Of all the times I decided to start dieting, I mused as I watched the hugeass axe hurtle through the air towards me, I end up in a situation where I should’ve eaten. I raised my human corpse shield—I doubted it would provide much protection—and bent my knees, ready to jump out of the way. But I didn’t move just yet. There was something wonky with the throw.

Eh?

It completely missed.

By like a mile. Okay, okay, by like a couple of yards. It landed halfway between me and the currently dormant mob.

I wasn’t an expert on axes, but this one looked really weird. Not only was its head way too big, the shape was bizarrely very circular compared to what was common. It was like lollipop-inspired in design. A fucking ugly human face in mid-scream was sculpted on both faces of the axe head. It reminded me of those creepy paintings depicting the victims of Medusa, their expressions frozen in terror as they were turned to stone. Its bright green glow had receded, pooled into the eyes of the creepy faces.

The axe just menacingly stood there—I suppose ‘stood’ is a weird term to use for it­—with one side of its head buried a few inches into the ground, its long shaft standing high—there’s an immature joke here somewhere. It reminded me of the Excalibur, but an axe instead of a sword. Nice analogy, Erind, I thought sarcastically.

Stupid kid with his stupid throw.

Was it too heavy for him? Or…?

I squinted my eyes, holding my meatshield even higher, bracing for impact. One second, two, three…No explosion or anything? If it wasn’t meant to hit me, I expected some sort of power, like an explosion or shockwave or whatnot, to come out. But nothing.

So, that’s it? Was this an axe giveaway?

I gazed up to the little boy, wondering how he was going to retrieve his weapon now.

He was gone. Only Megaphone Man remained on top of the freight container, lying unconscious while still holding his megaphone. The kid must’ve hit him before leaving. Where did the little brat go?

I warily scanned my surroundings. Light only came from one dim lamppost, a squat office building three warehouses away, and the Halloween-green axe. The mob was no longer using the lights of their cellphones or flashlights; they just stood as if in a trance, some slowly bleeding out to death. When in Blanchette form, I could see much more in the dark than my original body could, but I still wished I had the night-vision thingy of my Pino face.

Total silence.

I strained my ears for any signs of the boy’s movement. No car horns or the distant sound of traffic. The wind was still. The people who were severely injured—a number were missing limbs or had huge wounds courtesy of yours truly—didn’t make sounds at all, not even a groan or a moan of pain. Eerie as hell.

These guys had to be controlled by an Adumbrae to make them listen to the words of Megaphone Man—I didn’t think he was an Adumbrae, but that boy surely was.

Or not.

I hadn’t heard of children becoming Adumbrae; their brains weren’t developed enough to understand the concept of agreeing with an Adumbrae, whatever that meant. My father told me about it when I asked him what was going on after watching an Adumbrae seeding outbreak on the news, but I couldn’t remember much of the technical aspect of his explanation. What I did recall was that kids couldn’t let Adumbrae into our world, so he told me I shouldn’t be scared—not that I was scared back then, just mildly interested like I was watching my favorite Animal Channel except with humans and Adumbrae.

I’d bet my…well, I couldn’t really bet anything because I lost all my stuff in the fire…I’d bet the clothes Deen bought for me that this was the fucking 2Ms again. Some new form of that freaking parasite? They could control the monsters with some sort of signal from a metal box; perhaps they were similarly controlling these guys. Parasites would also explain why the kid was super strong.

I slowly backed away in the direction where Ramello and the SVS gang had fled while keeping the axe in view. I intended to fight here for a bit to give them time to gain distance and hide before bailing myself. Now, where was that stupid kid going to attack from?

Seconds ticked by with nothing happening. With the lull, I began to notice the smell of death—too melodramatic—the smell of blood rather. The bodies were freshly killed, so no rotting odor, only the raw earthy musk of scattered innards and the overpowering irony stench of blood, further amplified by my strong sense of smell. I wiped the blood off my snout. I just couldn’t find the upside to enhanced smelling sense. Curiously, I somehow didn’t find this nauseating. Maybe because this was my handiwork?

Wait a minute…

Did that brat just leave me and run after the SVS instead?

Fuck, I’ve been had! Snarling, I dropped the corpse I carried and turned around. I was about to bolt after the SVS when I looked over my shoulder to check the axe one last time. But why would the kid leave his weapon here? This looked valuable.

Just left there…all alone…

I kind of wanted to take it.

It should be easy to carry with my super strength; I was certainly stronger than that little kid. But wouldn't it be too cumbersome? What was I going to do with an axe anyway?

