In an automatic reaction, I dropped the bow and the arrow. For a brief moment, I regretted that decision, but soon afterward, that feeling disappeared. A bow would be useless against a gun. Even though I didn’t see it, that guy had a gun. That click was familiar after all; I heard that sound many times when my father was cleaning his collection of firearms.

‘’ Please, don’t pull the trigger.”

“Shut up, go to the wall and don’t move.”

Slowly, I did as I told and moved to the wall putting myself against it. In these situations, it was better to obey and don’t make the one in command angry. I didn’t think about this, but usually, those kinds of factories have security guards, and my actions couldn’t be any more suspicious.

“Let’s not make any mistakes, okay? I’m not a criminal; I am just looking for a place to rest a little. Since my morning has been a bit tiring.”

I never imagined that I would one day be in this kind of situation, but my father taught me a few things about the things I should do. Always obey readily to stay on the other person good side.

“I told you to shut up, didn’t I?”

I guess that I was failing in doing that, I kept my mouth shut, thanks to that I heard the sound of my bow being picked up.

“Where did you get this?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Then, try to convince me.”

“All right then, I found this bow and the quiver in a strange box that appeared in my home this morning.”

The next few seconds passed slowly; that person didn’t say anything. But I was aware that my answer was kind of silly. I was already feeling shivers even before I heard his next words. But to my surprise, I heard a voice full of understanding.

“So you too, huh.”

For a brief moment, I was confused, but then I realized the meaning of those words. Probably the things that happened in my home happened with everyone else.

“Do you mean that you also found a strange box in your home with a bow?”

“No, I didn’t find a bow. I found a crossbow.”

That was a bit surprising, but that was just a small detail.

“In that case, you understand my situation, right?”

“I can’t understand a person covered in blood at all.”

“Unless you are a super soldier and have a superb aim, you will eventually get hurt with the city full of those monsters. But I got covered in blood thanks to the rat that was stuck on the metal fence. That thing I was probably looking for you, by the way.”

I heard the sound of a few steps, and then I heard a sigh, he probably looked outside to confirm my words.

“I guess that explains a few things, but that didn’t explain why you are moving around when these things can attack you.”

“I’m trying to reunite with my parents, my father is military, and I’m sure that he can explain what is going on and eventually find a solution.”

For a few moments, he didn’t say anything. Since my answer was direct and immediate, he would understand that I wasn’t lying.

“That’s some faith you have in your father or the army. But, did you see a single cop today?”

Since it was obvious, I didn’t say anything.

“It’s good to believe in your father, but don’t be too naïve. No one has ever faced a situation like this before. Don’t expect the impossible from the others.”

He had a point, but I never thought that I was naïve. My father was well-known in the army; he had many contacts and even participated in many top-secret projects. I was sure that he could solve any problem. Not only that, but my mother was also awesome. Even though she was a doctor, she also had many friends who were researchers, and she often helped then. Give her a sample and a few weeks, and I am sure that she could find a cure for any virus outbreak or bioterrorist attack. However, those were the words of a son who admired his parents too much. That wasn’t enough to convince a skeptical person.

“Well, whatever. You can turn around and pick your bow, but don’t do anything stupid, kid. My name is Martin, by the way.”

It seemed that I was right; that guy was just a worker in that factory, thanks to that, I finally could relax. Martin was tall and looked pretty strong, maybe it was because of his tanned skin, but he seemed to be thirty years old. His hair was a bit long, and it was pretty messy, he looked more like a surfer instead of a security guard.

“You are not from here, are you?”

One would have to travel for five hours to reach the nearest beach, so I concluded that almost immediately. Luckily for me, Martin didn’t take that as an insult, that wasn’t my intention, anyway.

“So you can tell, huh. That’s right, I’m on vacation, and I’m visiting my parents who recently moved to this city.”

That was a little worrisome; he wasn’t from here. But for some reason, he entered the factory with a gun in his hands. It didn’t take much time to him understand what I was thinking.

“Don’t worry; this belongs to my father. He works in this factory as a security guard, for obvious reason you can tell why I’m holding this, right?”

