Pete was left speechless. He could not understand a single thing Cayden said. But the fact that some of Cayden's words are garbled means it's not something he was meant to hear.

Pete had watch tons of movies with these cliche troupes. Though watching it behind the screen is one thing, suddenly experiencing it feels so weird he's having a hard time accepting this is the new truth he must come to terms with.

Together, they have experienced many strange events. Pete wanted badly to ask Cayden what was going on. What's causing this. Who was that woman earlier.

Is she an alien? Are aliens evading the Earth and testing their intelligence? Or was it another apocalyptic plot where things like monsters appear and they have to fight to survive?

As thoughts run into Pete's mind, Cayden busied himself in filling his bag with minimal medicinal supplies and water.

Physical enhancement will only be gifted if the first elimination game of Dark Tower happened. The people who survived - they are the people most likely to be gifted. This includes endurance. They won't be needing to feed and sleep to survive. Having a meal once a week was enough.

They are about to pass by the third floor when Pete suddenly stop.

"What?" Cayden turn to him.

"You said the next game will also involve wryths?"

Cayden nodded. "Something like that."

"Won't we be needing guns then? They are more effective against human turned living corpse."

Pete's eyes trailed towards his room in the left corridor. Cayden know what he thinks. Because of slight paranoia Pete suffered, he somehow 'borrowed' guns from his grandfather.

We're not talking about small handguns but deadly hunting rifles that can kill an eagle soaring in the sky.

Cayden shake his head. "Normal guns are useless. For this game, only knives and blades work for them. Come on, we've taken pretty much we need. Let's go back to the first floor."

Pete can only give up on the idea.

"Okay."

If someone sees these two. One calm and collected because he had experienced this situation once. The other, blindly believing his words without a sense of doubt, people will say they are crazy. Especially when they walk around with one big backpack full of survival supplies and awkward looking bump machetes strap on their waist.

But at this moment, not one soul was seen in the building. The traces of the fight was everywhere. Blood splatters. The foul smell of flesh. Limbs and body parts burnt to the point of being unrecognized.

They went back to the landlady's office in the front building right at the entrance. Pete tested the door by throwing another fortune cat. The result was the same, forcing him to wait on the sofa with Cayden.

Both are resting, trying to heal the wounds and bruises they received from the fight earlier. The tense atmosphere of waiting is obvious in the air.

"Cayden, man, don't you think something feels weird?"

Cayden frown. "There's something weirder aside from the barrier preventing us from going out?"

"No. No. I mean the outside man, we've been sitting here for ten minutes but not a single person or car bypass us."

Cayden thought about this. "It's been ten minutes since we chose to wait. Maybe later, people will come, though I doubt we can ask for their help in getting out of here."

Pete shake his head. "No man. I tried to look over one of the rooms on the second floor earlier. His window is facing right into the intersection at the Buble City's skyscraper building. The intersection is supposed to be bustling with people. Now, there's no one."

At once, Cayden's eyes widen. He scrambled off to his feet and sprinted to the second floor. Disregarding the pain he felt in his abdomen. Behind him, Pete is calling his name.

He entered the already broken door in one of the rooms on the second floor. He did not hesitate and crossed the living room towards the window. His eyes studied the intersection below.

Pete was right. Not one car nor people is seen in the streets. Is this what he thinks this is? Pete appeared right beside him and asked.

"This is weird man."

"Let's wait first."

For the next minutes they spend looking outside through the window, not a single soul was seen. They did not notice the time.

It was when a loud crash of something cracking and slamming did they notice it was 11:59 pm. Ahead of them, at the intersection where the building Cayden saw first when he arrived, black swirling dust surround the whole building. The black mass is like a thick growing shadow that climbs towards the building's top floor.

Due to shock, Pete let out a startled scream.

"What is that?!" Beneath the growing black mass, the building lost its sheen color of glass, breaking them apart. The pillars that support the thirty-floor building have crumbled to the ground. Debris after debris falling caused the ground to tremor. The pavements on the road cracked, the nearby buildings are also affected. Glass are breaking everywhere.

