Seeing the monster getting ready to decapitate Opal, Aurora dodged the claws of one of the monsters swiping its arm from her side and quickly aimed. In moments the head of the beast, attacking Opal, exploded with its arm flying off an instant later as Aurora promptly readjusted her rifle. At that moment, she was glad that she knew that those things wouldn't go down smoothly since a headshot would have made her think that the situation was resolved. Opal would have likely been killed by such a complacent action, by not taking out the head and arm.

There was a flash of light, and the monster next to her was blown to its side, landing several feet in front of her. Aurora quickly checked her surroundings and noticed Alex's figure holding up one of her blasters. Alex's other hand was already moving to blast a different creature.

"Thanks!" Aurora yelled out at Alex, though Alex was likely too focused on the two creatures coordinating with one another and launching towards her.

"Fuck!" Opal shouted, there was a hint of shaking in her voice.

Glad that Opal was alright, Aurora made sure to check on the others. Though they were being pressed, it wasn't as chaotic as before. Understanding their opponents better, The Knights and Blades were coordinating with one another better.

Yazmin had blasted one of the beasts, its limbs, and head missing. She then rushed to another one that fell onto the ground with a fresh blast in it and copied what she did with the previous one.

Aurora was thankful for how quick Yazmin thought about that solution. Looking at the torso of the creatures and the way it moved as if to get back up, Aurora understood that such extreme methods were necessary with this threat.

"Jill, how's the girl doing?" Aurora called out. It felt like days had passed since she was able to take a slight breather. Quickly looking around, Aurora could see that everyone was still alive. Almost all the creatures were killed, which was mainly due to Yazmin's quick thinking of dismembering the bodies and leaving only the torso.

Near the middle of the group, Jill was holding onto the girl while still firing one of the blasters in her other hand. It seemed like she was helping Yazmin with going through the monsters, by blasting a monster near Yazmin and directing her to the next one to be processed.

In a weary voice, Jill answered, "Fifth Blade, the girl is doing alright. She doesn't seem to be responding to what's happening and just staying quiet. I'm a little concerned about her, though at the moment we seem to have our hands full."

"Fifth Blade, we've just finished off the last one," Alex called out to her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aurora commanded, "We'll be continuing to where Lexi's forces are located and meet up with the Knights on their way towards us. I don't like the idea of a couple of Knights heading towards us with these things running around."

Dashing off towards their original destination, Aurora was trying to organize her thoughts. She felt like everything was moving too quickly, this new environment filled with lifeforms that defied her previous reality in the university. How were people meant to survive in a world that now had those things? Where did they come from? These thoughts kept filling her mind.

Quickly the area filled with storage areas and garages were behind them as they made their way forward. They seemed to be passing by administrative buildings which were now empty, no longer filled with people worrying about following bureaucratic procedures. On the roads there were only a few vehicles parked on the side, making her think that either this base was usually not filled with cars, someone moved them after the fact, or society crumbled sometime during the night.

A couple of the cars had their doors still open. Looking inside, Aurora could see that the seatbelts were still fastened. None of the windows were broken, making things appear even eerier.

"Princess, up ahead," Opal said to her.

Looking ahead, Aurora could see three figures quickly heading towards them. When they got close enough, the HUD identified them as Knights making her breathe out slowly in relief. Just thinking about diving into another meat grinder made her head hurt.

Behind her, the Knights were cheering over the comms, happy to see reinforcements heading towards them.

"Fifth Blade, we apologize for the delay. Third Blade advised that we be cautious on our way to rendezvous with you, which caused us to take more time to reach you." One of the Knights said in a respectful tone as the three approached Aurora's group.

Aurora motioned with her hand to dismiss the Knight's words. "There's no reason to apologize. It's good that you were careful. That's why I suggest we depart quickly to where Lexi and the others are. I'll have you lead the way since you've already familiar with the area."

The Knight nodded her head, and the two others followed suit. Without waiting for Aurora, they headed back to where they came from. One of the three looked back to confirm that everyone was following them.

"I'm going to assume that you three or anyone else in Lexi's group haven't met with the monsters?" Aurora asked them as they all rushed through the military base.

"No, Fifth Blade. Third Blade was surprised by your request to retreat when she ordered us to escort you back." One of the three said.

