Ben followed the group through the passageway. They walked past a few intersections and took a few turns before they arrived at a downward slope.

‘’Right here,’’ John whispered.

John walked down the slope with the group in tow. Ben almost slipped when he noticed how wet the slope was. Water was trickling down. It looked like the area they were walking in was part of some drainage system. Probably for the rain. And the architect took the liberty to use this feature to create a hidden system of passages people could actually fit through.

The further down they went the tighter the passage became. At the end of the slope, they had to duck to keep going. Ben saw an opening at the end. John went through the opening and arrived at the basement.

‘’Careful,’’ John said as he helped Kara get Nathan down safely.

Once Rolo walked into the opening he heard something fall down and a squelch. Rolo slipped and fell through the opening, barely missing Kara. He seemed alright, though.

‘’You, okay?’’ Kara said as she gave Rolo a hand.

Rolo took her hand. ‘’Even an apocalypse can’t seem to cure my clumsiness.’’

Ben soon followed and took a look at the basement. It was quite a big basement, with a low ceiling. Only Kara could comfortably stand up, the others all had to bend their knees a little. On the right, stairs were going to what was probably the normal entrance. And on the left there was what looked like an alleyway with an extra room next to it. Probably the storage area.

The board must have prepared extensively for a lot of children this year because the basement was packed with bags and boxes of all kinds of foods and types of equipment. The equipment consisted of baseball bats, ropes, and soccer balls for the games they would play. It’s a shame the preparation has now gone to waste.

John walked into the alleyway. ‘’This is it,’’ John said as he pointed at a door at the other side of the alleyway.

The door was locked with an enormous lock. Looking at the rust on it, the lock must have been there for a long time. He figured they could just smash the lock, but that would probably alert the wolves. That’s the last thing they wanted. It’s better if they found the key.

‘’If we go through here, we’ll get out and arrive at the forest. Give me a second, I’ll find the key. Kara, can you make sure the door on top of the stairs is locked?’’ John said as he walked to the storage room next to the alley.

Kara left Nathan to rest against the wall at the start of the alleyway and walked up the stairs. It apparently wasn’t locked, because a metal clacking could be heard as Kara locked the door. Luckily the door had a locking mechanism from the inside.

Afterward, Kara started nervously walking around the basement, biting her fingernails. She must have been stressed out. Surprisingly, Ben felt kind of relieved seeing her like this. Throughout the fights, it was Kara that always showed up when it mattered. Hitting crucial arrow after arrow. It almost looked like everything that happened didn’t faze her that much. Like, she was a robot who always knew what to do. But it definitely fazed her.

Taking this moment to rest, Ben sat down next to Nathan with a banana he fetched from the supplies.

‘’Want one?’’ Ben asked the others.

Everyone just shook their head. ‘Their loss’ Ben thought. If there were any enemies beyond that door, they had to be ready. And he was hungry. He had to take any moment of rest he could. He took a bite of his banana and looked at Kara pacing back and forth in the room when they were interrupted.

‘’Is someone there? I need help, I’m hurt.’’ a male voice whispered from behind the locked door on top of the stairs. The voice sounded very musky but had a very weird tone to it. A lot of breath was in the voice with a slight pierce. He recognized the voice to be from Tom, the guy that was in a hurry to see the team-allocation during John's speech. However, something was off about it. It wasn’t quite like anything he had heard before.

‘’Tom, is that you? Come, come here. It’s safe down here.’’ Kara said as she hurriedly walked up the stairs. ‘’Are there any others with you? We have an escape route.’’ Kara said as she unlocked the door.

‘’Kara, no!’’ John shouted as the unlocked door swung open revealing a wolf pouncing on Kara.

Kara tried to grab her bow and arrow, but the wolf was already in front of her. The wolf swiped at her shoulder, pushing her off the stairs. Kara tumbled down the stairs and dropped her bow and arrow. She was left bleeding and unmoving at the bottom of the stairs.

The wolf was about to descend when John arrived with his glowing sword in hand. The big wolf recognized that sword, and clearly had second thoughts about jumping straight in.

‘What just happened?’ Ben thought. ‘We heard Tom’s voice and then a wolf attacks?!’ Ben’s thoughts were all over the place, but there was no time to think.

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‘’Get Kara,’’ John shouted as Ben rushed over. Together with Rolo they grabbed Kara and dragged her away from the stairs toward the alleyway.

Kara was a mess. She was bleeding from four wounds covering her shoulder and arm, but it looked like the wolf also left her with some broken bones. The wolf hit her hard. From the way she fell down the stairs, she must have broken at least a few bones at the lightest. Hopefully, her internal organs aren't hurt. ‘I hope she put some stats in vitality’ Ben thought. Fortunately, she was still alive.

More wolves started gathering on top of the stairs as John slowly backed off with one of his arms still limping from the last fight. The wolves slowly followed, still wary of the glowing sword in John’s hand. They had to leave, right now!

After dropping Kara next to Nathan, Ben walked up to the rusty lock and tried to hit it with his halberd. He fumbled and missed the lock twice after which he hinged the tip of his halberd in between the lock. Like a burglar would do with a crowbar to break into a house. He just had to put his weight onto the handle of the halberd to break the lock.

