It shouldn't take long now, how are you holding up, kid?"

" I'm fine, however, Isn't it strange how the towns are being swarmed but the roads are empty, even if we assume they don't spawn in the open due to sunlight, the dense treeline should've provided enough shade."

" Can't say that I know much about their behavior, the only thing I can think of is that they occur in population-dense areas. Though there isn't much population there now."

Ralph wasn't driving so he had time to think and observe his surroundings, the doubts he used to keep to himself he could now discuss with Ben.

' The areas used to be dense with population.'

"Just a thought, have you ever considered that someone put them there?"

" I don't know. The possibility of that being true scares me."

Ralph couldn't see Ben's expression from the backseat.

"I was watching the news that day. When the anchor disappeared I thought that it must have been an issue with the broadcasting. That's when I started hearing crashes all over the place. It was horrific, some cars slammed through houses, others collided with each other."

With that, Ben went back to driving, no other words were exchanged for a long while before it was time for Ralph to take over the driving seat.

Ben slowed the car down and exchanged seats with Ralph.

They took breaks in between, during those times Ben checked to see if the engine and the tires were still fine.

They kept going like this for two days.

[Restricted Area ahead __ only personnel allowed]

" Not too far now"

It took another half an hour before Ben stopped the car in front of a fortified wall that had fencing on top of it.

" Should I try calling some old friends?"

Been grinned at his joke as he took out a satellite phone from his backpack, he had kept his bag with himself all this time, Ralph didn't know what else he was carrying but he didn't want to pry so he kept his questions to himself.

Ben lost his initial excitement as he tried one number after another, but none of his calls went through. His face fell as he stopped.

" We won't be able to get in if someone doesn't open the door for us from the inside. It appears most of the people I knew are no longer around."

None of them talked for a while.

Thinking that the silence was getting awkward Ralph decided to break the tension. "We can always try other places. Maybe there won't be any monsters on islands."

'Ah crap, I'm not good at these things, Sherman would surely have some age-old wisdom for a moment like this. This is stupid, why am I even trying to motivate him, he has seen a lot more than me, I should probably give him a moment to himself.'

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His monologue was cut off when the phone rang.

This captured both of their attention, Ben didn't take a second and picked up the call.

There was silence on the other side, then a a few words came with a rough voice.

" Is it really you, Major?"

" Jeremy, didn't I tell you to stop drinking, you still haven't learned a thing, have you?"

Muffled noises of sobs came through the phone.

Ben didn't say anything, he understood that Jeremy had been keeping it together for a long while, and he needed some time to get himself together.

When he stopped crying Ben decided to lighten his spirits.

" Will you keep crying or will come out and open the doors for me?"

" Are you outside the base, sir? Wait a minute, I'll be there right away!"

All they heard after that were hurried footsteps.

True to his word Jeremy arrived within a minute, he ran all the way to the gate and opened the door from the outpost near the door.

The doors gave way as the joints of the door slid over each other.

He had an expression of joy as he looked at Ben.

" What about others?" Ben had a grave expression, it was time to face the truth, how many could have survived the incident? After all, entire towns had been wiped clean.

" Only three of us, including me. All of us left to check on our family members. I didn't have to wait long to realize that I didn't have a family anymore."

Jeremy took a deep breath and continued.

" My home was empty, locked from the inside, I broke into my own home after no one answered. When I had seen enough I got back here, even ran into some hideous creatures in my way. Sometimes I wonder whether the two of them became food to these things or if they found their families."

" Another thing of importance happened a while ago. I received a recorded message from the government, or what's left of it. It informed me that most of the infrastructure had already been lost to monsters and the remaining survivors were too far spread to organize. They also fear the monsters' attack on large gatherings. This wasn't a localized event, most of the human population is as I feared. "

" They hope that any remaining soldiers will try to help the survivors they come across. The message ended with this request."

The air became heavier with the new information, even though all of them knew that they chances of their loved ones having gone to some safe haven were slim, they hadn't actually seen their loved ones disappear in front of them and still harbored hope of reunion even as they reaffirmed that it was a mere delusion everyday.