Kim was horrified. He rushed over toward the window, tripping over the broken chair. Wildly waved his hand, grabbing onto the window. With great effort, he pulled himself up and stared outside. "They're here!" with a heavy breath and tone in his voice close to a screech, he tried to speak.

There were dozens of shadows starting to emerge out of the ground, slowly but surely surrounding the apartment.

Alexus pulled out this sword. Motioning everyone to follow. He knew they couldn't stay behind any longer as they needed to keep moving. There were only a definite amount of talismans that they had left.

All the kids and Abbie huddled behind Crystal and Alexus.

Crystal glanced over her shoulder and looked at Alexus, giving him the cue to go.

With a nod, Alexus kicked open the door. With a loud clang, the olden door fell onto the ground with a loud clatter. In that instant, I could see the shadows walking menacingly over. A few of them start to enlargen, towering over them like a large bear.

"What next?!" Kim shouted. He quivered, seeing what they were up against.

"Stay close, don't go too far from me," Alexus replied. He started to head straight towards the shadows that became a thick line like a net.

Alexus gripped his sword tightly in his hand, glaring down at the monsters they were up against. A streak of white light zipped past him out of his eyes.

"Cover your eyes!" Crystal yelled.

Instinctively, Alexus listened. He felt a searing heat that blasted in front of him. A bright light followed right after. It didn't take long for him to open his eyes. The whole pathway was cleared, allowing them to quickly rushed through.

"Why didn't you use that sooner?" Kim asked. He was rubbing his eyes.

"Because I need to recharge my weapon every time I use it. Alexus, I need five minutes before I can use my weapon again." Crystal replied.

"Roger," Alexus replied. He knew that time wasn't their friend, especially when they were all a target.

"We're all going to die!" Kim blurted out.

"For crying out loud, shut up and keep running," David replied with a snarl. "We don't need your negativity right this moment."

Kim went silent as they ran behind Alexus.

Their pace started to pick up as they ran through the streets. Alexus quickly scanned ahead of him, trying to see the best route out of the city. Off in the distance, he saw numerous cars that were left abandoned in the streets.

"Crystal, let's quickly check those cars."

"Okay." Crystal replied.

"The rest of you do the same. We need to find a working car."

The others understood and broke apart.

They ran over as they all spread out, checking for any of the cars to still have a key in the ignition.

Alexus tried to pull open the side door but was denied. He pressed his head against the window, checking for any keys. So far, he couldn't tell. Finally, his fist smashed into the window with a loud crunch as he rattled the door open.

Right behind him, a few more sounds of glass shattering were heard.

"Did you guys find anything?" David called out from a small family car. He was halfway in it, searching for a key with Jesse.

"Nothing, yet." Alexus shuffled around. He opened the cupboard and the dashboard to ensure a key, but he was out of luck. With a quick slam in frustration, he pulled himself out.

"Same." Crystal replied as she was in a white car that had half the tire flat.

"We got company!" Kim shouted, warning every. "Shadows coming behind!"

"I got them. You guys keep searching!" Alexus grabbed the side of the car and pulled himself out.

Quickly, he bolted out the door and headed behind them. But, a dozen shadows were running straight towards him in the distance.

Alexus dashed forward. He pulled out his sword from his sheath. With a swing of his sword, he cut the first shadow in half. Moving on to the next. It was as if he was dancing effortlessly from one shadow to the next.

His gaze was spot on. His hand stabbed into the other. Alexus could hear others scrambling to find the keys. David, flustered, was making loud noises, which attracted one of the shadows in David's direction.

In a surprise, David reeled back and yelled in fright, bumping into the side of the car door as he floundered to get out of the way. The shadow hand turned into a sharp sword, stabbing into the side of the door. A wicked screech could be heard, breaking through the door, pulling it off its metal hinges.

"Jeezus, what the hell!" David scrambled, trying to get out of harm's way. But unfortunately, he bumped into a couple of cars. Over and over again, the shadow continued to rapidly smash his hand to kill David, leaving deep punctures into the words.

Alexus turned around, realizing that David was being attacked.

"Someone?!" David said in fear.

Crystal pulled out her hand rapidly from the side. Three shots were fired as the bullet flew through the air and into the shadow's head, body, and heart. It dissipated into nothingness.

"Thanks." David let out a heavy sigh.

"Keep moving," Crystal replied. She let out a couple of more shots that flew past him again, taking out a couple of shadows that had crept upon him.

David gulped, nodding his head furiously. Then, he quickly turned around and headed straight towards the nearest car. He didn't look back once as he diligently searched for a key.

