I take a deep breath and shout at the top of my lungs.

“HERE I AM YOU FUCKERS!"

Senna

This chapter has been reviewed and edited with the help of Densor.

Enjoy!