Not too far off, in the looming shadows of towering skyscrapers, things moved. Their movements were accompanied by squeaks and the metallic scraping of claws against rock.

At first, there were only a few scattered sounds of moving, but the longer the car alarm blared, the more things gathered in the shadows.

"How long will it take to get that car going," I hissed at Kashyap through gritted teeth.

He didn't stop fiddling with the car's dashboard to give his reply, simply shouting over his shoulder amidst the blaring noise, "I've never dealt with one of these before so... we'll see."

These words didn't exactly fill me with confidence, "Well, can you at least get that stupid alarm to stop?" I yelled.

"That depends, do any of you care about having working air conditioning or a radio?" Kashyap asked.

August looked thoughtful for a second, almost like he is about to say yes, so I cut him off, "Just fucking get the alarm to stop or we'll all die. Who cares if the car is a bit hot?"

Kashyap gives me a grin, before sticking his arm into the car's dashboard up to the elbow. He twisted his wrist and yanked his hand back out with a fistful of wires and the alarm cuts out immediately.

In the following silence, it was much easier to hear the noises that were growing closer and more numerous.

The first thing to move was a rat, it looked smaller and weaker than the one I had fought in the apartment. Its red eyes glowed with madness and hunger, like a rabid dog that had been starved for weeks.

It moved cautiously out into the light, flinching slightly beneath the bright sunlight... but only slightly. And then it began picking up speed, tearing across the vacant car park towards us.

Right as I was about to get into position in front of the rat, August grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. The look in his eye is strange, almost manic. "Let me kill it." He said in a raspy voice.

I stepped back, Judging his posture, His knuckles were white as they clenched the handle of a huge kitchen knife that one might use to carve up an elephant. Honestly, I have no idea why he owned such a big knife. But, while the hand that clenches the knife was trembling, his eyes were firm and resolved, if a little crazy.

I took a step back and let him have at it. Since carrying along dead weight in the apocalypse is not ideal, I'm not about to start complaining whenever someone wants to take action and help the group.

August was always a bit strange before now anyway. I've never seen him eat anything that wasn't meat and when he cooked steak, it would always be bloody rare, sometimes I wondered if he even cooked it at all. My point is, out of all the people I know, he would probably be one of the best set up to deal with the apocalypse... Aside from my family anyway, but, it's not fair to rank them against other humans. In fact, it's questionable whether they even are humans.

August crouched low, grasping his oversized knife with both hands, pointing it towards the oncoming rat like a spear. His hands were shaking, but at no point did he ever look like he might run.

The rat scampered across the asphalt, its grotesque pink tail trailing along behind it, black fur matted with grime and silt. I could almost smell it before it even got here. It smelled like blood and sewage.

From the side, Kyle and I watched intently as the pair collided. The rat jumped into the air, diving straight for August's throat. August, springing from his crouch like an arrow from its drawstrings, burst up to meet the approaching monster.

August fell to the ground and the rat landed on top of him. He held up one arm against its gnashing teeth, blocking its head from reaching his face. With the other hand, he dragged the knife across the rat's belly, gutting it like a fish.

Blood cascaded from the rat's ruined belly, drenching August in a waterfall of sticky red fluids. Anyone would feel disgusted in August's position, being covered in entrails and blood isn't something that any normal person can stand.

So, when I saw the flash of white amidst the red, I got chills. August was grinning manically, his ivory white teeth standing out amidst the gore.

Beside me, I could hear Kyle throwing up and honestly, I don't blame him. I would probably do the same... if I hadn't already seen worse.

Still grinning, August pulls himself out from under the dead rat. And, it's only when he began speaking that I finally came out of the trance his strange actions put me in.

"What's this?" He says while gesturing into the empty air in front of him, "It says here... I have levelled up to level 3. What does that mean?"

My reply was almost mechanical, "You should have gained some stats and grown stronger. If you try jumping or running, you will feel the increase in strength."

August nods in understanding, fiddling about in the air with something that only he can see. Only then did I realise that he was using the system.

Perhaps drawn by the scent of blood, a few more rats emerged from the shadows. There were four in total and each one looked bigger and more vicious than the rat August just killed. Picking up Kyle by the collar, I shook him out of his stupor.

