“FOR THE LAST TIME, I WASN’T CRYING!!”

Claire roared at Liam; her face was a dark shade of red. It was hard to tell if she was embarrassed by Liam’s remark or if her volcanic anger was about to erupt.

“Hm? Are you sure?”

Liam replied, teasingly. They had already had this exchange too many times to count over the past ten minutes. In a sense it had turned into a sort of game for Liam to pass the time as they wandered through the city, although Liam was the only one who was aware of this game, Claire had no clue.

“YES! I ALREADY TOLD YOU IT WAS DUST! NOW DROP IT BEFORE I KILL YOU!!”

“Sure, if that’s what you say.”

Liam sarcastically shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead of Claire. She chased after him, unwilling to let him get the last word in.

How did Liam stumble across this remarkably fun pastime of teasing Claire? It was by accident while listening to a conversation between Dan, Claire, and Alexandra. After hearing Claire talk herself up, bragging about how tough she was, a laugh accidentally escaped Liam’s mouth. He couldn’t help it. Less than an hour before, she was petrified of the two-headed dogs. The contrast between her now and her fear earlier was too comical. Usually, he wouldn’t laugh at someone else’s misery, but when that person talks themselves up and then falls flat on their face, who wouldn’t laugh a little?

As soon as Liam had laughed, she reacted like a bloodhound catching the scent of wild game. Claire’s head had snapped towards him, and she demanded, “What’s so funny?” He tried everything possible to avoid answering, brushing it off as nothing, saying it wasn’t about her, but Claire wasn't buying it. Determined to hear the truth, she continued badgering him. Eventually, he got tired of her persistence and told her the truth. He braced himself for the barraged of anger, but to his surprise, it never came. Instead, she responded with a meek, “I-I didn’t cry,” while her cheeks were blushing a rosy red. Liam could tell she was embarrassed, and while her pride wouldn’t accept the truth, she also didn’t want to make a big deal of it by getting mad.

Usually, Liam would’ve shrugged it off, thankful that it didn’t escalate any further, but this was Claire. The same person who had relentlessly gone after him not too long ago. It’d be a lie to say he didn’t want to get back at her, even if only a little.

Initially, he was only planning to do it once or twice then stop, but since her reactions were so good, he’ll admit he went a little overboard. But now, judging by how she was seething with rage, he knew it was time to end it.

Claire stammered; her face was as red as a tomato.

“You… You…!”

Liam held his hands up as if he was surrendering.

“Listen, I’m sorry… It was a joke, and I took it took far.”

Claire stopped and blinked, the last thing she was expecting to come out of Liam’s mouth were words that sounded like a sincere apology. The corners of her lips rose into a smile, and she straightened her back with pride.

“Hm, well… I see. I guess since you apologized, I’ll let it go this time… but you should thank me for being so forgiving.”

Liam could only nod, it was taking every fiber of his being to stop from shouting, “Just kidding!” when he saw the smug look on her face. She made it too easy; it was almost as if she was trying to be teased, but he knew that was impossible. If he had learned anything about Claire, it was that she acted on her emotions, not logic.

Liam’s focus returned to the street in front of him. They had been wandering the city for a few hours, a long and monotonous journey. Aside from the brief time spent teasing Claire, Liam had kept to himself. He had no interest in small talk unlike the others.

Of the buildings they had come across, none were in any better condition than the church. Some had missing walls or a roof, while others lay flattened. As they continued searching the city, they slowly progressed closer to the castle. It was clear they would need to make a choice soon; they couldn’t keep wandering the streets forever, especially not with the cold temperature.

‘Hm?’

Liam noticed that Dan and Aaron had stopped and were discussing something together. While Liam wasn’t close enough to hear the exact details of the conversation, from the expression on their faces, it was important. Curious, he began walking towards them.

‘They aren’t really thinking about staying in that building, are they?’

Liam thought after seeing Aaron point to a building near the end of the street while Dan nodded. If Aaron and Dan were planning to use that building as shelter, Liam would be less than thrilled.

The building was two stories, and half the second floor was gone leaving a gaping hole. It didn’t offer much protection from the elements. From the exterior, it was hard to say it was any better than the church; in fact, it might be worse. At least in the church, there wasn’t the possibility of the roof collapsing on them.

