They did not know the fear. He looked around, observing as the people started running away as the wild energy spread among the crowd. Few knew what was happening but following one another the crowd started running away. They did not have any fear though. He could tell, the way they moved, the way they grumbled, the way they looked. As information came was gathered from his various senses, that was the conclusion he came to.

Just a few hours prior he had been with those who had truly feared for their lives. It had made them forget everything; be it food, water, or even air. They had kept silent, their voices seemingly sealed while the death loomed from all sides.

He could not feel even a speak of that feeling here maybe except for those that had faced the monsters, seen them, nearly became their prey. They were little, almost nothing compared to the crowd that had come to live. He was happy that they did not have to face that but sad because there were many more that would be facing these monsters without someone like him to help.

***

He jumped atop the rooftop of the shop and then that of a building next to it. From there, after determining his location, he resumes his journey.

Along the way, he would occasionally come across the monsters attacking the clueless people and while he had been able to save a few, there were many more times that he chanced upon their trail of blood and destruction.

He did not sway from his path, repeating it within like a mantra.

‘I can’t save everyone.’

He focused on saving those that were in his direct path. Each time he would re-confirm the path to make sure he was on the correct path.

After discussions with people he saved along the way, the memory within his mind became clearer and he could feel a map within his mind.

***

His body tensed, and his instincts slightly awoke. He felt the change before he could consciously observe it. Then the world again changed.

The door and windows were broken, the wall destroyed. The destruction was more thorough than what he had encountered. It took some while for him to encounter the perpetrators.

Completely red body and shaped like a monkey. It came up to his waist in height. He stopped, squatting. His eyes were glued on it watching and observing as it moved among the building eventually stopping before one. Suddenly it lost all its calm and started banging on the door and he heard a muffled sound even among the noise. At first, nothing seemed to be happening but as the time went on he could see the door deforming. It was a metallic door so that was all it could accomplish after repeated punching. It stopped and he kept looking wondering what it would do. It screamed and soon responses echoed from all around.

He hid better and after a while, a whole group of monkeys had gathered. As they all started striking the door at the same time, the hinges started giving out after a while.

‘Spark’

Two flames quietly moved above the group and then exploded. They exploded upon the red, and as the monkey started screaming, lit on fire, he jumped, his twin swords slicing through the group. Quickly the silence was back.

He lightly knocked on the door. It still took time for it to open but it eventually did. His arm was grabbed and he was pulled inside.

“Thank you, thank you. If not for you-”

He quietly listened as the main poured his pain out and only then did he question.

“Humm, where is the base of K Inc., do you know anything?”

“Why do you want to go to that hell hole?”

“Humm, hell hole? Humm, it matters not so can you describe its location.”

“It matters. These monsters suddenly appeared around the tower that is near their building. Thank God I had a motorcycle. Anyway, its located in–”

He quickly memorized the location and resumed his journey.

The monsters did not look dangerous especially because they were hunched when walking making them look even smaller but as they started going deeper it became apparent they were more dangerous. The door had been torn, the windows were broken in, and in some cases, the walls too had been destroyed. The frequency of encountering such places increased as he moved further in this place.

He entered the house and the first thing he saw was the blood splattered on the walls and chunks of meat and bones and whatever else was there. He moved within the house and again a sense of powerlessness enveloped him.

It was a completely different world. It made the destruction he had seen back then seem like nothing, something to be thankful for. There at least if people kept quiet within their houses they could hope to survive but here there was none of that. These blood-red monsters attacked randomly, seemingly without any sequence.

There was not a single instance of quiet since he came here. There were screams all around, he could hear the monsters screaming and he ignored them if they were not in his path. When their paths did cross he could only see them causing destruction. It was less of the material things but more of any living beings.

As he walked he came across bits and pieces of animals; dogs, cats, and others. Most were human though. Here in the streets in the housing area, it was not that apparent but when he came out on the road they were colored red with blood.

A heavy stench of blood hung in the air, even heavier than in the other place.

***

He took in the scene with cold eyes. The silence was broken as the monsters screeched and rushed towards him with great ferocity and it made him wonder briefly.

‘What caused them such hate.’

And it quickly drifted back as the surrounding exploded in activity. One of them jumped, ricocheting across the electrical pole, others from a wall, others still jumped from the roofs while some attacked him on foot. Others still threw objects at him.