I could do a lot with an axe. Ever-trusty videos on the internet could give me some ideas. And I didn’t need to do anything with it really; it was enough I had an axe. If it was too heavy, I could return for it later after I chased…who was I chasing again?

Better get this axe now so I could already go my way chasing whoever it was I was supposed to chase. No one wanted the axe anyway, so might as well get it. It was fun to have an axe. Everyone had an axe; it’d be weird if I didn’t have an axe—

I punched myself as hard as I could. My head shook, my fangs grated against each other as my fist hit my cheek. I tasted my own blood. “Graawrrooar.” What the fuck was that?! I held my head. Tons of nonsense thoughts in my mind convincing me to take the axe. Good thing I was able to sneak in a command to punch myself.

My head hurts, both from the intrusive thoughts and my own punch. I better get out of here so I could think more clearly.

(Hey…)

A voice inside my head.

(Hey there…can you hear me?)

I growled. Oh, come on. What the fuck was this bullshit?

(Come take me…take the axe…don’t leave me.)

No, thank you, Mr. Axe. There it was, the secret of this stupid axe and why the kid just plopped it here. It felt like wading through muck just trying to leave it behind. I wanted to look at it to check what was happening, but sane Erind was fighting back to protest that it was a bad idea.

“I want the axe!”

Huh? Who said that? One of the PCM idiots?

“That axe is mine!”

“No, it’s mine, you bastard. Go away—”

“Fuck you all. Let go! I’ll kill—”

“—argh! Piece o’ shit, ass—”

In my peripheral vision, I saw the crowd had moved again, fighting one another for the control of the axe. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who heard its voice. Suddenly, the oppressive force that was enticing me to join the scramble for the axe vanished. I panted, realizing that I was holding my breath for several seconds.

“I got it!”

“Wha-what’s happening?”

“Oh my god! There are so many dead people. Is that Jeremy—?”

“Call the police! Call the—”

“Help! I’m hurt—!”

Feeling that the threat of whatever mind control bullshit had passed, I let my curiosity get the better of me and turned to the axe and the PCM members.

They were all in disarray, running this way and that, seemingly having just awoken from being controlled, and seeing for the first time the carnage that was around them…or happened to them. Those injured called for help, crawling on the floor, hugging their severed limbs. A guy was trying to hold together his slashed stomach, still in shock that his intestines were hanging outside his body. The one beside him was shaking with his limbs twisted like pretzels.

Many were freaking out from being covered in blood and guts. Several had fainted. A couple had the presence of mind to call for help on their phones. Others were actually pretty level-headed and tried to do whatever they could for the injured. I raised my brow at someone who was trying CPR on a headless corpse; okay, maybe that guy wasn’t as level-headed as the others.

Note to self, don’t kill normal humans if I can help it.

The aftermath was unavoidable drama, and I didn’t like drama except if I caused it for emotional manipulation purposes. I mean…I did cause this, but not for manipulating anyone. I found this as awkward as waiting for everyone to stop singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me.

Amid the chaos stood a woman.

The woman who won the axe.

Let’s call her Axe Lady. I was having fun with naming everyone tonight.

Surprising that she was the one who emerged victorious given she was only a couple of inches taller than my height as Erind and just as petite. She sported a bloody broken nose and a puffy cut lip. Patches of her long hair were ripped off her scalp. Her clothes were torn, wounds all over her body, the price she paid to get possession of the axe. And now that she had it, her eyes glowed the same creepy green as the axe.

Some of the people around her, previously fellow competitors in the axe contest, noticed something was wrong with her and crawled away as fast as they could despite their injuries.

Axe Lady looked at me. Our eyes met.

I grabbed the broken saw machine near me and flung it at her with all my might.

A whistle.

The wind kicked up dust.

The saw machine broke into four pieces.

I managed to see the first slice, but could barely discern the second one. And she did it with that humongous axe without snagging the injured people near her with the wide swings. Ladies and gentlemen, a prime example of someone I should stay the fuck away from.

Bye, I thought as I sprinted off. I leaped up the side of the nearest warehouse when I heard the whistle of her swing. I climbed up as fast as I could and then looked down. She hadn’t moved from her spot but she did raise her axe. That gave me a jolt; I thought she moved so fast she was already right behind me.

Searing pain in my left calf. A red line appeared; blood seeped out. The wound widened as if it was a mouth breaking into a huge smile, and in a second there was a huge gash that nearly reached my bone.

