The pounding against the metal fire exit continued long after the group descended deeper into the stairwell.
THUG!
THUG!
THUG!
Each impact echoed through the narrow concrete walls like distant explosions, making Summer flinch every single time.
But despite the deafening noise above them, Rian kept moving.
Step after step.
Floor after floor.
No one dared speak.
The dim emergency lights barely illuminated the stairwell, leaving large portions of the area drowned in darkness. Dust floated through the air while the metallic scent of blood lingered heavily around them.
Rian tightened his grip around the axe.
Something still felt wrong.
Very wrong.
"They're not following anymore..." Ella suddenly whispered from behind.
Rian immediately stopped walking.
The others nearly bumped into him as they froze as well.
Silence.
The banging from above had completely disappeared.
No growls.
No shrieks.
Nothing.
Only the sound of their breathing remained.
"That's impossible," Light muttered nervously. "Those things were literally breaking the door earlier."
Thino slowly looked upward toward the darkness above the staircase.
"They stopped all at once..."
No one replied.
Because they all realized the same thing.
The monsters didn't stop because they gave up.
Something made them stop.
Rian felt cold sweat slowly crawl down the back of his neck.
Then—
THOOOM.
The entire stairwell trembled slightly.
Everyone froze.
Summer instinctively grabbed Ella's arm tighter.
"What... was that?" she whispered shakily.
THOOOM.
Another vibration.
This time stronger.
Dust fell lightly from the ceiling.
Rian's expression hardened immediately.
"That's not from above," he said quietly.
The sound was coming from below them.
Far beneath the building.
And whatever was making those footsteps...
Was massive.
"Keep moving," Rian ordered immediately. "Slowly."
No one argued.
Their exhaustion disappeared almost instantly, replaced by pure anxiety.
The group carefully continued descending the stairs, trying their best not to make unnecessary noise.
Even Light avoided speaking now.
THOOOM.
The sound echoed again.
Closer.
Much closer.
Then suddenly—
SKRRREEECH...
Everyone's eyes widened.
That metallic scraping sound.
The no eyes creature.
Rian immediately raised his axe while Thino grabbed his empty fire extinguisher.
From the darkness below, a distorted figure slowly crawled upward along the stairwell wall.
Its twisted limbs clung unnaturally against the concrete surface like a spider.
Its mouth opened wide.
Rows of jagged teeth trembled violently as it released another distorted clicking noise.
Ella covered Summer's mouth before she could accidentally scream.
The creature tilted its head.
Listening.
Rian slowly stepped backward.
'Don't make noise...'
But then something strange happened.
The hunter suddenly froze.
Its body became completely still.
Even its twitching jaw stopped moving.
THOOOM.
A louder vibration shook the stairwell.
The hunter creature immediately reacted.
For the first time since encountering it—
Fear appeared in the monster's movements.
SKRRRREEEE—
The creature suddenly backed away.
Fast.
Almost desperately.
"What the hell..." Light whispered.
Rian's eyes narrowed.
"That thing is scared."
The realization sent chills through everyone.
A monster capable of slicing through steel...
Was afraid of something else.
THOOOM.
THOOOM.
The sound now felt close enough to shake their bones.
Then—
A horrifying shriek suddenly echoed from below.
Not human.
Not lurkin.
Something deeper.
Heavier.
More monstrous.
Summer nearly collapsed from fear.
"What is that...?!" she gasp softly.
"No idea," Thino answered honestly.
And that terrified him the most.
Because in both his past life and this one...
He had never heard that sound before.
Which meant only one thing.
Something had changed.
Something new had appeared.
"Move!" Rian suddenly ordered.
The group immediately rushed downward, no longer caring about conserving energy.
The stairwell felt endless.
Every floor looked identical.
Dark walls.
Bloodstains.
Abandoned bags and broken phones scattered everywhere.
But the deeper they descended—
The stranger everything became.
There were no bodies anymore.
No lurkin.
Nothing.
Until Thino suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
Rian turned toward him.
Thino pointed his flashlight toward the nearby hallway outside the stairwell.
Everyone slowly looked.
And froze.
The entire hallway was covered in blood.
Not small splatters.
Massive streaks.
As though something huge had been dragged across the floor.
The walls themselves were cracked inward.
Metal lockers looked crushed like paper.
But what truly horrified them...
Were the corpses.
