I was dreaming of a cave.

Inside the cave was a very young boy, his older brother, his mother and his father.

I watched them as they lived, talked and slept. Sometimes the father would barely make it back, beaten up and bloody, and other times he would come back with a full pack of various things. Sometimes, very rarely, the older brother would go out as well with his father.

One day the father did not come back, prompting the elder brother to go out by himself.

The father eventually came back, he had been forced into hiding after he encountered a terrifying nightmare. An absolute predator.

But the elder brother did not come back.

The father was broken, blaming his own shortcomings. "If only I was stronger."

He tripled the time he spent outside but the brother was never found…

It devastated the mother and father, with the young boy sometimes sobbing, crying out for his elder brother to return, and all the parents could do is hold him close whilst trying to not drown in their own grief.

Cruel fate was not done with them however.

The nightmare creature found their cave and the mother alerts the father and son but attracts the predator and is slaughtered.

Her sacrifice giving the father and young boy just a few more terrible moments of precious life as they huddled in the furthest crevice of the cave.

The father held his young boy as close as possible, trying to comfort him whilst raging and cursing everything. The god's, the whole of existence, the Predator, but especially himself. Cursing them all for their selfishness, his boy was just one life, why did they need it? Why couldn't they just leave him be?... But mainly cursing himself for not facing the nightmares before they came for his family.

The predator inevitably found their final bastion and as it ripped their final defenses down, I saw the father's eyes blaze with determination and defiance as he gave a knife to his young boy and thrust himself upon it.

Begging his manic young boy for forgiveness, he slumped down as blood pooled out and a riot of lights flared up and flew into the young boy's hands.

His boy was hysterical, confused and terrified. Not old enough to understand what had happened, only able to grasp the concept that his was about to be completely alone in the dark where true monsters stalked.

"I hope someone out there can hear this. Please…" His thoughts faded out as tears stopped flowing and the predator closed in.

…

..

.

My eyes were sore as I jolted upright, grumbling but I had a very strong emotional need to see Marri and our little boy Lone.

It was still dark so I crept upstairs and cracked open the door, spotting Marri deep asleep, lightly snoring with a few strands of hair on her face with Lone snuggled up next to her, clutching onto her silk nightshirt.

Label: Marrigan

MAGN: 8.969

HP: 108/108

MP: 120/120

EP: 100%

Notes: Incredibly strong, incredibly attractive, incredibly outta your league.

Label: Lone

MAGN: 0.001

HP: 1/1

MP: 0/0

EP: 90%

Notes: One of the few reasons you keep fighting, and always will. Skills include:

[V Cute], [III Fart Stink], [IX Cheeky Grin] and [X Protector of the Boob].

Woa, wasn't meant to do that! Bit of a sassy note though.

They both stirred, seemingly in response to the scan, so I quickly snuck off back to my own bed smirking at the memory of Lones notes.

..

.

A few hours later, everyone started waking up, with Lone being particularly vocal about it on this occasion.

We all sat down and had a morning natter with a small amount of food, porridge with some vitamin drops and powdered milk.

I had started explaining a few bits of info on my new skills and the others were.. less impressed than I was expecting. They were more interested in my planning, preparation and companions I would be travelling with.

So, I gave them all that and everyone seemed pleased yet still nervous.

We'd not travelled nowhere near that far out, and everything we'd heard about the city centre was disheartening to say the least.

But we'd have to go sooner or later for various reasons, but a part of me still hoped to find more survivors or even a big group. I hated the thought that we were the only community that had survived - it gave me a sickly isolated feeling.

I took Lone out into the front garden whilst Marri attended some things, and I just simply took the opportunity to observe as people left houses they smiled, chatted or waved to each, all with their own plans and jobs to work on.

It was still quite early morn, but these days we all tried to use every precious moment of daylight we could.

But I just watched and enjoyed the calm, holding lone facing forward and chuckling as he scanned around, wide eyed, tracking any movement and his mouth would open like he was saying 'woooow' if he saw something fascinating. Sometimes he would also make adorable noises, 'voo, uuu, ohh' or smile at things with rainbow squinty eyes.

Damn I have so much love for this little guy.

It…hurt me to keep making decisions that put me in danger. Risking a scenario where I died and left them behind.

But ever since the beginning I knew that this would be just the way it is. Our world was now full of monsters so I had to keep getting stronger.

Marri came out and we had a long brace with the usual threats of violence if I didn't make it back. She handed me my stuff and saw me off as I headed down the road to meet up with the team at the gates. I took one last longing look as I turned the corner and I caught the glint in her eyes. I'm truly grateful for survival, but man…fuck this timeline.

Steve, Triya and Catara were waiting for me at the entrance, surrounded by a group of scavengers that were waiting to leave as Steve talked animatedly.

"Ah here he is!" Steve spotted me and waved me over. He was wearing some camo gear with a utility belt and a large camo backpack that had a couple mini metallic looking golems chilling on top. All camo except his black boots.