"It's probably a good thing that you guys didn't run into them. Those creatures are beyond what we were expecting, with their lethality." Aurora said.

"Those things won't even go down after their heads have been removed," Opal joined in. "It was thanks to Yazmin's quick thinking of blowing off their arms, legs, and head that we survived our second encounter with no additional casualties."

"We should thank Aurora that I was able to come up with that solution. When she suggested we disable them while we retreated the idea came to my mind about how they wouldn't be able to harm us if they lacked anything to attack us with." Yazmin responded.

There was silence from the three Knights after hearing what they said about the monsters. Aurora could tell that the Knights were anxious about this news by the slight decrease in their pace, though they quickly recovered. It was understandable considering Aurora, and everyone felt the same way.

On her HUD, she saw that there was an incoming message coming in from Lexi.

"Is everything you said to the Knights I sent you true?" Lexi's voice was soft.

"Unfortunately it is. We were lucky that the numbers that came at us were as low as they were." Aurora said.

There was a pause before Lexi said, "Get here as quickly as you can and stay safe."

After finishing the conversation with Lexi, Aurora said to everyone, "We need to pick up the pace."

--------------

The journey back to where Lexi and everyone else was located was fortunately lackluster with no surprises. As they were getting closer to the location, Aurora saw another massive wall appear just as big as the one when they entered the military base.

On the wall was lettering stating, "Please proceed to the checkpoint to enter the city."

Numerous roads were set up to direct the flow of traffic. Similar to what Aurora had seen inside of the base, there were only a few cars waiting near the exit.

"What is up with this place?" Yazmin asked no one in particular. "Is this what all military bases look like?"

"No. It's unusual for bases to have walls around them." Alex chimed in. "One of my brothers enlisted into the armed forces back when I was in high school and the base we went to see his graduation ceremony didn't have a wall."

"Maybe it's based on the bases specialty?" Jill commented. "I remember my dad telling me that different bases had different functions, like having all the tanks and stuff."

"Did you guys see anything when you came through here?" Aurora asked the three Knights.

"No, Fifth Blade. With how easily we could see everything, we quickly went through on our way to your position. The only unusual part is the cars parked here, with none of the windows shattered." A different Knight of the three answered.

Aurora considered the Knights words before saying, "Let's just get over this wall quickly. I like the idea of having a wall between us and those things. Hopefully, the majority of those things are inside of the military base and not running around in the city."

Running towards the wall, Aurora jumped towards one of the support pillars and pushed off aiming for the top of the wall. Landing she looked back, she saw some of the others just jumping over the wall with weapons already ready to fire.

On top of the wall, Aurora kept her head on a swivel, making sure that both sides were clear of those things. Fortunately, the time it took for them to all get over the wall was quick, though it was due to having lost so many Knights during that first encounter.

She watched as Jill tried to reassure the girl before leaping over the wall, using one of her arms to cradle the girl. The girl had both of her arms wrapped around Jill's neck as the two of them flew through the air. With her free arm, Jill used it to vault onto the top of the wall. Carrying the girl likely threw off Jill's balance, causing her to not be able to clear it in one jump.

"She okay?" Aurora asked as she walked over to Jill.

Letting go of Jill's neck, the girl turned to look at Aurora with an emotionless expression on her face. It was like she was just going through the motion as Jill directed her.

Jill used her free hand to brush back some of the girl's hair that was blocking the girl's face caused by Jill's jump. "I think so, Fifth Blade. She doesn't really respond to my words. I've been trying to find out where she came from but the girl hasn't been engaging with me. Maybe this means that I'm not meant for a career as a babysitter?" Jill laughed.

"You're doing fine, Jill. Maybe she's still trying to sort through everything that's been happening. It could have been her first experience seeing those creatures." Aurora encouraged Jill.

"Not my first time," the girl said out of the blue, startling both Aurora and Jill.

"Wha...," Aurora said, confused by the whole scenario.

The girl turned her face away from Aurora and buried it in Jill's chest, making it clear that she didn't want to talk anymore.

Groaning in frustration, Aurora rubbed her neck trying to understand what just happened. "Little girl, I know you don't want to talk, but what do you mean it wasn't your first time seeing those things? Where did you see them before? Was it when they first appeared?"

Completely ignoring Aurora's question, the girl continued not looking at any of them, just resting in Jill's arm.

