For the past three months, Alexander had been scavenging around the decimated town for food and medical supplies. Nothing scary ever happened, because Alex only moved after being 100% sure no danger would come to him. The large rats were a trigger of a trauma for him, so he made sure to travel by day and never enter dark places.

The sun lasted for around two days before falling to dark, and two days would need to pass before the sun came out again. Two days of sunshine gave Alexander enough time to scavenge supplies to consume through the lonely night in the storage room. The nights he spent inside the dungeon, locked up inside a tiny storage room, were terrifying.

During the nights when Alexander was doing all he could to get some sleep, strange noises accompanied a screeching that kept driving a fear of 'you will never feel save' into his weakened mind. Sometimes it felt that on the other side of the wall, a rat was scraping against it as if knowing that Alex was right behind it.

Other times, it was Alex scraping back at them as his nails chipped off the concrete wall. That night was the only time Alex slipped up - and the solo player who competed at a high level for over 5 years did not allow it to happen another time. To succumb to the pressure pushing down on him, was the same as admitting defeat, and Alexander hated defeat more than the nightmare he was currently in.

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He would give his life away if it meant he would never lose.

Though, Alexander's battle was not killing the other opponent, it was surviving to live another day. Today would be another battle for survival, but it will be the one he will never forget.

He had been slouched against the wall, deadpan eyes staring at his bandaged fingers and arms, thinking about nothing at all. When the loud noise of banging started, and the barricaded door of the storage room shook.

'...how did they know?'

Alexander had thought the smell of blood and other scents were blanketed by the stench of sardines, making his location unknown to the monsters outside.

'or did the smell of sardines lead them here?'

He stood up and picked up blankets, covering the boxes and shelves, making them look like human figures. He took another blanket and stood beside the door, defending it by pushing against the barricades.

As he pushed, Alexander checked his inventory and the small items he held in his shorts.

'Lock picks...screwdriver, and a shiv.'

When he touched the shiv in his pockets and thought about how he will use of it, he began to shiver uncontrollably. The blood and gore of a grotesque beast circling around Alexander, dripping its intestines slowly to the ground - the image was horror-filled.

The shiv was deemed too dangerous for Alexander to use, even against an enemy that would do anything to take a piece out of him.