Lurkin bodies.
Dozens of them.
Some were torn completely in half.
Others looked flattened beyond recognition.
One corpse was embedded directly into the concrete wall.
Light stared at the scene in disbelief.
"This... this wasn't a fight."
Thino silently nodded.
It was slaughter.
A massacre.
Even the no eyes creature from earlier probably wouldn't survive something like this.
THOOOM.
The sound echoed again.
This time directly nearby.
Everyone instinctively shut off their flashlights.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
No one moved.
No one breathed loudly.
Then slowly—
A gigantic shadow passed across the hallway outside.
Rian's heartbeat nearly stopped.
The thing was so large its shadow alone covered almost the entire corridor.
Heavy breathing echoed outside.
Wet.
Animalistic.
But strangely uneven.
Like multiple creatures breathing at once.
THOOOOM.
Another step.
The concrete floor cracked slightly beneath its weight.
Ella trembled violently beside the others while covering Summer protectively.
Light clenched his jaw so hard it hurt.
And even Thino looked visibly speechless.
Rian slowly peeked through the small opening of the stairwell door.
Then his eyes widened.
Two heads.
A gigantic creature slowly walked through the hallway while dragging something massive behind it.
Its dark flesh pulsed unnaturally beneath the emergency lights while thick blood continuously dripped from its jaws.
One of its heads suddenly stopped moving.
Then slowly turned toward the stairwell.
Rian immediately pulled back.
His entire body went cold.
"It noticed us?" Light mouthed silently.
Rian didn't answer.
Because he wasn't sure.
The creature remained motionless outside.
Listening.
The stairwell became unbearably silent.
Then—
SKRREEEECH!!
Some no eyes creature suddenly leaped from the ceiling toward the gigantic monster.
Everything happened too fast.
The creature blade-like limbs slashed violently toward one of the heads—
Only for the massive creature to catch it instantly.
CRUNCH.
The entire stairwell froze.
The giant monster bit directly through the no eyes creature's upper body like it was nothing.
Dark blood exploded everywhere.
The creature shrieked violently while its limbs thrashed helplessly.
Then another head bit into its remaining body.
And another.
Ripping it apart within seconds.
The sound of bones crushing echoed horribly throughout the hallway.
Summer nearly screamed.
Ella immediately covered her mouth again while fears formed in her eyes.
Even Rian felt nauseous watching the scene.
That hunter nearly killed them earlier.
Yet now...
It was being eaten effortlessly.
The gigantic creature slowly chewed the remains while all two heads twitched unnaturally.
Then suddenly—
One of the heads looked directly toward the stairwell again.
Rian's eyes widened.
But before the creature could notice them completely, Thino quickly threw the fire extinguisher he was holding towards another direction.
CLANGGG!
The loud metallic sound instantly drew the monster's attention, giving the group enough time to hurriedly hide behind the collapsed columns and broken concrete above them.
WAAAARRRHHHHH!!!!!
The creature's roar violently echoed throughout the area.
Yet instead of easing their fear, the sound only made the pressure around them even heavier. It felt as though the scream itself was draining the strength from their bodies.
"S-say... can we really escape safely from here?"
Summer's trembling voice broke the silence.
She stared blankly into the distance while trying to steady her breathing. Beside her, Ella remained unusually quiet, mainly because she also didn't know the answer.
"We... don't even know where those things came from," Summer continued weakly. "Or how they even ended up here... How are we supposed to fight them?"
Rian clicked his tongue in frustration.
Not because of Summer's words—
But because even he couldn't think of an answer himself.
Compared to the four students whose fear was clearly visible on their faces, Thino remained unusually calm and silent. Deep in thought.
Ella noticed it almost immediately, causing her to quietly call for him.
"Any idea... Thino?"
The others also turned toward him.
For a few moments, Thino simply observed the gigantic creature wandering through the smoke-filled streets before finally speaking.
"The only thing we can do for now is escape this place. We still need to reach the warehouse and get the vehicle connected to the keys we found."
"But Thino, that's too dangerous," Light immediately whispered back. "The path we were supposed to take is literally being blocked by that gigantic... creature."
A heavy sigh escaped him afterward.
Even he wanted their plan to work, but the obstacle standing before them was simply too overwhelming.
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
Everyone immediately looked at Thino in confusion after hearing his response.
"That thing is too big to properly notice us on the ground."