The apartment building where Pete and Cayden is are only a few meters away. The neighbor buildings and shops around them are also affected.

But something was strange.

The apartment Cayden is in was not affected. They could not feel the building experiencing an earthquake.

Cayden's heart was in a mess. What went wrong?! Which part did he mess up?! Beneath his calm expression, the cold sweat that trickled down his forehead gave away his anxiousness.

Of course, Pete notice it too.

"Cayden...." He called out. Cayden did not respond. Pete shook his shoulders.

"Cayden!"

Cayden finally responded. Without his knowledge, his left hand wrapped itself around the machete.

"What's going on?"

Pete and Cayden stared at each other.

"Pete, this wasn't supposed to happen."

Cayden was the first to look away, his eyes staring at the intersection. Pete followed his gaze.

The building in the middle of the intersection disappeared. It turn into something else. Something that usually only happened in fantasy novels Pete has read.

A black obsidian tower that transcend the clouds appeared in the middle of nowhere. Dark clouds swirled at the top. But no one is sure if that is actually the black tower's peak.

"You mean this tower shouldn't have appeared?"

"No. The tower is called Dark Tower. It was responsible for all the happenings that will unfold starting today. That woman earlier? She came from the tower. It called her 'Storm Master.'"

"That explained the lightning roasting everybody."

"Yes. But she wasn't supposed to be here today Pete. And neither should the people in this city disappear."

Cayden let out a shaky breath. He crumpled his fist in order to calm his fast beating heart. He neutralize his expression before saying,

"If my guess is correct, the tower is changing the set up of every elimination game." Cayden paused. "Because of me."

"Why?"

It was a long time before Cayden said anything. Pete was sure he won't respond when suddenly, he heard him mutter,

"Because I stole something. Now it's punishing me for the crime."

A low melodious sound came to their ears. They look up, but the sound does not seem to come from there. It wasn't from the room either.

The melodic sound was everywhere. Cayden immediately open the window, the sound seems to get a little louder.

"It's coming from the tower," Cayden concludes.

"Little Indians?"

"Seems like it."

Pete's eyebrow shot up. "Wow. This tower got weird taste. We're facing apocalypse and it still has the mood to humor us with nursery rhymes."

It's worse than that. Cayden wants to say but he was cut off by the Dark Tower.

[Welcome challengers and drifter.]

Cayden felt a chill when the automated familiar female voice of the Dark Tower emphasize the word 'drifter'. As expected the Dark Tower is taking note of the violation he broke.

[Dark Tower expressed its deepest gratitude for your participation.]

[Challengers, at 12 pm on June 28, 2016, the first elimination game officially starts.]

[Game mode: Apocalypse]

[Game objective: Survive in Buble City for the next ten days.]

[Game rules: First, guns, grenades and other explosive weapons are not allowed, thereby rendered worthless in every game.]

[Second, eliminate every human who is not categorized as challengers.]

[Third, at 12 pm on July 7, 2016, you must arrive safely at the Dark Tower.]

[Fourth, meet and aid the other challengers to cross the city. For every successful aided challenger, points will be added. For every one hundred successful kill of unrecognized humans, points will be added.]

[Fifth, a total of twenty challengers are within the vicinity of Buble City. Within ten days, you must aid all twenty challengers on your journey towards The Dark Tower. Not one killed by you.]

[To all challengers, may the god of luck be on your side.]

After hearing the rules narrated inside of their heads, Pete and Cayden felt a chill creeping up their spine.

“I didn’t know towers extend wishing lucks to the poor tortured souls it force to play. Ugh, that’s creepy.” Pete shivered.

“The Dark Tower likes to play cold jokes.” Cayden said.

He was about to come out of the room when he notice something that was supposed to be there but wasn’t. He froze.

“What’s wrong?” Pete came up behind him.

Cayden clutch his abdomen. The pain is gone. He flip his grey shirt under his black leather jacket, hiding the bandage in a blind spot. When he take a peak, the ugly deep six inches wound that was supposed to be there is replaced with perfectly flawless skin.

His mouth instantly dropped.