Lucas sat beside the man who had welcomed him and held onto the support handles while the pilot continued to rescue more humans. Breathing heavily, he looked around to examine the others who seemed distraught and wounded. Some of them didn't have one of their hands or legs while a few were bleeding from their forehead, depicting how brutal their situation was. They had almost kissed death and in comparison, Lucas was in a better state.

"What..." He panted as he tried to calm his racing heart. "What is happening here?" He questioned the man beside him. Among all the people inside the chopper, only he seemed to be composed and in control of his emotions.

"Don't you know, chap?" The man gave him a suspicious look. "Do you not know what happened?"

Lucas felt his heart skip a beat as he tried to evade the hot potato that was thrown back at him.

"I must have lost my mind from all the running I did today." Lucas tried, not knowing how else to face the predicament he had put himself into. "I meant to ask is there no end to this? How long will we have to suffer?"

The man looked at him for a few more moments and Lucas felt sweat trickle down his spine as he held his breath. 'Please don't be suspicious of me. Please don't be suspicious of me.' He prayed silently while he waited for the man to react.

To his relief, the man let out a deep breath and lowered his head. "Nobody knows when this catastrophe will end. All we can do is fight for our survival."

From his words, it was evident that the disaster had struck the world for quite some time and Lucas slumped forward in defeat.

"Don't worry, chap. We're all here and we'll fight for our lives. Don't give up hope this quickly." The man patted his back lightly and Lucas was astonished by his optimism. 

He had been in this terrifying world for no more than an hour and he had lost hope. But the man beside him had stayed here for who knows how long. But he had not lost hope. How incredible!

Lucas started to see him with newfound admiration and sat up straight, the hope in him rekindling instant. "I'm Lucas. You are?"

"I'm Vance." The man smiled at him.

"Are you from this place?" Lucas questioned carefully, not knowing what question would trigger the man and make him start suspecting him.

"Umm...I'm from the neighboring city. We learned of the attack here and came to rescue the humans." The man replied as he held a machine gun in his hand.

"Are the machine guns really useful? Were those monsters killed?" Lucas was intrigued and he delved deeper into the matter, risking his life in the meantime.

"Looks like you've been living under the rock all this time. Don't you know that those fiends are almost invincible? We can only use these tranquilizers to paralyze them and render them incapable for some time. We cannot kill them."

"I...." Lucas scratched his head awkwardly. "I had no idea." He mumbled to himself.

"It's not a wonder that you've no idea about this matter. Your city people refused to cooperate with us when we asked for help to deal with the monsters in the past. Now, see where it landed. You all have to depend on us to survive." Vance stated loudly and all the people inside the chopper lowered their heads immediately, unable to meet his strong gaze.

"If only you had joined hands with us the moment the attacks started, we could have saved a lot more people." Vance continued as he studied his machine gun. 

Lucas had no idea what Vance was saying. So, he remained silent as he observed the interiors of the chopper. It was exactly similar to a military chopper, only that it was slightly bigger and could house more people.

"Leave it now. There is no use crying over spilled milk." He heard Vance say.

A strange thought entered his mind and he stiffened immediately. 'What if this is earth itself and the apocalypse has fallen on us?' He wondered, dread filling him instantly. He looked at the only person who could answer him with a serious face.

"Why are you staring at me creepily?" Vance queried as his hold on the machine gun tightened. "Your stare is giving me chills."

"Vance, may I know where we are going?"

"We are going to my city, Velomore." The man replied and Lucas tried to recall from his memory if he knew any city called Velomore on Earth. But he came short, further confirming his thoughts of him being in a different realm altogether.

Lucas sat silently, not daring to ask Vance any more questions. The information he had gained in a short time was more than he could digest. He could handle no more. So he leaned back and tried to conserve his energy. He needed it once he landed in Velomore to learn more about the world he was in.

Noticing Lucas go silent all of a sudden, Vance smiled helplessly. "Don't you have any more questions, chap?"

Lucas shook his head and watched the new people entering the chopper. He closed his eyes in dismay when he noticed one of them bleeding profusely from their eye. The man seemed to be in agony and Lucas felt bad for him.

The few people at the back helped the wounded towards the front of the chopper and administered the first aid. Cries and sighs filled the place and Lucas felt bitter and exhausted. He was famished and sleep started to consume him slowly. 

Maybe the fact that he was safe, albeit temporarily, soothed his nerves or maybe it was the sound of the chopper that was like a gentle lull. His eyelids turned heavy and he stifled a yawn.

"How long are we away from Velomore?" He questioned as he tried to prevent himself from succumbing to sleep. The adrenaline from before was dropping slowly and Lucas' entire felt weary.

"I'm not sure. It depends on the number of people we are yet to rescue." Vance turned towards Lucas who was fighting to stay awake.

"Sleep for some time, Lucas. There's quite some time before we reach Velomore."

And that was all it took for him to give into what his body desired the most.