Eric jerked awake as he slammed into something hard. The taste of blood and the agony of terrible pain were like a sharp knife piercing his temples, followed by a twist!

He coughed as he felt suffocated. Something covered his face, making it impossible to breathe. His hand scrambled whatever covered his face, only then was he able to breathe, but something heavy pressed against his body, making him gasp for air. He couldn't move.

It hurts so much!

He groaned as he felt his legs being crushed. Head pounded. Ears rang. It was hard to stay calm with all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He bit his lip and started counting. Slowly, the dizziness subsided, and his vision cleared.

He was trapped under a pile of dusty concrete slabs, with his entire lower body buried, including his left arm, and something had pierced one of his legs, causing a sharp sting. Every time he tried to move, the pain shot through his body like an electric current, paralyzing him.

"Aghh!" He tried to scream, but only gibberish words left his mouth.

It hurts, dammit!

He called for help, but his voice sounded strange. His throat felt dry and sore. His vocal cords must have been injured.

Dust filled the air, making his eyes water. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as another flash of pain shot through him. Checking himself, he found a piece of glass stuck to his side. Shit!

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the glass shard and slowly pulled it out while being careful not to break it inside his body. After the shard was extracted, blood spurted out, staining his dirty white shirt red. He tossed the shard and placed a hand on the wound.

He looked down at his arm pinned between the concrete slabs. It wasn't broken because he could still move his fingers. He removed his hand from the wound and began to remove the stones. Luckily, there weren't any big, heavy boulders, or he would have had trouble moving them with just one arm.

After pushing aside a large stone, his arm finally had some room to move. He pulled while moving things that blocked him, and with one last hard push, his arm finally broke free.

He moved his stiff arm around and checked it for injuries. Bruises and cuts covered his arm, and some of his fingernails were missing. Two of his fingers were swollen and purple; one was bent the wrong way. He grabbed that finger, and with a click, he straightened it.

It could have been worse!

He turned his attention to his lower body, which was stuck under the rubble. He could feel his legs, which was a good sign, but something seemed to have pierced one of them. It stings and hurts!

How the hell am I supposed to move this?

The debris was too much for him to move on his own, even in his best condition. He put his hands on the ground and tried to pull himself up but to no avail.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, he gave up.

What the hell happened?

Eric didn't know the answer. Maybe an earthquake had hit the area, or someone had planted explosives in the building and blown it up. There were other possibilities, but he wasn't in the mood to think about them. He would rather think about the present than the past. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was still alive and that there was a chance he might survive this disaster.

His room was almost unrecognizable. There was so much wreckage around him, furniture scattered, and only a few items looked in less than terrible condition. The wooden desk was missing three of its legs, the bed was torn in half, and the refrigerator door was missing.

He looked around to see if there was anything he could use to free himself, a metal pole would be ideal. Unfortunately, all that surrounded him was scattered debris from crumbled buildings, forming mounds. Shards of glass reflected the sunlight in a reddish glow.

He spotted a half-broken picture frame lying beside him. The picture inside the frame was in bad shape, half of it torn to shreds. He reached for the frame and pulled it from the rope attached to it. He pressed it to his chest and hugged it as if it were the most precious thing in the world - more precious than his own life.

His ears perked up as he caught a sound.

"He..l..p!!" Someone shouted.

"Eric..please..help! Eric..."

They kept calling his name. The voice sounded hoarse and distant.

He followed the sound with his eyes and found it coming from the crumbling building next to him. There! A woman was buried underneath.

Alex!

He recognized her. She was his neighbor in the complex where he lived. A nice girl who worked as a nurse in the hospital and sometimes took care of a sick old man who lived alone in the apartment next to hers. She was very welcoming when he first moved in and helped him settle in. They got along well and were considered good friends.

Despite her busy schedule, she always took good care of herself because she loved fashion, but she wasn't at her best right now. Her lower body was trapped under a crumbling wall. One of her arms was bent the wrong way. It was broken.

"Eric, please help me! I don't want to die!" She stretched her good arm in his direction. Her plea mingled with her cries.

She was desperate, helpless, and miserable, yet a part of him envied her. Despite her bad condition, she still had a voice. Unlike her, he couldn't scream or call for help. He was all alone.

"Eric... Can you hear me?" Her trembling voice rang out as she addressed him.

"C-can you move, Eric?" He shook his head at her question.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

He couldn't see her expression from where he was, but her confused voice painted a clear picture of what it might be like.

Shaking his head again, Eric pointed at his throat. He hoped that would be enough for her to understand why he couldn't speak.

"I-I see. You can't talk because your throat is injured, right?" Seeing him nod, she continued. "Th-Then you can nod or shake your head to answer my questions. Do you understand?" She hiccupped, trying to suppress the pain.

"Do you have any other injuries besides your neck? Can you assess yourself and tell me your condition?"

Is she worried about me?

Eric nodded again.

"Is it bad? Are you bleeding?"

He looked down at the wound in his stomach. It wasn't bleeding anymore because of the pressure, but as soon as he took his hand out, blood would come out. He needed immediate treatment, otherwise he would be in danger after losing too much blood.