As Liam was thinking, Aaron began waving for everyone to come over. When they were all gathered, Aaron explained what they had decided.

“Dan and I thought it was about time for a break. We’ve been walking for a while now, and everyone is probably tired. So…”

Aaron pointed towards the two-story building.

“We’re going to stay at that building over there. Sound good?”

Everyone nodded silently, except…

“My God! Finally! It took you long enough!”

Michael shouted, not bothering hiding his displeasure.

Aaron forced a smile; for the entire journey, Michael had been vocalizing his complaints.

“Well, let’s head over.”

As they approached the building, Liam’s eyes were scanning the exterior. Broken tables and chairs were lying outside as well as a crooked sign hanging above the door; the text on it had faded long ago, making it illegible.

Aaron walked up to the door and carefully opened it. Everyone tensed up. After experiencing the dogs outside the church door, they were all on guard, prepared for the moment something might jump out at them.

Creeeeaaak…

The rusted hinges shrieked as the door opened.

“Cough…cough…cough!”

A thick cloud of dust blew into Aaron’s face. While waving his hand to disperse the dusty air circling him, he looked around inside.

“It looks…cough… safe. Let’s head inside.”

The inside was dimly lit; the only source of light was coming from the hole in the ceiling, and it wasn’t enough to light up the entire room. There were more knocked over tables and chairs, but unlike outside, many were still intact. In the back was a long wooden bar with a large crack running through the center. Behind it, broken kegs were laying in a pile. A thick layer of dust covered everything, confirming that the building had been unoccupied for many years. From the layout, it appeared that this place was at one time a thriving tavern.

“Gross…”

Isabelle stepped into the room with a look of pure disgust as if just being here made her dirty. She held her hands close to her body, expressing her desire not to touch anything.

Liam walked over to the bar, being careful to avoid the broken glass and sharp debris on the ground. In nothing but socks, his feet were already numb; the last thing he needed was a nail or shard of glass in them too.

Behind the bar, there was a door that connected to a kitchen or storage room. Liam tried opening it, but it didn’t budge. It was jammed shut or locked; either way, it wasn’t going to open, so he gave up and looked at the contents on the shelves. There wasn’t much aside from broken mugs and plates, except for a single wooden club on the bottom shelf.

Reaching out, Liam picked it up. It was heavy and made a much better weapon than rocks and broken wood planks. At one time, it was probably the weapon the bartender used to defend against robbers and break up bar fights. When Liam was about to stand up and explore the rest of the room, an argument erupted.

“This is the worst! Why are we wasting our time and energy wandering around the streets in this weather!? Whose bright idea was that!?”

Michael shouted in an exasperated voice while plunking himself down in a chair. A loud creak rang out as the old wood chair strained to hold his overweight body.

“We didn’t force you to come…”

Dan muttered under his breath. There was a hint of his rising irritation within his voice. He was tired of listening to Michael’s constant complaints too.

“You didn’t give me much choice, either! You think I was going to stay there all by myself!?”

“…”

Dan remained silent, allowing Michael to continue his rant.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought! Oh, and while we’re on the subject of your brilliant ideas, let’s not forget your best one - going to the castle. Sure, the lights are on, and it’s in better condition than the other buildings, but why do you want to go to the one place that has any sign of life after being kidnapped? That’s probably where the kidnappers are!? What’s the point of escaping if you’re just going to run back into their arms!?"

Finally, Dan fired back; he didn’t raise his voice, but his tone made it clear that he was tired of Michael’s attitude.

“If you were listening before, then you’d know we said we were using the castle as a landmark. No one said anything about going inside."

Michael scoffed.

"It's still a shit idea and a waste of time. If you ask me, we should just make a fire and camp out here.”

Dan chuckled, mocking Michael.

"Stay here? Be serious, will you? What you plan to do about food and water then? From what I can see this bar was abandoned ages ago, I doubt there’s any food or water here.”

“What!? When did I ever say we should look for food and water here, huh? No shit, we need to go out and find it in the town, dumbass! I didn’t say it because I thought you were smart enough to figure that out yourself. Do I need to explain everything to you step by step!?"

