Yusuf opened his eyes and take a look around him. His bedroom is illuminated by dim lights from outside of the window. His ears could only hear the sound of the spinning ceiling fan. He sits up and gives his eye a rub.
"Yusuf…? Yusuf… Yusuf…!"
He immediately turns his head towards the bedroom door. He is so sure that the mysterious voice is calling him from outside the bedroom.
"Yusuf…! Yusuf…! Yusuf…!"
The voice keeps calling him but with an angrier tone. Yusuf could feel the cold sweat running down his neck.
WHAM!
Squelch…
Tentacles burst into the bedroom, ripping off the door from the hinges. It stretches and wriggles to reach out to Yusuf.
"YUSUFFF!!!"
The voice screams his name from the endless darkness. The tentacles wrap around Yusuf straight away, not letting him escape.
"AH! AHH!! AHHH!!!"
He screams at top of his lungs as he is being dragged into the void. The light that he sees getting smaller and smaller.
***
"Ah! Huh… Huff…" Yusuf takes a deep breath and wipes the sweat from his face. Another nightmare huh, he thought deeply inside his head. He gets up from the bed, then tidies it up. He opens the bedroom door and gets exposed to the warmness of the morning sunshine.
He goes to the other room and wakes Adipati up. Adipati wakes up and reaches for his phone to call Carla. Yusuf goes to the bathroom with a towel on his shoulder. After that, he put on his regular comfortable clothes.
Ding Dong!
The doorbell chimes indicating Carla has arrived at the house. Yusuf opens the front door and got greeted by her.
"Good morning~" she walks in cheerfully. "Good morning," replied Adipati while heating the pan. "What are you doing?" asked Carla to Adipati. "Making a breakfast called eggs in a nest," said Adipati. "What's that?" "A toast with a hole in the middle that has an egg in it." "Sounds tasty."
Yusuf begins to make a morning drink for them. He pours hot water and put a teabag into the jug afterward. Next, he pours two teaspoons of condensed milk into the tea. He stirs it and pours it into the cup while slowly lifting the jug higher.
Carla on the other hand is grabbing two avocadoes from the fridge. By using a spoon, she peels off the skin on the chopping board. She cuts it in half and takes the round seed out of both of them. Using a knife, she slices it into a few segments.
"Breakfast ready," said Adipati as he serves the unique toasts onto the table. "Yeayyy~ Do you want some avocadoes?" offered Carla some avocadoes to them. "Sure, why not?" said Adipati accepting Carla's offer. "Yusuf, do you want some?" Carla offers it to Yusuf after giving Adipati some of it. "Oh, thank you I would love to," said Yusuf while putting cups of coffee on the table.
They sit down and begin to eat the delicious toast. They drink warm, sweet, milky, and foamy tea together.
"Mmm, what a foamy tea," praised Carla upon the tea that Yusuf made. "I just pour it higher from the cup so it'll become foamy," explained Yusuf. "It has been a while since I drink this," said Adipati while he takes a sip of it. "This is my first time drinking this kind of tea," said Carla. "I'm glad that you two like it," Yusuf spoke with a little smile on his face.
Later, they finished their breakfast and clean the table. They also wash their plates, cups, and cutleries and then put them in place after wiping them. All three of them gather in the living room. "Now, can we begin our discussion?" Adipati put a question on them.
"First of all, what are these things?" Adipati raises a question among them. "To be honest, I don't know. Neither of us knows," replied Yusuf. "From what we knew so far, these things are monsters," Carla gave her point. "They are humans before they get mutated and then they attack other humans so they can spread the disease even further," she continues. "Not only that, but they also can turn back to their regular human form. This makes it much harder to find them," Yusuf responds. "But didn't you say they face a pale face with eyebags, Yusuf?" asked Adipati. "I forgot, sorry. But, come to think for a second, how can you differentiate these creatures from sick people?" Yusuf gave his inquiry to Adipati. "It's true, we also cannot just capture and finish them off blindly," agreed Adipati. "Wait, I think I got something, they didn't respond to their surroundings, right? They only respond if someone hit their head or something like that," Carla brings out her opinion. "What makes you think of that?" Adipati demands a conformation.
