My eyes briefly shut, and through the now scratched and dirty reinforced glass, I witnessed sparks flying toward Gron. There was visible shock in the beast's behavior before it ignited into flames. Despite its efforts to run towards its attacker once the flames exhausted, three rusty rods flew toward it. One soared above its head, another pierced Gron's eye, and the last struck its shoulder.
The beast stumbled back and forth, a wound that would be lethal for a human seemed like a minor inconvenience for this creature. Gold blood dripped from the wound as Gron growled and went down on all fours, leaping out of my sight.
"This is my chance." I opened the doors and rushed into the narrow corridor. There was only one way to escape this floor, and that meant navigating through the battleground in front of me.
Gron leaped toward a creature twice its size, only to be struck from above and pinned to the ground. The loud cracking of bones and a grunt echoed through the room. Leaving me with no chance of passing through the violent encounter in the narrow corridor.
The larger beast seized Gron by the ankle and dragged it toward the staircase. Complex eyes of Gron locked onto me as it crawled towards me, seemingly seeking salvation. The bigger beast snapped its fingers, and another spark flew towards the battered Gron, setting it ablaze. Gron squeaked, screamed, and coughed up blood, the room filled with the nauseating smell of burning flesh. It turned towards me nearly pleading for its life. The soft glow from Gron's golden blood illuminated the room, revealing its desperate struggle.
The sound of tearing skin, snapping bones, and a scream filled with pain echoed from the stairs until it went silent. Only a glowing splash made of Gron's blood remained visible.
"What the..." I found myself completely frozen. I had thought Gron was the worst, but the other creature...
"Run," my mind shouted, and I didn't need to convince myself. I left the 4th floor and followed the trail of golden blood for a few meters. After a sharp left, I rushed downstairs back to the lobby.
I jumped over the bars that used to hold windows and rushed away, but where to?
The moon was about to be full in a few nights, so visibility was much better outside the building. However, the feeling of being watched grew stronger.
"What else is running around? Where can I go?" Like every lost boy, the first and only safe place I could think of was my home.
My steps guided me through the quickest route to my house, weaving between warehouses 28 and 29. An overgrown hole in the fence allowed me to escape the GRON complex. Moving through the railways, a part of the supply station next to the GRON complex, I found myself back in town.
The streets were eerily familiar as they led me under the Lafranconi bridge. The school stood on my left, and on the right, my small house.
As I turned the first corner, a shock awaited me. What once was a bridge had now become heaps of gravel and scree. Only the pillars from the bridge above the road remained relatively undamaged. Climbing over the scree to approach my house, I saw streets filled with empty cars and a train blocked by a fallen bridge. It caught me off guard, but amidst the unexpected scene, I could still see the roof of my house. "Thank God."