The whistle of the wind and the sizzle of a radio woke Nash up, letting him witness the sun begin to peek out of the horizon. He yawned, before rubbing his neck and making it crack painfully, his sleeping position may not have been the most comfortable he ever experienced.
"Tzz...Team...Respond...Tzz..."
Nash glanced at a walkie-talkie abandoned on the command board of the crane, a red light flashing at each attempted communication. The young man rubbed the tiredness off his eyes and picked the walkie-talkie up, before setting it to receive the communications a little better.
"Tzz...Bravo Team here, we've got the Spider and the Giant behind us. Alpha Team, what's the situation with the Snake?"
The young man frowned before straightening himself up, listening with much more concentration than before. He glanced through the crane's windows at the nearby city, discovering shockingly that the three giant creatures had moved from their initial positions, their heads aimed at the ground as they seemingly tried to catch something moving. Nash bit down on his lower lip and searched the cabin, hoping to find a pair of binoculars.
He found one in a drawer under the command board, which he quickly took for himself and aimed at the ground underneath the Spider and the Giant, as the radio had named them. He squinted, trying to search for anything moving, and almost dropped the binoculars when he noticed green flashes flying through the air to try and hit the Spider in the head. The giant bug with eight massive limbs and a head that seemed to come straight from an artist's nightmare shrilled in pain, but didn't seem particularly threatened by the shots. It was more the pain of a mosquito bite.
"Tzz...Roger that, the bastard is running behind us right now—oh, shit!" The radio crackled, drowned under the sound of gunshots until the communication was cut off. Nash grimaced and searched for the Snake, or the Three-headed Snake, through the city, not struggling too much to find it. It was wracking havoc in the western district, destroying buildings one after another in a fit of rage, another military jeep shooting heavy caliber at its head. Nash zoomed on one of the Snake's heads, sneering in awe when he realized one of the eyes had been somehow pierced.
"Tzz...T-Minus ten until destination. How are things set up, Leader?" The voice Nash heard first questioned through the radio once again. The young man was on the edge of his seat, trying to understand what those men were trying to accomplish. Why would they fight so hard when they would essentially leave Earth in a few hours? Thinking about that...
[Nash Dularfull - Evacuation spot: [302 148 478/302 148 478]
"...Holy shit, we got into the hundreds of millions?" Nash couldn't believe his eyes, unable to guess whether the Evacuation took so many people away or the cold scythe of Death.
"Tzz...Leader speaking, the 'Gift' is well set up and waiting for your arrivals, Alpha Team and Bravo Team."
Nash's eyebrows rose, confused. What 'Gift' were they talking about? He looked through the city to try and find the location of Leader but failed to do so since no huge monsters were running after them to help spot them. The walkie-talkie crackled once more, the sound of gunfire and fighting roars echoing behind the voice of the speaker.
"Tzz...Shit! Alpha Team here, we have a problem! The planned road is blocked by a fucking army of moronic bugs, we're lost in the city!"
Nash hurriedly stood up and aimed his binoculars back toward the snake, finding it chasing madly after the military jeep, the car swerving and drifting madly through the city's destroyed streets. It was trying to escape desperately, but essentially turning in circles due to a lack of directions.
"Tzz...Damn it! I'll send Oliver to one of the nearby houses, hopefully, he'll find you an escape route! Hold on!"
Nash gripped the talkie-walkie tightly, his heart accelerating at the sight of the car driving out of the Three-Headed Snake, escaping from waves of bugs, leaving behind a wake of ruin. He clenched the walkie-talkie, drawing a deep breath before activating it.
"...Wolf here. Alpha Team, I've got a visual on your position. Tell me your objective and I'll guide you," Nash said through the talkie, hoping the people in the jeep would accept his help.
'Why am I trying to help them?' He couldn't help but wonder as he clenched his teeth, holding the talkie with one hand and grabbing the edge of his seat tightly with the other.
"Tzz...Roger that, Wolf. Guide us toward the tallest skyscraper, we're trying to bring the Snake there!" The talkie sizzled as the voice shouted in it without a shred of hesitation. Nash quickly found the skyscraper, before aiming his binoculars back toward Alpha Team's jeep.
"Roger that. Take the closest right and continue straight until the police station. There's an enemy patrol waiting for you there but you should be able to pierce through it," Nash hurriedly gave the directions as he searched for the best way for Alpha Team to head to the skyscraper. He watched with his heart racing as the jeep followed his orders, shooting their way through the small bug herd.
"Tzz...I hope you're on our side, Wolf!" The voice sizzled through the talkie once more, Nash smirking once he heard that.
