Loud screams and shouting for everyone to go take cover or hide were being thrown out when I arrived at where the explosion came from. With the occasional crying of some of the people who were too fear stricken that they couldn’t move from their spot and just curled up where they were, or from those who are injured and were asking for help.

I stopped running and looked at the fifteen feet construct that was forty meters in front of me. With my jaw dropped and eyes wide, I asked the voice that was supposed to help me in these types of situations.

“Al… what is that?” I asked him.

”Ah, well… it looks like a giant man that’s made out of leaves, wood, stone, cement, newspapers and some other things from the sidewalk. With a trickle of blood here and there for some added effect” Al said.

As per Al’s description, there was a giant man made out of the things that you would normally find on the sidewalk like trees, the road, and some other stuffs. It looked like a toy that a child would make out of the scraps that he or she would find in the house.

“Look out!” One man shouted while rolling to the side.

It was currently swinging its large arms made out of cement and blood at some people who were surrounding it. It was as if the thing was trying to swat some flies buzzing around it. Almost hitting some of the people that were close to it.

From what I was seeing, those people were currently trying to distract the thing from going towards the bystanders that were petrified because of fear or were unable to move because of an injury caused by the explosion or the flying vehicles from a while ago.

“H-help…” I heard a soft voice coming from my side.

I look at where it was coming from and saw a middle-aged woman who’s right leg was being pinned to the ground by a toppled tree that was planted on the sidewalk.

I immediately went over to where she was and looked at the not so massive tree. But from my perspective, it was already big enough for me to not be able to lift it even if I put my all into doing so. That didn’t hinder me from trying, though, as I put my hands under it.

I breathed deep and forced my legs to push up, but it didn’t do anything at all. I tried it again, and it still didn’t budge. When I saw that I wasn’t doing anything to make the tree move, I tried kicking it. Well… that didn’t do anything besides making the woman wince in pain.

“Uhmm, I-I’ll come back and … ah, I’ll call for help” I said to her.

“P-please, get me out of here…” She said weakly.

I then left her and ran towards someone who was crouching nearby and asked him to assist me. It looked like he wasn’t injured or anything, but he had this blank and empty look in his eyes.

“No no no… Hana… my little Hana is…” He wasn’t replying to any of my calls at all and was just staring at an upside down SUV that had blood dripping down from the side of the opened car door.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to help you, Rei. Better to just go find someone else” Al said.

“…” I look at the man one last time before I reluctantly leave him to find someone else. It was a sad thing as to what happened to his daughter, or I was assuming that it was his little girl. But there was currently something else that I needed to do. To find help for that woman.

When I was headed towards a group of people trying to help someone else who was underneath a car. I heard loud cracking and crunching noises from behind me. It sounded like a bunch of wooden sticks were being snapped, but the sound is amplified by tenfold.

I look behind me to see that the giant made out of the sidewalk was holding onto a man by his crushed arm and slamming him into the ground like a toy. As soon as the poor man was below it, blood splattered and flew in every direction as it steps on the man numerous times.

“!” The sight gave me the urge to vomit on the spot, but I managed to look away and hold it down. I saw something similar back then from the horror movies that my dad made me watch, but when you see it in person, it was a very different thing. A whole lot different.

“Where’s back up!?” I heard someone shouting.

I peeked, but only by a little. So that I wouldn’t see the horrific and bloody sight of a giant stepping on a man’s body.

“The others are taking care of the same problem downtown. Where all alone on this one, boss” Someone replied to that man.

“Fucking hell! Call anyone that you know! I don’t care who it is, just make a call!” He shouted. “Tsk, If only that fucker wasn’t draining the shit out of everything”

Looking back at the giant made out of the sidewalk. I noticed something happening to the puddle of blood where the mushed up body of the man was.

The blood was going up, flowing from the things feet, and absorbing it into its body. It’s body then began to vibrate and there was that strange pulsating that’s happening again. I felt my heart beating louder each second when the giant trembled and vibrated.

“…” I watched in confusion and horror while this was going on.

After all of the blood was absorbed and there was only a mushed up body on its feet. The air began to tremble as if it was vibrating and the giant man released a bestial roar. The howling roar that came from it was causing me a headache that was also making me dizzy.

“TAKE COVER!” The man that they called ‘boss’ shouted.

I listened to what the man said and without even knowing where I was going, I dove at a car that was flipped to the side and hid behind it. I didn’t know what it was doing, but it surely wasn’t going to be anything nice.

“H-help! Please!” Someone yelled loud enough for me to hear even while the giant was continuously releasing its roar.