CLANG

This sound of the broken lock marked the starting sign as the wolves flinched and immediately dove onto John. John cut the first wolf down, but unlike the last time, the wolves didn’t stop rushing him. More and more wolves started rushing into the basement to attack John. The second wolf was down when the third wolf bit in John’s shoulder.

John stabbed the wolf in the throat as he pushed the wolf away. Luckily the wolf bit John in the shoulder with his limp arm. At least his functional arm was still good. Ben’s thoughts were swept away when the next wolf rushed and took a bite in his other shoulder. John managed to finish that wolf off, right before his wounds got the better of him and he dropped his sword.

‘This is it huh,’ is what John must have thought when a halberd charged from behind him and hit the next charging wolf in the face. Notifications popped up, probably mentioning that he killed a wolf, but Ben didn’t have the time to take a look. A shield came rushing and pushed the dead wolf’s body back into its brothers'. The stacked dead wolves were now momentarily blocking the wolves’ stampede.

Ben pulled on John’s arm after which John ran to the escape door with Ben and Rolo in tow. Nathan was already trying to open the door when the others arrived. Rolo hurriedly picked Kara up, as Ben kept his eyes on the wolves with his halberd raised.

‘’Hurry!’’ Ben shouted as the wolves had gotten past their obstacle and charged them again.

Realizing the door was their escape, a wolf charged straight into the group, resulting in the door closing again. ‘Stupid inward opening doors’ Ben thought. Ben swung his halberd at the wolf, but only managed to make a shallow cut. The wolf was already too close for the halberd to be effective. The wolf dazedly fell back, with the body slam confusing it momentarily.

The group was disoriented and couldn’t open the door immediately again. If they tried opening the door again, the same thing would happen. With no other option, the group retreated into the storage room next to the escape door.

Rolo put Kara down at the end of the storage room as John and Nathan both limped in as fast as they could. ‘Fuck! We’re stuck’ Ben thought. Looking around the storage room, there was no escape for them anymore. The cramped room was perhaps about 50 square feet with over half of that space occupied by random items.

The wolves also seemed to realize they could not escape anymore as the pack slowly gathered in front of the storage room, just looking at their prey.

Ben looked behind his back and saw John look into the distance with a grim smile on his face. John must have swiped a notification away as he looked back at the wolves.

Rolo and Ben took the same stance as they did back at John’s office. Ben looked at Rolo taking a stance with his shield in front of him. He was shaking. Ben lifted his hand up to comfort him when he noticed his own hand was shaking uncontrollably as well. He put his hand back on the halberd and steadied himself. There was no time for any useless thoughts right now.

He knew it was futile. They would die here, today. Kara was unconscious. Nathan and John were both wounded. And they were cornered by probably over a dozen wolves, with probably more on the way. With no escape left, the only choice they had left was to fight until they died.

At this moment, suddenly Ben felt regret. Why did he have to die today? Couldn’t he have survived a little longer? He hadn’t accomplished anything in his life so far. He never truly excelled in anything. Sure, he went to school and finished college, but he’d always done that halfheartedly. He’d never found anything in his life he was willing to sacrifice everything for. His sweat, his blood, even his soul.

Sure, he’d do for his family. But what about everything else? Something that truly belonged to him. That was truly a part of him. ‘Guess I’ll never find it, huh.’ Ben thought.

Ben smiled. Right now this whole situation just felt ridiculous to him. He’d die in an apocalypse, dying a useless death. Not knowing what he had died for. Did he die just so the wolves could have an extra meal? Or did he die for some greater goal? Was there any meaning to his death? If he survived somehow, he promised himself he would find out.

Ben’s thoughts were interrupted when John put his bloodied hand on his shoulder. Ben looked back at John who was smiling. Just like he did when Ben first saw him give his speech on the stage.

‘’Let me past, Benjamin.’’ John said.

Ben was about to call him crazy when he looked into John’s eyes. They were clear. Like he knew something. Like he knew what he was doing and that we could depend on him. It gave him a comforting, but also terrifying feeling at the same time. He felt his body almost moving on its own as John walked past him. The same thing happened to Rolo.

‘’Nathan, tell Kara when she wakes up she shouldn’t take too much time worrying about everything, alright? Life’s too beautiful to worry about every little thing. And take care of your sister, okay? I’m proud I was your father, I love you guys.’’

Nathan just stared back at him, horrified. Why was he saying all this?

‘’Rolo, with all the talks we’ve had I was worried about you, but seeing you today. I’m not worried anymore. You’re a kind gentleman, Rolo. Don’t forget that.’’

‘What…’ Ben’s thought was interrupted when John started glowing. He suddenly emitted a light-blue aura which was getting stronger and stronger. Somehow, John’s aura reminded Ben of the glowing white surface in the place he got his halberd.

‘’Benjamin, say thank you to your mom for me when you meet her. She’ll surely survive, she’s a strong woman. And tell her I think you’re a brave, young man.’’

The wolves started getting worried as their vision got more and more restricted by John’s increasingly bright aura.

John’s fingers touched his own forehead before he moved them to his diaphragm. His hand went to his left shoulder and he then finished the cross sign by touching his right shoulder.

‘’May God have mercy on my soul. Amen.’’ John said as he leaped into the pack of wolves.