Carla looks at Adipati with a smug, "I got that from your story, dear Adipati Uwais." Adipati realizes it, "Oh right, I forgot. Thanks for the information, Carla." "Hold on, did you guys notice something about these creatures?" said Yusuf. "What is it, Yusuf?" Adipati and Carla question him with confusion. "I noticed this when I killed them… their blood… the color…"
At that moment, Yusuf recalls the past few days. He starts to speak with a serious tone, "The blood color… their blood color is different…"
"Different?" both of them were confused by Yusuf's statement. "Okay look, I remembered that among the monsters that I killed, each of them has different blood color; one is blue and the other is yellow," he said. "Which means that the monsters that we have seen, fought, and killed are completely different species?" said Carla for some confirmation. "I mean yeah, but not each one of them. I think… there are two kinds of them. Each of their kind is indicated by their blood color," Yusuf explains. "So, there are two kinds of monsters that suddenly appeared, huh," nodded Adipati. "But the thing is that… isn't it weird that they act so similarly in their human form and their target is also human…," Carla becomes more confused. "Two different species with the same behavior, abilities, and diet. This is getting weird to think about it," Adipati frowned at this discussion. "These monsters make my head hurt so much," Carla massages her forehead. "But their monster form is different for each kind, right?" puzzled Adipati. "Now you mentioned it…, I think it's kind of true…," agreed Yusuf.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Carla is a little bit surprised by the conversation about it. She asks herself, how can these two differentiate these monsters?
"Usually, the blue-blooded monsters have sharp teeth and claws. Unlike the yellow-blooded ones, they have a large mouth and body," Adipati gives her some enlightenment. "I think there are some issues here, Adipati," Yusuf caught his attention. "What is it, Yusuf?" Adipati politely asks him to speak up for his opinion. "You see, last time, the blue-blooded one that I killed didn't have limbs but it slithers and wiggles yet… it managed to kill someone… in front of my eyes," recalled Yusuf. "Before that night, I also killed the yellow-blooded one that could fold and roll itself like it was nothing, and it was able to catch me and tried to eat me," he continues.
Yusuf's words make Adipati and Carla stunned in place. The atmosphere feels cold and silent, both of them just look at each other's faces.
"Does this mean they evolving?" Carla gives a question out of the blue. "Do you have any pictures of them, Yusuf?" Adipati hoping for proof from Yusuf. "I'm sorry, I don't have any," Yusuf shakes his head while stating his excuse to him. "It's okay Yusuf. Looks like we need to search for them," suggested Adipati. "One last thing, how can we defeat them before they defeat us?" Yusuf asks.
Carla turns her head to Adipati, waiting for his reaction. Adipati put a little smile on his face, "I thought you would not ask."
***
That night, all of them are in the middle of the woods. Thankfully, it is not so far from Yusuf's home. Yusuf is standing there looking at Adipati standing in front of him. Carla sits and observes not far from both of them.
Adipati cracks his knuckles, "Tonight, I will be your opponent Yusuf!" Yusuf warms himself up, "All right! Show me what you got!" "I hope they didn't get beaten up so badly," hoped Carla in her mind.
Both of them get into their stand-by pose, ready to fight. "First! Activate your power! Now!" said Adipati as his claws grew from his fingers.
Wait…, how did I do it?
Yusuf swipes his hands in the air, trying to get it out. Adipati is waiting and string at Yusuf taking some time to get his claws out.
"Yusuf! You need to get angry first!" called out Adipati, explaining the secret to him. "What?! How?!" Yusuf was confused by Adipati's tip, he feels that it is very useless. "Think of something! Like things that you hate!" Adipati, can't wait to get started.
Something I hate? Let me think for a second…
Adipati stares at him with an empty cold gaze. "Looks like I need to use the psychological attack," Adipati thought to himself.
