4 Emergency Shelter
As the group huddled together inside the dimly lit apartment, the cries and roars of the monster's rampage resounded through the building. No one dared to make a sound.
John tightened his grip on his knife and decided to try his Quiet Steps skill. With almost inaudible steps, he approached the window. The sight outside was a frenzy of monsters biting down on humans, blood splattering everywhere and buildings crumbling. Dust hovered perpetually in the air, visibility almost non-existent.
Unfortunately for John, his view of the outside was limited and he couldn't have seen the reptilian beast speeding through the halls and crashing the apartment through the window. John's eyes widened upon seeing the beast. Razor-sharp teeth and claws, and scales that glinted like metal.
The youngest girl of the group screamed in response to seeing the terrifying beast. Stephanie was quick to action and covered the girl's mouth. The group stood stunned; it was John who sprung into action. He knew these beasts would be far stronger than they could handle, but something had to be done.
As his mentor had taught him, he sprung with the intention to kill. John swung down the knife with both hands before the beast had time to get up. The blade made contact with the beast, but thanks to its durable scales, it could only leave a scratch on the beast.
John clicked his tongue. He didn't expect to deal with the beast in one swing, but barely scratching it? He began to wonder if he could even win this fight, but he shook it off and focused on the moment.
"Snap out of it!" John barked. "Grab anything and circle this beast!"
The group scrambled for weapons - pots, pans, chairs, kitchen knives. The beast recovered and stood, towering 190 cm over John's 185 cm.
The beast lunged with startling speed. John barely dodged the razor claws, hearing them shred the wall behind him. The muscular tail whipped around - he ducked just in time as it smashed the desk instead.
The others attacked with their makeshift weapons, but couldn't pierce its armoured hide. "The legs and eyes!" John yelled.
As it rounded on him again, John slid beneath its swiping claws using Quiet Steps. Silently slipping behind it, he drove the knife into its underbelly, drawing a shriek but only a shallow cut.
Rolling away, John saw Stephanie swing a chair, bashing the beast's face. It stumbled from the sheer force. "The legs!" John shouted again.
Together they targeted the unprotected limbs, battering and cutting them. Lurid blood flowed as the beast weakened but remained deadly. They had to finish this now.
With an enraged roar, it thrashed and bucked, sending people flying. But John narrowly stayed on his feet, avoiding the gnashing jaws. As it reared up, he saw his chance - leaping onto its back and stabbing his knife to the hilt in its eye. It crashed down dead.
Panting, John yanked his gore-slick blade free. The others stared in exhausted awe. But John could hear more monsters nearby. This was just the beginning.
The group stared at John in awe and trepidation. Who was he? Why was he calm in such a situation? One of the many questions going around the group's heads.
John let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes before the magical screen appeared in front of him once more.
[Razorlin Killed]
[0.5 Strength Obtained]
'Oh?' John was pleasantly surprised and once again, he understood the message. Killing monsters granted you strength. He glanced at the group and none of them seemed to be looking at their screens, except for Stephanie. She must have obtained a bonus for her assist, is what he thought.
A chorus of ringtones suddenly cut through the tense silence. Everyone scrambled to pull out their phones as alerts flashed on the screens.
"It's an emergency alert!" Stephanie gasped.
They gathered around to view a video message playing from the government:
"Attention citizens. Please proceed immediately to the shelter set up at the National University campus downtown. Food, water, and military protection will be provided there temporarily until the crisis is contained..."
The group looked around with a mix of hope and disbelief. A way out of this nightmare?
"It's only a few blocks from here," Dalia said, checking a map. "We could make it if we hurry."
"And walk right into a trap," John countered gruffly. "You really think they threw together a functioning shelter overnight?"
The others shifted uneasily at his scepticism. But the shrill cries of approaching monsters quickly settled the debate.
"Trap or not, we need to chance it," Stephanie urged. "We won't last another attack!"
John scowled but nodded. As much as he distrusted the message, staying put was certain death. Their only hope was the shelter - if they could fight their way there through the infested streets.
"Grab anything useful and let's move," he commanded, gripping his knife tightly. The campus loomed ominously in the distance past choked streets. John's instincts screamed that far greater dangers lay ahead.
John's phone chimed with two new messages - one from his father, one from his father's girlfriend.
"Son, it's safe here at the National University shelter," his father wrote.
The girlfriend's message was blunt: "Don't come here, you brat. We don't need you."
John let out a derisive snort at the messages. Things were as they always were, even with the looming apocalypse, fantastical beasts and alien spaceships.
"Let's move," he said gruffly, pocketing his phone. The group gathered their belongings and headed for the university.
The bustling city had transformed in mere minutes into a deserted wasteland of wreckage. John surveyed their surroundings warily as they ventured deeper into the ravaged streets.
Abruptly, a woman's shriek pierced the air. John's head whipped around to see a dark, scaly tail coiled around Stephanie's leg, dragging her away. She cried for help, mind flooded with panic. Her boyfriend Nelson stood paralysed nearby.
John's phone chimed again, or maybe it was the system, likely a system alert about Stephanie. But he was already exploding into a sprint without bothering to check.
Vaulting over debris with a smirk, John charged after Stephanie. He wasn't about to lose his food. As he ran, he unsheathed his knife - it was time to test his steel against the monsters once again.