"...You'll reach a bridge that leads straight toward the skyscraper, but you have to take the left road, the right one is blocked with a burning tank. After that, you should be able to see the building from your position," Nash grinned as he saw the jeep speed through the city and pass the bridge, the Three-Headed Snake following closely behind it with its three jaws opened, filled with rows of house-sized teeth.
The bridge gave in under the weight of the snake, the steel cordage snapping and whipping powerfully, lodging themselves in the creature. The Snake seemed even more enraged by the pain and forcefully crushed everything in its way to get to the Jeep.
"Tzz...Phew, thank you, Wolf! We never could have done this without you!" The voice through the talkie seemed much more relaxed, with gratitude transpiring through it. Nash rubbed the bridge of his nose, before asking the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind.
"Simply for my curiosity, but what the hell are you all trying to do?" He asked inquisitively, still following the jeep through his binoculars. It wasn't the Alpha team that answered but Leader, Nash recognizing him through his voice.
"Tzz...We're going to blow those bastards up. We brought three MOABs down all the way here and plan to detonate them once those monstrous bastards are upon us. There are also a few FAEs placed strategically around the skyscraper to make sure they won't escape alive," Leader explained with an ecstatic voice, brimming with adrenaline and excitation. Nash's eyes widened and he glanced at his position. He didn't know what these designations meant, but it sure sounded like Leader and his teams were going to make the three gigantic monsters explode. Could he be at risk up his crane?
"...Why would you do that when you could just hide and wait for the Evacuation?" Nash couldn't help but ask, tense. The walkie-talkie sizzled as three voices mixed to say the same thing, making Nash's heart race with adrenaline.
"Tzz...Why? Because we're the Wolves, and we will never hide in front of the enemy! Hahaha!" The three voices laughed on the channel, making Nash fall back on the crane's seat tiredly. He shook his head, before asking one last question.
"Leader, I'm southeast of your position, in the crane on top of the hill. I'll be going down shortly, so tell me if you need me to spot anything before I leave."
"Tzz...Yeah, I see you through my sniper's scope...Wait, but you're a kid! Haha, well, we Wolves don't discriminate. And thank you, but you already did more than enough! Go get yourself down in a cave or something, we're going to shake the city down with those things!" The leader laughed through the radio, managing to draw a smile from Nash. The young man gave one last glance toward the skyscraper and the two jeeps, as well as the three monsters chasing behind them, before putting the binoculars in his pockets and getting out of the cabin. He clipped the walkie-talkie to his shirt, so he could hear everything that'd be said on the frequency.
Nash began the descent, trying his best not to miss a step in his hurry. He couldn't help but feel stressed by the upcoming detonation, having no place to hide and being relatively close to it.
'I have no idea how big the explosion is going to be, but from what the Leader said, it's going to be a huge one. I need to get to some shelter quickly!' Nash clenched his teeth as he climbed the ladder as fast as he could, his heart racing increasingly faster. The radio sizzled, the Leader's happy voice coming from it.
"Tzz...Good job people. They'll be busy interacting with each other, go and get to the underground bunker, I'm initiating the detonation for T-minus five minutes!"
"Tzz...Roger that, Team Leader. We'll be waiting for you."
"Tzz...Roger as well. You better hurry the hell up, those guys are angry as fuck!"
Nash drew a deep breath before continuing his descent, the countdown beginning in his head. He had three hundred seconds to get down there, or risk getting blown away by the explosion's shockwave. Nash finally arrived down the ladder, gasping for air with his hands on his knee, when his mental countdown reached zero.
"Tzz...Get ready for the fireworks, boys!"
Time seemed to stop, the only sound reaching Nash's ear being the sound of his heart beating madly, each thump a testament to his desire to live. He felt a chill run down his back, when a blinding flash of white blinded him for a second, followed by a massive fireball rising into the sky. The intensity of the explosion was visible, even from so far away, illuminating the surrounding areas like a second sun.
A second later, a mushroom cloud rose into the atmosphere, exactly like in the movies or documentaries Nash used to watch, only in a seemingly smaller version. The young man couldn't help but stretch his eyes as he watched the shockwave propagate outward from the site, a rapidly expanding ring of dust and debris moving through the air. The air seemed to ripple under the strength of the blast wave, distorting it and making the nearby buildings fly away in debris.