I nodded in agreement; if I had one, I also would carry a gun and use it against those beasts. I was sure that it would be much more practical. After that, Martin fell on the ground and breathed deeply. I guess that situation made him tired too. Thanks to that I could see the crossbow he mentioned, it was against some boxes and at his side. The crossbow looked very simple, just like my bow.

“So, are you waiting for him?”

I picked my bow, and then I sat on the other side of the room, and without waiting for an answer, I picked my backpack, and I ate a bread and drunk half a liter of lemonade. Martin frowned when he saw me drink that much.

“Not exactly, I was looking for him here. I woke up this morning, and since my parents weren't at home, I came to look for him here. But before that, I found the new habitants from this city.”

Lemonade always made me feel relaxed, thanks to that, my tension disappeared entirely, and my exhaustion was slowly leaving my body too.

“Do you mind if ask you a few questions about the things that you experienced? I want to make sure that my head is working as usual.”

“I understand what you mean, go ahead, ask what you want.”

After a weak laugh, Martin said that. Since it was fine, I described everything that happened to me to him. He nodded many times, but there were some problems.

“First of all, I don’t see any crosshair when I use my crossbow. Also, I didn’t have visions when I was fighting those monsters.”

I was happy that my head was ok, but I was worried about the vision. The crosshair was convenient, but I didn’t have any explanation for its existence. It was a skill, but Martin only received one. Why would I have two? Come to think of it; I didn’t know what the skill concentration was able to do. But when I thought about that, the answer appeared in mind.

Skill List:

Concentration Lv01 5%: Raises your attack power and range by 1% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep.

Crosshair Lv9 2%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies.

Very interesting, the skill concentration is very compatible with me; after all, I used to stay awake for three days straight when I was studying for my exams even though many people said that it was a waste of time.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it. In my experience, those skills are handy, who cares if you have one more?”

“I guess that’s true, by the way, are you hungry?

“No thanks, unless you have some meat inside your backpack.”

“I only have bread, cookies, and lemonade.”

“How can you stay alive eating only that? Seriously, kids these days...”

“This was everything that I had in my home that could still be eaten.”

Martin nodded again; it seemed that the electronics devices in his home stopped working too.

“Speaking of home, where do your parents live?”

“In downtown, why do you ask?”

“I’m thinking about looking for my mother at my aunt's house; she lives in the eastern part of the city. We can team up until the halfway point of the St Louis Street.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

It was too stressful doing everything alone, but with two people, the work would be much more comfortable. The enemies would die two times faster, and we could also face two times more enemies, instead of taking a long detour, besides, that wouldn’t be possible on St Louis Street, after all, it was a long street with few turns.

Even though Martin was a stranger, I thought that I could trust him. After all, he was also looking for his parents. Besides, a person who takes suck risks to find his parents could be trusted, at least, that was my opinion.

“If you don’t have any problem with that, then it’s settled. However, I must warn you to not hesitate in using your bow. Even against humans.”

For a few moments, I became speechless. The city was in absolute turmoil, and he wanted me to use my bow against other people, instead of teaming up with them? My evaluation of him dropped considerably. But soon, I understood his reasoning.

“As I said, don’t be too naïve. We lived in a peaceful society, but that doesn’t mean that every single people in the world is a good person. We have jails, after all.”

“Do you mean that we have to worry about criminals?”

“Yes, but not only them. Some wolves may be hiding between the sheep, waiting for the right moment to strike.”

Now that was something that I hadn’t considered; I naively thought that every single person that I would find would be an ally, instead of an enemy. However, he was right, with the city in chaos, anyone can try to seize power to themselves and rule through violence.

“Since you understand what I’m saying, I’ll tell one more thing. Before coming here, I went to a police station, but I found only a single police officer. However, I also found ten free dangerous criminals there.”

I didn't like the direction of our conversation. But, even though I didn’t ask for it, Martin continued.

“The criminals tortured him and then killed him without hesitating. The last time I saw them, they were killing those rats and laughing, like it was the best sport in the entire world.”