Deflecting the projectiles he waited. The world slowed down and the monster closed in. he waited. He waited and then some more. They closed in. Their arms moved to attack him. They were all strangely synchronized as they all converged upon him at the same time. Just when the attacks were a foot away from him he willed.

‘Cloak of Fire’

He readjusted the energy, and an orange-colored barrier appeared. Then their attacks struck. Then screams filled the place. Then they tried to retreat, those behind making it impossible. Then he attacked, and his swords flashed. Then they were bisected. Then he stabbed them in the ground. Then he held open his palms and multiple flames bloomed.

‘Spark’

Wilted. A shower of red fell exploding. The red-colored monster screamed, their claw-like fingers trying to put out the fire that quickly spread across their fur. They rushed at him seeing no way to put it out and they were all cut into two.

***

He kept running hoping to find a survivor. There were none in the street which were empty, devoid of humans and animals. He hoped there would be some in his path that way he could calm down the uneasy feeling he was feeling all this time.

Should he be doing this now when there was misery all around? He could help so many so much if he had tried to pursue that. Instead, he was after revenge.

Immediately he felt anger come again pushing those thoughts back into his mind and while he ran he imagined what he would do to them and then his eyes rested on his hands. Not even an inch remained, all of his arms were covered with wound scars and fire burns, just like the rest of his body. He stopped briefly as the wind blew, and took off the cloth covering his face. He was going to put it back on when a scream rippled across the air.

His head snapped to its location. Jumping he landed upon the roof, the door was broken in, he rushed down the stairs, and his sword flashed, taking off the monster's head but not before its fist struck the old lady. Her face dented and her body fell. His head snapped around, finding none except a child and a lady.

He quickly took out a bottle. A few drops and the old lady was back from death, the scars of torn flesh and broken bones visible on her face.

Sigh.

The room was filled with weeping. He waited on the side for them to calm down.

“Humm, Why did it suddenly break-in?”

“My, my daughter. It's been a whole day since she last ate. She cried.”

He looked at the child barely holding back her cries, tears filling her eyes.

“Humm, There is nothing stored?”

“It, it is too expensive these days. We barely survive day to day.”

He nodded and went back up, looking around, he went into the houses that had been broken in by the monsters, their owners killed. He looted food from several houses and came back.

“Humm, make sure to keep quiet and stuff the child's mouth with something if you have to. There will be no one to save you if it happens again.”

“May God bless you, son, may God bless you…”

It made him uncomfortable as he hear the whispers of the old lady. He returned to the roof, resetting the door and setting obstacles in front of it.

‘How is that old lady doing?’

***

He moved into the house, blood splattered all across the room while a viscous liquid material was pooled on the ground, chunks of meat mixed in.

His stomach had been steeled a lot during his days in the police but the things he saw in the past day made his stomach churn. He quickly looted the kitchen and the fridge, taking a few things, putting them in storage, and rushing out.

Along the way he kept fighting the monsters and those houses that had not been broken in, he softly nocked and if there were people in there he handed them some supplies.

He kept running, fighting and helping where he could, and as the sun started turning down the tip of a red-colored tower finally came into view. He decided against rushing in, instead, he looked for a place to sleep.

He searched different houses, looking for a place that seemed secure and comfortable to sleep in.

Though he had rested just yesterday the clash within his mind made him exhausted. Even though he had selected what he was going to do that did stop the thoughts within his head from swirling. Adding in this chaos that had descended made him constantly think if he was doing the right thing. But he could not let go of this opportunity. He had to get rid of them now when everything was muddy in this chaotic time. It would be easy to make sure no one knew who did it.

After finding a place to sleep he cooked some food on a neighboring rooftop. Once he started eating he did not stop, eating a portion enough for multiple people in one go.

***

His eyes opened, snapping around. He blinked. Eyes narrowed. He jumped, swords out as he found himself in an unfamiliar location. It took time for his mind to catch up and when it did he relaxed. The sky was still dark outside so he offered his prayers and then lay on the bed for a while.

He could not remember the last time he had slept on a mattress. It was soft as was the pillow. Even those in the prison had not been this soft.

His mind wandered, thoughts coming and going as he tried to stop thinking for a moment and just live in the moment for a few minutes.