They stayed in the building for a while, but it didn't seem like they would get a chance to leave anytime soon.
"I'll go and distract those aliens. You leave from here while I do," Helek said.
"You're crazy! I'm not leaving you, and you're not going anywhere either," Keroli told him firmly.
At Keroli's words, Helek gently caressed his hair. "Maybe after this, we won't even have a place to stay the night."
Helek seemed to be suggesting that their situation might get worse—perhaps they wouldn't find shelter like before. But Keroli wasn't worried.
He was confident that he could survive. After all, he had made it this far without being injured, and he believed he could keep going.
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I won't leave you," Keroli reassured Helek.
Keroli began looking around, suddenly feeling like someone was watching him.
He scanned his surroundings with sharp, calculating eyes.
Then he noticed that darkness was spreading outside, as though it were nightfall.
"Helek, we need to get out of this building before it gets completely dark," Keroli said.
The building had no electricity, no water, and if it became dark, they wouldn't be able to see anything.
They would be trapped. Plus, if the Skinwalkers came in once it was dark, staying inside would be an invitation to death.
The problem, however, was how to get out, especially since the Skinwalkers were stationed outside the main door.
Keroli didn't know where to go, but he stood in front of Helek, as if he already had a plan.
Helek came up to him and said,
"When I give the signal, run as fast as you can and don't look back. Go outside and wait for me."
But how could Keroli leave? How could he put Helek in danger to save himself?
"No,"
Keroli said firmly, but Helek wasn't listening. Helek pushed him back, then stood away and shouted,
"Hey, aliens! Over here!"
His loud call drew the attention of all the Skinwalkers, who immediately ran toward Helek.
Once they were inside and surrounded him, Keroli heard Helek shout,
"Keroli, go now!"
He was still asking Keroli to leave, even as the Skinwalkers closed in on him.
Keroli's feet felt frozen. He dropped to his knees, devastated.
Because of him, Helek was in danger—no, Helek was gone. All he could hear were the growls of the Skinwalkers.
Then he heard Helek's voice:
"You're crazy! Get up!"
Helek had grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. Only when Keroli felt the warmth of Helek's touch did he believe that Helek was still alive.
Without a word, they both ran for their lives. If they stopped, they would die.
Once outside, they faced two paths: one to the right and one to the left. Neither of them knew where the paths led, but they had to choose.
"Let's go right,"
Keroli said, and they sprinted down the road without pausing. Keroli's breath was ragged, his throat dry from thirst, but he didn't complain.
Noticing Keroli's exhaustion, Helek asked,
"Are you thirsty?"
Keroli nodded, but they couldn't find water anywhere.
Helek searched desperately, but there was nothing, and Keroli didn't say anything more. He knew he'd have to endure it.
They kept running for what felt like forever. Then, ahead of them, they saw something they hadn't expected.
A group of people stood in front of them. At first glance, it was impossible to tell if they were humans or Skinwalkers disguised as people.
One month had passed since the Skinwalkers—or aliens—first arrived on Earth.
When Keroli and Helek had been running that day, unsure of what was to come, they had no idea how drastically their lives were about to change.
They hadn't even known if the people standing in front of them were humans or something else entirely.
In that moment, Keroli had grabbed a steel pipe lying by the side of the road and handed one to Helek as well, just in case.
The pipe had a sharp edge, a crude weapon for their safety as they tried to make sense of the situation.
At first, some of the people had tried talking to them, and for a moment, Keroli thought they were just humans. But he was wrong.
Without warning, the people attacked. That was the moment everything changed for Keroli.
He had never killed anyone before, but when one of them lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, Keroli had no choice.
The figure was about to devour him, but Keroli reacted instinctively, jamming the sharp end of the pipe into its stomach and pushing it off him. His hands trembled with the weight of what he'd just done.
But there was no time to think about it. He had to keep going. He had to survive. If he didn't kill them, they would kill him.
Helek was fighting beside him, and together, they fought off the attackers.
In two hours, the battlefield was littered with bodies—human, or whatever those things had been. Both Helek and Keroli stood there, covered in blood, chests heaving with exhaustion.
After that night, Keroli felt like a different person.
He had thought he would regret what he'd done, that it would haunt him, but the feeling never came. There wasn't even a hint of remorse.
That was the moment they realized that survival meant fighting, even if it meant killing. And that was the start of their new journey.
With weapons in hand, they set out in search of safety, though they knew that in the Skinwalkers' true form, they were nearly impossible to defeat.
But in human form, they weren't as strong. They could fight back in that form, and so they did—time and time again.
Since then, trust had become a rare commodity. They didn't trust any humans anymore.
They moved through the ruined city, a wasteland of destruction.
Buildings lay in rubble, cars burned on the streets, and the dead bodies, though scarce, were likely devoured by the Skinwalkers.
Each night, the full moon shone down, and darkness reigned.
They had grown accustomed to the darkness, not knowing when—or if—daylight would ever return.
After what felt like an eternity, they stumbled upon a school that seemed secure enough to shelter in. It wasn't much, but it was a place to rest.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Keroli and Helek camped there, trying to find some semblance of peace amidst the chaos.