“So, they were in jail, but they also got weapons like ours?’’

“Yes, thanks to their weapons, they managed to free themselves.”

“Do you know their destination?”

“Probably they are walking to downtown, or maybe they are in the eastern part of the city. So I guess one of us will find them soon.”

Even though Martin said that without hesitation, I could see some apprehension in his eyes, my hands were already full thanks to those monsters, and now I had to worry about criminals and backstabs. Human race sure was a pain in the ass.

“Did you find any sign of the army?”

“No, this is just a theory. But I think that a lot of people just vanished overnight, it’ll be hard to find other humans, and it’ll be even harder to find, cops or the army.”

That was just unbelievable; however, after walking for five hours, I only found a single person. What he said was probably right, but how? And why? It was impossible to think of an explanation. What happened to the people of this city? Are they alive? More importantly, my parents and siblings disappeared too? Those questions made my blood run cold.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry too much about those questions. Just do what you can, and you won’t regret anything in the end.”

“I guess you are right.”

“Well, then. Did you rest enough? We should move as much as possible before the sunset.” Martin said after he got up.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“In that case, lead the way. I want to see your skill with the bow; I’ll cover you, but don’t expect much, a crossbow isn’t a machine gun you see. By the way, I won’t use the gun against the monsters. It’ll only attract more of them. Besides, I don't receive any orbs or coins when I use the gun.”

"Do you think that these messages are important?"

“Who knows, they may come in handy in the future, better safe than sorry.”

"If you say so."

Even though Martin, didn’t look like he had any experience with that crossbow, his words were full of confidence. In any case, since he said that, he probably could give me a few pointers. My hit rate was low, after all.

Martin had the keys of that factory, so we used the front door instead of leaving by using that hole in the fence. Soon after we left the factory, we met four rats. I thought I was lucky when I met someone to watch my back, but, oh well.

“Guess, I’ll have to help sooner than I thought.”

While I was raising my bow to shoot, Martin already killed one rat. The bolt pierced deeply in the skull of the creature, the crossbow looked simple, but its firepower was terrific.

“Why do you look so jealous? Don’t waste time and kill them already!”

Even though it was the first time that I faced four enemies, the battle ended fast. Just like Martin said, he had to wait for a few seconds to kill another rat, but I managed to deal with others quickly. I wasn’t tired and tense anymore, thanks to that, I killed the first one with a headshot and the other with two arrows.

You have obtained 02 Evolution Orbs.

You have obtained 02 Evolution Coins.

“Let me guess; you stopped to rest because you could barely pull the bowstring for a few seconds.”

“Yeah, that was the main reason.”

Since I was just a newbie, anyone experienced enough could point the things that I was doing wrong and Martin had enough experience.

“Try to use the muscles of your back when you pull the bowstring, if you do that, your aim will be more steady, and you’ll be able to shot more times.”

“I understand, the muscles of my back, huh. Well, maybe I won’t be able to do that since I’m running out of ammo. I hope those arrows will magically appear again.”

I only had two arrows left in my quiver, and that was making me feel worried.

“Don’t worry; you will receive your arrows.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Martin didn’t answer my question. Instead, he showed his crossbow, and suddenly, a bolt appeared, ready to be shot.

“How about this, since you are more experienced, let me use your crossbow, and you’ll use my bow.”

“Nice try, kid. Don’t depend too much on simple tools, you have talent, but you can become even better, cutting corners will only do you harm in the long run. Besides, who knows until when this crossbow will be powerful enough?”

“I don't think I have any talent; it's all thanks to the crosshair. But what do you mean by that?”

Martin’s words made me worry; it was like he was saying that the situation could become worse. How could the entire situation become any worse?

“Did you see any animal besides these rats today? These rats are big, but they aren’t aliens, they are animals from this planet. Who can say that the other animals won’t become monsters too?”

When I heard that, I froze on the spot. I only thought that those creatures were just some kind of bio-organic weapon. I never thought about finding other beasts like that. But maybe instead of a bioterrorist attack, we were currently facing a mutant invasion.