Start of the battle, horror begins.

Not all the things that came out of the black cards were useful. Mostly, they were miscellaneous things.

Shards of iron, fire, wind, and other elements. They were called essence.

God knows what use they had. Out of the 20 cards Matt had, 18 had these shards. The last card pulled out a pair of walkie-talkies.

[Instant Talk Walkie Talkie]

Grade: Bronze

Classification: Continuous use.

Effect: What else? It's for talking morons.

Range: 20 Miles.

"You sold your sarcasm to the game and you didn't even tell me. I am sad, Matty" Ashton spoke as he sadly hugged Matt.

"Fuck Off." Matt slapped the moron away.

Sam also crushed his 8 Black cards. But he also got those shards. And they all went inside of their bags.

After all of them crushed their cards, their stats looked something like this.

[Status]

Host: Ashton

Rank: White

Natural Element: Metal (Iron) [Upgradable]

True Body Regeneration: 2%

True Permanent Immunity: 0%

Race: Human

Status: (The average human status value is 10)

Strength: 22.7 

Agility: 12.4

Endurance: 15.2 

Intelligence: 14.3

Physical resistance: 10.2 

Element resistance: 10.2

Body regeneration: 10.1

Battle skills: Devourer (Beginner 4/100), Accuracy (0/100)

Items on hand: Knife, Spiked brass knuckle

[Status]

Host: Matt

Rank: White

Natural Element: None

True Body Regeneration: 0%

True Permanent Immunity: 0%

Race: Human

Status: (The average human status value is 10)

Strength: 11.6+10 (21.6) 

Agility: 8.7+10 (18.7)

Endurance: 9.8 +10 (19.8) 

Intelligence: 23.9+10 (33.9)

Physical resistance: 10.2+10 (20.2) 

Element resistance: 10.2+10 (20.2)

Body regeneration: 10.0+10 (20.0)

Battle skills: Slaughterer Blade Technique (Beginner 5/100), Perry (Beginner 0/100).

Items on hand: Slaughterer Blade (Iron [Upgradable]), Three mid-size knives (Iron), A bag full of miscellaneous stuff.

[Status]

Host: Sam Dixon

Rank: White

Natural Element: None

True Body Regeneration: 0%

True Permanent Immunity: 0%

Race: Human

Status: (The average human status value is 10)

Strength: 20.9+10 (30.9) 

Agility: 15.2+10 (25.2)

Endurance: 18.7+10 (28.7) 

Intelligence: 16.1+10 (26.1)

Physical resistance: 10.3+10 (20.3) 

Element resistance: 10.3+10 (20.3)

Body regeneration: 10.1+10 (20.1)

Battle skills:  Tremor Hammer Technique (Beginner 2/100), Battle cry (Beginner 0/100).

Items on hand: Tremor Hammer (Iron [Upgradable]), A bag full of weapons (Iron and Bronze grade)

But before they could check their stats, Sam interrupted.

"They stopped." Sam suddenly whispered as he looked outside.

"Hmm." Matt and Ashton looked at Sam, asking what he meant.

"Awakens. They all stopped. They aren't moving anymore. None of them are." Sam whispered.

Matt and Ashton looked at the road and were taken aback. The awakens truly weren't running anymore.

They all stopped.

All of them.

Like a statue.

A pin-drop silence descended on the whole city.

Nothing could be heard.

Not even a sound of breath.

"GRRRR…. GRRRRRRR.... GRRRRRRRRRRR... GRRRRRRRRRRRR...…" Suddenly, all the awakens started to grrrr.... not screaming. It was as if they were angry, pissed at something, but at the same time fearful.

"GRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...….." A ferocious scream was heard, echoing in the whole city.

All three of them shut their ears. The scream felt so painful that they all nearly fainted. Their heads become dizzy. Matt nearly vomited.

Then it happened. All the awakens started screaming, "GRAWWWW…. GRAWWWWWWW..... GRAWWWWWWWWW....." Hitting the road with their legs.

All together.

All the awakens.

The land started to vibrate. Trees started to fall. Every human in the Carin City hid in their houses, cowering in fear.

Matt, Sam, and Ashton weren't any different. Ashton was tightly hugging Matt. Protecting him. Don't know from what, but he was just protecting him.

It was an instinct.

Sam also pulled his hammer out and got as close as he could to Matt and Ashton. Putting his hand on Ashton's shoulder. Rubbing it gently. His eyes never left the scene.

Awakens just growled and growled and growled for five minutes continuously and then they dispersed. But dispersed would be an understatement.

No.

They started searching.

Just like before, but this time things were different.

Before, most awakens were separate and alone. Only came in a group when they saw humans.

But now they all walked in a group as they started destroying houses, trees, shops, petrol pumps, and much more. Whatever they see, they destroyed it, whoever they found, they killed them.

And again, the massacre started.

"W-What now?" Sam asked as he looked at the falling sun.

Matt and Ashton, on the other hand, looked at the awakens who were now coming towards the mall.

"We need to go to the top floor. Find a close place. From where we can target and kill as many awakens as we can, till our bullets run out".

"Only then we will use our powers. Do not waste your Endurance, not even a bit. Now hurry." Matt spoke as he gave the commands.

At a time like this, they needed to plan things out. Think with their brains. Keep their emotions in check. Even when their legs were cowering in fear.

Sam and Ashton nodded. Ashton picked Matt up as he ran towards the fifth floor. Sam followed from behind.

They had lots of bullets with them. Enough to kill thousands of awakens. But the number of awakens out there were countless.

As far as they could see, they could only see awakens. Even though some were moving towards other cities.

Dispersing.

But still, many were searching houses and coming towards Carin City's local mall. Where they were.

They got to the fifth floor. Ashton put Matt down.

"There. We can see everything from there." Matt pointed towards the right corner from where the whole mall could be clearly seen, especially the entrance.

It was a local Mall made of five floors. There were shops on the three sides, while at the front, there was an entrance. In the middle, there were stairs, and both sides of the stairs had elevators along with them.

"We need to snipe as many awaken as we can from here. It will be good if we can build a wall with them." Matt whispered as he started placing sniper and lay on the floor.

Sam and Ashton nodded their head, as Sam deeply looked at Matt, who was without any difficulty giving commands while also taking all matters into his own hands.