After making some last-minute adjustments regarding everyone's positioning and the general walking formation, the group of player candidates swiftly vacated the premise, stepping upon the wide, sized-lane sidewalk that seemed to lead out of the building's site.
The group made their way across a small field of grass, with various trees like cypress, maples, and magnolia surrounding them on either side of the trail. They walked at a brisk pace, their feet impacted against gravel; the trail having shifted at some point from a wider-in-length paved sidewalk to a more narrow dirt gravel trail.
And quickly enough, they reached the end of the dirt trail, where, upon a closer look, a transparent blue barrier could be seen flicking and shimmering in the empty air in front of them. This shimmering transparent blue barrier was the threshold denominating the entrance to a safe zone. Once past this point, monsters were freely roaming around.
This point was even further driven home. Because ahead of them, just several meters past the barrier, a dystopian's sight greeted them.
Beyond the horizon, dilapidated buildings with chinks and fissures running along the edifice greeted them. Some of them were standing precariously, effectively threatening to collapse at the slightest disturbance. Not only that, but stores with broken windows and loosely hanging billboards were also the norm.
The street's condition wasn't better. The asphalt road was cracked and crumbling, with some trash littering it or on its side. To complete the picture, as far as the eyes could see, crashed cars were lining up the street in a chaotically neat fashion.
"This…"
"Christ!"
"Madness… this is madness… what the fuck happened here? Holy shit!"
"We're ain't in Kansas anymore… fuuuckkk."
The depicted picture of this post-apocalyptic city was a deeply unsettling one for people of the 21st century who grew up in metropolitan cities. It was one thing to have watched this kind of scenery in a movie or read something similar in a novel portraying a post-apocalyptic world after all– and an entirely different thing to see and experience it with your own eyes.
Calling this scene disturbing wasn't an apt descriptor for the painting this scene drawed.
It was hard to even try and put into words the sheer feeling of wrongness this sight elicited in each of them. Every single ounce of their being was screaming at them that it was just wrong.
Except for one person…
"Which way do we take?"
Ian asked, turning his head to look at Laura. As the only one utterly unaffected by the spectacle in front of him, it fell on him to bring everyone's mind back on track.
"Huh…" The ex-MMA fighter unintelligently answered.
"Which way do we take?" He repeated.
"Oh, right…" Taking out her scroll, she briefly fumbled with it before opening and reading it. "Huh… we take left on the first street then we just need to go straight for a while, then we'll turn left before the third traffic light..."
Nodding, he stepped out of the safe zone and into the dilapidated street, walking ahead of the group.
"Alright, let's go then. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get there, and the better it is. No need to linger much longer, it's obviously anything but safe here."
At his words, they looked at each other with clear hesitation and worry etched on their visage.
Until, one by one, with various degrees of trepidation, the player's candidates stepped out of the safe zone and followed after him.
…x…x…x…x…x—---------------------...x…x…x…x…x…x----------------------------...x…x…x…x…x
"This silence is really creepy…" The sole redhead of the group muttered from the back of the formation, slowly trailing after the group.
The group had been cautiously advancing through the run-down asphalt road for ten minutes or so now. All the while, they did it while walking and maintaining a basic marching formation– yet they still managed to move at a decent pace. And so far, they haven't encountered any obstacles. With the streets being silent for the most part.
Mostly.
*GraahHh!*
A faint growling sound reverberated through the space. Carried by a small wind's breeze, it echoed around for a small time before petering out.
Upon hearing this sound, Nathan flinched, the hairs on his arm standing up in goosebumps.
Apart from the occasional growling sound being heard from time to time, their entire walk was mostly spent in silence, given that nobody was feeling comfortable enough to speak. Rightly so.
"You were saying?" Walking beside him, Laura inquired, voice laced with amusement. "Because I'm sure as hell that this place is anything but quiet." Another faint growl resounded around them before swiftly dying out. "Disturbingly so…"
"Well, mostly silent…." Nathan amended, shaking his head. "except for those even more creepy growling and snarling sounds. Seriously, where are they coming from?"
"From somewhere ahead or around us I presume… this is disturbing. It's far but still near enough that we can pick up the sound of it echoing in the wind."
"I don't like this…" Alejandro interjected, moistening his dry lips. "I really don't like this atmosphere. I feel like we're being watched constantly. This land is cursed and we're willingly stepping foot into it..."