Alexus continued his defense against the shadows that were bent on killing him. He met it full force with each swing of their sharp sword-like arms. Sparks crackled in the air as their faceless head swung side-to-side, looking at him.

Even though they did not have eyes, he could feel their intensity boring through his body. An electric tingle ran up and down his spine every time their sword met.

His heart thumped hard, making his breath quick and heavy. A shivering energy shock sparked throughout his body as the Dragon Scale armor purred alive. A boost of energy swam through his core, powering up his energy. He could feel it, getting stronger and more robust to the point where his speed and ability cut through like butter.

The number of shadows continued to appear, surrounding them from all sides.

"Did we find anything!" Alexus yelled. He didn't know how much longer he could continue to fend off without one of them getting injured.

"Nothing!" Crystal replied back. Numerous gunshots rang loudly in the air as the shadows were being killed.

"Nothing here as well!" Kim shouted from inside the car.

"None here!" Then Maze was the next; she pulled herself out of the car and quickly headed towards the next.

Suddenly, a heavy engine clinking sounded out in the air.

"I got something!" Jesse squealed in delight.

Everyone snapped their attention towards her voice. Jesse was sitting behind a family as her disheveled hair was barely looking over the steering wheel.

"Let's goooooo!" Jesse slammed her hand onto the horn with pressure. She honked a few times to get everyone's attention. Which in turn attracted unwanted attention.

The shadows in the city swiveled their attention towards the loud noise, causing them to head straight towards the noise.

Quickly, Maze and Kim were the first to bolt out the door and run over to the van. Kim pulled open the side door with a loud slam, shaking the van. He lunged and jumped into the air, almost throwing himself in. Maze followed not too far behind as she didn't even look twice as she entered. They huddled together in the back of the van, almost.

"Ms. Abbie!" David motioned Abbie, who had Rye in her arm, quickly come over.

Everything slowed down.

A shadow appeared from behind, stabbing her in the chest.

"Nooooooooooo!" David frantically yelled, running towards her.

Blood dripped out of Ms. Abbie's lips, and she looked down. The shadow's arm slowly slinked out, leaving a gaping hole in her chest. Rye was lucky and didn't get stabbed.

Rye balled up and started to cry. Blood splattered his lovely porcelain skin, and Abbie's lips trembled, knowing that she would die.

Words did not form, making it harder and harder to speak.

"Run!"

Ms. Abbie's legs shook and buckled, causing her to collapse with Rye in her arms.

The shadow hovered over Ms. Abbie's body, its arm raised up again, momentarily staring down at Rye. Its sword-arm rose back, ready for the kill. Without remorse, it stabbed downwards.

"Nooooooo!" David shouted, unable to reach her. Crystal rushed out, tackling him down to the ground. Another shadow had appeared from the side, sweeping downwards to cut his head off.

"You fool!" said Crystal; a loud banging sound of the gunshot went off, hitting the demon in the chest. A puff of smoke followed, dissipating the monster in an instant.

"Rye and Ms. Abbie?!" David tried to struggle out Crystal's arm, but he was dragged away. He kicked and screamed, trying to pull away to get towards David, but Crystal didn't budge or even listen to his scream. The strength of her dragon suit kept her moving forward without budging back, and she headed straight towards the van.

She pulled open the driver's side door and reached over, pushing David into the driver's seat. Jesse moved out of the way, allowing David to sit.

"Stay. You're going to drive." Crystal growled.

"But, Ms. Abbie and Rye!"

A loud crashing of metal was heard. Everyone turned towards the gaze of the sound.

Alexus was just in time, meeting sword to sword. He swiped, cutting the shadow in half.

Ms. Abbie's raised Rye up for Alexus.

Alexus's heart crunched, wavering. He could see how painful. He was too late in saving Ms. Abbie. "I'm sorry." The words barely escaped his lips.

Ms. Abbie shook her head as Rye was scooped into Alexus's hand.

"Live….for me…" Ms. Abbie's words bubbled up blood, and her eyes glazed over.

Rye sniffled, rubbing his nose. He tried to look over, but Aleuxs reached over and stopped him from turning his gaze. So instead, he pushed his head toward his shoulder, quickly leaving the spot.

"Alexus!" Crystal yelled from the front seat. She had the windows drawn down. Her body was out the window with her handguns in her hand, sitting comfortably on the windowsill. "Shadows behind you!"

Crystal raised up her gun, firing off multiple shots. Her bullets went straight through, buzzing past Alexus's ears as he felt the shockwave. Alexus didn't look back. He knew that delaying would only waste precious seconds that he needed to get out of there alive.