The city's center was swallowed under a large cloud of smoke, before hundreds of smaller-scale explosions shook the city, swallowing the three monsters entirely. Nash suddenly felt the reverberation of the blast, the ground shaking and the hot air pressing against his face. The young man fell to the ground, lying face down while waiting for it to be over. After a few seconds, he pushed himself up and glanced at the city, his mind empty of any thought at the terrifying sight.
Everything he had lived and survived through up until now seemed ridiculous compared to what he was looking at. The three monstrous creatures that seemed like envoys of the gods, invulnerable and immortal, were lying on the ground, with their limbs blasted, their heads burning and holes riddling their immense bodies. The fire was devouring their corpses rapidly, running them down in a sobering show of disaster. Nash found himself unable to breathe for a few seconds until he forced himself to grab the walkie-talkie and activate it.
"...W...Wolf here, what's your situation?"
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The walkie-talkie remained silent for a few minutes, until Nash reactivated it again, his voice slightly more pressing.
"...Team Leader, please respond. Alpha team? Bravo Team?" Nash desperately reached out, his voice trembling. He slowly let his arm fall back down his body, strengthless. The young man sighed, before heading for his bike while dragging his feet. He glanced at the blue window with empty eyes, snorting at the sight.
[Nash Dularfull - Evacuation spot: [98 440 271/98 440 271]
"Only a hundred million left..." Nash rubbed his forehead, before exploding in laughter. It wasn't a happy one at all, no, it was the furthest from that. The young man continued to laugh by himself, his hands on his abdomen. His laughs echoed down the hill, tears running down his cheeks. He sat on his bike, his head leaning against the cold fuel tank. He suddenly stopped laughing, sniffling silently.
"...So those were the Wolves whose identity I stole...I'm glad," Nash whispered, before turning the ignition key and starting the motor. He drove off without any other words or thoughts, concentrated on the road and any threats he might encounter on the way. Halfway down the hill, the engine began sputtering before shutting off entirely. Nash carefully controlled the bike and braked on the side of the road, before checking manually the fuel and opening the tank.
"...Empty, of course." Nash sighed, patting the motorbike's saddle one last time before leaving it on the side of the road. He didn't have a second to grieve that a blue window assaulted his senses, the cold voice accompanying it ringing in his ears. At that point, Nash had grown numb to it and wasn't startled by the surprise announcement.
[Primitive Planet E-777 has reached a terminal point. Acceleration of the Evacuation process... Beginning the Harvest...]
Nash didn't bother checking his Evacuation spot, more interested in the message's last part. What did it mean by "Harvest"? Were they going to send some kind of excavation machine from the sky or something—
The young man's thought stopped when a red ominous beam shot down from one of the strange eyes in the sky, striking the Earth and pulling whatever was on its way into the air. Vehicles, buildings, and soon the ground itself, were lifted into the air and pulled away by the beam. Nash stared with wide-opened eyes, before shaking his head.
'I need to get somewhere safe and wait it out. Let's check the surrounding area...'
He took his binoculars out, trying his best to ignore the red beam as well as the others that accompanied it, soon decorating the whole horizon with their appearances.
'I need to find something where I can hide underground... I doubt I'll be able to get into a military base, so maybe a school or something...?' He squinted, before finding what seemed to suit his needs. Without a second thought, he ran down the rest of the hill, not meeting another soul in the streets, which was quite surprising in and of itself. Even though there were less than a hundred million people on Earth, there had to be some of them in the same city as him, how could he simply not be meeting a single one of them?
The streets were silent, filled with the sound of car alarms and explosions, but even those soon went silent once the car batteries ran out and the gas pipes became empty. Soon, the only sound Nash could find in the whole city was one of his feet hitting the ground and his breathing. The young man gritted his teeth and pulled his machete out, holding it in his left hand, his right hand ready to shoot the revolver at any time.
He entered the college he noticed a few minutes earlier, climbing over the fence and silently landing inside its perimeter. There were some dead bodies of teenagers lying around, but Nash forcefully averted his eyes, walking past them with steady steps. The buzzing sounds of flies feeding and nesting over the corpses echoed in his ears, but Nesh gritted his teeth and kept going. He found an opened door and entered the building, the sound of his feet hitting the cold ground echoing through the empty hallways.
Suddenly, he heard something else. He couldn't exactly describe what it was if it was a human sound, a monster, or simply his imagination, but he could swear he heard something breath. Nash slowly looked around himself, standing in a hallway with dusty windows on one side and classrooms on the other.