"Don't be so superstitious," Olga quickly rebutted. Too quickly even. "There's nothing cursed about this plac-"
*RaHaAaahHh!*
"Wh-what was that?" Olga stuttered, wildly looking around her in fright. Hoping against hope that it was just her frayed nerves acting. "Did you hear it too? This sounded much much closer than all the previous ones! I'm not imagining it, right? Please, tell me I am and I'm simply going crazy."
"Unfortunately," Tightening the grip on his shield's center handle while carefully walking across the street, eyes cautiously roaming the surroundings in search of dangers– Brian, the son of the bitch that he is, didn't hesitate one second before crashing the small bastion of hope she had. "I don't think you imagined it… I clearly heard it too."
"M-me too… I heard it too! I-I think It sounded like the barking of a dog…" Àlvaro nervously supplied.
"It can't be a dog. This sounded more like some kind of wild beast!"
"… Maybe…"
"I told you, I told you this place is cursed! Cursed! This is a warning to back down!!"
"Out of the question," snapped Michael, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Backing down? Backing down to where exactly? For what? We've already walked a fair distance. Almost a whole kilometer. Tracking back will be a waste of time, resources, and energy. And for what? To go back to the gymnasium? After having spent this much and reached this far?" Michael pointed to the whole place around them. "Yes, admittedly this atmosphere is creepy and this place is surreal-"
At that, Laura audibly snorted. "No shit."
Michael glares at her.
"-but we're almost there, we'll reach the safe zone soon enough, the safe house is near. We just need to keep our cool, and no matter what, and I must stress that; no matter what happens, do.not.panic! As long as we do that, we'll be fine. Besides, we're making good use of our time and so far we haven't encountered a single soul."
"I feel like this should be an even more worrying sign given what we've been hearing…" Laura said.
"Maybe, but fretting over it and jumping at every shadow won't help us either if we do indeed encounter something or heck, another group like ours."
Even after his unprompted little speech, he could tell that they weren't fully convinced or totally on board. Yet they couldn't go back, not after having come all this way. They were nervous, and justly so. Michael knew that they were because he too was nervous, and very much on edge. At least, they weren't on the verge of bolting away without looking back at the sudden appearance of something like a tumbleweed.
A small consolation if there is one to take, Michael mused.
*KiiirrrraahHh!*
There it was again, the distant sound of growling. This time, it sounded even closer than earlier. This made everyone collectively tense their shoulders, guard raising in anticipation.
"How is he so calm about it?"
The youngest member of the group asked, alluding to Ian's seemingly unfazed attitude, as they resumed walking, following after his silhouette. Indeed, thirty or so meters ahead of the group, the regressor was walking with his bat lazily resting against his shoulder.
While they had stopped in the middle of the road in a panic, the regressor, for his part, hadn't stopped to wait for them or even look back at least once– looking utterly unconcerned by his companions' bout of jitters. Which was true in a sense.
He wasn't worried. Either for them or for him. If something had managed to sneak up on them, effectively avoiding his notice, then it was out of his hand. All they could manage to do was scream, which would be enough to alert him of something going wrong.
Then again, while nothing was impossible, it was still highly improbable for a monster to sneak up on them in this zone. That while walking in broad daylight and without making a sound.
The cityscape didn't have a great variety of monsters compared to the forest landscape. Let alone of the silently sneaking up on you or ambushing-you-from-range variety. No, most of those tended to reside in the high plain and forest section of the Island. The only ones he could think of, capable of doing just that in this zone, were the band of ratmen present in the sewers. And Ian had absolutely no intention of going there. Even for him, no, especially for the current him, this zone was extremely dangerous.
Besides, the ratmen seldom come out of their holes. They like to keep themselves to the sewers, preferring the dark and moist environment offered by it. And even when they leave their natural habitat, they don't linger too much on the surface, thanks to the ghouls inhabiting these parts. Ghouls were equally a threat to them as much as to the players who were also hostile to them.
"I wonder," the farmer from Léon pondered. "He's walking alone ahead of us, and that without worry. I too wonder how he can be so carefree… I wish I had his courage." Smiling In reassurance, he glanced at the young boy beside him. "I just want to curl up somewhere far, far away from here. This place is making me tremble in fear and I'm about to piss myself if something or someone as much as graze me without me knowing. So don't worry chico, I'm as much afraid as you. If not even more."
Àlvaro blinked in surprise, a silent 'O' expression forming on his visage.
