Chapter 7- Devil (Part 1)
Inside another room, all the survivors sat down, discussing what to do next and how they can survive.
"I took a glance outside. The place is filled to the brim with monsters. They noticed that many humans are hiding there so they aren't leaving. They already started chipping through the wood. A few days at most and then they will…" The man's words trailed off to the end as he looked down with a grave frown on his face.
A solemn atmosphere took over as everyone's thoughts drifted to the possible end glaring at them from the horizon. There were tens of monsters surrounding the place and they were already getting closer and closer to invading the house. On the other hand, the survivors were stuck inside with no way of escaping and no way of being able to kill those monsters.
Not only were they inferior to them in every physical aspect, but there was also a more important factor that made them incapable of fighting the Nightmare monsters off… It was fear.
Those creatures' appearances, hollow black eyes, and sharp claws were enough of a Nightmare Inducing drug than anyone could expect. No one inside this house had the guts to even face one of those monsters let alone kill it.
"What are we going to do? Is this really how we are going to die?" One of them said after a long while of silence, his tone wavering with each word.
However, no one answered that question. They didn't want to approve of the almost certain fate that was waiting for them. If death was coming, they might as well feign ignorance about it until it comes.
"Is there really no way for us to get out of here alive?! Hey! Someone, please answer me!" He begged again as tears started streaming down his face.
Again, no one said anything as their faces frowned even harder than before.
"I don't believe it. There is no way after all that happened, this is going to be our end!" One of them stood up and said with a loud voice. That person was none other than Akio's father. His face was pale and his lips were shaking but he had this desperate determination in his eyes that no one could understand the origin of.
"We had lived shitty lives. Lives of poverty, and sadness. Luck was never on our side! But, we survived and lived because we dream of a greater end to our lives! I won't believe what after what happened, this is going to be the end! It's impossible! I didn't survive all this time just to end up being eaten by shitty monsters! We are going to find a way to survive!"
The other survivors slowly lifted their heads and looked at each other, trying to see whether each one of them had the same tinge of hope still intact in their eyes. They wanted approval for their dream of seeing tomorrow from one another.
"But, how are we going to do that?" Someone asked.
Akio's father nodded his head and pointed in a particular direction.
"The inner city… If we can reach it, we can survive."
"Pfft!" The moment he finished his words, a loud sneer echoed in the room before one of them exploded in laughter. It was the woman that spoke with Tin before. She was the only one who didn't join the group in their motivational session and simply sat down in the corner, smoking what seemed to be a cheap cigarette she fumbled quickly from some weird paper and dirty plants.
"The inner city, you say? You are quite the dumb fucker for an old man, Kamine."
"I'm not an old man, bitch!"
"Hahahahhaha! If you think those monsters behind the walls will help us, I suggest you slap yourself a few times to wake the fuck up!" She scoffed arrogantly as if she was looking at a brainless moron.
"Huh?! And where did you get that knowledge from, huh?! Did you visit that place before?"
*Fuuh*
Exhaling the smoke from her lungs, she replied casually.
"One doesn't need to visit a place to know whether its people are monsters in human bodies or not. Look around you, Kamine. Everything we are suffering from is because of those bastards!"
Then, as if she found the cigarette bitter and distasteful, she threw it to the side and rubbed her face.
"The black lung, the unhuman living conditions, the Olgase mines. You think all of that was because of sheer bad luck? We are nothing but banished slaves living at death's hands every day just to go to sleep and repeat that again tomorrow. Even this monster invasion, I bet my ass that it's something they are behind!"
Her words were akin to a slap on the face to everyone there.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? There is no way they were the reason behind it."
"How would you know? Huh, do you think those cheap pills you swallow every day are the actual Land of Dreams? Pfft! I can't! We know nothing about Holem and its creatures and most importantly, we have no idea whether the inner city folks could manipulate where these monsters could spawn when they exit Holem." She rolled her eyes as she giggled.
"You are off the mark, Kamine. And you dumb lot are only following him to your graves." She shook her head disappointedly.
"Then, what do you suggest we do? I am not going to sit idly and wait for a monster to rip my head off."
"Yes! He's right! Our lives are more precious than that!"
"I agree! I think going to the walls is the best choice!"
Some sounded their protests to her words. Even though they were uncertain if what they were doing was even possible or not, however, when hope is flying away, they can only stretch their hands to grab it again desperately.
On the other hand, the woman didn't say anything and merely stood up to leave. When she passed beside Kamine, she put her hand on his shoulder and said in a cold, almost dead tone.
"The moment all of you entered this house and closed the door on yourself… Your fate was sealed. Accept it."
Then, she left the room, leaving it in an even more solemn mood than it was before.
Meanwhile, Akio listened to all of that secretly as he sat down next to the wall. His teeth were clenched and his red face had a grimace on it.
'Dammit.' He cursed.
Even though his initial plan was to reach the inner gate since it was his only possible choice. However, now that he heard what that woman said and after giving it some thought, the idea seemed way more far-fetched than he initially thought.
There was no guarantee he will only end up shooting himself in the foot by going there or not. But, then again, what can he do now if his only chance to survive was robbed from him ruthlessly?
Should he just sit around and wait for death as that woman said?
'No… I don't want that.' Akio thought.
The mere idea of death dreaded him to no extent. It was something he would rather go through hell and back than actually end up experiencing.
Maybe he was acting childish or naive, but he would never accept this fate. Not before he at least tries every possible thing to alter that fate.
*BAM* *BAM*
The sound of endless slashes and banging on the walls and the door shook him awake from his thoughts and made him look around, his heart started to beat louder and louder as he imagined these wooden walls finally falling to the hits of the nightmare creatures and ringing the bell of his end.
"I have to get out of here alive."
Akio firmly believed that there has to be a way out of this place.
"Get out alive, you say?"
Suddenly, a voice spoke to him from the side, making Akio jolt and look to the side quickly. There, old man Tin was standing by the door entrance, looking at him with a mysterious gaze. The dim light of the room made him look even more solmen than he already was.
"It's possible." He added.
"You know a way?" Akio asked.
"Of course, there is always a way. But, your question should be 'Do you have a morally acceptable way' and to that, I will say… No." His tone turned grimmer with each passing moment.
The moment Akio heard that he opened his mouth to ask what he meant. However, a moment later, his eyes widened in shock as realization weighed down on him.
"You mean…"
Tin cracked a small, incomprehensible smile as he looked at the small boy.
"That's the only way to survive…"
Blinking a few times, Akio's mind kept generating all kinds of scenarios for this idea and most of them seemed possible albeit stupidly hard. It was indeed a good idea if his survival was the only matter concerned. However, this idea was also quite frankly something concocted by the devil and executed out of pure evil. It was an act morally worse than the most brainless of beasts.
"Are you going to prioritize your life over your 'humanity'?" Tin asked as if he noticed the dilemma created by his idea.
"I…" Taking a deep breath, Akio said.
"Don't care about that. I just want to live."