Caleb stepped out of the subway car and breathed in the stale air. He was on his morning commute to his office job. He breathed a deep sigh, knowing what the day had in store for him. When he first applied for this job, recruiters and managers told him of the company's various opportunities for growth. They also spouted about how the company was one happy family. The reality was far bleaker than advertised. Deadlines always loomed around the corner, and managers behaved more like drill sergeants.
As Caleb stepped onto the street, he saw construction workers repairing another building. The city had begun having increased monster activity about two months ago. The adventurers in the area had noted that the monsters also seemed to have become more aggressive recently. Snapping out of his thoughts, Caleb observed one of the workers float up building materials to a higher floor. Caleb was always envious of the evolved and the abilities they possessed. However, he wasn’t brave enough to venture into the wilds in search of an Item. Adventurers and soldiers occasionally found Items, but they were so few and far between that getting your hands on even a low-tier Item was unlikely.
Picking up a newspaper, Caleb scanned the top article. ‘SERIAL KILLER STILL AT LARGE’ was printed in big blocky letters. As Caleb read the article, he saw authorities were still chasing down a crazed killer who had kidnapped, tortured and killed hundreds of people. Reports from investigators said the bodies were dissected after death, all of which were cut similarly, except for evolved individuals who were each dissected uniquely. As Caleb got to the bottom of the article, he looked up and realized he had arrived at his job. Stepping into the office, Caleb went to get a cup of coffee when he ran into his friend.
“Cal, just the man I wanted to see!” Josh exclaimed. “I’ve been working on this project on the side and …” Josh droned on about a new trinket he had been working on. Josh enjoys experimenting in his free time, taking advantage of an ability he was lucky enough to inherit from his parents. Josh continued, “If I charge it with a little bit of energy, it’ll absorb it, and then with the push of a button-” a loud boom was set off in the break room, shaking the coffee pot but not much else. Luckily, nobody else was in the room to hear the loud explosion.
“Josh, a little warning next time would be great,” Caleb remarked as he looked at the spherical device. It contained a sophisticated network of circuits snaking together to complete the unit. The sphere also had three different buttons with pictures labeling them.
“As you saw, that was a noise explosion. The other two are light explosion and self-destruct!” Josh beamed with a toothy grin. Caleb looked at his friend and decided it was time to get to work before Josh displayed the other features.
As he approached his desk, he stopped for his daily chat with the receptionist. “Did you read the newspaper today?” Caleb asked.
“No, I tend to stay away from the news. It's too bleak and worrying for me,” Barbara replied. “Though I have heard from Hank that monsters have been more aggressive lately,” Barbara frowned.
Caleb replied, “Yeah, I heard that just the other day. They’re still repairing certain city areas from the last monster attack.”
“Oh my, I knew the last attack was bad, but it’s already been two weeks. They should’ve been done by now,” Barbara sighed. “I just hope that Hank and I won’t be bothered by any monsters. I’m so close to retirement, and the last thing I need is for my house to be destroyed.” After cycling through a few more topics, Caleb left to get started on his work.
Caleb settled into his chair before typing away at a blistering pace. Caleb had spent much of his youth learning to control his mental energy to complete tasks faster than his peers. However, no matter how good his skills in energy control were, his boss, Chris, always managed to give him more. “Caleb, I need these expense reports done before the end of the day,” Chris said coldly behind Caleb. Caleb turned to give a response, but Chris had already dropped the stack of papers and moved on. He spun back reluctantly and got to work.
As the hours passed, Caleb started to lose track of time, unaware of a low rumbling in the distance. As he finished his last assignment, he leaned back in victory. ‘I had to skip lunch again today,’ Caleb thought as he collected his things to go. As he got onto the elevator, he saw Josh again walking to the elevator when the entire building shook. “Another one of your toys?” Caleb mocked jokingly.
Josh stared at him and shook his head. “Probably some construction. Let’s get out of here.” The building shook again as they entered the elevator before an announcement came.
“All employees, please evacuate the building using the stairwells. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is NOT a drill.” The announcer repeated again and again. Josh and Caleb looked at each other, eyes filled with panic, and began running towards the stairs. Screams rang out from the lower floors before the building shook once more. As Caleb and Josh hit the ground floor, they burst through the door and were horrified at what they saw. Caleb’s boss, Chris, was being torn limb from limb by a pack of dire wolves. His blood decorated the floor around him and seeped deeply into the wolf's fur. As they slowly crept around the wolves, a gut-wrenching shriek pierced their ears, sending fear throughout every limb of their bodies.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Wraith,” Caleb shakily whispered. He stood rooted in place, craning his head to see the monster. A wraith levitated near the building exit, floating three feet off the ground. It was draped in a long dark cloak that was tattered beyond repair. A long shadowy hand extended outward, clenching tightly around Barbara's thin neck as tears formed in her frightened eyes. Her shaky hands clawed and tugged at the crooked fingers as the wraith slowly sapped the life out of the poor receptionist. Caleb's chest became tight as his breaths became quick and shallow. The gravity of the situation weighed heavy on his judgment, clouding his mind and sending him into sheer and utter panic. His thoughts began racing and got too scrambled to focus on anything. Suddenly, a bright flash erupted from where the wraith hovered. No sooner than it did, Caleb turned to find Josh heroically barreling down toward the cryptic being. Gritting his teeth and hardening his will, Caleb reluctantly got up and followed after him.