Alejandro winked, bumping him. "Though even if I piss myself, I don't think I'll be the one screaming like a little girl."
"Oh, yeah?" The younger boy smirked. "I'm sorry but not sorry to announce that it surely won't be me, uncle, you are clearly projecting," puffing up, he proudly hit his chest. "You should know that I'm a boy from El Infiernillo– danger is my girlfriend, trouble my side girl, and fear my bitch."
The farmer wheezed, clutching his sides.
Olga stared at Àlvaro, pinning him with an intense gaze radiating disapproval. Under her gaze, the younger boy started to squirm before letting out a faint 'sorry'. Satisfied, she turned her attention to a still-laughing Alejandro.
To his credit, sensing her attention's shift, the farmer cleared his throat, quickly bringing back his laughter under control.
A little banter didn't hurt while they walked across the equivalent of a horror movie set. It was a good way to help distract themselves from the creepy environment in which they were and soothe their frayed nerves. However, everyone didn't share the same advice on the subject of appropriate mindless banter as demonstrated by Olga.
Case in point…
"Foolishness," Nathan answered derisively without anyone prompting. "You don't need to keep wondering how he can stay so calm even with all those noises. He must be guided by either foolishness or ignorance. The dumb brat isn't probably aware of just how fucking fast we could find ourselves in danger depending on the situation. Maybe he doesn't even think himself in danger, God only knows that shit can go from 0 to 100 real quick."
"Yet, despite that, he volunteered to scout ahead…" Laura said, the 'Unlike you' unsaid but strongly implied.
"Again foolishness," the redhead reiterated, scoffing; a woosh sound timing with her comment going over his head. "In the first place, he's not like you or I who've been informed of the other world and its tribulations as well as given a contract that's not the equivalent of a slave collar-"
Alejandro frowned at that while Àlvaro awkwardly stroked his backhand.
He shrugged, either unaware of the reaction caused by his words or not caring at all. "-he's a black mark, the brat basically knows nothing."
"So are Alejandro and the kid here," Laura reminded, making him blink. "The kid's resourceful, you can give him that. While everyone and their mothers were panicking or despondently staring at empty space, the kid here acted instead of despairing. He quickly capitalized on the information given to him and acted upon that. Fast. Faster than anyone else while we were all gathering our bearings, he was accessing his system. While we were all printing our cards, he was searching for useful tools. Even if, and I mean even if you can make a case for him blindly throwing himself in a fire without truly being ready for the heat and smoke, you can't say that he lacks initiative and courage. A whole bunch of grown-ass adults couldn't and weren't able to propose something. Yet he did."
"This is hardly a feat," Nathan rolled his eyes, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm sure that given enough time, either Michael or Brian would have suggested a plan. Even a fool can say what he knows and makes sense. Convingly at that. And the same fool can convince himself and everyone around him of the veracity of his words. He may be right but that doesn't mean that what he does after knowing it– is the right thing. Don't expect him to have put a lot of thought behind his actions and choices, you'll be disappointed."
"You may have a point, I give you that." The Martinican conceded before curiously asking. "But then again, you seem to have a grudge against him, what did he do to you?"
Nathan's expression soured. "That had nothing to do-"
"Wait a second," Before he could finish talking, he paused. Courtesy of Michael holding a hand up, signaling for them to stop. They all did. The redhead came to a halt behind Olga, Alejandro, and the kid.
"What's the matter, Michael?" And questioned.
"Look ahead, the kid's slowly backing away," It was Brian that answered him instead.
"Something's wrong…"
That's when they heard it.
*WHhheeeeeiahhhhhhRoaaaarrr!*
Shrill and grating. A high-pitched guttural roar, coming deep from the back of a throat, rang out through the space.
*KiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaahGrAooOoooaaAaaahHhh!*
Upon hearing this roar, an unsettling sensation washed over the group; causing them to hold their breath as a quiet dread seemingly emerged from the depth of their soul, from their very being– a genetically hard-wire adaptive innate response present since the dawn of time, telling them to be wary, telling them to be ready, either to fight or to run. This sensation of fear steadily crept upon each one of them like the phantom breath of death itself. All these sensations weaving and mixing, coagulated in a cocktail of dread, fear, adrenaline, denial, and panic.
Heartbeat quickening, cold sweat running on their back, hairs raising on their arms… an uneasy silence settled over the group.
It was then…
*GraahHh!*
At long last…
...
...…
...
…
They saw it.
A monster.