Chapter 5

A person is walking towards Reo. The person then sits and makes skin contact with him affirming that he's alright.

Reo then wakes up from his nightmares, trembling in despair, cold sweating, and panting. He looked at the person beside him with pity eyes with turned down lips.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" apologetically said by Reo, as he begins to leave his bed and act to hug Usman. 

Usman was in a state of emptiness wondering what's actually happening. 

"I'm so sorry!" Reo while jumping into Usman hugging him tightly. 

Usman was irritated, pushing Reo's head and chest away from him. And it was at that moment they sense, someone is being entertained.

"Go on, go on, ya know, Sometimes we need to feed our needs."

They turned their neck towards the place where the voice was generated. It was Pleja who was radiating with excitement. 

"Dumb ass, it's not what you think!" shouted by the two.

"Tsk!" Pleja replied disappointedly. 

The dawn brings a disturbing coldness that the 3 of them ever imagined. They start to make a furnace for them to light up. 

As the last twig ran out of heat, the atmosphere began to fill a question, "how are they going to survive for the next few days?". 

Reo initiates to share the sky flakes he has with the team with a smile, affirming them a bright tomorrow. He then takes his leave to find twigs, visualising it as a form of training for him. As Reo took his time going down the stairs, he began to feel the uncontrollable shivering of his knees as if it was quaking. It was not due to the chilling environment but to the unknown future that was laid out for them. He then slapped his face with his two palms to stop stressing out. As he gains senses in the surroundings, without a second thought, he notices that one of his 5 senses was negated. The fog is crazy dense, which made him assume that the winter is supposed to have this kind of fog.

Meanwhile at the building where Pleja and Usman were left. Utterly silence was found. Usman continued to read Leo's note. Pleja eating her finger nail tips out of boredom.

"You know you are pretty boring without Reo," Pleja said.

Usman looked at her, paused for a while, and carried on back with his reading. 

Pleja burst out of temper. She grabbed his neck and cast an unlimited spit on his face. 

"What the fudge you almost killed me psycho!" said Usman as he tried to breathe back normally. "I need to focus on reading, don't bother me for a while."

"The hell is wrong with your attitude!" Pleja replied angrily. "Do you not have parents to guide your ass in proper communication" 

Again, Usman looked at her, paused for a while, and carried on back with his reading.  

At that moment, Pleja really lost it. He chokeslam usman to his narrow cot. 

"Usman, ouch! You really are psycho." said Usman, who really started to get scared. "I'm reading about this mythical being called Tambal. So please refrain from your disturbance". 

"Tambal? Is that the creature you encountered uphill? Pleja replied with worry as she moved backward away from Usman. 

"You know it?" Usman asked, backed by more questions under his sleeves. 

Pleja was freaked out and started to move away from Usman. She explains that the Tambal is a doppelganger, a mythical creature that copies its prey's form and kills them. Encounter with this being brings unimaginable bad luck. 

Usman was sceptical about her, the Tambal she was describing was different as the notes portrayed. He then looks at her, pauses for a while, and smirks freakingly.

"Hey hey hey! What are you planning? Don't go near to me" Pleja said looking at Usman's disgusting hand gestures. "Helllllpppp!"

Suddenly, one of the building's walls shuddered, and the crash caught the attention of the two. As the environment became clearer from the cloud of dust, they saw Reo stuck in a beam, with broken arms, bathing with blood. Pleja immediately pulled the bottle of Lana from her pocket and smeared it off to Reo. Usman was feeling terrible for him.

"Why are you sent here flying!?" Usman asked as he took a breath to calm himself up. "Who the fuck did this to you!" 

"I don't know. The fog is covering the entire place. When I noticed it, it was already too late. The only reaction I had was to cover my face with my arms. It got me real hard that I was sent flying." Reo explained. "Please do not get outside" 

"How did you survive that kind of impact? I'm confused. Your determination to live is unbelievable." Pleja said as she was impressed. 

The two set out on an investigation. The dense fog hindered their vision so much that even the ground was out of sight. Pleja didn't really know what was happening because things were beyond logic. She thought that there might be some shenanigans afoot 

Several hours later, Usman glared at the clock hanging on the wall. They were holding their breath as best they could. It was clearly morning, yet the environment remained dim, though, it was more tolerable than a while ago. 

The building began to shake and slowly collapse. Usman ran towards Reo to pick him up. He and Pleja jumped onto the terrace of the building. The two began to run in pain. Usman carried Reo. They went from building to building and avoided open spaces

Buildings were being destroyed as they tried to hide. They leaped from window to window. They collided with walls as they tried to grasp their path.

"Why does this creature know where we are?" Pleja shouted, her voice hoarse from exertion. "It's like it's tracking us!" 

"I don't know!" Usman gasped, his lungs burning." But we have to keep moving!" 

The three burst out of the last building into the open field. A dark huge shadow painted in fog is approaching them in relentless haste. Usman's reflexes kicked in and he pushed Pleja away from him, then threw Reo to the side. 

At that instance, Usman was hit by a pointed object that pierced his arm. He was then pulled upward, leaving him hanging in the air. A yellow-eyed beast was glaring at him with the intent to of slaughter.

Usman is in tremendous agonizing pain.