I look to where it was coming from and saw the middle-aged woman that was being pinned down by a tree crying out for help. Panic could be seen on her face as she tries to push the tree away with her hands, but it was a futile effort.

“That’s the look of an idiot trying to be a hero, so I’m going to say it now before it’s too late. Don’t go” Al said. “Going out there in the open while that thing is doing something is akin to suicide”

I was about to jump out into the open and run to her, but Al told me to stop before I could even take a step forward.

“… She needs help”

“I know she does, but do you think you could do anything even if you went over to ‘help’?”

He had a point, but it’s not like I could abandon her just like that. There must be a way for me to get her out of there without needing anybody else’s help.

As I was thinking that, the loud howling roar grew in intensity and volume. Making me fall back and covering my ears just to shut off the ear piercing noise that it was making. It didn’t have any effect whatsoever on preventing that noise from entering my ears, however.

A few agonizing seconds of that later, the howling roar stopped. When the buzzing in my ears also stopped, I look at the surroundings to see that in the air in front of me, there was a fuzzy bubble thing that popped into existence from nowhere. I tried to go closer to see what it was, but my mind told me not to sate my curiosity and just observe it from afar.

It was a good thing that I didn’t, because a beat later it started to pop and explode. Erasing anything that was in its radius and shattering anything that was near the blast range. It sent bits and pieces of rubble to fly in all sorts of directions, piercing anything that it came into contact with.

“WAH!” I scurried away from the fuzzy things and put my hands up to shield my face out of reflex.

“You better get up, Rei. There’s more coming towards you” Al warned me.

I looked around me again to see more were appearing out of nowhere. And they were slowly floating towards where I was, albeit at a snail’s pace. It didn’t decrease their threat one bit, though. Just a slow and inevitable one, is the feeling that I got from them.

“Go hide inside one of the buildings” Al said.

Without even thinking twice, I dashed towards the nearest building that I could find. A barbershop.

I opened the door and closed it behind me. I then quickly ran and hid behind one of the spinning chairs that the barbershop uses. Hoping that those things wouldn’t follow me inside.

“…” I held my breath and waited. Moments later, Al informed me of the situation.

“Hmm... those things don’t seem to be following you anymore” Al said to ease my nerves. “Maybe we’re outside of its search radius or they might need some sort of visual confirmation or something. Just stay there and hide. I’ll give the signal when it’s clear”

That’s nice… but that doesn’t alleviate the stress that’s building up again.

“Hmm… that’s… huh…” Al muttered after a minute of waiting.

I got curious why he said that, so I asked him. He then told me that if I didn’t want to see something that would cause me nightmares tonight, then I shouldn’t look outside right now. I took his word for it and I didn’t even try to peek.

My mind was in turmoil, but it wasn’t caused by the experience from a while ago. No, it was because of the panicked screaming and shouting that I was currently hearing from outside. I heard their shouting loud and clear, but I didn’t really want to look outside to see what was really going on. I could only imagine the horrors that were happening. Therefore, I just covered my ears and closed my eyes like a scared little child hiding in the corner.

Fifteen or so minutes later of screaming and shouting, the noise outside slowly died down. Al told me that there isn’t anything going on outside anymore and that I can go check it out through the window.

I cautiously crawled towards it and saw the ruined sidewalk. Everything was torn to pieces or blown to smithereens. There were a lot of scattered pieces of wood, leaves, cement, cars parts, broken lampposts and other things. Moreover, there was blood. A lot of it.

“What… is this?” I asked to no one in particular.

“That giant doesn’t seem to be anywhere near now. So maybe, we can go outside” He said.

I didn’t immediately go outside, however, and just waited out for a couple more minutes if that thing might comeback. Al understood my concerns and agreed to wait for a little while.

After some time has passed, I finally made the decision to open the door and go outside.

“Well now…” Al muttered.

The place was in a horrible mess and the air smelled like an underground sewage area with a hint of something metallic. There were also small craters here and there, some of the building had huge holes in them, and there wasn’t anyone in sight. Not anyone alive at least.

My eyes wander to the place where the woman who was crying for help was, but the tree nor she was there anymore. The only thing left was a small crater and blood that was scattered near it.

I couldn’t contain it anymore and I vomited on the spot. The feeling of my acidic fluids going out of my mouth and onto the bloody sidewalk wasn’t a pleasant experience. Good thing I hadn’t eaten anything yet, but I already lost my appetite even before I got hungry.

“How about we go back to the hospital for the time being?” Al suggested after I had some time to calm myself down.

I wiped my mouth with my arm and agreed with him, but before I could run off towards the only safe place that I know. The goofy face of my dad pops up in my mind and I put the idea of going back to the hospital for later. I first needed to find my dad and bring him with me there to safety.