The bullet hit two shadows from behind, dissipating into nothingness.

Suddenly, a tingling feeling could be felt from above. Alexus instinctively ducked as the shadow swung. A razor hot feeling of energy blasted from behind, making him shiver.

Bang!

The bullets flew past him, knocking out the shadow that tried to kill him.

"Hurry!" Crystal shot a few more.

Alexus sprung forward. The Dragon suit came to life, clanking and groaning with action. He could feel the suit powering him to step forward even faster. It became one giant leap from the usual three steps, which allowed him to make it to the van in under three steps.

"Step on the gas!" Crystal shouted. She slipped back into the van. A handful more gunshots went off, taking out a few more running shadows.

David was in the driver's side seat with his hand glued to the steering wheel. His eyes were puffy. He slammed into the gas pedal, causing the van to screech and jolt forward.

Alexus jumped into the van with Rye tucked tightly in his arm. He flew, hitting the chair and landing with a thump. The van shook and bolted forward.

"Everyone hold on!" said Crystal. The van twisted and turned, dodging shadows left and right.

One shadow appeared last minute in the middle of the road, which David couldn't dodge. A heavy screech followed, a loud thump, and the van rolled on top of the shadows.

Everyone jolted as the van pushed forward.

Alexus handed Rye to Maze. He reached over, grabbed the opened door, and pushed it shut.

David drove through the streets for the next intense thirty minutes, dodging shadows and out into the suburbs. While Crystal was shooting down any shadows that were too close to the van.

Eventually, there were fewer and fewer shadows, allowing them to peacefully continue their drive for another hour.

"We left Ms. Abbie behind." David blurted out. The air around him was simmering with a heavy air that everyone could feel around him.

Nobody answered.

Making it uncomfortable for everyone.

"We LEFT, Ms. Abbie," David said even louder than before. He gripped the steering wheel even tighter.

Still, nobody answered.

"Is no one going to acknowledge that we left Ms. Abbie?!" David shouted with anger. He scowled, pissed off that nobody was answering.

"We did." Crystal replied. "She's dead."

"How do you know that?!" David snapped. "She could still be alive, and we just left here there."

"She's dead."

"How can you be so cold?!"

"This is reality. You have been in this world a lot longer than us." Crystal replied, crossing her arm as she leaned back. "Death is imminent."

"Bullshit. We could have saved her!" David slammed on the brakes, causing everyone to lurch forward.

Crystal hit her head on the dash, bouncing off with a yelp. The others fell out of their seats, waking everyone out of their stupor.

"For crying out loud!" Kim angrily yelled. "What the hell is wrong with your driving, man?"

"I said, we left Ms. Abbie behind! Why are you all so calm about this?!" David turned around and looked at everyone.

"Yea, we know." Kim got up, helping Maze back into her seat.

Suddenly, both David and Jesses started to cry, making it more chaotic.

"See, what you did?" Kim replied angrily.

Maze picked up David while Jesse climbed back up on the seat.

"That's not important!"

"Well, what else is? Why are you yelling at us?!" Kim shouted back. The vein in his throat was getting thicker as his face turned red.

"Because you all don't care!" David matched with the same intensity, and he increased his volume to the point where his throat was going hoarse.

Kids cried even louder, giving anyone listening to a splitting headache.

The back and forth yelling constantly continued until finally, Alexus spoke. "Enough!"

Alexus replied with a snarl. He was getting a headache from the kids crying and the shouting match.

"She died on the spot," Alexus replied. "There was nothing I could do." This was the truth. The stab in her heart was fatal. He could do nothing to save her, even if he wanted to.

"You could have saved her," David replied.

"How? Tell me, when you have shadows crawling up from every direction, trying to protect ALL of you. How? I am not a God. I did my best!"

The air around Alexus was brimming sharply with power. A loss of life was gut-wrenching to himself, making it that much harder to bear. There was nothing he could do, making the feeling even worse. If he could turn back time, he would.

The kids started to calm down, looking at Alexus with fear. They all could sense a dangerous air around Alexus that was different from David. Yet, their gut instincts screamed at them to stay silent.

"Her lungs were already punctured, and I had no medical kit. Even then, I wouldn't be able to save her as her blood loss was too heavy. So, with that being said, we are done with this conversation." Alexus sat back down on the seat; he didn't want to think about it anymore.

Throughout the ride, there was silence. Alexus was tired from the stress that they had to deal with.

Still, the fresh image of Ms. Abbie dying was present heavily in his mind. He could still remember the lifeless eyes that he had to see.

He was relieved that they had a momentary safety, allowing him to close his eyes and rest.