Derrick watched Sam pocket the core and sighed inwardly with jealousy.

“If only it’d been an air core…” God knows Derrick needed all the help he could get with his airbending.

He shook his head before following Sam’s lead. To his side, Aisha quickly joined him.

If he was being honest with himself, Derrick was sort of surprised at how quickly this scrawny hero had grown on him during the last 24 hours. To think that in the beginning, Derrick had thought Sam had been some sort of pathological liar…

It’s amazing how quickly you get to know someone during the apocalypse.

Although neither Sam nor Aisha had used that word yet — apocalypse that is — that was what it was. Because unlike them, Derrick had realized it immediately. As soon as he saw the monstrous worm with teeth for brain, a tiny voice in the back of his head had whispered it at him.

This is the apocalypse; the reckoning; the judgement day; the end of the world. Crazy how his conspiratorial wacko of a mother had been sorta’ right in the end.

Though Sam obviously wasn’t as well-read as he was, Derrick still found that he enjoyed the awkward dude.

“He’s also a natural at Earthbending…” Unlike Sam, Derrick hadn’t received any cool new Spidey-senses after activating his halo. He couldn’t sense the worms, and there were no birds around to experiment on either. Furthermore, Derrick hadn’t forgotten how easily Sam had put down the grey monster. If it wasn’t so freakishly cool, Derrick would’ve probably found the stone spear a bit scary.

Who was he kidding, it was hella’ scary.

After all, it had taken him and three adult men a lot of effort to kill the second one. Two had even been wounded in the process. Heck, even Derrick hadn’t escaped completely unscathed from the scuffle.

Though he hid it well.

In comparison to Sam, Derrick felt uncharacteristically incompetent.

“But if there’s anyone who deserves that sort of power, it’s probably him…” Derrick recalled how Sam hadn’t hesitated to empty his backpack last night. Though Derrick often liked to fashion himself as a guy who’d turned a new leaf — a nice guy — Derrick was a bit ashamed to admit that his first reaction had been to hide the food.

But not Sam, no, he hadn’t hesitated to share.

Nevertheless, Derrick was thankful for Sam’s selflessness. Derrick would probably never forget the grateful looks he’d received when he’d shared his food with others.

Helping people felt… good for a change.

And after all the ruckus he had caused in his teenage years, Derrick felt like he had a lot of helping to catch up on.

“Psst,” Aisha whispered to prevent Sam from over-hearing her… Derrick found that he didn’t like it when she did that, “Is that core-thing valuable?”

And there it was. The reason why Derrick had felt a weight amass in his stomach when he’d seen her at the tram station. Aisha was an amazing girl; funny, smart, and sexy in a cute sorta’ way. Furthermore, somehow, she looked like she was even more fit now than she was back in high-school.

How she’d accomplished that was beyond him.

But she was also a relic; a part of Derrick’s past and a reminder of who he used to be — of the kind of person he used to be.

“Yeah, probably,” Derrick whispered back, “At least I think so,” He shook his head, “Not that I think it’s of any use to the two of us.”

“Hmm?” Aisha crinkled her nose at that, in a cute kinda’ way, “Jesus Rick, stop being so fucking thirsty!” Derrick berated himself while thinking about his girlfriend, his wonderful, hot-

“Why not? And why do you even know so much about this stuff to begin with?” Aisha pressed on.

“Reading,” Derrick answered curtly, it was a hobby he’d picked up at the end of high school, “And you heard what Sam said, didn’t you?” Derrick turned and met Aisha’s curious gaze, “His halo guided him to it; mine didn’t. That means the worms are most likely earth-based, just like Sam is.”

Derrick watched as Aisha took in what he'd said.

"You've..." She hesitated, "You've really changed a lot, you know that?" Aisha said while glancing at him, "But like, in a good way..."

Derrick, who had been about to answer, was at a loss for words.

*****

"It's so quiet..." Sam remarked as the trio advanced alongside the Hawkthorne River. To their right, an industrial park riddled with warehouses had replaced the restaurants from before.

Though not exactly the most bustling part of Hawkthorne, before the world break, one would normally be able to hear the noise of construction, machines, vehicles, and airplanes around this time of day.

Now, however, all Sam could hear was the whistling wind sweeping through the buildings, excluding the occasional scream from the faraway distance.

It was a sombre atmosphere to say the least.

More than once, Sam found himself wondering where all the people had gone. If memory served him correctly, around 80,000 people lived in Hawkthorne. Yet, to Sam, it felt like the city was nearly empty.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I wonder how many has died already..." Sam also recalled how there'd been people who'd mysteriously vanished after the world break, people like Aisha’s boyfriend, Xavier.

As more and more questions cropped up, Sam was once again reminded of how much he relied on his phone for information. Without internet or reception, there had been no news, no warnings... heck, there hadn't even been any alarms resounding through the city.

It was like the world break happened and civilization just... crumbled apart without anything to say about it.

"But who knows, maybe the military is on its way?" Sam tried to remember how many military bases there were in Virginia, "I'm pretty sure there were over 20..."

Although none of the military bases were close to Hawkthorne, the fact remained that they should have shown up by now; with guns blazing and ready to blast these devils to God almighty. Instead, there was nothing, not a peep. So far, Sam hadn't even seen any local law enforcement out on the streets.

Though, Sam admitted, they had heard gunshots earlier.

Naturally, Sam had shared this conundrum with his group earlier, and both Aisha and Derrick had agreed that many citizens probably opted to stay indoors, away from all the monsters and mayhem.

And after witnessing the scores of monsters pervading the streets earlier last night, Sam couldn't fault them for trying to hide.

