"Where the hell am I? What the heck are these?"

Lucas stared at the strange species that were wreaking havoc before him. With their protruding claws and gigantic bodies, they killed and trampled the humans they caught. Some of the unfortunate humans even became their food as they ripped them apart before swallowing them.

Lucas recalled what happened and how he had been blown up into smithereens when he was experimenting in his laboratory.

Five seconds.

Five seconds was all it took for Lucas to enter heaven and plunge into hell. An experiment he was working on for months, an achievement he was finally going to accomplish, the success he was at last going to taste, all lasted merely a moment. He didn't even get a second to rejoice when the chemical mixture he had created started to fume.

Lucas had no time to react. It all happened in a blink. It all ended in a blink. The entire mixture exploded before he could react. A few seconds of hesitation had rendered him incapable and all he felt was an intense pain coursing through his body and blood trickling down his forehead and hands before darkness consumed him.

Lucas had no idea what had happened. He felt his body floating and his mind drifting far away. But the next instant, he was in a strange world, amidst the danger.

His face blanched and sweat trickled down his forehead and back as he witnessed the gory sight. It was anything he had seen before. None of the movies he had seen could match up to what he was facing. 'I must be dreaming. I'm definitely dreaming. How is it possible?'

Lucas was in denial and he tried hard to wake up from his nightmare. But it was as if someone had cast a sleeping spell on him. Despite trying hard, he couldn't change the scene before him. He was still watching the peculiar species destroy the world and coat it with the color of blood.

Even though he was denying it vehemently, he knew somewhere deep in his heart that it was not a nightmare and he had somehow ended up in this creepy world.

Lucas' eyes widened in fear when he noticed one of the ghoul-like creatures closing in on him and he too started running for his life just like the others. 'I need to save myself first. I cannot get myself killed in such a brutal way.'

Lucas shivered when he remembered the way one of the ghouls had ripped apart a man's limbs before eating him. Dying after an explosion in a laboratory was one thing. But getting tortured cruelly and being some strange fiend's food was another matter altogether, and Lucas had no intention of being one.

With all his might, he ran for his life. He had appeared in the war zone area suddenly. So, he hadn't had any chance to take a good look at the place. Now that he observed his surroundings, he realized he was in an open ground that stretched for a few miles. There was no place for him to hide and save himself from the danger that was following him.

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Lucas' heart dropped as he kept running, overtaking a few humans on his way. Having not exercised ever, his thighs started to quiver and ache and he was visibly slowing down. While there were still a few humans behind him, he'd soon fall behind as well due to his exhausted and unathletic body.

'I need to do something. I cannot let this happen.' Lucas thought. 'But what do I do? How do I save myself here? There's no one for me to look for help either. Who can even help me here?'

Lucas looked behind and his eyes widened when he saw the creatures catching up. 'Will I be experiencing death twice in a day?' He wondered, his willpower to live dwindling slowly. 'Is there no end to this? Am I going...'

Just when he was about to give up, Lucas heard rhythmic thumping in the air. He raised his head as he continued running and his eyes widened when he saw more than ten choppers hovering in the sky. While five among them were smaller and equipped with machine guns, the remaining ones dropped rope ladders as they lowered their altitude of flight.

Lucas looked ahead of him and when one of the humans climbed the ladder, he realized at once it was their rescue team. His hope returned in huge folds and he had never felt happier. With rejuvenated energy, he picked up his pace and looked for the nearest ladder.

However, the choppers were quite a distance away and he had to run harder to reach them. Meanwhile, the choppers with machine guns started their work and intense rattling noise filled the place.

Lucas felt his eardrums on the verge of exploding due to the sound and his heart started to follow the rhythm of the sharp and continuous gunfire.

'Can the machine guns kill the ghouls?' He wondered and looked behind to check. His doubts immediately vanished when he noticed one of the ghouls falling to the ground with a roar that shook the ground.

'Oh my God! This actually works.' Lucas was stupefied. But he didn't have time to rejoice. Until he was one of the ladders, he was not out of danger. His legs were about to give up. Yet, he didn't and kept pushing himself to his limit as he ran with all his might.

But it was as if all the aviators had minds of their own and were intentionally straying away from him. He couldn't reach even one of the choppers and slowly, they were getting further away from him.

'Can't you see me here? Why do you keep moving forward just when I'm about to reach you?' He scolded in his mind and looked behind him again, only for his eyes to widen in horror when he saw two of the monsters nearing him. Three large leaps and he would be dead for sure.

Lucas gritted his teeth and endured his anguish. He had to get to the chopper. He had to. With that thought, he focused all his attention on the chopper closest to him and sprinted.

Just a few inches. A mere few inches and he would be dead meat. Only Lucas knew how he had escaped death.

The creature behind him roared in fury seeing its prey escape while the chopper flew away. Lucas felt his entire body relax and smiled in relief. Death had knocked at his door twice. But he had escaped from its clutches the second time.

Lucas started climbing up the rope and looked down but moved his gaze away immediately. The bloody sight made his stomach churn and he felt nauseous. But he continued climbing. He had escaped from the creatures. Now, he couldn't waste his efforts and fall to his death.

"Welcome, chap. You're finally safe." One of the men inside the chopper welcomed him with a relaxed smile and Lucas felt too relaxed even though he was in a land he had no idea about.