Vince had a weird nightmare.

The world was slowly crumbling before his eyes. His home blew up, the city he called home burned to the ground, and people killed each other for just a mere piece of food. He watched his loved ones die one by one as he lived with crippling desperation, knowing one day it would be his turn, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

But when the nightmare ended, instead of feeling freaked out or scared, he felt relieved.

Because the nightmare was truly over.

When he woke up, everything would be the same as it had been. His mother would make some delicious breakfast before he went to school. His pops would look at him with that annoying, peaceful expression. His sis would ignore him or curse him like a piece of trash.

He would hang out with his buddies again. Play some games, talk about girls, think of a way to pass the exams and such.

Everything would return to how it used to be.

Soon, Vince's consciousness started to wake up.

But something felt wrong. Very wrong.

When Vince opened his eyes, he was floating in the sea instead of being inside his sweet blanket. He was looking at the sea's bottom, softly illuminated by dying sunlight.

Vince panicked, questioning what the heck was happening but he couldn’t do anything as his body wasn’t responsive. Desperation appeared in his eyes as he slowly sank.

Am I still in a nightmare? That must be it. There is no other explanation. Right? Right?!

Vince tried to persuade himself of the situation's absurdity desperately, but soon he understood it wasn’t a dream as feeling slowly returned to his body.

First, he felt the bonechill sensation of water making his skin. His body was shivering to heat itself, but no hope. Vince managed to move a few of his fingers and then a little bit of his limbs. As the seconds passed, he gained more control over his body. Then, lastly, he gained control of his lungs, and his already panicking mind went into hyper mode as he understood there was no oxygen in his lungs.

Years of swimming exercises became nothing as Vince clawed the water and tried to lift himself. His lungs attempted to inhale the water, but Vince fought to hold back the urge.

Even in his desperation, he knew that if he inhaled the water it was game over for him.

No matter how he struggled, the surface was getting farther and farther as he slowly sank to the bottom. When he felt the whole world was blacking out, he felt a yank to his collar.

“I got him! Row! Row before In-Between took us,” Vince heard a distant voice as his consciousness slowly faded.

Then something hit his chest, then again and again. Vince didn’t understand what was happening as he felt a sudden urge. He opened his eyes and puked in the face of the man who was giving him artificial respiration.

“Goddammit.” The man cursed in annoyance as he wiped puke to his collar.

“Hah. Suits you well, Vic.” A man who was rowing snickered between his breaths.

The man, Vic, turned toward the rower and smacked his head, “Instead of mocking others, pull faster, dimwit. Do you want us to get trapped In-Between?!”

The man grimaced in pain but didn’t reply. He knew Vic was right.

While others were arguing, Vince greedily took deep breaths as he embraced life again. The shivering mess of his body slowly settled down and let him ease. When he was good enough to lift his head, Vince looked around and was confused by the picture he saw.

Vince was inside a big longship like the ones he saw in Viking movies, riding through pitch-black water. Around him, people were wearing primordial clothes that looked more like beggar rags than actual clothes, desperately pulling rows. A man had his back to Vince, yelling at people, and pointed to the shore on the horizon.

But what confused and scared Vince was his surroundings. He saw many other big longships like the one he was currently riding. He was in a longship fleet, it seemed. People formed a line of longships on the outer edges and fought against creatures between a crow and stroke. Vince couldn’t see the details of the beast, but he perceived its dark feathers, wickedly long black beak, and long legs that it used to attack the people.

When Vince turned back, he froze in wonder. On the west was a solar eclipse that was slowly setting. Vince felt that the eclipse was summoning him to itself and became one with it. Subconsciously, Vince took a couple of steps to the eclipse and was about to fall off the longship; someone grabbed him and slapped him in the face.

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“Do not ever try to do that again,” The man who smacked him grabbed Vince's face and looked into his eyes.

Vince hastily nodded as he looked at the man's dark brown eyes. When the man saw he was himself again, he sighed in relief and said seriously.

“Listen. I know you are confused but everything, I mean everything, needs to wait until we go ashore. Did you understand?” The man pointed at the shore.

Vince quickly glanced at the man before him. The man before him was a middle-aged man with wild black-white hair and stern dark brown eyes. His face was handsome once upon a time, but it was buried with deep wrinkles that fostered with each passing deadly moment. He was wearing a rag like others, but also, unlike others, he carried a thing like binoculars. Vince threw a look at the man's body and was astonished by strong build and the scars adored his skin.