From what I heard from that man from a while ago, there should be more like that giant man made out of the sidewalk in the other areas of the city. Meaning, there are more killing machines roaming around the streets. I was already on edge, but I guess that was fine. My alertness was maxed right now and I needed to be in this state as much as possible if I wanted to get to my apartment in one piece.

“Apartment?” I asked Al, to which he responded with his own question.

“Apartment?” He asked back.

“Way to the apartment” I clarified.

“I don’t know. We haven’t been to this area of the city before”

…

I guess I need to ask for directions.

I then told him the reason why I wanted to go back to my apartment and he suggested that we should head for the hospital first then ask for directions. There might also be information on where most of those things where headed or sighted at. Not to follow them, but to avoid them of course.

With that in mind, I rush towards the hospital again to ask anyone there for directions or some sort of a map of the city. I don’t know, anything that would point me to where my apartment is good enough. I just needed to get there as soon as possible.

When I was running, I saw a massive amount of people outside of the hospitals entrance. Numbering in the hundreds and possibly even more inside. Most of them were trying to get in, but were stopped by the people who were in front that were blocking the place because the building couldn’t contain those huge amounts of people at once.

“How are we going to get in now?” Al asked.

Good question, to which I didn’t know the answer of.

”Hmm…” Maybe I could ask them for directions or squeeze myself through the crowd of people that were pushing and shoving each other to get in.

“Fucking move already!”

“Hey, stop pushing me old man!”

“ARGHHH! HELP ME!”

“Get out of the way, bitch! Can’t you see I’m bleeding to death here!?”

Nope, that was definitely a bad idea. I would probably need some medical attention if I went through that crowd of aggressive people. On the other hand, maybe I could go through the back. There must be a way in there as any other hospitals would. I hope so.

I then head towards the back of the hospital, but there was also a crowd waiting outside of it. Not as much as there were in front, but still, there were a lot of people. And among those people, I saw a familiar face.

“Isn’t that one of your classmates?” Al asked.

“…” I squinted my eyes and took a second look at her face just to make sure I wasn’t mistaking her for someone else, but there wasn’t a need to. That was definitely Felicia.

“Go ask her for directions” Al said.

Maybe… but, how should I start the conversation? Should I go with ‘oh, what a coincidence to see you here’ or ‘well, look who’s here’. Those were most of the things that I know from reading novels about suddenly meeting someone they know. But isn’t it too… I don’t know how to put, but it’s like it doesn’t sound like something that I would definitely say. And the second one sounded very haughty.

“What are you standing there for? Just go and say hi, then ask for directions” Al said.

Just go and say ‘Hi’… hmm… isn’t that too casual? Maybe if I set it up like as if I didn’t notice her and come close enough so that she would be the one who sees me first and check if she comes and greets me… Am I just overthinking this again? Maybe just greeting her would be the best option.

“Hello? Rei, are you still there?” Al asked.

Okay, firstly, say ‘Hi’ then… small talk? But about what, exactly? The weather? No. Then, how about what’s happening to the city right now? Hmm, that would do I guess. Then ask her for some directions right after. Nice, I got it. First say ‘Hi’ then… I should wave my arm up in the air to get her attention beforehand. It would seem like the friendlier way to do things while I approach her… But what if she doesn’t notice me? That would put me in a very awkward situation. Also, is it even necessary to have some small talk?

“Rei? You’re making me worried again” Al was voicing his concern for my sudden silence.

Maybe I should just call out to her from afar to get her attention instead of waving my arms in the air. But what if other people look at me instead of her?

…

Why is this so much harder than trying to decide what to do next a while ago?

…

I’ve been thinking about the ‘buts’ too much lately too. I should just go with what I need to do. But… Ah…

“Hey! Felicia!” I shouted, but it wasn’t by my own will. It was Al’s doing yet again.

She turns her head towards my direction and waves her hands to signify that she noticed me from there. Should I wave my hands in return? Maybe…

I put my right hand up in the air and wave at her, and she comes to where I was standing.

“Why are you here outside of the hospital? Fredrick’s gone inside to get you” She said when she made it to where I was.

“?” Hmm? Why would he be looking for me? I hope it isn’t going to be something absurd again.

“Ah, just wait here for a moment while I contact him” She said while pulling out a cellular phone from her skirt’s pocket.

A few minutes later, Fredrick emerges from the crowd of people with beads of sweat pouring down from his forehead towards his chin. Looking at him, it was definitely a struggle to just get yourself out of there when everyone’s trying to push you back in.

“Haaa… haaa… why’d you go out of the hospital… in the first place?” He asked me while he was trying to catch his breath.

