Mark and Veronica had been forced to alter their course through the woods more than once due to the rain. Mud wasn’t much of a concern when one could walk over the roots and barely touch the ground, but the moss and tree-bark had become slippery. The lack of sunlight had also made navigation harder. It had long since become impossible to determine if they were even heading in the same direction they once were. “Forward” was a relative term, and with each passing day, it became more meaningless for both of them.

Not that they cared. It was to either move or stay put and find out if they’d die or not. They gathered rain water with their clothes and squeezed them to fill out their bottles. And still hunger gnawed at their every step. Their only source of food was those strange purple fruits that grew in the strange bushes that were half in bloom and half bearing fruit at the same time. Mark tried to avoid them, but the hunger and Veronica’s insistence always won out.

The young man had come to memorize every inch of Veronica's supple skin. Each bout of passion brought heat that would overwhelm them. Each time it was a delicious moment in time where all worries took the backseat, where all that mattered was the here and now. Where they only had one another and nothing else mattered.

It was a risky endeavor, though. They had to hide from the monsters multiple times, using the bushes and holes under the trees to stay out of sight and escape detection. The monsters were moving, something was driving them to traverse the forest. Alone or in groups, the scattered creatures were in quite a hurry.

It was an unnerving sight. Women that were not human, covered in dirt or moss, scurrying and doing their best to avoid being seen. Each one had parts of their anatomy that were inhuman. Feathers, fur, scales, some even with oddly colored skin and extra limbs. None paid the two humans any mind. They appeared too concerned with their attempt to move fast and quietly.

The thought hung heavy around them as they took another forgettable hole to rest.

“I think we should follow the same direction the monsters are.” Veronica spoke with a hushed voice, seated next to him under the relative comfort of one particularly large root.

“Don’t have anywhere else to go.” Mark snorted and shook his head. “Everyone else is dead, anyway.” His words hung heavy, ringing hollow.

The young woman’s eyes narrowed. In the darkness of the small cave, she leaned her naked body against his shoulder. “It’s just us, now. I think we’ll be able to make it.”

“Mhm.” Mark’s gaze was fixated on the dirt in front of him, his focus distant, somewhere else. “We’ll die in this cursed place.”

“Doubtful.”

The young man sighed, closing his eyes. “How sure are you of that?”

Her hand moved to touch the choker hanging loosely around her neck. “It can’t all be woods and forest, I’m sure we’ll get out of here.” With a sigh, she grinned at him, cooing as she used her fingers, slowly stroking his chest. “Maybe we’ll get to die in some plains or a lake. Personally, I’d rather die someplace with a nice view.”

“We should get moving.” He shrugged her off, pulling out his phone to illuminate the area around them so he could pick up his things. “Long day ahead.”

She sighed. “Fine, I guess the rain is better than sharing a damp hole with bugs.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

No sooner had Mark pulled out the phone that he yelped, dropping his phone, the device spewing sparks and sizzling angrily. “What the f-”

A blindingly bright flash of light streaked and exploded outside. The world became a raging white, a vengeful force against the shadows that blinded them both.

BOOOOM

The sound rumbled and shook them down to their bones. Their ears burst into a loud ringing that scattered their thoughts to the four winds. Everything was spinning- their whole bodies had been jolted, and they were lying paralyzed on the ground. Mark’s hand reached out to grasp Veronica’s, but she rolled over towards the lip of the hole. Whatever had hit them had clearly not affected the young woman as strongly. Meanwhile, Mark was trying to use his body and failing. His insides were filled with sparks that jolted his muscles and left him flopping against the dirt.

By the time he’d managed to regain control, Veronica wasn’t there anymore. He cursed, grabbing his things and stepping out of the hole half-naked while dragging his backpack and shirt in his hands.

Mark saw it then, a second flash of light that burst between the trees maybe a dozen or two meters away. Mark’s eyes took a moment to adjust before he realized he was looking at more of those female monsters. One’s body was coated in that strange sparkling light, and the other one had a greenish glow about her. They were both facing each other and snarling, sparks and light dancing between them.

Mark didn’t care to stay to see the finer details. Finding out what would happen next could very well be the last thing he did. No, instead, he turned away and started running with everything he had. In the next flash of light, he spotted Veronica; the young woman had a good lead ahead of him, tumbling half-naked through the forest.

Weaving his way through the roots and trying his best to avoid slipping up, Mark spotted several other figures moving through the forest. More monsters, flying overhead and desperately flapping their way to do exactly as they were doing: escape the light show the other two were causing.

With his ears still ringing and the world having a white fuzz at the edges, Mark considered himself lucky as he spotted a groove in the forest. For a heartbeat he considered just leaving Veronica to her fate… He grit his teeth, speeding up as best he could and catching up to her. “To the left!” he roared at her startled face. He grabbed her arm and maneuvered through the bushes to yank her in the direction of the groove.

Her surprise didn’t last long. She followed without opposition. They both made their way towards the area with lighter forest. The trees were shrinking from the massive behemoths into something far more reasonable, bushes popping up more often, and more importantly- fewer roots to slip on.

They stopped only once they could not hear the sound of the clash anymore.

Panting for breath, Veronica had kept enough sense to guide them both to a depression on the ground. “I think there’s a cave there we can hide in.” She pointed past the bushes near the entrance of the hole.

With the rain still splashing down on them and their clothes being entirely drenched again, Mark wasn’t going to complain. Especially if this new safe spot could be used until the coast was clear.

Veronica’s guess had been right. There was a cave there, slightly deeper than either expected, but nothing seemed to be moving in the darkness and out of the light drizzle of rain.

The instant they’d dropped their bags, Mark whirled on the young woman. “What the fuck was that about?”

“What do you mean?” She pulled off her shirt and pants, squeezing them dry and doing her best to do the same with her long hair.

“You dropped me like a sack of shit.”

“You’re faster than me. What gives?” Veronica pulled out her phone. “Huh, not dead. Good thing I had it off.”

“Don’t brush me off like that.” Mark leaned in, grabbing her arm and scowling.

Veronica winced. “You’re hurting me.”

His fingers let go instantly. She stepped back, shooting him a glare. “Look, we had to run, I ran, I thought you were right behind me.”

“Bullshit.”

“I don’t care if you don’t believe me. We both know we need each other to survive.” The young woman rolled her eyes, flicking on the light of her device.

“Well, you better start acting like it, bec-”

“Mark.”

“Are you seriously going to-?”

“Mark!” Veronica pointed deeper into the cave, into the now illuminated shadows. “Look.”

With a snort, he rolled his eyes and glanced in the direction she’d been looking at. His breath left him as all too suddenly he wasn’t sure if he could trust his senses anymore.

There, embedded in the deepest wall of the cave, was a door.