"Hey Godu!" Triya beamed and gave me a nod. She was wearing a leather skirt with some sturdy looking boots that protected her shins and she had a brown thick but short jacket with fur on the hood. She had a small pack that was worn diagonally, and it had been modified to have a breastplate similar to mine on the strap across her chest. Xno was hovering up high, constantly scanning, constantly chirping, constantly looking around.

"Hmph. Dead on time for once." Catara grunted and gave me an approving nod. She was wearing her modified bikers kit which had various reinforced pads, plates of salvaged hardened plastic or strips of leather and metal. She also had her helmet tucked under her arm.

I chuckled at her passive aggressiveness and gave them all a wave and a smile. Today I was wearing just the usual combats with trainers and my bandolier strap with the singular breastplate providing some extra protection for my chest, mainly the heart.

Since most other injuries could be healed with the tonics, it was more important to wear helmets or protect vital organs. Not that many people wore a helmet either to be fair, they were just not that common. But nearly everyone put some armour over their torso.

"Alrighty, all ready to go?" I thumbed at the gate and received nods.

"Yeah. These guys are heading to the store to grab some more things, so we'll walk together before splitting at the wood exit." Steve gestured to the group he had been talking to and they all gave me a nod which I returned. They were all kitted out in similar random bits of tough or protective gear - mainly scraps duct taped together. One of the guys had a large looking sword resting on his shoulder, reminding me of the one I'd picked up from the gang member.

The gates were raised and we set off into the woods. It was extremely quiet, a few snarls and scuttling in the underbrush with a handful of distance roars and bellows being the only ambience we were treated to.

We reached the heavily overgrown exit after about ten minutes and surprisingly nothing had tried to kill us.

Achievement unlocked: not get attacked by the mutated wildlife for more than 5 minutes!

I smiled to myself as our groups split, wishing each other good luck and safe travels.

"What are you smirking about eh?" Catara lightly elbowed me as we walked, she had her helmet on which muffled her voice.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking nothing tried to attack us in the woods." I paused. "Aren't you really hot in that gear?"

"Look honey, we've been through this before, you're a married man." She sighed and shook her head. She glanced back at Steve and Triya before leaning in close with a lowered voice "But I appreciate the hot compliment."

"Huh?" I blinked then groaned realising. "Haha oh dear..but seriously aren't you roasting in there?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Naw, it's pretty comfortable actually…hey I got a question for you. Personal one."

"Huh okay. Uhh sure what's up?"

"Doesn't Marri mind you doing these dangerous trips? Risking the possibility of leaving them both behind if…you don't come back?"

"Wow I ask if you're overheating and you ask me about the impact of my potential death!" I chuckled, not really fussed about the question.

"I would say that.. she trusts me. And I trust her. Even if something happened to me, she would keep going. But me and her both know how important it is to look out for others so that they can look out for us, especially Lone and…

I sighed.

"You know the story about how we found Erza and Lyra in the hospital? Well what you don't know is that I was absolutely ready to run away when we first heard their screams. But Marri, she bloody refused even though she'd just given birth!...If we had carried on going down those stairs, ignoring their cries for help, we'd probably have tried to make it back home and broken down halfway on the motorway with no shelter and been mauled by some nightmare."

I shuddered at the thought.

"So in a way, it's selfish. I help others in case they might be able to help me." But also because I can't forgive myself for nearly leaving that dear sweet Lyra to die..

"Hmph. Marri said pretty much the same thing. Ugh you two are so lame. We do good things, don't we mate. Don't worry about why you do them, they're still good things." She chuckled and slapped my back. "You came came back for me too, remember."

I did.

The pumphouse.

The Skullwearers.

..

Tanner.

Forcing a smile, I nodded and quickly changed the subject to learn more about the route and where we were going.

We were to travel alongside the A-road on an adjacent path onto an industrial type area and then duck under a tunnel opposite a big royal mail depot, past a brewery and then following the main road that would take us to the train station next to the festival place shopping centre. From there it was expected to be a short walk to the Skylink Plaza, floor 15 unit 8.

Grab the guy and kid, then book it outta there.

We reached the industrial area and…

The offices and warehouses had been absolutely thrashed.

Some were in ruins with scorch marks, some had chunks missing and a few were reduced to rubble.

The mail depot had signs of being used as a shelter, with barricades and windows reinforced with boards or metal. But judging from the huge gaping hole that was gauged out of its side surrounded by very big claw marks and the splatters of aged blood stains that caked the entrance… it didn’t look like it held up well.

“Jesus. Is that all blood?” Triya whispered “I hope we don’t meet whatever the heck made that hole..”

“Agreed. Let’s keep our eyes and ears peeled and let's keep sound to a minimum from here. Look, there's the entrance to the tunnel..” Steve said as he pointed to a small opening that went under the A-road.

