Several times, Seth had to check behind the window curtains in the room, trying to ensure the insect monsters had begun to stay away. He peeked through the small gap in the wooden curtain of the glass window, watching a few brown-black insects still wandering the main streets of the city.
"Not only the participants are hiding, but the other survivors who didn't join are as well," Seth said flatly.
"Are there any non-participant survivors still in the city?" asked the woman who had taken shelter with Seth, Joanna.
"New York is a crowded city. Skywatcher has told them to evacuate, but it seems like it will be difficult," Seth replied.
"Difficult in what way?" asked Joanna.
"The time interval from the Skywatcher's announcement to the start of the game is only five minutes. They could have left in a vehicle, but most don't have one," replied Seth.
"So, since the game has already started and monsters are already roaming the city's main street, their only option is to stay in their hiding places until the game is over," Seth continued.
Joanna was silent. She sat hunched over, both hands grasped tightly on her bent knees. The woman had gotten nothing from the monster other than fear, unlike Seth, who had currently collected 30 shards of life.
Seth sighed softly, closed the curtain again and walked away from the window to sit on the wooden chair. The odour of his body still smelled of cockroaches, but it slowly began to weaken after Seth wiped some parts of his clothes affected by the insect's body mucus.
The smell wasn't as strong as before, so Joanna could still tolerate the odour. He turned his head slowly to the watch on his left hand. The clock showed it had been eight hours since the game started.
Currently it was six o'clock in the evening, and the day had changed from day to night. Seth realized something: cockroaches are a nocturnal type of insect and love the dark.
"Aren't you eating?" asked Joanna, opening the conversation.
"I have no taste for eating anything right after killing those roaches," Seth lamented.
"Night is coming. They'll be more aggressive than ever," Seth chimed in.
"I know. They are nocturnal and like the dark," said Joanna.
"That's why you should always be prepared for the possibility that-"
CRACK!
Just as the two were having a serious conversation, Seth's attention drifted to a new crack that had appeared on the ceiling of the room. It looked small, and Joanna wasn't worried about it, but it was different for Seth.
"What's wrong?" asked Joanna, seeing the worried look on Seth's face.
"Did you see the crack?" Seth asked back.
Joanna just cleared her throat softly, moving her head up and down with her eyes focused on the crack in the roof of the room. Seth spontaneously stood up when he realized the crack was getting bigger and wider.
"We have to get out of here!" Seth groaned.
"But it's just a crack. It doesn't mean anything," said Joanna.
"No, it's not. It's not an ordinary crack," said Seth.
Surprisingly, a roach's foot came out of the crack, making Joanna scream as loudly as she could until she dashed out of the room. She went to the emergency exit in the office building, Seth called her to leave with him.
"WAIT!" Seth shouted, finding Joanna already running away from him.
Seth walked out of the room. Immediately, the concrete on the room's ceiling crumbled with an intense bang, dozens of cockroaches falling and crawling inside, along with nymphs that were larger than average.
"Damn! This must be because of the cockroach carcass I left above!" Seth complained.
The man had no choice but to run out of the room, directing his footsteps towards the emergency stairs where Joanna was already walking down with signs that she was about to vomit.
"Don't puke yet. We need to get downstairs to avoid them!" Seth said.
The man pulled Joanna's left hand firmly, leading her to continue walking down the stairs until Seth's eyes could clearly see the floor signs on each emergency exit along the way to the lower floor.
"Fifth floor," Joanna said.
"It's not safe. Those bugs will keep coming in until they break down every floor with their numbers," Seth replied.
"Then where are we going?" asked Joanna, curious.
"The lower we go, the safer it is. At least we can stay there until sunrise," Seth replied.
A door with a number three sign appeared, indicating that Seth and Joanna were already on the lower floor of the office building. Seth opened it, allowing Joanna to enter. However, both were shocked when they opened the door. The insects were already wandering on the floor; they were through the glass door that was broken by the survivors.
"Damn!" complained Seth.
The man pulled Joanna roughly back into the emergency exit. Joanna trembled in horror. Her eyes were blank with cold sweat pouring unstoppably from the top of her head, drenching her entire body.
Seth became aware Joanna's condition wasn't good. To wake the woman up, he slapped Joanna's cheek violently until a reddish mark was clearly printed on her white left cheek.
"Seth?" asked Joanna, surprised to find Seth slapping her.
"Don't lose your mind! We need to get out of this building," Seth complained, asking Joanna to focus.
"A-All right."
Joanna regained her consciousness and focus. She continued to walk quickly down all the stairs in the emergency staircase until the floor door with the number one sign was clearly displayed. The two arrived at the first floor of the office building.
The door opened, they were once again met by the roaches crawling in the lobby, with the survivors' corpses lying on the floor, their bodies in disgusting condition.
Joanna reflexively covered her mouth, trying to hold back the disgust and nausea when she saw the insects eating human flesh with gusto. A stinging odour that pierced the senses was smelled by both of them.
Seth tried to close the door and hold it with his body as hard as he could. The legs of the cockroach attempted to squeeze through the gap in the open door while Joanna was still stunned, with both eyes crossed violently.
"This can't be happening!" Joanna whimpered, tears spilling from the corner of her left eye, feeling scared and sad, realizing she was going to die with Seth.
"JOANNA!" shouted Seth.
The man threw a gun in his left hand at Joanna, and the woman caught the laser gun with both hands. She looked confused by the incident, especially with the gun in her hand.
"I want you to shoot them!" said Seth.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can! To defeat your fear, you only need to fight it," Seth said.
Joanna was still standing motionless, her head bowed in panic with her eyes fixed on the laser pistol she was holding. With that gun, Joanna thought she could survive by doing what Seth told her to do.
She took a long breath twice. Pointing the gun forward at the door Seth was trying to shut.
"Not on me, on that damn roach!" Seth commanded.
"A-All right."
Joanna walked over to Seth, right next to him, with a few feet of distance from the gap in the open door. Her hands trembled as the beast she feared was now before her, writhing like it was about to devour her.
DOR!
Joanna fired forward, but her shaking hands made it difficult for her to aim. As a result, the laser shot struck the emergency exit door, making it even more difficult for Seth to hold back the monster.
"Shit!"
"I'm sorry," Joanna said, falling lethargic with both hands releasing her grip on the gun.
Seth had no other choice. He took out a shock hand bomb kept in the left pocket of his pants. He turned on the circle button on the round bomb until it beeped several times.
The man threw it forcefully towards the lobby of the building through the open doorway. The handball rolled freely until it reached the room's centre and exploded, creating not fire but a bright white shock ray and deafening noise.
They stopped writhing and seemed to freeze. Seth opened the emergency exit door as he picked up the other gun, the one initially held by Joanna.
"Die, you filthy bug!"