The wraith seemed stunned by Josh’s machine dropping Barbara to the floor, allowing them to get to her. However, as Caleb and Josh made it to Barbara, they gazed upon her face. Her skin was bone white, her eyes hollow and sunken. She looked up at them from the cold, hard-tiled floor and whispered, “I don’t want to die.” Barbara breathed slowly before saying, “Tell Hank I love him. Tell him to live fully for us.” Uttering her final words, Barabara spoke no more.
Mustering his strength, Caleb stood up as tears welled in his eyes whilst a lump formed in the back of his throat. He didn’t know if it was fear or sadness that was driving him to cry, but the tears came all the same. As Caleb was looking at Barbara’s corpse, he heard a low, vicious growling and looked up to see the wolves making their way around the corner. Before he knew it, Josh grabbed him and scooped up the sphere he’d thrown before. They began sprinting through the streets, enhancing their bodies to their full ability.
They made their way through the settlement, darting across streets and dipping into various alleyways, ensuring they stayed out of sight. Destruction weighed heavy on the city, leaving a sea of mangled corpses and limbs strewn about, as well as mountains of debris where the homes of many used to reside. Many bodies were missing limbs, others simply drained, and a few were left in pristine condition. This confused Caleb, but he didn’t have time to think about it. As they weaved through the streets, they saw a variety of monsters, from Ogres to elementals. Some he had never seen before but seemed just as dangerous as any other creature wandering the streets. Once he broke free of his shock, he looked at Josh and shouted over the sounds of destruction, “Where are we going!”
Josh turned back to him and responded, “My armory.”
“What!?” Caleb shouted. As the words left his mouth, he heard a howl behind them and found the dire wolves had followed their scent. As they ran through the streets, weaving in and out between buildings, the wolves started gaining on them. Caleb could feel their hungry, murderous gaze penetrating deep within his soul. Just as Caleb thought he would get torn apart from the beasts, Josh chucked the sphere at the pack of wolves before it detonated. The sphere lit the area in white, leaving a deep hole in the street with many wolves being turned to ash. The rest of the pack was knocked back and left in a daze. The explosion knocked Caleb off his feet, but he scrambled up and stood beside Josh.
“We need to get going before more of those things come to investigate,” Josh remarked.
To Caleb’s surprise, the duo arrived at Josh’s house in a blink. They traveled only a few minutes before arriving on the front lawn. “Have you always lived this close to work?” Caleb asked. He stopped and looked around the home. It was about two stories and relatively large. The land around it was larger than one would generally get within the city, and it was next to the canal.
“Dude, are you rich?” Caleb asked, dumbfounded.
“Stop being stupid and follow me,” Josh ordered. As they entered, they descended into the basement, where Caleb was greeted with a large wall of complex machinery. On the right wall, small metal balls littered the workbench. On the left, a shadow board with a multitude of tools. However, these were minor compared to the item in the center of the room.
“Is that an energy rifle?!” Caleb exclaimed. Josh removed the rifle from the container and shoved it into Caleb's hands.
“Yes, it is, and you're going to need it to stay safe,” Josh answered. “It is precharged and will take some of your energy to fire. I know you have good energy control, so you should be fine.”
“I can’t just take this! What about you, and why are you so calm!” Caleb stammered.
Josh looked at him and whispered, “Bunker here as long as you can and try not to die.” And with that, Josh ran back upstairs without a second glance. Before Caleb could react, he heard a cacophony of whirring and shifting gears. And then there was silence. Caleb took a deep breath and sat down, trying to plan out his next moves. As he was planning a way to get to a better shelter within the city, he heard a crash from above. The sound of multiple feet hitting the floorboards echoed throughout the house.
Caleb’s following actions were not very planned. He slowly crept up the stairs to determine what had infiltrated the house. Cracking the door open, he saw a wolf in the kitchen, slowly sniffing the ground and making its way around the house.
‘Shit, they must’ve followed our scent here,’ Caleb mentally cursed. He slowly opened the door to attempt to sneak out. However, as the door opened more, the wolf snapped its neck in his direction and growled with bloodlust. It pounced, ready to break the door and tear him apart, but before it hit the door, he fired the rifle into its face. The wolf slammed into the door, leaving a lifeless body. As Caleb breathed a sigh of relief, he heard running coming from other areas of the house, realizing he’d be cornered in seconds. Running out the door into the front lawn, he fired a shot at one of the wolves. The energy punched through its side but didn’t kill it. The others were right behind it, running full speed towards him. He ran to the side of the house, trying to think of an escape plan. As the wolves came out of the house, Caleb saw the canal and had an idea. He ran straight towards the canal and dove in, getting dragged by the current. The flow was stronger than anticipated, and he lost control as it swept him away. He collided against a wall, losing his grip on the rifle. The corners of his eyes began darkening, and his mind clouded over. The last sight he saw was the sky covered in a smoky haze.