Eric lifted his head back to Alex and shook it. He didn't want to bother her with his trivial injuries; she was in worse shape than he was. It would be a selfish act on his part to burden her and make her think about helping him with his injuries while ignoring hers. Even though he was only 23 years old, he had already served in the military and knew how to deal with such injuries on his own.

"Are you sure? Can you check again? The adrenaline will make it less painful, so you have to."

Eric raised his hand, cutting Alex off. Where did she get all that energy? Even with all his training, he was mentally and physically drained.

He pointed at her, then moved his hands as if to ask about her.

"As you can see, I'm in better shape than I look. I think I can hold on until help arrives. It shouldn't be long." She said with a smile, but the blood trickled down her lips didn't match her reassuring words.

If Eric hadn't seen her current condition and only heard her voice, he might have believed her. Even though her injuries were worse than Eric's, she still put up a tough front after the initial panic. She was a brave woman.

"Hey, Eric. Do you know what happened? Any idea at all?"

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He shook his head. There were a few possibilities he could think of as to why the building had collapsed. An earthquake was the most likely, but he had no idea how big it was to bring down their not-so-old complex.

"You think it's an earthquake? For it to bring down our building, it must be a hell of a quake."

Alex seemed to be thinking the same thing. The magnitude would have to be over 7 to cause the building to collapse before he could even feel the vibration.

"I guess we're lucky we weren't buried."

Their two rooms were on the second floor. A fall from that height would kill most people, but not only did they survive the fall, they avoided being buried. If that wasn't a miracle, he didn't know what was.

"Not many will be that lucky."

It was tragic, but it was also true. People were going to die, not just in their complex, but all over the city. They could die right now, and there was nothing that could be done to help them.

"Have you tried pulling yourself out? Please try."

Eric shook his head. He had tried to pull himself out many times, but to no avail. Something pierced his left leg and prevented him from getting out.

"Yeah? Me neither. I guess all we can do is wait for help to come."

There was a fire station not far from their complex. It shouldn't take them long to get here under normal circumstances, but he doubted they would arrive anytime soon. If this was a large earthquake, as he suspected, the fire station would be busy rescuing the people closest to it before moving on to other areas, if the station wasn't destroyed.

"We have to hang on. So don't give up hope, Eric! We'll get through this!" Alex seemed hysterical as she repeated the same sentence over and over again before she stopped.

After a few minutes of silence, Eric heard her groan. She tried to stifle her cries, but the pain was too much. He wanted to help, but he couldn't lift the debris.

"Hey, Eric."

Alex's pained voice made him stop searching his surroundings and look at her. She raised her head to look at the bright sky.

"I don't think we're going to get any help."

Eric raised his eyebrows, surprised at her sudden change in attitude. Just a few minutes ago she had encouraged him not to give up hope because help would be coming soon. Had she lost hope and despair overtaken her?

"I don't know what's happening, but I don't think our complex was the only building affected by this disaster, otherwise help would have arrived long ago, considering how close they are."

The fire station was about five miles from their building, but even after a considerable amount of time had passed, he had yet to hear any sirens. He didn't hear any sounds other than Alex's. No screams, no noise. It was like he and Alex were the only people here.

"If we really don't make it and we died," her voice trembled as tears slipped down her cheeks. "I just want you to know... Eric, I really... always... liked..."

Suddenly there was a deep boom. Eric thought he was back on the battlefield, where all kinds of explosions were going off. His head spun as a terrible pain assaulted his ears and the world around him shook.

Something blasted through the pile of rubble. Chunks of concrete flew through the air like cannonballs, drowning out every other sound. Some broken buildings collapsed after being hit by these shells.

Rocks fell on Eric's chest, squeezing the air out of his lungs. His mouth opened wide and he screamed as loud as he could. A strange sound came out of his mouth, and blood trickled down his lips.

His mind felt sluggish. He bit his lips to keep from losing consciousness.

Suddenly a deafening roar echoed that threatened to burst Eric's eardrums. It drowned out all other sounds and he could no longer hear Alex's voice. It was unlike anything he had ever heard before.

He froze. His mind went blank, heart pounding.

What was that?! A lion? No, they sound different!

His head darted around, scanning the surroundings while he endured the pain from his broken rib, but he couldn't see anything. Another roar, much closer, froze him again.

What's wrong with me?

His whole body shivered as his heart threatened to jump out of his chest. He hugged his body to stop himself from shaking, only a shallow breath came out of his mouth.

What brought a lion so far into the city? Had it escaped from some zoo?

He heard heavy steps approaching.

Shit! I don't think I can resist a dangerous animal in my condition.

He grabbed a piece of glass beside him. It was the longest one he could find, about a foot long, with a sharp edge. It wasn't an ideal weapon to use against a dangerous creature, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

Whatever was coming must be huge. That was all he could think of as booming noises echoed around him. Clouds of dust filled the area. Eric put a hand to his face, covering his mouth and nose, not daring to make a sound until he understood what was happening. He couldn't hear the footsteps anymore; either the animal was already here or it had moved away.