It was just... inside was where the monsters now hid.

For reasons unknown to the trio, the worms and the monsters were seemingly at odds with one another. And due to the size and environmental advantage, the humanoid wart monsters looked as though they were the weaker faction of the two.

As such, with the subterranean worms out and about again, the wart monsters were forced into hiding. And where, perchance, did they hide?

Inside the buildings; exactly where the trio reckoned people where hiding.

For a moment, the image of a blood-covered cafeteria flashed before Sam's eyes, and immediately, he felt sickened to his core.

It went without saying that his companions had agreed to stay as far away from the buildings as possible.

...

Every now and then, Sam would spot a figure running in the distance, only to subsequently freeze when he sensed the numerous underground tremors homing in on the location. It was an incredibly humbling experience and Sam made sure to repeatedly remind his companions to walk carefully.

Thankfully, by now, the trio had learnt the importance of walking with gentle steps.

...

After almost two hours of trekking along the river, the trio finally found something apart from burrows and monster blood.

Fifty or so meters ahead, the river foamed white as it turned shallow. Although not a bridge, it beat swimming across at least.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Aisha asked hesitantly as Derrick and Sam began to take off their shoes, "Isn't the current a problem?" She gestured at the river.

However, both Sam and Derrick shook their heads.

"No, it should be fine," Derrick answered as he stared at the coursing river, "I think I've seen fishermen fish here before."

"Think?" Aisha didn’t look convinced.

However, Derrick just shrugged as he proceeded to take off his socks.

"I don't even get why we have to cross it to begin with..." Aisha muttered as she began to untie her shoelaces.

Sam was about to explain it to her when Derrick beat him to it, "With the Newport bridge being untraversable, passing here is our best option," Derrick insisted, "And I told ya' earlier didn't I? We are going to Cold Springs."

Sam didn't bother to correct him. At this point, Sam didn’t know if he wanted to explore the forest or find his family more. What he did know was that the city crawled with monsters. Hopefully, the forest on the other side would provide them with some much-needed respite.

"But we don't even know if there even is a Cold Springs anymore!" Aisha complained, "Come on guys, don't tell me none of you have thought about it? With the appearance of this mysterious woodland, what do you think happened to Newport, huh?"

"Still," Sam interjected as he looked over at the grassland beyond the river, "Even if it's really gone... we have to try."

When Aisha looked like she was about to counter, Sam continued, "And, if you're still dissatisfied, you're welcome to stay in the city." Naturally, he wasn’t serious.

Yet, Aisha still paled at the prospect of staying in the city alone.

"Don't even joke about that Sam," Derrick sighed, "You know as well as I do that staying here is a death-trap."

Maybe it was a death trap, or maybe it wasn't. With his ability to sense the worms, Sam could probably stay here if he really wanted to. There were still a lot of food and other necessities left as people hadn’t grown restless or hungry enough to actually risk the monsters and start looting for real.

Nevertheless, Sam still remembered the monsters from last night. Although some had been eaten by the worms, they still riddled the city.

Even with his earth magic ready at hand, Sam wouldn't count on winning against more than one wart-infested friend. Heck, even fighting one was a risk Sam wasn't willing to take lightly; it was a reluctance which only increased when he took his unfortunate tendency to pass out into consideration.

No, Sam decided that he wasn't hunting any more monsters until he had improved his magic again. If improving it again was even possible, that is.

Speaking of his magic improving, Sam thought about the strange core in his pocket. According to Derrick's highly questionable and untested knowledge, his halo had resonated with the core because it was somehow beneficial to him. It was a theory Sam found himself wanting to support, especially since his halo seemed to desire it.

"Or does it want it?" Sam wrinkled his nose in confusion, "I've tried everything but eating it at this point… don't tell me I really need to eat it?"

The thought of eating something he'd extracted from a monster worm didn't exactly sound appetizing to him. Moreover, would he even be able to swallow the damn thing?

"Okay! I'm ready." Derrick who'd just finished stuffing his shoes in his backpack looked pumped and ready.

Sam zipped up his bag and nodded at him.

…

Derrick dropped down into the river first. The water reached his kneecaps. Sam followed him soon thereafter and grit his teeth at the coldness.

Once they were in the water, Sam and Derrick helped Aisha down as well.

“I-It’s seriously freezing!” Aisha complained as she entered the cold river.

“What’d you expect?” Derrick bantered.

“I-I don’t know,” Aisha pouted as she held her bag above the water, “Not for it to be this darn cold anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Sam interjected as he looked around at the coursing river; for some reason, he felt weird, “This doesn’t feel right.”

Naturally, his companions didn’t oppose him.

Slowly but surely, the trio made their way across the river. Though the current was stronger than Sam had surmised, it wasn’t to an unbearable level, especially since the it was so shallow.

Just as the trio reached the halfway point, and Sam thought they’d get across without any issues, Derrick suddenly cussed.

“Fuck!” He lifted his leg and swore as he gripped the wound on it, “Something just bit me!”

“No,” Sam’s face paled as he peered into the water, “That wasn’t a bite.”

Whatever happened to Derrick had triggered something as a semi-transparent tendril became visible. Sam’s eyes followed the tendril until he gulped loudly.

An ungodly amalgamation of river-weed and some sort of serpent slowly rose from the water’s surface. From its serpentine body, numerous long semi-transparent river-weeds protruded into the river like the long tendrils of an angler-fish.

Sam had no idea what sort of creature it was, but he wasn’t about to ask it.

“Run!” He screamed as he darted towards the other side of the river.

Sam barely winced as a horrific roar erupted from behind him.