"I should've expected this much," Jay muttered, eyes narrowing at the massive trees lining what used to be the campus park.
They weren't the common birch or lime. These monsters stood three stories tall, their trunks so wide it'd take five grown men linking arms to encircle one. The air beneath them felt cool and refreshing. Not a trace of city smog remained.
But it wasn't the trees that made his stomach twist.
It was the sky.
Above, the once-familiar blue expanse had been replaced by a surreal silver-blue sky. Floating high above, a white-blue sun blazed down. It was massive. Three times the size of the old sun, and judging by its color, far hotter.
As if that wasn't enough, two moons hung near the sun. One was the familiar, smaller moon he remembered. The other was blue, foreign, and much larger.
Jay stood frozen for a moment, overwhelmed.
"This isn't normal," he whispered, covering his eyes with his hands and once again peeking at the alien sky.
He expected heat, radiation, maybe a crushing pull from increased gravity. But everything felt… fine. The breeze was light, the air invigorating.
He inhaled slowly.
"Either I'm tripping, or the system did something to help us adapt to the new world's conditions."
But even then, it didn't explain everything. The buildings, the clothes on his back, the functioning electronics… they were still fine.
"Or maybe the changes aren't as extreme as they look. Or maybe…" He paused. "I'm in a book. One where the writer is terrible at worldbuilding."
"Hey... do you think we're still on Terra?" Alex asked, finally voicing a far more fundamental question.
Affiliation: Terra (Ω2 Realm)
"I remember the System mentioning that." He pointed at the line on the interface. "We're probably in the same world, just... not our version of it."
"Yeah," Lexie said quietly, her eyes fixed on the strange horizon. "This isn't the Terra we knew."
As Jay's eyes drifted to the twin moons, he felt a weird feeling bubbling inside himself. It was a strange sensation of closeness. Like something inside him was pulling him to them.
"You are grinning," Lexie noted with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, this is interesting." Before, he had been focused solely on surviving. However, he now realized that this world had much more to offer. More than he could ever imagine. And for the first time in a while, he felt excited.
Lexie twirled her knives. "Hehe, let's see what this new world has got.
"Yeah. Let's go." Jay tightened his hands around his axe, took a deep breath, and walked out.
The situation might've changed, but it was never going to be easy. From the start, they'd known nothing about this journey would be simple.
The parking lot opened into a quiet back area. There were no zombies in sight for now.
Still, they didn't let their guard down. Careful, they left the parking lot and quickly walked to the edge of the park, now turned forest.
"It's pretty lively," Alex commented as they moved along the edge of the park, using the cover of the trees to survey the situation around the gymnasium.
Unlike the relative calm on their side, the front of the arena was swarming with undead. Hundreds, maybe more, gathered in front of the entrance, pacing aimlessly.
Scattered among them were countless corpses. Mangled. Half-eaten. Their faces frozen in twisted masks of eternal despair.
Some zombies crouched low, still feasting hungrily on the remains of those who hadn't managed to escape.
"This is messed up," Lexie muttered, covering her mouth.
"We have really fallen low," Jay said, jaws clenched tight.
"We keep the same route?" Alex asked as he looked at the horde of zombies in front before warily glancing at the forest that stood behind them. God knew what was waiting in there, and honestly, he wasn't too eager to find out.
"A detour will be too long," Jay sighed, turning to scan the forest again.
The plan was simple: cut through the park to reach Aubrey Plaza, then head to the Williams-Gardenia Library from there. On paper, it was a good route, shorter and with less undead.
But now that the park had turned into a full-blown forest, he wasn't sure anymore.
"This could be a bad idea," Alex commented. "There are too many unknowns in there. At least out here, worst-case scenario, we deal with one or two zombies at a time."
"Or a Fehl," Jay countered flatly.
The park wasn't the safe path they had hoped for, but the alternative wasn't promising either. Both options looked equally bad.
Now the problem was whether to choose the devil they knew or the demon in the dark.
"And honestly, the trees just got bigger," he added firmly. "That doesn't mean they're hiding monsters." He was willing to bet on the chance that nothing outrageous was inside the forest.
"I hope you're right," Lexie said, eyes still fixed on the woods. It wasn't exactly inviting. But as Jay said, there was no telling whether the forest was truly more dangerous than the open streets.
"We really need more intel," Alex muttered. "Blind-guessing everything is getting tiring."
"I agree. But it should be fine with the three of us."
Then, after a final look at the arena, he stepped inside the forest, Lexie and Alex following close behind.
Cautiously, they moved forward, hands clenched around their weapons and eyes tight on their surroundings, ready to react at a moment's notice.
The forest was eerily silent. After getting used to the constant groans and shuffling of zombies, the quiet felt worse and unsettling.
Every patch of darkness seemed to hide something waiting to strike. Every sway of a branch or shift in the undergrowth made their hearts lurch.
Still, they continued to advance, fast but quiet.
After about five minutes, they were more than halfway through. If things continued going well, they'd reach the other side in just a few more minutes.
But, as it often goes in these situations, something went wrong.
"Something's spying on us," Lexie muttered, casting a quick glance around their surroundings.
Her heightened perception made her more sensible to subtle shifts in the environment. Things she would've missed before now stood out with more clarity.
About a minute ago, she noticed a gaze lingering on them. At first, she brushed it off, thinking it was her imagination. But as they went deeper into the forest, the sensation only grew stronger. The gaze was more persistent and blatant. Tracking their every move.
At Lexie's words, Jay's brows furrowed as he focused.
Then he felt it too.
Whatever was out there wasn't even trying that hard to stay hidden. It was watching them, waiting for the right moment. Calculating and patient.
'This is trouble,' Jay thought grimly.
If it hadn't retreated after seeing a group of three well-armed people, that said a lot. Animals weren't fools; they didn't charge into situations that didn't benefit them. Which also meant this thing wasn't mindless. If it had been, it would've attacked on sight.
Without stopping, Jay gave a subtle signal to Lexie and Alex. Lexie gave a nod in return, and Alex tensed slightly. None of them said a word. They continued walking as if nothing was wrong, but their hands closed tighter around their weapons.
Meanwhile, their stalker, unaware it had been discovered, continued its silent pursuit. Occasional rustles among the branches helped the trio track its position, but that was all they had.
It was hiding in the trees.
And for now, they could only let it hold the initiative.
Even as they neared the forest's edge, the creature didn't act. It just followed, lingering like a shadow.