The three men took it upon themselves to protect both their boss and the unconscious Bucko if they were ever forced into a corner. They knew such a thing would be futile in the long-run of things, but at least it would provide some opening for the two most important souls to be able to make an escape.
The Undeads had practically come up in such numbers, it easily blew what the crew had previously seen out of the water. How could so many rotting piece of flesh be together at the same place, at the same time?
It was almost as if they were sent there...
"Where to, boss?" Stevie asked, as the three men formed a wing-like formation to cover both the sides and the rear of Chad.
"Somewhere. Anywhere but here!" He replied, his voice clearly coloring the situation as being very much stressful. It had only been less than a minute since the first groans appeared, but more than five Undeads had already come and popped just a few feet away from the man. Having his hands full carrying Bucko, Chad had exactly no way to defend himself. He would've been bitten by the Undead, and it would be game over. If it weren't for the fact that Dallas was quick to respond with his bat, this would surely be the future that should've come true.
Soon enough, after nearly ten minutes of pure running, all of them reached a beautiful lake which span across nearly half a mile in radius.
This lake was Lake Moneya, the biggest lake in the fallen ruins of Biouldeon, and it signfied that the crew was slowly approaching the edge of the city. Not something they were aiming to do, seeing how the edges of cities in the Outlands usually meant trouble, and as such they quickly made a detour to try and find a way to get back to the heart of the city...
Except they had absolutely no idea how. They were practically cornered to the lake!
"Damn it!" Chad let out in frustration, as he realised that they could do nothing else but make their way through the circumference of the lake. It surely meant more grounds to be covered, but even then there was no complete guarantee that the Undeads behind them would be lost in the chase. After all, it was nighttime, and that meant the Undeads were at their strongest.
Curse the Mother of the Undead and her Spawns!
Thus, came yet another decision that needed to be made: To go towards the west side of the lake or the east side? Both choices had their own merits, but with that too came their own disadvantages.
On one hand, the west side would provide easier access to the underground infrastructure of the city — what was left of it, anyways — where they could try to lose the Undeads... While on the other hand, the east side might prove to be a much safer route with the presence of a lodging there where some supplies were known to be available.
"Which one should we take?" Chad asked his men, hoping to have some opinions thrown out his way. As much as he felt the east side might be the best course of action, he needed the input of his men. That was, of course, because they would also be the one going through with the consequences of such a choice just like him as well.
Not wasting any time, all three of them quickly decided on the east side.
They knew that if worst came to worst then they would need to deliver a final stand at said lodgings, but that amounted to be much better than what the underground tunnels might hold within their depths. As far as anybody knew, there could be a huge colony of Undeads which might reside in those areas. Or even worse, a group of uncharted Raiders!
Not wanting to take such a risk, even if it meant putting themselves in a rather sticky situation, the whole crew quickly turned towards the east and made their way around the lake's shore.
Even in the dark, the lake's beauty did not stop showing. Its surface glimmered as tiny waves decorated it, and the constant hypnotic sound of the water splashing onto land proved to be a much better calming agent than expected. With the grunts and groans of the Undeads not dying away, the four men managed to avoid any further contact all the way until the lodging that they had been meaning to get to.
It was a decent one-mile run, but nevertheless they didn't stop for even a single bit. They had been trained their whole lives to be able to do such numbers with ease, but even if this were to be untrue, the sheer amount of adrenaline they had built up at the very beginning would more than suffice as fuel.
"Boss!" Haimesworth pointed out, as soon as they entered the lodgings. "Just over that small hill over there! There should be some things we could pick up!"
Chad nodded to this, and all of them quickly changed course to where Haimesworth had pointed out. They were now out in the open, and soon enough so would the Undeads.
"Oh, here they come!" Stevie announced, as the ground shook under the weight of the horde slowly emerging from the woods. In a blink of a second, hundreds of Undeads emerged from the shadows and with them came the despair that flushed its way throughout the four men.
This was what they were supposed to fight against!?
"No! We mustn't lose ourselves before the fight is even fought!" Chad exclaimed, not wanting to let even the tiniest sliver of fear prevent him from carrying out what he needed to do. "Men, onwards to victory!"
All four of them shouted out words of determination. Although things surely looked bleak on their part, they had nothing else left to give out. Either they were going to survive or they were going to die trying; there was simply no in-between. They were going to do whatever they could to ensure themselves to be able to see the light of another day.
Sadly, what awaited for them over the hill did not meet up with what they had expected.
In fact, things turned out to be so much worse.
"There's nothing!" Stevie shouted out, as he arrived first to the place where the additional supplies were usually kept. The place had constantly been used by members of the Red Wolves as a place to hide stash of rations as well as ammunitions, but somehow this time nothing was there! Everything was simply gone. Just like the camp, and just like the people!
