(Prominis 20, 58 / 11:47PM)

(Boris) Is The Array ready?

(Government Agent #1) Yes sir, all 14 of the teens and young adults are placed on the edge of the city.

(Boris) Perfect, you shall take your leave for now.

A tall, silver-haired man with long hair spoke to Boris, wearing a black tuxedo and slacks.

(Government Agent #1) May I have permission to speak sir?

(Boris) Go ahead.

(Government Agent #1) Are you sure you want to put a bunch of kids and teenagers in a deadly game of survival? Isn’t this a bit too much sir?

Boris looked down towards the steel floor, his glasses covering his gray linings under his eyes.

(Boris) It’s not like I wanted this in the first place…

(Government Agent #2) Hey Eren, Briggs wants us back to Lagefor tomorrow.

Another agent, a woman of average height with pitch-black hair, came into the room, speaking directly to the tall silver-haired agent.

(Government Agent #1) Didn’t you already tell him that we would be helping Boris set up The Array?

(Government Agent #2) You know how he is in terms of children…

(Government Agent #1) Yeah. Let’s go back, Ada.

As the two young agents walked out of the room, Boris continued to look downward, not looking at the TV screens and cameras that were plastered across the room.

(Gwen) BORIS!!

Hearing rapid footsteps, he looked up to see Gwen sprinting towards him, with veins spouting over her forehead.

Boris noticed the enraged Gwen and tried to hide in a cabinet, his face dripping with nervous sweat as his body warms up instantly, but Gwen managed to wrap her small hands around his fat neck before he moved. Increasingly tightening her grip, she put her hidden strength into lifting Boris from the ground, causing his face to turn purple and his legs kicking in the air.

(Gwen) WHAT DID YOU DO!!?

Four adult figures came by, sprinting towards Gwen with their breaths irregular and out of control.

(David) Gwen! Stop!

David outran both Jenny and Jerry, his face tattered with paleness as he managed to grab a hold of Gwen. Putting both hands on Gwen’s arms, David put so much strength onto Gwen’s arms that she had no choice but to lighten her grip on Boris. Jerry and Benn then pulled back Gwen with all their strength, holding Gwen back.

(Jerry) Gwen, control yourself!

(Jenny) I know you’re angry, we all are!

(Benn) Calm down…

Barely holding Gwen, David put his entire body in between her and Boris so that Gwen wouldn’t touch him, his body radiating his duty as a bodyguard for Boris, but even then…

David turned towards where Boris was on the ground, his breath coming in much slower than normal, his breathing raspy and parched. Noticing this, David took out from his pocket a mini inhaler.

Bending down, he lifted Boris’s head and put the inhaler inside Boris’s mouth, giving him much-needed air.

Now slowly breathing normally, Boris steadily got up from where he stood, but as much as David helped him, David glared at Boris, his body barely containing the emotions he kept hidden away.

(David) Why did you do it?

Not only David, but Jerry, Jenny, and even Benn had their eyes sharpened at Boris’s face. Their eyes did not falter as Boris looked downwards, his face not showing his already soulless eyes.

(David) I brought in Luna. Gwen brought in Luke. Jerry and Jenny took care of the rest like children … you even brought in Loraine!

David then put both hands on Boris’s shoulders.

(David) Why?

David’s fingers dug into Boris’s chubby shoulders. As David kept his grip, he felt Boris sigh.

(Boris) Many years ago … I made a little joke about making The Array, a kiddie version that I sold to you guys …

David let go of Boris’s shoulders, taking a couple of steps back to let Boris continue. Jerry and Benn loosened their grip on Gwen, while Jenny looked at Boris with disgusted eyes. Gwen continued to stare at his neck.

(Boris) Arthur Kennedy, now a politician, liked the idea, but the person now in charge of funding me was President Reed… and to receive the money, I had to put in some extras to please him.

Everyone except Gwen looked down, realizing that Boris had no other choice but to make The Array an impossible test of survival…

(Boris) At first, I wanted to cancel the project. I wanted to just cut it and do it on my own. But … another friend of mine forced me to make a promise during that day at the bar.

Boris looked up to everyone, his eyes unwavering.

(Boris) He quotes “Whatever you do, don’t do it on your own, no matter what …”

(David) Which friend was it? Politician Kennedy?

Boris’ eyes turned to Gwen. His face and cheekbones relaxed as he remembered his past days …

(Boris) It was Fenix, Joseph Fenix…

______________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 21, 58 / 2:03AM)

(Luke’s thoughts) So we finally reached the second stage…

As the landscape shifted from a suburban to a downtown central area, Luke, Loraine, Cameron, and Ryan walked through the used-to-be busy streets of Fort Damns. The more they walked, the more noticeable the moss was along the paved street. The greenness of it illuminated the street to make it more visible in the double new moon sky.

