Running out of the mall, the feeling of the sun was refreshing as drinking water in a desert. Being inside of the mall felt like traveling through a cave system, giving off a sense of being trapped and caged.

It was thanks to Becky that they realized how close to danger they were. Not just with other survivors but with those creatures that seemed to take perverse pleasure in hunting their prey. She was also extremely helpful in dealing with the mob of survivors, who were somehow able to survive inside of the mall.

Looking ahead of him, he watched as Becky and her companion lead the way across the street. Though it seemed like they would be safe outside of the mall, Becky continued to run even after getting outside. Han and his group were forced to chase after the two, not understanding what the issue was.

When they finished crossing the road, he saw Becky look back towards them as if to see if they were still following her. By her demeanor, it was evident that she had received some type of training.

"Where do you think she's taking us?" Jennifer asked.

Han shook his head, indicating that it wasn't the best time to talk.

As they entered the university grounds, the appearance was similar to the mall they had just left. There was a lack of people walking around, just the occasional spots of blood. The juxtaposition of manicured lawns and stains of blood was strange but was their current predicament.

The pace set by Becky wasn't lessened, making Jennifer and his mom begin to breathe laboriously. Turning towards the others, he saw that they were of a similar condition. He was surprised that Grace was looking winded, considering her profession but this could have been due to her inability to perform her duties correctly.

Going across lawns, sidewalks, streets, and around buildings, Jennifer then commented, "I know where we're going!"

In front of them appeared a building that looked similar to the Colosseum, an oval amphitheater, modeled after the ones built by ancient civilizations. It was grandiose in its appearance, projecting the image of battles being fought with victors and losers being determined. As they ran closer to the building, Han was able to spot numerous individuals standing guard on every other level. The entire structure looked to be four stories tall with archways running along its perimeter.

Becky began slowing down when they were within shouting range of the stadium. She began to wave her arms like she was giving out instructions. Movements of guards further reinforced that idea.

When they reached the building, several people in similar outfits approached them. With the similar outfits, Han's group was unable to determine who they were. Judging by the outline of their figures, Han assumed that many of the people were women. Only a few of them were males.

Each of the individuals had a different type of large weapon on their backs. Some of them looked like a broadsword, while some looked like katanas. There were even spears of various types that were used. Just looking at the weapons, he thought they looked a little ridiculous and something out of a cartoon.

Turning to look at them, Becky touched the side of her helmet and instead of removing it like before the helmet split into two parts. The way each half of the helmet rested on her shoulders made them look like shoulder pads. She didn't look like an innocent college girl, but instead gave a feeling of dominance.

"What were you people doing inside of that mall," Becky asked.

Hearing that they had come from the mall, several of the people behind her grasped their weapons and pointed them at Han's group.

"We were looking for supplies on our way to the university," his mother explained. "When those creatures began to appear last night, we had left the city and went to stay at one of our group member's house. We didn't know that there were people inside of that place."

"Our intention was just to find some supplies to last us for several days, while we try and figure out what we could do," Han said. Looking at Becky, he tried to figure out what her personality was like.

Hearing their words, the people behind Becky slightly relaxed their guard.

Becky stood in front of them, looking like she was trying to think about what to do after hearing their words. "I'm sorry for accusing you and making it seem like you were a part of that group. Even though I had heard what those scum had said, I was still confused about why people would go into the mall." She smiled at them.

Looking to the others, Becky said, "I've decided to treat these people as guests. I hope that all of you will respect my thoughts on this matter."

Holstering their weapons, all of them nodded their heads. They raised their left arm and used their right hand to pass over the left forearm in some type of salute. They then revealed their faces the same as Becky.

Just as Han suspected, nearly all of them were women. Their ages seemed to range from those that just graduated from high school and those that were finishing college. He was impressed at how professional they looked. It was like they had been part of a military force while in college.

Becky waved at them and said, "Follow me. I'll show all of you to where you guys can rest for the time being."

As they followed Becky into the structure, Han noticed that the other college students were going back to their duties. Many of them had redonned their helmets, making them look nearly identical to one another.

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Similar to Star and Moon Studios, there were multiple aisles for people to go into as if this was where an individual would pay for entry. It wasn't too different from professional football stadiums.

"Is this where you guys...," Jennifer began to ask but was unsure about the wording.

"Yes. This place was built for those taking part in the World Athletic Battle Arena League." Becky answered.