After a while, the smoke cleared and Eric looked around, searching for any sign of danger. His ears perked as they caught the sound of ragged breathing. Glancing in the direction of the sound, his pupils dilated.

What the...?

In front of him, in the small clearing outside his cover, stood what could only be described as an extremely monstrous grizzly bear. It looked at least five times larger than it should and had two large fangs coming out of its mouth.

What the hell is that thing?

That bear was unlike anything he had seen or heard before. It had four eyes and some kind of spikes coming out of its back.

Eric was startled as his brown eyes met the monster's red ones. He didn't dare move or even blink. He tried to remember if he'd read any advice about what to do when encountering a bear, though he wondered if that advice still made sense since this thing could hardly be considered a bear. He thought he vaguely remembered something about not running away because that would encourage it to come after you. Oh, and avoid eye contact, right? Eric thought, remembering some survival tips from documentaries. He kept his eyes averted while his heart raced in his chest.

A painful scream caused the monster to shift its focus away from Eric. It moved towards the sound. Various objects were crushed as it made its way.

Alex!

Eric's eyes widened as he saw the bear heading to Alex. He noticed a wooden spike piercing her belly and blood covering her midsection. Her cries drew its attention.

Alex bit her lips, resisting the urge to scream, which would only make the situation worse, but when the monster reached a distance of ten feet away, she couldn't hold it.

"No, no, no, no... stay away! Don't come near me!"

She broke down. Tears streamed down her dusty face, forming a river. Fear overwhelmed her, taking away whatever rationality she had left after surviving the disaster.

"Eric!"

Seeing that the monster showed no sign of stopping, she turned her attention to the only person who was there.

"Help me... Please do something... Anything!. Just get it away!”

What do you want me to do?

Eric looked at her, then back at the monster. The grip on the glass trembled.

"Please... do something... I beg..."

Alex stopped screaming as she felt a slimy liquid fall on her face. Looking up, her pupils dilated as they met the monster's eyes, and color drained from her face. The bear was right on top of her, yellow saliva dripped from its mouth into her head, washing away all the dust from her face.

"N-No, please! Don't!" she trembled. Her teeth cracked, almost biting her tongue.

Eric, watching from his seat, didn't know what to do. He knew he had to do something, anything, to make the monster leave Alex. He didn't have a voice to yell with to get its attention, so he picked up a small stone but didn't throw it at the monster right away.

Even if I could get its attention and make it leave Alex... what exactly am I supposed to do after that?

Throwing a rock at the monster would certainly draw its attention, but didn't that mean it would come for him? He could neither run nor defend himself.

Must I sacrifice myself to let her live?!

If the monster got angry- he shuddered at the thought of what might happen to him.

I don't. No, I can't die yet!

But if I don't help, she will die!

Yeah, but I would be alive!

No, no, no, I have to help her, she's my friend!

Eric was in an internal struggle as his emotions clashed with his self-preservation instinct.

***

"No! Eric. Aren't we friends, please don't abandon me!" Alex's screams increased when she saw that Eric was frozen in his place. She looked desperate. Scared. She didn't want to die, at least not in such a horrible way.

"Eric-" she yelped in pain as the monster opened its mouth and licked her face, its tongue tearing a chunk out of her cheek before it backed away as if surprised by her scream.

Seeing it act like that, she thought maybe the noise bothered it. Her eyes seemed to brighten a little, like seeing light at the end of a dark tunnel. She opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. Her high-pitched scream made the monster take a few steps back.

"It worked!"

Without wasting any time, she opened her mouth again, ready to scream, but before she could utter a sound, a thunderous roar rang out. The shock wave created clouds of dust.

Alex stopped dead in her tracks, frozen with shock. Her eyes were blank. Her brain shook, causing her to temporarily lose consciousness.

***

The roar snapped Eric out of his internal struggle. His pupils dilated as he watched the monster open its mouth, ready to rip Alex's head off.

“Stop!” he yelled, not caring about the consequences of drawing the monster attention. Blood dripped from his mouth as he forced his voice out. Seeing the monster ignore him, he picked up a rock and threw it at the beast.

The monster stopped and looked at him, its reptilian eyes piercing every fiber of his being, making him freeze.

Move, move, move, MOVE!

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he screamed in his head, but his body wasn't cooperating. Was he that scared? To freeze and let his friend be eaten alive? Move, you coward!

He dug his fingers into the ground and pulled. Blood gushed from his leg like a fountain as he tried to pull himself up despite a metal bar piercing his leg and pinning it to the ground. The stabbing pain was unbearable as he felt his leg being torn apart.

The monster shifted its attention from Eric to Alex.

"Damn, hey!" Eric yelled after failing to free himself. He grabbed and threw everything he could get his hands on. Rocks and shards of glass pierced his palms, but he didn't care.

"Stop...!"

Please don't!

"Stop it!"

Somebody, please help!

"I told you to stop, damn it! Come at me-"

Crunch!