'This probably isn't the wind...Older schools like this one usually have a nuclear bunker just in case, I just need to find it...' Nash thought to himself, wishing he had a flashlight with him. He had abandoned his phone once he realized he couldn't use it to call anyone, but he started to regret this decision. Nash turned into another hallway, his nose creasing as a heavy scent of blood and death assaulted his senses. He took a step back and covered his mouth and nose, staring with wide eyes at the massacre that happened in the hallway.
Bodies were lying everywhere, half-devoured, with their skin ripped off and most of their limbs missing, blood covering every single part of the walls, floor, and ceiling, making for a bloody gore tunnel. Nash's eyes trembled and he turned away, gasping for fresh air. He felt like he was going to puke any seconds now, but forcefully walked away from the scene before doing so.
"Not this way..." He muttered as he wiped the vomit off his chin, calming his heart by breathing in and out slowly. Suddenly, he heard the foreign breathing again, only he could situate its origin this time.
It came from the bloody hallway.
Nash moistened his lips and raised his revolver in front of him, steeling himself before peeking at the hallway. There, among the devoured corpses and the pools of blood, a man was standing. His left arm was missing, and a good chunk of his right leg had been bitten off. He was wearing a standard school uniform, with brown pants and a blue blazer. The man turned around, revealing his face missing any skin, his eyes hanging off their sockets.
Nash swiftly hid back behind the wall, pressing his hand and holding the revolver over his mouth to silence the sound of his breathing. The young man listened attentively, the undead walking off in the hallway with slow, unsteady steps. Nash peeked out once again, his face an inch away from the dead man's.
"Fuck!" Nash instinctively reacted and planted his machete in the man's belly before jumping away from his reach. The undead looked down at the machete before slowly grabbing it. With strained movements, it pulled the machete out inch by inch, dark blood flowing out of the wound. The blade fell to the ground with a clanging sound, the zombie walking slowly toward Nash, stumbling in the hallway.
Nash aimed his revolver steadily, before pressing the trigger. The zombie's head was jerked back as the bullet pierced through his brain, the dead man falling even deader on the ground. Nash heaved a breath of relief, before walking up to the stiff. He picked up the machete, wiping its blade off the zombie's clothes when multiple breathings echoed all around Nash. The young man glanced up to find a few other zombies walking toward him. He also looked behind him to find a small group heading toward him.
'The noise must have attracted them. I can't just shoot them all down or I'll have the whole school running after me,' Nash quickly understood, before heading for the nearby classroom and breaking in. A few corpses were lying on the ground, but Nash decided not to take any risk, and despite his disgust and fear, he plunged his machete into their heads one after the other. After assuring himself that there were no other bodies he didn't check, he pushed the desks in front of the door and barricaded himself in the classroom. The zombies beat on the door weakly, the sound of their fists hitting the wood echoing into the classroom ominously.
Nash sighed and wiped off the blood that had gotten on his face after his first encounter with the zombie, before checking the Evacuation window.
[Nash Dularfull - Evacuation spot: [4 204 102/4 204 102]
"...Heh," Nash couldn't help but sneer in awe at the sight. There were only four million people left on Earth. It was mind-numbing. And he was one of those four million. The young man sat down against the wall, his head resting on the cold plaster. He rested for a few minutes, until the beating on the door intensified, accompanied by grunting and groans. Nash looked up at the door, before pushing himself up, helping himself with the machete. He approached the door, intending to look through the small glass square in its center. The only thing he did see was a few dozen zombies pressing themselves against the door, pushing against it. The wood squeaked and creaked, but it didn't give in, for Nash's greatest relief.
The young man walked around the classroom, searching through the dead students' corpses for anything useful. He found a charged phone that he unlocked with its owner's thumb, alongside a pair of earplugs. He chuckled to himself before searching through the phone, finding the application that distributed music. His finger slid on the screen as he looked for a song he knew among those downloaded by the previous owner. Nash couldn't find one he recognized, but instead found one named "Last Soul". He laughed and started it, feeling that it fitted his situation quite well.
The wall behind him exploded as a buff zombie charged through it, roaring angrily before lunging at Nash. Coincidentally, the music started at the same time.
🎵...I’ll be the last soul standing...🎵
Nash rolled to the side, aiming his gun at the buff zombie's head and unloading it one bullet after another, three finding their way into his body and two whistling past the zombie. The buff creature fell back, before roaring and charging straight at Nash, who jumped to the side and rolled into a crouching position. His hand dove into his pocket and grabbed one of his speed-loaders, avoiding the one with only five bullets. He unloaded the used bullets and fitted the new ones in, before closing the cylinder.