Thino slowly glanced toward the blood-covered bodies of the unconscious lurkins scattered nearby.
"I already have an idea."
"S-spill it."
Ella adjusted her position slightly while the others leaned closer despite the fear still lingering in their eyes.
"We're going to cover ourselves with blood using those."
The moment he pointed toward the dead lurkins, everyone frowned.
"The monsters' blood?" Rian asked in disbelief. "But even those things are getting killed by that giant creature. What's the point of doing that?"
"We're not trying to become one of them," Thino explained calmly. "Like I said, those creatures are too massive to properly see us from that height."
His gaze slowly shifted toward the towering monster in the distance.
"So the plan is to pretend we're dead. From their perspective, we'll just look like unconscious monsters covered in blood."
For the first time since hiding there, a faint spark of hope appeared across their faces.
Even Rian silently nodded.
"Let's stick with that plan and do it quickly then," he muttered while standing up first. "Before that thing wipes everything out and leaves us with nowhere to hide."
Without hesitation, Rian approached the bloodied corpses first and began smearing the dark blood across his clothes and skin.
The others quickly followed.
Ella, Summer, and Light visibly looked disgusted by the thick blood coating their bodies, but none of them complained.
They had no choice.
Several minutes later, the group quietly returned to their positions near the path they planned to cross.
Thino carefully signaled everyone to prepare themselves.
The moment the giant creature's shadow disappeared behind the thick smoke, Thino immediately sprinted first, moving carefully beside the rows of destroyed vehicles.
The others quickly followed behind him.
Meanwhile, Rian stayed at the back, constantly watching their surroundings.
Everything remained silent—
Until Thino suddenly noticed a lurkin moving in the distance.
He immediately stopped and crouched low, carefully observing where the creature was heading.
BLAG!
GASP—
But then the entire group nearly gasped aloud.
Without warning, something massive suddenly crashed down from above and crushed the lurkin instantly.
Blood exploded violently across the ground.
When Thino slowly lifted his gaze upward—
His expression darkened immediately.
The object had been thrown by another gigantic creature.
But that wasn't what terrified them the most.
Because they suddenly realized—
There wasn't only one giant wandering outside.
There were two.
'The fuck is this... there's another one?!'
Rian cursed inwardly while forcing himself to stay still.
No one dared move.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
The five of them remained frozen in place while the gigantic creatures continued roaming nearby like predators searching for prey.
Seeing that Thino still hadn't moved, Rian quietly picked up a small stone and lightly tossed it toward him.
Tick.
The pebble struck Thino's shoulder softly.
It worked immediately.
Thino glanced toward Rian, only to see him quickly signaling for them to move now.
Rian couldn't risk making any noise.
Not when they still had no idea what abilities those giant creatures possessed.
Thankfully, Thino understood immediately and responded with a small nod.
The moment he noticed the monsters moving farther away, Thino carefully began moving again.
One slow step at a time.
Then finally—
Ella's eyes widened slightly.
The warehouse.
Through the thick smoke, she could already see the roof of the building.
Ella immediately tugged lightly on Thino's sleeve before quietly pointing toward the structure ahead.
Thino nodded without hesitation and quickly continued moving toward the warehouse entrance.
But before he could fully approach—
His footsteps suddenly slowed.
Then completely stopped.
The surroundings around him blurred slightly.
And once again—
Fragments of missing memories violently flooded his mind.
"Fuck! We're trapped!"
"No! This can't be! W-why?!"
"No! Rian, don't! NO!!!"
"Thino! Run!"
"N-no!... L-Light, I don't want too!"
"Fuck, Thino! RUN—AGH!"
"NO! LIGHT!!"
The memories slammed violently inside his head one after another.
Screams.
Blood.
Despair.
And the final thing he saw—
Light being brutally killed by a monster right in front of him.
A creature Thino was certain wasn't ordinary either.
"Thino?"
A hand suddenly tapped his shoulder.
Thino immediately snapped back to reality.
The moment he saw Light staring at him with concern, visible relief instantly appeared across his face.
Because unlike the horrifying memory in his mind—
Light was still alive.
"Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine," Thino answered with a small smile. "I just remembered something for a second."
He lightly patted Light's shoulder in return.
Although Light still looked doubtful of the answer, he chose not to ask further and simply followed after Thino once the latter started running again toward the warehouse's roll-up gate.