“I wanted to uhmm… go back to my apartment” I said sheepishly.

“Haaa… then why didn’t you… go back to your apartment?”

“… I don’t know?” I replied.

I really didn’t know why my body acted the way it did and just went to where trouble was happening. I wanted to run in the opposite direction like Al suggested, but my own body wouldn’t listen to me. I wonder… maybe I was suicidal.

…

I don’t think that’s the reason.

“The hospital’s the safest place in the city right now, though? Didn’t they tell you about that?” Felicia asked.

I nod in reply to her question.

“Doesn’t matter, the place is too crowded anyway, and if you aren’t hurt or injured, then we should let the others who need the medical care to take priority” Fredrick said after catching his breath. “Let’s go back to the mansion. It’s safer there than wandering in the streets at this time, and the old man would like to meet you too”

“Old man?” I asked.

“Ah, old man pertains to Gerrard and Felicia’s grandfather” He explained.

Gerrard and Felicia’s grandfather… so they were related. That means she might also know about the weird things that are happening. At least, more than someone like me might now.

“…” I look at my female classmates face to try to compare any of her traits to Gerrard. She smiles when she noticed me looking at her, so I blushed and looked away as she did so.

Note to self, don’t stare and just take glances. Or maybe use a mirror to try and… sigh. That’s a problem for another day.

“C-can we stop by my apartment first? I’d like to uhmm, check something” I said.

“Hmm? Why do you w- oh” He said. “Your father doesn’t have work on a Saturday, right? Then let’s go stop by your apartment and get him”

With our goals set, we then head towards my apartment building. We had to take a few detours, though, as the shorter routes were being taken over by other sidewalk giants like the one that I just saw a while ago.

Running and taking cover for about thirty minutes, we finally arrived at our apartment. The place was completely empty, however. There wasn’t even anyone at the counter. The landlord and the others must have evacuated and went to a safer place.

That reminds me… why hasn’t the police or the government done anything yet? I didn’t hear any sort of alarms or warning signals from any kind of police cars ever since I exited the hospital. It’s like there isn’t anyone taking action at all.

“What floor is your room, Rei?” Fredrick snapped me out of my thinking by asking me that.

“It’s uhmm… at the third floor”

“I’ll stay here and be the look out” Felicia said. Fredrick nods at her proposal and we go up the stairs.

As we made it to my apartment room, the front door was locked. I looked for the key in my pockets, but I couldn’t find it. It must have fallen somewhere last night. I also tried calling out to my dad, but there wasn’t an answer even after five minutes of calling out to him.

“…” I just stood there in front of my door, waiting for the door to open, but I didn’t think it would do as I wish.

“He might have went somewhere to hide from all the commotion” Fredrick said. “We should also go”

“But…” I stood there and stared at the door, not wanting to leave without knowing if my dad was safe or not. If possible, I would just sit right here and wait if ever he comes back to check.

Sensing that I wasn’t willing to move from where I was standing. He gave an alternative.

“Hmm… tell you what. I’ll place an ‘eye’ on this door” He said. ”so that if your dad or anyone comes near it, the eye will trigger an alert and send me a visual image of that person”

“?” He’s going to put an eye on the door… maybe it was a camera or something similar.

Fredrick grabs something from the inside pocket of his gray coat and pulls out a small wooden marble that had lines across its surface. It then moves around in his palm after a few seconds, and the lines started to wriggle and open, revealing eyes that darted here and there. They were also blinking as if to signify that they were alive, but their actions only added to their creepiness.

He then shoves it into my apartment room’s entrance door and it sinks into the wood while sending ripples that were moving away from where it was entering, as if the wooden marble was piercing still water.

“There, now let’s go before anything else happens” He said so, as he grabs my arm and forces me to leave with him.

“Done?” Felicia asked when we reached the bottom floor.

“Yeah” Fredrick replied.

The ground trembles as we were about to go out of the apartment building, so we had to stop where we are and grabbed onto something so we wouldn’t fall. It continued for a whole minute before it finally stopped.

“Fuck. Not good, the well’s drying up already” Fredrick said. “We need to hurry”

“Uhmm…” I stopped the both of them before they could start running, as I asked Fredrick something that I should have before we went here. “Why do I… ah, why do I need to come with you guys anyway?”

He wasn’t the one who responded, however.

“To stop your heart from becoming a bomb that could wipe out a nearby nation” Felicia was the one who answered it.

"I think it's too late to stop it now, though" Fredrick replied to her with an agitated tone in his voice when another small earthquake happened.

…

“Huh” Al muttered.

“Huh” Was also the same thing that came out of my mouth.