(Luke’s thoughts) I only have a gun with me, and Loraine has nothing but a Swiss army knife. I wonder what weapons Cameron and Ryan brought—

Luke tripped as his foot managed to bump into something, causing him to fall face-first into the pavement. As the three see this, all three of them end up laughing at his other embarrassing display.

(Cameron) Hahahaha … you’re the life of the party!

(Loraine) giggles … your encounter with the chickens and now this! Hahahaha.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

(Ryan) chuckles … ah Luke … Here, let me help you up.

Ryan extended his right furry hand towards Luke, his face barely containing the laughter as his cheeks were puffing up and down like a chipmunk. Taking Ryan’s hand, Luke rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, turning red as he felt like a burden to the group.

(Cameron) Hey, does anyone hear that?

(Loraine) Here what?

(Cameron) I hear a noise. It sounds like…steam?

(Loraine) I don’t hear anything. Maybe it's because of your horse's genetics … freak …

(Cameron) Excuse me?

Cameron then towered over Loraine, his build much taller as he also had another growth spurt similar to Luke. His face looked down at Loraine, his eyes twitching as his fists were balled into a punch, waiting for Loraine to say anything else.

(Loraine) Back away freak!

(Cameron) Call me a freak again! I dare you!

(Luke) Cameron, calm down! She’s just a kid, she doesn’t know any better!

Luke walked towards them, his face disappointed and immeasurable as his eyes drooped down at the two teens younger than him.

(Ryan’s thoughts) Damn bitch …

(Ryan) Hold on Luke, I’ll help you too—

An explosion rocked the street.

Everyone was astounded by the intensity of the explosion, as the shockwave sent them back a few feet from where they were at. Dust and smoke covered the entire street front to back, windows and concrete throwing flaming bits in all directions. Luke, Loraine, and Cameron lay unmoving, their bodies aching from the pain.

(Cameron) RYAN!!

Cameron ran towards where the explosion was, diving headfirst into the smoke and dust as it started to water his eyes and choke his throat. He couldn’t see, his mouth started to dry from the dust, and his nose blocked the way to let the oxygen flow through his brain.

In the smoke, Cameron then tripped onto a body of fur. Falling on his chest, he got up to see—

Ryan’s right arm. Separated from his body.

Even through the stinging smoke, Cameron’s eyes didn’t deceive him. Even with low oxygen, his heart was still pumping. Ryan’s right arm wasn’t connected to his main body, causing Cameron to bend down looking at the arm that would give him bro's fists. Placing his right hand, Cameron felt the furriness and coldness of what used to be—

(Cameron) No! He’s still alive!

Through the smoke, he saw another body part.

(Cameron) He’s…

Then another.

(Cameron) He’s … He’s …

Then came the full view of Ryan’s body.

(Cameron) H-H-H-He…

Ryan, the 17-year-old bunny human, the beast human that treated everyone with care, especially Cameron, didn’t have a body…

His head was barely attached to his neck. His stomach had holes of blood and guts spewing out from him. Almost like an open surgery, his chest and stomach showcase little organs that Ryan contained, with his torso and crotch completely obliterated with his legs nowhere to be found.

A scream tore from Cameron’s throat. His hands scraped away as he began pounding the old street pavement.

With his screams of agony continuing, it made Luke and Loraine get up from their fatigue.

(Luke) Cameron!

Luckily for them, the smoke started to clear out, as soon as the two saw Cameron, Luke ran to pull him out of his state.

(Luke) Cameron! We have to go…

Cameron desperately tried to fight back.

(Luke) Cameron!

In an instant, Loraine walked up to the two boys and pulled her arm back. Using her right hand, she curled it up into a fist and used all her force to hit Cameron straight on in the head, making him unconscious.

Now asleep, Luke put Cameron onto his back, with Loraine tying him up so that Cameron wouldn’t fall off. As the two looked down where Ryan’s corpse was …

(Luke’s thoughts) God damn it! Why…

(Loraine’s thoughts) Damn.

Luke’s eyes began to water, his eyes averting the hideous state that his friend’s corpse was in. The same was for Loraine, her eyes squinting by how quick it was…

His face showing many veins on his forehead, Luke continued to walk to the center, his face quenched with vengeance for—

(Many zompires) Save us!

A dozen of zompires decided to ambush them from behind…

Looking back, Luke’s frustration was instantly swept by fear, his face becoming one of a Kepputhan glacier.

(Luke) R-R-Run!

With Cameron on his back, and his left hand on Loraine’s, the candidates ran as fast as they could.

______________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 21, 58 / 2:36PM)

(Luke) They’re still catching up to us!

(Loraine) pants … how much … stamina do they have …

As Loraine took in irregular breaths, Luke still had most of his stamina, even with Cameron on his back. At this point, Loraine was mostly being towed by Luke, who kept on forcing Loraine to run more than she should have.

Because the horde of zompires was still on them…

(Luke’s thoughts) We’re barely a third through the second stage, how many more zompires do we have to run into?!