After a moment, Vince nodded, and the man continued, “Good. I am Victor, the pathfinder of this ship. As the sole pathfinder, it’s my duty to make the calls as much as it is a pain in the ass. You are an Extinct we rescued just now. As the customs of Twilight Shores, you are under my responsibility.”

Vince frowned in confusion as he was as confused as he could be and bombarded the man with questions, “What? Twilight Shores? Extinct? What are you talking about was just sleeping in my b–”

Vic roared, “Silence!”

Vince felt words stuck in his throat.

Vic took a couple of steps and stood before Vince.

He then said with a vicious expression while pressing a finger on Vince’s chest, “I said keep questions until we are ashore, and from what I mean about responsibility, it is my call to decide if you will live or die. Did. You. Understand.”

Vince felt a hole drilled on his chest and slowly nodded. He was a little intimidated, but it was it.

Right now, it was best to follow the flow. And he somehow understood they were in danger from the rushed expression of rowers, as much as he didn’t understand why.

“Good. Now look at your left forearm and say how many days you have left.” Vic took a deep breath and eased his features.

Feeling confused again, Vince didn’t ask questions this time. Instead, he looked at his left forearm and saw a shining blue tattoo that looked more like a hologram than an actual tattoo.

[2 months 29 days 23 hours.]

Seeing Vince focused, Vic explained as he looked at the drawing near shore, “Right now, the only thing you need to know is that the time on your forearm is your lifespan, and only you can see it. Every Extinct arrives with a lifespan of three months. I am explaining this because I don’t want you to quack around when you see a shining tattoo on your forearm. Am I right?”

Vince touched his forearm in curiosity and only felt his still-damp skin. The hologram tattoo wasn’t graspable to his senses other than his eyes.

“You are right,” Vince confirmed Vic’s information after he was done.

“Good. Now, sit in the middle and keep your head down. Do not disturb others. And when I say something, heed to it.”

After saying his words, Vic went to the head of the longship and watched the black water. Vince found himself a free spot and sat down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking about his situation.

He woke up in the middle of a black sea, rescued by a fleet that was filled with people wearing rags and now traveling through the sea beneath the ominous solar eclipse.

This is too weird. Something is wrong with me.

Usually, Vince would be panicking all over the place, screaming, and emotions unstable because of the sudden shift of reality, but instead, he was so calm that he questioned his insanity.

Why was he taking all of this so calmly?

Vince rubbed his forehead as he tried to remember the last thing he was doing, but when he was focused on his memory, he subconsciously shifted to the nightmare, not his actual memories. His mind was pointing out answers lying there, but it was too illogical.

Was Earth destroyed like in the nightmare?

No fucking way.

Everything was so peaceful, monotonous, and oppressive.

How the heck everything was gone in two years?!

There was no way.

But what if it was true? Earth…

Taking a deep breath, pushed that line of thought into a corner and glanced at Vic’s back. Maybe he had an answer about his situation. He could only wait for now.

“Shit! A Doom Bringer!”

Vince looked at the source of the voice.

A rower in a nearby longship screamed as much as he could and pointed at the north where the line held back monsters.

Vince looked at a black giant fin making its way to the fleet.

Vic lost all skin color and desperately yelled to his crew, “Brace for the impact!”

He then ditched to the floor and held his head between his arms as other crew members were doing the same in terror.

Vince didn’t understand much as he absent-mindedly looked at the giant fin. Soon after, when it was just hundreds of dozens of meters away from the fleet, it started to sink and disappear.

“What are you doing?! Quickly take position!” Vic yelled at the idiot who was standing still.

Vince broke out of his gaze and cursed his stupidity. He took the fetal position and waited for whatever came next. He didn’t wait long as the pitch-black sea started to shake like an earthquake happening, and then something blew up in the water. When Vince looked to the north, where the giant fin was located, he felt like his soul left his body in terror.

A titanic hideous megalodon jumped out of the water and grabbed a couple of longships in its mouth. Its skin was rotten and filled with holes, some parts of its muscles and bones visible to sight. When it reached full high, it turned to the middle of the fleet and opened its wicked maw to swallow. Its pale white dead eyes were ominously looking at the people beneath him. Vince watched in terror as the megalodon made its impact, and a sudden tsunami swallowed the longship he was standing on.

The next thing he remembered was darkness.