"Yusuf, you are so weak. I can't believe you are this pathetic. How can you survive?" "What do you mean by that?!" Yusuf was confused by Adipati's sudden change. "You know… I wonder how can you survive the monsters' attack… or did you lie?"
Carla was shocked by Adipati's words that came out of his mouth. His words are so sharp even she felt offended.
"Why would I lie?! You saw it, remember?! You also saved me! Did you forget?!" "Right, or maybe you lied about you killed the monsters. Maybe you killed none." "I have killed them! I could show you! The body in the house above mine!" "What if it's gone? What would you do? You can't convince me if there's none." "I-I believe it is still there! We will take a look after this!" said Yusuf confidently.
"If you are being honest, then the person you met in Serpentine is still alive now." "What?" Yusuf hardly believe that Adipati would say such a sensitive topic. "Adipati, what are you doing?" Carla is so baffled by his different attitude. "If you're telling the truth, then it's your fault for his death," Adipati smirks. "What did you know, huh?! You're not there when he's dead! You know nothing!"
Adipati continues, "If you're not so oblivious to your surroundings, he still lives." Yusuf clenches his jaw, "What are you trying to say here?! Huh?! You bastard!" Carla looks at both of them with her drowning eyes, "Adipati…, please stop this…"
Then, Adipati looks directly at Yusuf, "What I'm trying to say here is that… you are so weak that you couldn't even protect anyone around you."
"ADIPATI!!!"
CLANG!
"Thank goodness I have this sidearm blade," said Adipati that managed to block Yusuf's attack. Yusuf is now full of rage and tries to push his sharp claws through Adipati.
DUSH!
Yusuf got kicked by Adipati causing him to collapse onto the ground. He quickly gets up and attacks him like a maniac.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Fire sparks during the clashes between Yusuf's attacks and Adipati's defends. Adipati manages to defend himself from every single Yusuf attack.
DUSH! DUSH! DUSH!
Adipati lands three hard and rapid punches on Yusuf's face. One landed on Yusuf's nose and the other two on his cheeks.
"Ugh!" Yusuf covers his bleeding nose with his hand. Adipati looks at Yusuf, "Rule number 1! Get angry!"
SWISH!
CLANG!
Yusuf manages to defend himself with his long claws. Adipati shows a little happy smile on his face.
"Rule number 2! Use your brain!" Adipati continues. "AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Yusuf begins to attack.
SWIPE!
THUD!
Yusuf falls onto the ground thanks to the leg swipe by Adipati. He then tries to stomp Yusuf but got grabbed by him instead.
"Rule number 3! Adapt to your surroundings!" Adipati kicks Yusuf on his stomach. Yusuf rolls onto his side, holding back his pain, "Argh!"
"Come on Yusuf, get up and fight back. Don't be such a pathetic weak loser."
Huff… Huff… Huh… Ah… ARGHHH!!!
PEW!
Something fast and sharp just flew past Adipati's earlobe. His ear was wounded and bleeding by the flying thing. Adipati covers his ear with his hand and take look at where that thing is coming from. Yusuf looks sharply into Adipati's eyes with his arm pointed at him.
Yusuf's forearm has a sharp blade on its side. Not only that, there is a small hole in the upper side of his forearm. The hole is located 3 centimeters away from his wrist. His arm has a bump that is connected to the hole.
"First of all, I'm so sorry that I played with your feelings," Adipati gives his hand. "Don't you apologize to me," Yusuf smacks his hand away and gets up by himself. "And don't you ever make fun of the dead, you got that?" said Yusuf menacingly. "Alright, alright, I got it, I'm so sorry," Adipati still wanted forgiveness from Yusuf. "As I said, I don't care. Go reflect yourself," Yusuf walks leaving Adipati behind.
Yusuf walks past Carla, ignoring her like she isn't there. Carla gets close to Adipati and walks along beside him. All of them go home, leaving the woods behind.