Hao takes a long breath and wakes up, his vision blurry as he adjusts to the dim light. Looking around, he sees Erley and Myora still asleep.
He declares, standing up and readying his stance.
"Am i the first one to wake up?! Don't worry guys, i will save you!"
A voice cuts through the silence.
"Can you shut up? I hadn't slept for a couple days, you know."
Hao turns to see Erley's annoyed face glaring up at him. Hao says, scratching the back of his head.
"Uh... sorry. I didn't know you were sleeping"
Myora sits up, her hair a tangled mess.
"Get ready, we are going up today."
Hao looks at her, confused.
"Up? We're going up? Also, why do you guys look so battered?"
Erley sighs, his voice steady.
"Too long of a story. Go get your greatsword."
Myora brushes her hair out of her face and grabs her twin swords.
"We're leaving in five minutes. We don't need Moen and Annie for this. The more people we have, the higher the chances of whatever's above us noticing us."
The power is off again, the faint light of the sun outside merging with the darkness inside the skyscraper.
"We don't have to go all the way up,"
Myora continues.
"Just high enough to get a signal."
Erley glances at her.
"But why did we have to come all the way here?"
Myora meets his gaze.
"This is the only place we know has a signal. There's a reason the military always comes here. After we get the signal, we'll raid their base."
Erley nods, gripping his sword.
"Alright, i'm ready."
***
As they ascend the stairs, the skyscraper begins to feel alive. Parts of the walls pulsate with fleshy growths, as if a massive heart beats within the structure. They reach the fifth floor, the air growing heavier with each step.
Myora warns as they approach the sixth floor.
"This should be far enough. Be careful."
The stairs end there. Hao looks around, confused.
"The stairs stop here. What do we do now?"
Myora, responds her voice commanding.
"We are gonna keep moving forward."
Around them the windows were still visible. A broken door lies ahead, leading into darkness. Myora turns on her lantern.
"Turn on your lights. We're going in."
They pass through the door, revealing a maze of hallways and glass-walled office rooms.
"Find the stairs"
Myora orders.
"And this time, we're not separating."
Erley nods.
"Alright."
Suddenly, the skyscraper shakes violently. The sound of shattering glass echoes behind them. They turn to see tentacles—malformed, human-like appendages—emerging from the faint light of the outside, their eyes wide and unblinking.
Myora shouts.
"HIDE!"
The different tentacles rushing towards each person. Dodging different furniture in the hallways, the group naturally scatters each one of them taking a different path.
Erley ducks into an office, sliding under a table and covering his mouth to silence his breathing. Above him, tentacles slither across the ceiling, their movements slow and deliberate. He can hear them, their wet, squelching sounds filling the room.
***
Hao, meanwhile, is in a full sprint, dodging tentacles that crash into the ground with enough force to crack the floor. He's heading straight toward the outer edge of the skyscraper, where the windows offer a faint glow of sunlight.
'Shit, i'm gonna have to fight!.'
He skids to a stop, turning to face the tentacles. A wide grin spreads across his face.
"Come here, you ugly thing!"
Two tentacles rush him, their grotesque forms fully revealed in the dim light. Hao swings his greatsword, severing one of the tentacles in a single strike. The severed limb writhes in pain, spraying blood everywhere.
Hao slams his greatsword into the ground, cracking the floor, and grabs the other tentacle with both hands. He pulls with all his strength, the tentacle stretching unnaturally.
The tentacle was at it's last stretch.
The skyscraper shakes as Hao yanks the tentacle, the sound of breaking glass echoing behind him.
He glances back to see another tentacle rushing toward him as the broken glass flies towards him, cutting parts of his face in the process.
'There's something behind me!'
Hao releases one hand, grabbing the second tentacle with the other. He stands his ground, his muscles straining as he fights to control both appendages.
One of the tentacles explode. Blood spraying from it, the tentacle trashing wildly. A second later, he was grabbing the other tentacle with both his arms and tightening his grip.
An even wider grin appears on his face. The floor beneath him cracks even more. Suddenly Hao drags the barely reaching tentacle, pulling it further and further.
With one final pull, the tentacle tears in half, its remains slithering away in agony. The skyscraper rumbles as Hao stands victorious, his chest heaving.
***
Erley was moving from cubicle to cubicle, turning on his lantern when he could, dodging the multiple eyes of the tentacles and taking every opportunity given to him.
He thinks, his heart pounding.
'I'm almost out of this room.'
He waits for the right moment, then dashes toward the exit.
One of the tentacles whips around, striking the ground where he had just been. It only meets the ground
Right next to the spot the tentacle hit was Erley, hidden in one of the cubicles nearby to the exit.
His lantern off, and holding his breath.
The skyscraper shakes again, and the tentacles retract, slithering back into the darkness. Erley exhales and turns his lantern back on, sprinting out of the room to continue his search for the stairs.
In the middle of the darkness, a faint orange glow can be seen, Looking to his left Erley decides to follow the light.
Erley and Myora reunite in the darkness, their lanterns casting faint orange glows.
Erley asks, his voice tense.
"Where were you?"
Myora's gaze remains fixed ahead.
"I was hiding from the tentacles."
Erley doesn't press further, his attention shifting to the darkness ahead.
'They probably retracted.'
The stairs come into view, and the two continue upward, aware Hao has been left behind.