"Is there anything wrong up there?" Yazmin's voice came through the comms.

Sighing, Aurora looked at where everyone was standing near the base of the wall and answered, "No. We'll be down there shortly." Turning to face Jill, Aurora said, "Keep trying to get her to talk. The plus side is that we know that the girl can talk."

Waiting for Jill to jump down, Aurora looked back at the military base they were leaving. A part of her was hoping to see those monsters, instead of thinking that the monsters were hiding and waiting for an opportunity to attack them like last time.

Jumping down, Aurora saw the nearby houses that were similar to the ones inside of the university. It was the typical residential area, aside from the giant reinforced wall next to it. There was a stark contrast between the houses, where some had kid swings and toys in the backyard, and the cold, apathetic wall that existed.

Not wanting to lose any more time just standing around, they began following the three Knights. Instead of going into the neighborhood with all the houses, the Knights followed the road that likely circled around the houses.

Checking on her HUD, Aurora saw that they were extremely close to where Lexi was located. By how close they were, Aurora figured that they would have seen where all of them were standing, but it was the just empty grass area on one side and houses on the other side.

Since they were going to find out soon, Aurora didn't bother asking the three Knights.

What Aurora did happen to see was a basketball court and some playground equipment, with slides and swings. Next to it was a grassy mound, with a metal door on the front. Reaching the playground, Aurora could see that on the metal door was the Star and Moon symbol etched into the door.

"It appears to be a shelter," Vera informed her.

"Is this the one we're here for?" Aurora asked confused. The signal showed up on the HUD as further into the city.

"This appears to be a small shelter for those living in the neighborhood," Vera answered.

As they were walking towards the metal door, there was a slight hissing noise as it opened. Out of the opening was another Knight, who was likely waiting by the entrance for when Aurora's group reached them.

"Welcome, Fifth Blade. Third Blade has been waiting for your arrival and eager to hear your report." By the way the Knight spoke, Aurora could tell that she was the serious type.

Aurora nodded at the Knight and made her way into the mound. There was a small entranceway with a seat that folded into the wall, likely there for the person on watch. Next to the chair was a monitor, though it was not turned on. Whether it was due to not receiving power, not operational, or not wanted to be used by the Knight was the question.

Past the rectangular entranceway, there was a flight of stairs going into the earth. The lights were turned off, causing her suit to automatically switch to night-vision mode. Her footsteps echoed with each step as she made her way towards the bottom of the stairs. She could see that there was already a door similar to the entrance. Etched into the door were the words, "Star and Moon welcomes you."

Just like before, the door opened to reveal another Knight who merely greeted her and welcomed her inside.

Entering into the area, it wasn't the largest area about the size of the common area where she lives on campus. Aurora could see that there were doors that likely led to additional living areas, considering this was created to provide shelter for the entire neighborhood.

"Lex! Where did you go! We were worried about you!" A girl's voice called out. Aurora saw a blonde haired teenage girl run towards Jill, who was holding the girl.

"Do you know this girl?" Jill asked as she lowered the girl in her arms.

The blonde haired girl answered, "Yes. We found her while in the forest hunting animals to bring to the survivors here. All we know is her name, which is Lex." Turning away from them, the girl yelled, "Claire! Those Knights found Lex!"

There were sounds of two people arguing, one of them a girl with dark down hair and a cute looking figure and the other being an older man wearing glasses. It seemed like they were in the middle of some dispute as the two walked into the larger room. Based on how the blonde haired girl was acting, this wasn't an unfamiliar scene.

"You mean how you just whisked me away without letting me warn Han? I hate you, daddy! Both you and mom deserve one another!" The girl yelled at the man.

"I'm not having this debate again, Claire! There wasn't enough time, and I'm sorry we couldn't save some kid you had a girl crush on. You see how the world is out there?!" He yelled at the girl.

The two seemed to realize that they were no longer just by themselves, as they turned to look at Aurora's group. When the girl's eyes landed on the girl named Lex's face, she ran over and embraced her as she bawled her eyes out.

"You're back! Why did you leave the group?!" The girl sobbed. After a minute, the girl seemed to gain control of herself turning towards the one that had called out her name. From the way she looked at the additional Knights, Aurora knew that the girl was confused by everything.

"Hannah, what's happening? Who are they?" The girl named Claire asked.