The zombie had charged straight into the wall separating the classroom from the hallway, piercing a small hole with his head through the plaster. Nash aimed his gun and waited for the zombie to show his head, using his other hand to still his aim. After a few seconds of angry struggle, the buff zombie finally got himself out, shaking his body madly as he ran toward Nash with a hungry face.
Nash coldly pressed the trigger, the bullet piercing straight through the buff zombie's head, the undead falling and sliding down on the ground, leaving behind a dark trail of blood. Nash opened the cylinder and got rid of the used bullet, replacing it with a new one from the already-used speed-loader. If his instincts were right, he was going to need his revolver to be fully loaded.
Indeed, his instincts were right. Zombies had found their way to the wall the buff zombie had charged through, while the ones in the hallway were digging through the small hole. Soon, if Nash didn't manage to escape from the trap he had put himself in, he was going to be overrun. Nash got rid of the first zombie he saw, a girl without arms and no jaw, as well as blue messy hair. Her head jerked back like the others, her brains splattered behind her.
The other zombie behind the girl was much more lively, running straight toward Nash. The young man aimed his revolver before coldly stepping to the side and slashing down with his machete. The blade pierced right through the skull, killing the zombie once and for all. The corpse fell to the ground, and Nash was forced to put his foot on the skull as he grabbed the machete to pull it out. Suddenly, the whole wall separating Nash from the zombie group collapsed under the weight of all the undead, letting them enter in a cloud of dust. Nash tried to keep his calm as he shot one head after the other, but it seemed that for each he killed, two more popped in, stumbling uncertainly toward him. Nash roared and unloaded the whole revolver, getting rid of five of the undead bastards and hurting one last, his fingers trembling as they found another speed loader and fitted it inside the revolver.
The shot echoed through the school, each flash of the muzzle illuminating Nash's progressively despaired face.
"Damn it, damn it!" He felt his heart race as the zombies got closer and closer, their arms stretched out to try and reach him. Nash shot five more bullets, before kicking one of the nearby desks into the zombies' legs, barely slowing them. Nash drew a deep breath and shot the last bullet toward the nearby window, weakening it. The young man glanced back at the zombies before running toward the window and jumping through it, shards of glasses accompanying him in his fall.
When Nash rolled on the ground, ignoring the scratches and the glass stuck in his skin, he directly noticed something wrong. In the small garden he had landed in, there were dozens, no, hundreds of bodies lying around, who were slowly pushing themselves up the ground to look at him with glassy eyes. The young man nervously chuckled, using his last speed loader to fill his revolver with his last four bullets. He tightly grabbed his machete, stepping back at the sight of the infinite number of undead walking toward him.
"That's my end, then?" Nash muttered, aiming his revolver with trembling hands. He shot down four zombies, not missing a single head, before throwing the revolver away.
"Shit... Had I tried shooting before, I might have been evaluated as a pretty good marksman..." He hissed as he grabbed his machete with both hands, piercing through the nearest zombie's head. A couple of its undead friends walked over to him, trying to reach for Nash with their cold arms. The young man pushed them away, slashing desperately at their faces. Flesh flew into the air, accompanied by a crimson veil of blood, but it wasn't enough.
'I need to hit their brains to kill them!'
Nash cut a zombie's skull in half, before pushing another away. He cut and hacked, blood and meat soon covering every single inch of his clothes. Soon, the blade remained stuck in a zombie's skull, and Nash was forced to use his talkie-walkie to smash the zombie heads in until that weapon gave in too. He punched and ripped, desperately fighting for his survival, until one of them finally reached him.
The first bite was the most painful thing he had ever experienced. Nash angrily smashed his elbow in the zombie's skull, crushing it, but another bit down his neck from behind, ripping a chunk of flesh. Nash stumbled forward, crying in pain as he pushed the zombie away. One lunged at him and forced him on the ground, before plunging its hands in his belly and ripping off a fresh gut out to fill his mouth with. Nash screamed in pain, his strength leaving his body as more and more parts of himself were getting eaten away. His mind slipped away, barely holding by the strand that was the hope of finding his sister again.
But even hope wouldn't be able to save him from this hell. His earplugs pumping music in his ears fell off, letting him hear the sounds of the zombies eating him alive.
[Nash Dularfull - Evacuation spot: [1/1]
'...What...?'
[Initiating Evacuation...]
[Calculation of Nash Dularfull's Achievements...]
[...]
[...Error, the recipient is not alive. Paradox found...Calculating...]
[???Error...Addressing the paradox manually...]
[Achievements are sufficient...Transporting user into the Tower...]
[Entering ??? Difficulty]
[Mode: Die & Retry]