Luke’s heart was steadily increasing, his legs on overdrive forcing his body to keep going despite the dreaded fear. Loraine was different, since Luke smelled the stench of body odor coming from Loraine, since she never pushed herself to this limit before…

(Loraine) Please … pants … carry me.

(Luke) I already have Cameron on my back!

(Luke’s thoughts) There’s gotta be a way to get rid of this horde…Wait … that one zompire during the river when the boat sank… It doesn’t use eyes, and it mostly likely uses hearing, because I used a rock to misdirect it … but …

During the end of his hopeless walk, Luke remained quiet when he encountered another zompire, but the zompire pinpointed exactly where Luke was…

(Luke’s thoughts) I didn’t make any noise if I remember correctly … So what other sense does it use to track down its prey—wait hold on … can it be?

On his first encounter, Luke was barely getting out of a river, drenched with water. On his unlucky encounter, he smelled terrible considering that he hadn’t bathed or showered for twenty or more days…

(Luke’s thoughts) Does it also rely on smell?

Grabbing out of his left pocket was a small “stink” bomb that Luke made. The “stink” bomb looked like it was made last minute, with its mechanism and metal all over the place.

(Luke’s thoughts) One of my two last resort weapons…

Loraine looked at the little bomb that Luke pulled out, her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she instantly knew what the bomb looked like.

(Loraine) What are you going to do with that?

(Luke) This!

Clicking the little button on top of the bomb, Luke instantly tossed it back over, trying to distract the zompires. Upon impact to a nearby garbage can, the bomb exploded and released a gas cloud of yellowish smoke, the cloud reaching a dangerous radius as Luke and Loraine barely managed to escape the cloud.

Both looking back, they noticed that the zompires were coughing..

(Luke’s thoughts) How are they still alive? I thought it would melt them from the inside out.

(Loraine’s thoughts) How smelly is that stink bomb?

The zompires continued to grab their stomachs as they coughed their lungs out.

Most of them were coughing up their organs already, with most of their organs turning black and molded as the cloud covered the horde. Their eye sockets spewed out yellowish molded tar instead of the black tar Luke saw in his previous encounters. As the zompires screamed in agony, Luke lowered his eyes and continued to run, tugging Loraine along.

(Loraine) What did you put in that stink bomb?

(Luke) Oh, I infused a liquid called ammonia and then poured in a bunch of bleach and sulfur. It made this yellowish gas, so me and Fred trapped this cloud onto this little bomb.

(Loraine) That gas looks so cool! I hope you teach me how to make it!

(Luke) You don’t know how dangerous that gas is…

As the two managed to run away, they noticed a little lake in the middle of the second stage. The brownish murky water covered in abandoned debris made Loraine’s eyes sparkle.

(Loraine) Maybe we could hide in there?

(Luke) And maybe … What if the zompires couldn’t trace humans' smell because of the water or hygiene a human has?

The more they got closer to the lake, the more Loraine’s eyes sparkled in the night, but Luke eyed the lake with a tilt of his head.

(Luke’s thoughts) Wait … What if-

Just as Loraine was about to jump into the lake, Luke grabbed her arm, his grip firm and gentle.

(Luke) Wait, hold up. The lake might have bacteria.

(Loraine) Never know till you try!

Breaking his grip, Loraine jumped into the lake head first, submerging herself in the brownish water, not caring how hideous the water looked. Putting her head out of the water, she gently spoke to Luke.

(Loraine) You better hurry, what if those zompires find you?

(Luke’s thoughts) As long as I don’t get the water into my face, I’m good.

Putting his legs into the water, Luke made sure that he put most of his body in the water, not letting any brownish droplets into his ears, mouth, and especially nose. To make sure that Cameron had some water on him, Luke aligned Cameron’s head with his. Looking back, he no longer saw the horde.

His body quivering inside of the water, Luke motioned to Loraine to get closer to him. In return, Loraine swam bit by bit towards Luke, her body one with the water.

(Luke) I think we’re safe to get out now.

(Loraine) But what if the horde ambushes us again? You don’t want to put me and yourself in danger again right?

(Luke) I know but—

(Loraine) Let’s wait for a couple of minutes longer. I love to be in the water.

Luke resigned to Loraine’s wishes and waited in the brown lake until she felt safe. Looking around for a few minutes, Luke thought he heard yells and noises coming from their previous direction but he paid them no mind.

(Luke’s thoughts) When is Loraine going to get us out of the lake—

(???) Someone! Help us!

A teenage boy’s voice was heard…

(???) She needs help! Can anyone help her?!

(Luke) That sounds a lot like…

A group of footsteps can be heard getting closer and closer to the lake Luke and Loraine were in, his eyes scanning the top of the hill as they saw three figures. Surprisingly, Luke was familiar with all three of them.

(Luke) That voice…

As Luke motioned Loraine to follow him, both went up towards the hill, with Luke waving his arms to signal his best friend.

(Luke) Fred!

Running uphill with Cameron in tow, Fred noticed Luke’s signal, his eyes starting to tear up as help arrived…