As soon as they notice the movement, both are on high alert. They surround the shop and crouch via the back door. The glass window is dark. They can’t see what’s going on inside.

Both waited for any sign of movement. A single bump made their ears shoot up. They exchanged glances and tacit understanding passed between them. Cayden was the first to scout the area for any signs of zombies.

It was Pete who entered the shop. Pete left the door open for Cayden to enter. Pete’s eyes scan inside. On the outside, Cayden’s eyes found the vague sign that says…

Cam & Sol Café.

It was the stand for the coffee shop’s menu that he used to display outside every morning. Cayden felt like a cold bucket was poured on his head. His heart is pounding against his chest. No. He needs to calm down. This is the coffee shop he used to work at. How come he’s here? How come the exterior looked so different from what he remembered? Why are his experiences so different from the previous elimination game?

Cayden forced his eyes shut.

He doesn’t have the time to reflect back on the past or compare his previous experience in the first elimination game.

This is the challenge the Dark Tower has given him. A challenge created for him who did not heed the Dark Tower’s warning.

When he heard the sound of the door closing, Cayden looked up. He frown. Why did Pete close it when he told him not to? Cayden carefully entered the café. The back door is the employee’s lounge.

"Pete?" he whispered.

He turned his flashlight on and scanned the area. The interior is just as he remembered. But blood streak was everywhere, on the walls, in the coffee machines, on the counter.

He sense movement to his left and meet someone’s face illuminated by the flashlight. A familiar face.

"Cayden?" A sweet soft voice.

"Missy…" Cayden put down his knife but he did not sheathe it back to his calf.

"Why are you here?" – Missy.

"What happened here?" – Cayden. They ask at the same time.

Cayden did not wait for Missy to explain her side and proceed to tell her his.

"We came here with my neighbor, Pete. Something terrible happened at the apartment building…. So-something unbelievable."

Missy nodded with understanding. "I know." There was something in her eyes that Cayden could not fathom.

"Is that what happened here too? Where is everyone?" He look around. The ingredients are scattered in the floor. As if someone ripped the supplies off the shelves.

The utensils are also broken on the floor. Ugly traces of blood and hideous fight are everywhere. But Missy seems well kept. Clean and refreshing. A faint scent of grapes is exuded from her body.

"I don’t know. I was like you. I came here thinking I’ll be safe. There’s a lot of zombies outside. Looking for a place to hide, I came here and stayed ever since."

At her words, Cayden frown.

"Stayed ever since…" According to Cayden’s memory, less than one hour passed since the start of first elimination game of the Dark Tower.

"How long have you been hiding here?"

There’s something in Missy’s eyes that ripples like tidal waves, but it soon disappear when she force herself to smile.

"Seven days."

Cayden clutch the flashlight in his hands tightly.

"Then… is everyone, including Ian and the manager – are they all dead?"

Missy nodded solemnly.

"How did you survive in the last seven days?"

Missy nervously rubbed her arms, crossing them together. "I just know I needed some place to hide. Somewhere I’m familiar with and zombies won’t dare to come inside."

This made Cayden frown even more. "Why won't the zombies come in here?"

Missy shrug. "Because of the blood? I'm not entirely sure."

Behind Cayden, he can sense some movements. Footsteps that shifted silently and move in the darkness like a panther.

Cayden spent almost ten years fighting for his life that a mere sneak attack like this could be countered easily if he really wanted to.

But he doesn't want to. At least not now. He had known Missy for months. The Missy from his memories is sweet and innocent. You can tell she was lying at first glance.

Cayden can still tell everything she told him was a lie. But her gesture seems to deliberately tell him, everything I’m telling you now is a lie. She doesn't try to make her lies sound believable. It's more like there's some sort of hidden agenda she's trying to expose without telling him.

"Among my lies, there's one truth I told you." Her eyes seemed to say. "So figure it out yourself."