From what I could see through the thick bushes and trees, the A-road itself was spotted with the forms of crumpled burnt cars or other debris dotted that continued into the distance. Plantlife had quickly become overgrown and was starting to begin the process of reclaiming everything it could.

We moved into the tunnel which was only about 50 metres long and about halfway through we all froze to a stop.

*Thud*...*Scccrrape*..*Thud*...*Thud*...*Scccraaaaape*

“What the hell is that noise?!” Triya hissed, Xno released a very quiet synth growl.

The noise was faint but getting louder as the seconds went by, my heart thudding away in my chest as we all glanced back and forth from our entrance and target exit.

“Hold on, let me try something.” Steve put a hand to the wall and squeezed his eyes shut.

Steve used [Golemic III]

What is he doing?

"Holy shi-..it's coming from the main road above. I think it’s going to walk over, it’s…”

There was a distant rocky crunch followed by a low, heavy rumble.

Steve snapped his eyes open and clutched his hand away from the wall as if it had seared him.

“Oh gods-this is really fucking bad, shitshitshit. It’s big. And extremely strong.” He kept his voice as a whisper and even in the gloom of the tunnel I could see his face had drained pale. I’d never seen him this scared in a long time.

*Scraaaaape*..*thud..*thud*..*Scraaaape*..*THUD*..*THUD*

“I-I created a golem up top, a simple ball scout model-” He raised his voice slightly so he could be heard over the racket. “-I can, uhh, get a snapshot of what it sees, like a uhh, memory.”

*SCRAAAAAPE*..*THUD* *THUD*..*SCCCCRAAAPE*..*THUD* *THUD*

My blood was ice cold, fucking hell this was a mistake!

“I-it looks like a damned demon! Four legs, two long arms and it's dragging a cage with people inside-and it saw-shitshit, oh I fucked up-I think it knows we’re he-”

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOORGH!!!"

A bellowing roar rattled my eardrums, muting him, and making everyone jump out of their skin. We froze and waited in silence, staring wide eyed at each other as the moments passed by.

A stench of death slammed into my senses like a truck, forcing me to cover my face with a sleeve.

More silence.

Nobody moved and I could very faintly hear a rasping noise, like something breathing with a chest infection.

Someone started whimpering… but it was not one of us, followed by a faint shushing and whispers.

Then out of nowhere there were people screaming and the sounds of metal scraping and groaning. I heard childlike screams and nearly sprinted out purely on instinct, but Catara grabbed my arm, stopping me. She lifted her visor and gave me a hard look as she shook her head.

The screams abruptly stopped as a ‘thock’ noise like a coconut being cracked open echoed out, followed by sloppy wet sounds that reminded me of a bucket of slush being emptied onto a pavement.

“NOOOOOOOO!”

“FALL BACK! FALL BACK!”

“SHE’S GONE! WE GOTTA GO! MOVE! MOVE! 4TH & 5TH GO RIGHT! DROP CC’S! PULL IT TOWARDS THE FUCKING BREWERY!”

A torrent of voices sprang from all directions.

“RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHHHH!”

“CC GOOD HIT! CC GOOD HIT! ENGAGE! ENGAGE! ENGAGE! WE CAN HURT IT! WE CAN KILL THE FUCKER! ENGAAAAGE!”

Within mere seconds the noises of fighting had flipped the silence into what sounded like a warzone.

Booms, curses, high pitched whines, grunts, crying, squelching noises and wafts of copper and death flooded the air. Lights bloomed and lit up the surroundings, even though it was still daytime, a spectral disco that could be felt through the intense vibrations and earth shaking thuds.

Roars of true human rage and pain were drowned out by more bellowing of whatever monster was up there and as for the human voices; they sounded numerous; they sounded organised; they sounded military.

“What do we do?! Do we help? Or should we escape??” I yelled over the din to the others. I was scared but that sounded like a lot of people, which could mean more people to help us stay safe. And if there are children..

“Shit! Okay um FUCK! OKAY! Maybe we can help, but from what I saw, I don’t even know how ANY group could kill that thing!-” Steve was clutching his head, panicking.

Someone above cried out a battle cry and a thin aura of red pulsed through the tunnel, washing over us all.

I started to feel.. Fearless.

“ARGH. You know what? there’s people up there that could be the last ones besides us right? and...we’re bloody survivors right?…we fucking can’t let humanity die out right?!!” Steve was rambling and visibly shaking but he was grinning like a madman.

His eyes had a red shine and he slapped himself in the face a couple of times.

Yes we should fight. FIGHT.

If I wasn’t so amped up on adrenaline, I would have died from cringe.. But instead I found myself widely grinning back and as I met eyes with Triya and Catara, they both had a glimmer of red in their eyes, they both nodded and growled in agreement.

Before I even knew what was happening, we were charging out the exit towards the brewery.

Towards the chaos.

.

.

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