“Okay, so if you know so much, then where do you suggest we look for food and water? Go on, enlighten me.”

“Hm, I don’t know, maybe the perfectly good food back at the church! Oh, wait! Let me be more specific, or else you won’t understand. I’m talking about the dogs, the ones you killed. In case you didn’t know you can eat those, people in China do, so why don’t we?”

Dan snorted.

“If you want to eat those, then be my guest, but I’ll pass. There’s no way I’m putting that in my stomach. Those things weren’t even dogs. They were closer to mutants or monsters. I doubt they’re safe to eat.”

“Listen, all I’m saying is you and that big guy, Aaron, was it? Well, whatever his name is, you’re both incompetent! If you keep forcing us to follow your shit idea’s like this, then you’ll get us all killed! Just listen to me, and we’ll survive. Haven’t you ever heard the saying older and wiser?”

“And all you do is complain! If you don’t have anything good to say, then keep your mouth shut! Complaining isn’t helping anyone! I asked you for your input and then you just-!”

Scrape…

Dan suddenly stopped talking after he thought he heard a strange sound outside.

“Just, just what!? Finish your sentence, come on I want to hear it! What did I do!? I’ll tell you what I did! I gave you a good idea, and you tossed it aside without a second thought! You didn’t even bother to-!”

Dan interrupted Michael.

“Shut up. Something's outside. I'm trying to listen.”

“Sure, sure. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You know you can’t win, so you default to avoiding the argument. Very clever, but don’t just expect me to-”

“Shhhhhhh!”

Alexandra’s harsh hush cut Michael off. She had her finger to her lips like a librarian silencing noisy guests. Seeing her unusually stern expression, Michael furrowed his brow and decided to be quiet and listen.

Scrape…scrape…scrape…!

Something was being dragged across the ground. As the source slowly approached the door, as if taking its time, the metallic clanking of chains became audible.

Scrape…clank…scrape…clank…!

‘Shit! There’s more of those things!?’

The image of the two-headed dog with a chain collar instantly popped into Liam’s head. He gripped the club tighter; his muscles were tense, but his mind stayed calm.

The room was silent; no one moved. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the dogs outside to pass the tavern. As they grew closer, a new, more subtle sound was heard within the clanking and scraping.

Scrape…clank…scrape…tap-tap…scape…tap-tap…

‘Footsteps?’

Liam felt puzzled. He could tell the sound was footsteps, except he only heard two feet, not four. Something was wrong.

‘I must have misheard.’

Liam listened again, but this time he heard nothing. It was silent outside. The sound had stopped directly in front of the door. As his mind processed this, Liam felt all the hairs on his body stand up.

BANG! A powerful force slammed against the door. The old wood door was smashed open, and splintered pieces of wood flew across the room like shrapnel.

“Aaahk”

Dan fell to one knee as he grabbed his thigh, which had a long shard of wood running through it.

“Kakakakaka!!”

A creepy cackle came from the humanoid-being standing in the doorway, that seemed to enjoy seeing Dan writhing in pain.

‘What is that…?’

Liam felt his entire body go cold as he peeked over the edge of the bar. He felt an overwhelming fear that he had never felt before.

The creature had a humanoid body, but that was the only thing about it that resembled a human being. It stood just over seven feet tall, and despite the immense strength it displayed, its body was thin and boney. Its long arms, which extended past its knees, looked like nothing but skin and bone, even its rib cage was visible beneath its unnatural ash-gray skin. The only clothing it wore were dirty rags wrapped loosely around its waist. Its feet were bare, exposing its long and scraggly toenails.

On its wrists and ankles were rusted iron shackles with broken chains attached. In one hand was a blade coated in fresh blood. It had a deathly appearance, rectangular and slightly curved like a meat cleaver that had been extended to the length of a sword.

From beneath its long and disheveled hair, two glowing red eyes scanned the room. A disturbing grin emerged on the creature’s face as it laughed again, exposing two rows of shark-like teeth.

“Kakakakaka!”

A chill ran down Liam’s spine. To it, they were nothing more than rats trapped in a cage, and it was going to enjoy killing them.