"WABAL? I don't think I've heard of such a thing before." Han commented.

In front of them, they saw the tunnel begin to open up to a giant stadium. There were rows upon rows of seats, making it look like a giant bowl. At the bottom was a vast field with various structures. Han could see several people running back and forth, battling one another. The impression it gave was the world outside of the stadium. The way people were moving around was similar to how they would have to move in the city.

"The League was founded by the company, Star and Moon International. I was told that one of the people in charge was fascinated by fighting styles in the early days of civilization though there are some exceptions, but felt that some changes needed to be made to make it more exciting." Becky explained.

Removing the sword on her back and holding it up in front of her with the point on the ground, she continued, "The person who came up with the idea felt like the weapons should be much larger than the players that wielded them. In addition to that, they had their R&D department design a suit that would become the standard issue for all teams."

"To get the interest of the public quickly, the head of the company agreed to finance all teams around the world. Any university interested in taking part would be fully funded, with building the stadium, supplying the gear, and providing training to players. Even though it only recently started up and was limited to college students and above, we've already seen a wide interest." Becky said

"It's too bad that everything has happened," Harmony said.

Becky nodded her head. "Those creatures destroying society has made it so that we won't be able to compete anymore. It was our dream to step onto the world stage. Star and Moon has done so much to help me, with hiring me so I could work in the mall to letting me know about this sport and training me." Becky looked emotional as she told them about her dreams.

Brushing aside her tears, her voice firmed. "Though we may be unable to demonstrate our skills at the world level, we've received a chance to help fight back these creatures and try and bring back civilization to this part of the world."

"Have any of you heard what's happening around the country? Is the government doing anything to help fight back?" Grace asked. Her voice was slightly hoarse, likely emotional by the idea of everything crumbling even the government.

Becky was quiet upon hearing Grace's question. She looked like she was thinking of whether to answer or not. "We did catch some news over The Wire about the government, but it's not good news."

Grace was shocked by the revelation Becky provided. Harmony went over and hugged Grace, causing Grace to begin crying.

"What did you hear?" Jennifer asked, her voice was just as emotional.

Sighing, Becky said, "While the President was making her escape to a secure location, the convoy was attacked by those creatures. Somehow the guard was infected and attacked everyone, adding to the chaos. Before anyone was able to help, almost everyone was killed. The only people that survived were some aides to the President and Vice President. There are some rumors that someone in the line of succession survived, but as of now, the Capital City is silent."

"How were you guys able to find this out over The Wire?" Ruby asked.

"During my training, I learned that The Wire was set up in a way that even if nearly all computers were shut down, it would still be able to transmit information. As long as you have a terminal, then you should be able to access it. With The Wire being heavily subsidized, a terminal is able to connect to it freely." Becky said.

"Makes sense considering it was basically put into place to assist the military," Han commented. When everyone turned to him, he said, "We learned in school that The Wire was put into place to help the military communicate with all of their forces around the world during the Continental War. When the advantages to the technology were understood, the government made sure to allow everyone to be able to connect to it. The surprising part is how it was able to survive after an apocalyptic event such as this."

"It was very fortunate. With the terminals, we're able to keep in communication with the other universities and talk with their WABAL teams. The process isn't as easy as back before all of this, so we can't be in constant communication with them." Becky said.

"Likely, they are being rerouted through whatever technology is allowing The Wire to keep functioning. Areas that are missing are probably causing it to slow down." Jennifer said. When she saw the looks being directed at her, she said, "What? Han isn't the only one that paid attention in class. I had to take a couple of classes here for my degree."

"You are a student here?" Becky asked, surprised.

"Yeah. That's how I heard about this place, through a friend of mine. I was the one that suggested we come here to use the weapons. We found out that guns don't seem to work against these creatures.  There were some weapons inside of the mall, but we wondered about how effective they would be and potentially attracting unwanted attention to us." Jennifer said.

Becky nodded at Jennifer's words. "We've also seen how firearms don't work against those things when we sent out people to look through the city.  That's how we learned about what was happening at the mall." She was silent before saying, "It was a good thing that you didn't grab firearms to fight the monsters.  Those annoying shits have to be dismembered in order to be disabled."

"Wait. You said disabled, what do you mean by that? Are you saying that they don't die?" Ivy interrupted Becky.