I Dragged his face close to mine, I can see that his eyes are glazed over, 'He's in shock,' But, we don't have time for that.

A crisp sound rings out as my open palm slaps Kyle's cheek. And, almost like he was resuscitated, his eyes regain focus briefly. Taking advantage of his momentary lucidity, I began speaking, "Listen to me! 4 rats are coming, I can take 2 August can take one, so you just need to hold off the remaining one long enough for one of us to help you."

Kyle gripped the Tyre iron in his hands nervously, it's not hard to see how scared he is. He's is shaking like a leaf in the wind. Not like August, who was shaking from adrenaline, more like a normal person should be in this situation. He's scared.

Still, despite his obvious fear, Kyle gulps and nods. "I'll do it," He whispers in a soft voice.

After patting him on the shoulder, I moved out in front of the approaching rats, heading for the biggest two. 'With my increased strength, I should be able to take them on,' I thought.

The oncoming rats became black blurs of fur and claws as they streaked toward us. Reaching out both my hands, I got into the third stance. My arms splayed out wide like I am going in for a bear hug. By making myself bigger like this, it is much easier to catch the attention of the oncoming rats.

The leading two rats squeal grotesquely and began to target me "It works just like my dad said it would," I mutter to no one in particular.

On either side of me, Kyle and August get ready. One of them clutches a tyre iron nervously shaking in fear. He pulls back the tyre iron like he is getting ready to swing a baseball bat. August, who is still covered in gore, continues to grin, holding the knife out with one hand, the other is now outstretched, baiting the oncoming rat.

The first rat reaches me, dashing into my open arms. Right as it's about to tear open my chest, my foot blurs, streaking up like lighting into the rat's throat.

Before I could pull my foot out of the monster's throat, the second rat was on me, in a flurry of claws and fists, we landed in a cloud of dust on the ground. What ensued was the most intense grappling I've experienced in my life. Whoever got on top first, either me or the rat would kill the other.

After a brief struggle, I managed to slip out from under the rat and pounced on its back. Digging my legs into its side like I was riding a mechanical bull, I clung on for dear life as the creature writhed beneath me. Its bony body offered little in the way of handholds, aside from the matted fur that covers it.

Once I'd found my footing, I brought my arms under the rat's throat and began to squeeze. Like a snake, I constricted around its throat, every time it tried to breathe, I squeezed tighter and tighter, choking the life out of the monster.

Vaguely, I could hear the sickening crunch of metal crushing bone over and over again, along with wretched squeals of pain.

Beside me, Kyle was repeatedly swinging the tyre iron into the rat's ribs. Each swing produces the crunching sound of bones being shattered. Also, listening closely, I could hear Kyle crying. Amidst sobs, he keeps muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," With each swing, he apologised... before swinging again.

There was no such moral dilemma for August, who, taking advantage of his improved strength, repeatedly stabbed the rat in its back and throat and belly and... anywhere he could get his hands on really. All the while, grinning like a wicked spectre.

August was the first to kill his opponent. The wolf sized rat fell limply to the ground, its matted fur marred by countless stab wounds.

Next, Kyle's opponent went limp. Its body was misshapen and bruised by the endless hammerings of the tyre iron, which has now been bent completely out of shape.

Finally, I felt the life leave the rat I was choking and its struggles ceased. After tossing aside the limp body, I rolled to my feet. I was half expecting more rats to show up before the car got started, but thankfully the noise of an engine revving proved me wrong.

Right then, I got two notifications from the system. Thankfully, I had managed to kill both of my opponents.

[LVL 5 Mad Rat killed - 500 Experience Gained]

[LVL 5 Mad Rat killed - 500 Experience Gained]

[Level 3 > 5 - (8 stats increased)]

"Get in!" Kashyap shouts

After leaping into the back of the pickup truck, I could finally let out the breath I had been holding all this while.

August tried to sit in the front, but Kashyap kicked him out. He said something about August being a 'Blood drenched maniac who would ruin the upholstery.'

To be fair, he wasn't wrong.