Cayden already know which one. Before Cayden could open his mouth to speak, something hit him squarely in the back of his skull. His eyes dimmed and he blacked out. He now had hours to spend lamenting just how weak he was that a mere strike from a metal pipe could knock him off.

When Cayden open his eyes again, a bloodied figure was sitting opposite him. His face has thick dried blood on his face. Cayden's shoe is within feet reach from the man's shoe.

"Pete!" He tried to get up, but the chains binding him to the single metal table inside the café wouldn't budge. At his nape, he felt a warm liquid oozing down to his shirt. The machete he sheathe on his waist is nowhere to be found. As well as the two emergency knives he had equipped on both his legs. In the summer heat of June, the sun penetrating the café almost blinded Cayden. It took him some time to adjust to the sudden light.

How come the sun's heat only comes out now? When Cayden looked over his shoulder, he saw Missy kneeling in front of a thug in one of the coaches beside the window. Pete let out a muffled groan. Missy heard the noise and looked up fearfully at the biggest and hairiest man Cayden had ever seen. He counted off the total number of people lounging in the café. As if unafraid to be seen by the zombies, they are sitting under the sun with see through glass walls.

"You know him Missy?" The thug raised his soiled boots to Missy's cheek. She let out a small whimper.

"Yes.... Cayden is my co-worker." Her eyes are darting nervously. Clearly avoiding making contact with Cayden's eyes.

"Ah, that's sweet." The thug finally stood up and kneeled in front of Cayden.

"For the last seven days, where have you been hiding?"

Cayden did not answer. He stared straight into the thug's eyes with expressionless face. The thug laughed at him, then sent a bone breaking kick to Cayden's jaw. Blood squeezed from Cayden's mouth. The injury at the back of his head is hurting. Opposite him, Pete finally wakes up. His eyes widen when their eyes meet.

"What? Where? Who are you?" A strong punch answered Pete’s question, rendering him silent. Pete coughed up blood and struggled to get up. But he was in the same situation as Cayden. He was bound to the metal stand with no way out.

Pete groaned in protest when he saw Cayden opposite him, being bullied by what was probably the first giant he had ever seen. Because of Cayden’s unresponsiveness, the thug got angry. He delivered another punch to Cayden’s face. Almost breaking his teeth and skull. The thug’s fist is as large as the average human head.

"I’ll ask again, where have you been hiding these past few days?" Cayden has difficulty speaking. He tried to utter a word, but no sound came out. His mouth and teeth are ruptured with blood and pain.

"A….par…men" He managed to squeeze out. His voice was hoarse, low, barely audible, but because of the universal silence in the room, everybody heard it.

"Apartment?" The thug turned to Missy.

"Missy, dear, you know where it is?" Missy who's shaking silently on the side, shakes her head vigorously. There are a total of ten guys in the room. Plus one for Missy.

Cayden got lost in his thoughts.

He did not mind if these people go to his apartment. There may be some food supplies in the rooms left. He did not care. His primary concern was….

These guys are challengers just like him.

[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.]

Before him, Missy was dragged by the other two guys. She keep whimpering, the clean and refreshing look she used to have when they met is now replaced with a haggard, scared look. The thug grabbed her jaw and pulled her forward. The thug and Missy’s face are only a few inches apart. A few centimeters more and their nose will come into contact.

"You know where it is, don’t you?" The thug menacingly hissed every word in Missy’s face. Cayden can’t help but notice how the thug’s teeth are covered with thick yellow tartar. He silently sympathized with Missy, it must have been antagonizing to breathe this thug's bad breath.

"No... I didn’t—" A hard slap rendered Missy silent. Her cheek is burning from the harsh contact. Missy has long hair, which probably made her regret letting it grow long because of the thug’s harsh pull to shove her face upwards. Almost ripping the scalp from her forehead.

"Think again. You’re co-workers. Of course, you know where he lived."

Not necessarily. Cayden wanted to say but he vaguely remembered he once let Missy into his apartment once. Now why is she denying it?