"That's, unfortunately, exactly what I'm saying," Becky looked Ivy directly in the eye. "I lost a few of my teammates before we realized that during the night. Luckily, I had the team come together and do some last minute practice late at night. During the middle of it, a disfigured girl came running into our field and attacked one of the guys." She slammed her fist on a banister. "Another of the guys got too cocky and used his sword to behead the girl. When he turned around to begin celebrating, thinking he was a badass, the girl clawed his neck."

"Sounds like you guys had a pretty rough time too," Han said.

"What was even worse was that we didn't know that those infected would reanimate into those things. The two guys were some of our best players, so when they came back, they were able to utilize their skills. We lost several more people trying to take them down. Seeing their heads on the ground, the way they kept looking at us was more than some could handle."

"What did you guys do with the bodies?" His mom asked.

"With how they were still alive after being cut up into pieces, we decided that it was best to burn them. We have a forge down in the basement to help maintain our weapons, so we took the bodies and threw them inside." Becky chuckled, "For a moment, I thought they were going to come jumping out covered in flames, so I had a couple of people standing guard. Can you believe that? I honestly thought they were going to survive temperatures that could melt steel."

Hearing the hysteria in her voice, Han and the others could only be silent. The idea of how difficult it was to take down those creatures was mind-breaking. It explained why merely shooting a gun at them wouldn't do anything to them.

"I apologize for my words. You guys shouldn't have to listen to my words when we all have things we must overcome now." Becky said to them. "I'll show you guys to your rooms now." She turned around and was about to lead them to their next destination.

"Wait. Before you lead us to our rooms, could you answer a question of mine?" Han asked.

Pausing at Han's words, she turned and looked at Han. "What did you want to know?"

Using his thumb to point at the field where many players were practicing, he asked, "Would it be possible for us to learn how to fight like you do? I'm sure you don't need people to take up valuable resources, so being able to survive on our own is pretty important."

Putting a finger to her chin, Becky seemed to be considering his question. "The reason why Star and Moon only allowed college students and above to take part in the sports was due to the required strength when using the weapons." She smiled apologetically. "Aside from the four women in your group who seem old enough, you and the two girls that seem to be of a similar age will likely not be strong enough."

"I understand that we may currently be weak and not able to wield the weapons, but you must have some kind of strength training facility, correct?" Han pushed.

Seeing his determination, Becky nodded. "Yes. We do have a training facility beneath the stadium, where players are able to strength train but their bodies are nearly matured. But... Seeing how you're so adamant about this, I will allow you to train so that your body can withstand the stresses. I don't know about your friends, but they are allowed if they want to try too."

"Yes! We'll also train!" Both Ivy and Ruby yelled out.

Becky combed her fingers through her hair and looked exasperated by the whole idea. "Just to warn you, you'll likely be able to train yourself to get there. Understand, though, that not having a fully mature body may lead to physical issues in the future. There's nothing that says that a high schooler can't play in this sport, but the ban was created to protect younger kids from crippling their bodies."

Seeing that they wouldn't back down, she turned around and said, "Let me show you guys to your rooms first, before you start destroying yourselves."

They followed Becky as she led them to another hallway, which looked like where players emerged from at the beginning of a game. Unlike the rest of the stadium, the hallway didn't seem to be made out of stone and marble. The entire corridor was made out of metal, though it didn't have the usual metallic noise when walking on such a surface.

Occasionally, they passed by other players who would salute to Becky before continuing towards the field. Han watched as the players passed them by and he asked, "How many players are inside of here?"

Not bothering to look back, she answered, "There are nearly three hundred players. Many of the players live under the stadium, through scholarships that Star and Moon provided. They spared no expense when building this structure, which goes down several hundred feet into the earth. It goes deep enough down that Star and Moon installed a thermal power generator, allowing us to be nearly self-sufficient."

"Where does your food come from?" Jennifer asked.

"We have several indoor farming areas. The amount of power they need isn't that high and the water used is almost self-contained. Even then, we have access to a well that isn't accessed by anyone but us."

At the end of the hall, there was an elevator and stairway. Becky pressed a button for an elevator. "The living quarters are at the lower levels below everything else, so it's usually faster to take the elevator. Some people take the stairs because they want to use it as a light exercise."

When the elevator doors opened up, they entered the medium-sized space. Just looking at the floor buttons, they understood how huge this entire place was. It was nearly like an upside-down skyscraper.

They felt a slight shift in gravity as the elevator went down. Before Han thought to ask a question, the doors were already opening. When they stepped out, they were taken aback by what they saw.