“Rwaa!” I yelped both in pain and surprise. How the fuck did she get me?

Another whistle.

I immediately rolled left, avoiding a gust of wind sweeping up the part of the roof where I was a split-second earlier. There was no trace of any damage until one of the huge fan ventilator thingies further up simply exploded. Like a scissor smoothly gliding through a piece of paper, a cut opened up on the roof where the gust of wind hit.

More whistles.

I rolled right and dropped down the hole into the warehouse. As I fell, I watched the rest of the roof get stripped away as if a powerful tornado was passing by.

Oof! Wooden crates broke my fall. Or rather, I broke the crates. I also squished their contents. Fucking cans of…sardines by the smell of it. I was now covered with guts, blood, and sardine oil.

I extracted myself from the crates and lost myself in the maze of cabinets and containers. With my hands stretched in front of me, I tried to find a hiding spot, barely making out where I was going. This would be utter darkness for a normal human.

A crash followed by several loud noises.

Footsteps. Steel dragged across the floor.

She’s here!

I dropped down and crawled, keeping myself as low as I could. I went inside this warehouse rather than continue running outside because Axe Lady could just easily hit me with this wind-blade-whatever power she had. My fight with Mr. Ogre back at Eve taught me running didn’t automatically mean being able to evade everything like in the movies; I got hit with bullets back then, I certainly didn’t want to get hit by the power of this axe now. I already knew it could easily dice me.

My wounded calf throbbed as it stitched itself back together. My powers kicked it. Increased healing, more strength…strength to kill the one who hurt me. To eat her. That fucking bitch! I was going to bite her head off!

Calm down, you idiot, I scolded myself. There was no way I could get near enough for a bite without getting sliced into pieces. I beat back the urge to snap my jaws and savor the power of my muscles. I had to be as quiet as possible. Focus so I wouldn’t bump into shit and give away my location.

Fwoom! CRASSHH!

As expected, she let loose gusts of wind in a random direction hoping to hit me.

Fwoom! FWOOM!

That one was a bit too close for comfort. It was just the next aisle over. I crawled faster.

From her footsteps, I could tell where she was going. And I went the other way, specifically towards the hole she made to enter the warehouse. I could tell where it was because of the sound of the wind and the smell of open air. Wow, I was getting good at using my senses. Good thing Axe Lady didn’t have the same abilities or she would’ve already found me by following the scent of blood and canned sardines.

She went deeper into the warehouse, destroying more stuff, while I was already by the exit. Hopefully, she’d waste time trying to search the warehouse so I could safely run away. I also bought time for Ramello and the SVS.

Lots of whistling, almost like a choir of flutes, accompanied by destruction.

Good luck there, Axe Lady. Adios! I hopped outside and bolted. I was off to find the little boy.

Knives? Baseball bats? Should I pick up some weapons? I passed through the dead bodies of PCM members. How about guns? Nah, I couldn’t shoot with my huge claws. And I didn’t want to waste time looking for guns in this field of corpses.

There was something snake-like up ahead that glinted from the meager light of the lamppost. Oh, the chain!

I hurried over to it and coiled it over my shoulder. It was sleek with blood but I didn’t mind it. Throwing shit at Axe Lady would be fruitless unless I caught her off-guard, but this chain could probably entangle the axe so I could pull it away from her.

“A fucking monster!” yelled a PCM guy on the ground. He gave me quite the shock as I assumed was dead. “Adumb—” I stomped his head to shut him up.

But it was too late. Other people were screaming as well. They ran away from me. I followed them. Axe Lady was going to be out here soon.

The whistle! Down or to the side?

I dove for the ground and pressed my body down as flat as I could. A gust passing overhead confirmed I made the right choice. Too bad for the other people—Huh? No one was chopped up. The wind dissipated? Could it be?

From my position on the ground, I ran on all fours. A wind blade raked my left side, shaving a chunk off my shoulder. I roared in pain just as I caught up to the nearest PCM guy who was limping away. I grabbed him, turned around, and presented the pleading guy in front of me. I defiantly faced the Axe Lady.

She didn’t swing down her axe.

Hehehe, I was right. She was intentionally avoiding hitting these people. I also noticed it earlier when she swung her axe and didn’t hit a single person even though many were near her. Not sure why she was doing this. Woah, was she the good guy? So, that made me the bad guy?

Oh well, whatever it took to survive.

I grinned, which was more like baring my fangs. What are you going to do now, bitch?

She smirked and charged at me.