"Damn it! Damn it!" Chad shouted out louder and louder. He really had nothing left up his sleeves. To escape out of the lodgings and through the fence would already prove to be difficult to do before the Undeads would get to them first; they were all completely drained out.
"Boss, what now!" Haimesworth asked hurriedly. He was ready to start running once more, but awaited for his boss' orders.
Having his brain wracked up into a mess, Chad tried to pull any sort of inspiration from deep within his mind. He needed to find something — anything! — to get his men and himself out of this situation. If only he cou--
Schling!
Out of nowhere, the body of all of the incoming Undeads suddenly ceased to exist from the waist above. It all happened so fast that none of the men, standing at Death's doorsteps, could even make out what had happened. Soon, the landscape around them was filled with ashes forming from the disintegrating bodies, and the dead of night began to once again buzz in their ears.
All was silent, and all was still.
Suddenly, as if on cue to follow up an already shocking first act, the air turned ten-times heavier than before and all of the men fell down onto their knees.
This presence felt so familiar, that every single one of them couldn't even let out a small gasp of horror. This was the exact same aura, as the one they had felt before! This was,- this was...
The whistling. It came back, striking right in the heart of the silence in which the night was in just moments ago.
Wanting to move, Chad tried his absolute best to move a single muscle, but nothing of substance could be done. His body was completely rooted to the ground, as if he had been cursed into a motionless tree, only awaiting for the Death that was going to creep up from behind him. The chilling sound of the whistling continued to haunt the coldness of the night, and the only thing apart from it that could be heard was his constant heartbeat pulsating right next to his eardrums.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As time passed by and the whistling became louder, a bit faster now.
Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump.
This constant repetition soon became mad-inducing, and all that could be felt in the end was the solace found in-between every singe beat. It wasn't anything even remotely comforting, but that was the only thing his mind could reach out in such a time of frenzy.
Trying to stand up once again, Chad was just about to--
"Don't even move."
Time froze in its place, and everything immediately went cold. Numb was the part of Chad's neck that was suddenly touched by this sudden intruder, and numb indeed was his whole body. The whistling had gone, and instead in its place, came the voice of a boy- No, a demon.
But even then, the amount of power that his voice carried with every words could not be mistaken. If it weren't for the fact that he was kneeling already, Chad would've quickly found himself in the same position being subjected to such a presence.
Even until today, he never stopped trying to imitate in having such an authority in his voice.
"Who, who are you?" Chad managed to say through gritted teeth. "What have you done to the others?"
No reply could come sooner enough, but by the time that one did, the hand that was just enclosing its hold around the neck had slowly made its way closer and closer to the throat. Even without any words having needed to be said, Chad knew what was going to happen if he did not comply. Just like those Undeads, only this time the neck up.
"You were one of those people that hid from me in the woods, weren't you?"
Cold sweat immediately gushed down his face, as Chad heard this question. Of course... Why did he even think for a second that his presence was not caught back then? Everything that had been done, it was all just playing right into this demon's hands!
"I guess you're not going to answer me."
"At-tut-tut," the voice interrupted, his hands reaching out for the Adam's apple now. "Only I set the topic to be talked about here. Got it? One more blunder, and I'll have you.."
At that exact moment, everything suddenly went dark. By the time that everything came back, Chad found himself to be in a dark-space filled with nothing but emptiness. However, as soon as he finally looked back down at his body.
It was no longer there.
The moment Chad finally returned to reality, he coughed up everything he could onto the ground. The sight that he had just seen caused him so much shock, that he fell even deeper underneath the already-heavy air pressure. Whatever that truly was, the timing of it was so in sync with the boy's words that there was no doubt about it.
This boy was indeed an actual demon.
"Now, you see what would happen if you don't heed my instructions?" He continued on, as if nothing had happened. "The only difference is next time it'll be permanent." Emphasising his point, the boy applied more pressure onto his grip.
Chad could only nod in response, as he feared any misstep could lead to the lost of not only his lives, but also his men. It was more than clear to him that the person that he was talking to was not one to be underestimated.
And indeed right he was.
A truly formidable opponent had appeared right in front of him. A person whose name shall grow to be known by all the masses throughout the land; talked about in such high regards that one would think he was a mythical figure. Feared by both the righteous and the damned. A hitman from within the depths of the abyss. The Dark Marksman himself.
Ever since that day, Chad was introduced to the higher echelon of power in this world. Of powers much above that of human understanding. Even until this day, he remembered clearly just how powerless he was in the face of such power.
How useless everything was...
How pitiful.
How mad.