"Ella,"
Thino whispered, his voice low but steady as they crouched near the door,
"is there anywhere else you want to check before we head out?"
Ella paused, her brows furrowing in thought. For a moment, the only sound was the faint hum of silence pressing in on them. Then she turned to him with calm resolve in her eyes.
"Not really. But I think we should stop by the storage room—we're going to need a survival kit."
Thino blinked.
"The storage room? I thought that place only had brooms, mops, and dustpans."
She smirked, the corner of her lips lifting as she gave a playful wave of her finger.
"That's just what you think."
He found himself staring at her for a second longer than necessary before shaking it off.
"Alright then, lead the way. I have no idea which storage room you're even talking about."
"Don't worry. There are eight storage rooms in this building. We'll have options."
"Let's go to the nearest one,"
Thino decided quickly, inching forward and carefully peeking through a crack in the door. His heart thudded softly in his chest as he scanned the corridor for any sign of movement—any twitch or flicker that might belong to one of those things.
"How's it looking?" Ella whispered from beside him, her voice barely audible.
Thino gave a slow nod, then turned his head slightly. "Clear for now. But before we move, you'll need to—"
Thud!
His sentence broke off in a rush of instinct and without thinking, Thino grabbed Ella shoulder and shoved her aside, hard—just in time. A distorted figure lunged from behind them, reaching out with gnarled fingers, but missed.
They froze.
Neither of them dared to breathe as the creature staggered forward. Its face was ruined—mangled and torn beyond recognition. Where eyes should have been, only sunken hollows remained. It couldn't see them.
But that didn't stop the terror crawling up their spines.
They stared in disbelief. That thing—whatever was left of it—it was familiar.
A single thought screamed through both their minds, louder than any words they could speak:
He's still alive!?
The creature continued moving forward, its mangled face twitching, unaware of the two figures hiding just inches from where it passed. It didn't pause, didn't sniff the air—it simply wandered aimlessly, scanning the space with a strange, broken instinct until it eventually exited the hallway.
Ella finally released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Her chest rose and fell sharply, as if she hadn't drawn air since the moment it appeared.
"W-Why is he still alive?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"I... I don't know," Thino replied, just as shaken. That thing's face had been destroyed—there was no way it should still be moving.
"It's rare. I thought creatures like that died when they were hit in the face or head... like the ones in horror movies and books."
She was talking about Wosker—the creature she had personally bludgeoned not long ago, just to make sure it wouldn't move again. Thino had thought the same. They had both assumed it was dead.
"I thought so too," he murmured. "But I guess we were wrong. We seriously need to leave this place."
His eyes remained forward, scanning the corridor—but their moment of silence was short-lived.
Crash!
A loud clatter rang out from behind of their position.
Thino's body tensed as he turned sharply toward the sound. And there it was the other creature, scrambling back into the room through the very window it had been forced out of earlier. It twitched erratically, limbs moving as if driven by nothing but raw nerve.
"A-about what I said earlier, Ella... once we step outside this room, I want you to run. Run as hard as you can."
"E-even if the best I've ever done in P.E. was a D grade?" she tried to joke, despite the panic creeping into her chest.
"Yeah."
"But... why?"
She glanced at him in disbelief. Thino didn't respond. He just raised his hand and signaled her to step back. She obeyed, swallowing hard.
"You'll understand later. Right now—west or east? Where are we going?"
"W-west," Ella stammered. "Wosker came from the east earlier."
Thino nodded slowly, eyes narrowing. The creature ahead seemed confused, groping at the ground, mouth half-open.
And then it groaned.
"Iieerrgkk..."
The sound it made was enough to churn their insides—wet, guttural, and close. Thino and Ella fought the rising nausea, forcing themselves to stay sharp. This wasn't Wosker—this one could still see. Still smell. And it was hunting.
They both knew—this was only the beginning.
"All right. On the count of thre—"
"Arrghhh... grrahhh...!"
A low, guttural roar tore through the air, cutting him off. The creature jerked its head toward them. Somehow, despite its twisted anatomy and limp neck, it was now looking directly at them. Its head dangled grotesquely to the side, but its bloodshot eyes glowed faintly—red, alert, and hungry.
"Run."
"W-What?"
"Forget the signal—just run!"
Even though confusion clouded her mind, Ella didn't hesitate. She burst out of the room, her footsteps echoing sharply against the cold floor as she sprinted down the dim hallway.
"Th-Thino… you better right behind me," she whispered to herself between ragged breaths. Her legs already burned with exhaustion, but she forced them to keep moving.
"Ella, run faster!" Thino's voice rang from somewhere behind her—quiet, but edged with urgency.
Relief surged through her. He was still there.
But despite his warning, Ella couldn't bring herself to push harder.
"I can't," she muttered. "This is really all I've got…"
"You must!"
"Why!? It's not like it's gonna catch up to us—what the!?" Her words choked off as she looked over her shoulder.
What she saw made her blood run cold.
A monster was barreling after them like a champion sprinter. Even with its twisted limbs and bloodied form, it moved like it had no limits, no pain.
"Aaaacckkk!!"
"What is wrong with that thing?! It's injured, but it's faster than any top athlete in school!"
"That's because it's craving to eat us!"
"Well, I don't want to be dinner!"
Ella's shriek echoed through the building—and that was all it took.
The once-still hallways erupted with distant howls. Creatures stirred. The shadows came alive.
"W-What's happening now?!"
"Oh well, you just called them."
"WHAT!?"
"Looks like their hearing's pretty sharp."
"Seriously!? And you didn't tell me that earlier!?"
"I just figured it out from watching."
"So... you don't actually know them!?"
"Kinda?"
Ella groaned, face twisting in disbelief. There was no time for arguing. She turned forward again and kept running, eyes locked on the hallway stretching ahead toward the storage room.
Thino, meanwhile, kept scanning the walls and corners for anything that could be used as a weapon.
There's got to be a weak spot... I know these monsters exist, I just can't remember where to strike. Damn it, I can't even remember their names. There has to be something—some way to jog my memory!
But no matter how hard he tried to think, his mind refused to cooperate.
CRACK!
Ella screamed as a glass panel shattered nearby.
The sound snapped Thino back to the present. Without a second thought, he spun toward the wall and grabbed a fire extinguisher bolted near him.
"Ella, duck!"
She dropped low just in time. Thino swung with full force, smashing the extinguisher across the creature's face. It reeled back, stumbling into another monster that had gotten too close. Both lost their balance.
"Let's go. We don't have time to stay here," Thino said, tapping Ella's trembling shoulder.
Still shaking, Ella could only nod and run.
"They didn't have to scare us like that!"
she hissed under her breath as they raced on.
"I mean, if they just came at us properly, I could handle that. But jumping out of nowhere? That's rude!"
Thino allowed himself a faint smile. He'd rather hear her rant than see her frozen in fear.
"Well, it can't be helped. They're not exactly aware of what they're doing anymore."
"Y-Yeah… you're right. But I think more are coming."
"I know."
He felt it too—deep, resonating thuds in the floor beneath them. Heavy footsteps closing in.
"You do have a plan, right?"
Ella asked breathlessly.
"Anything to keep them from cutting us off?"
"I think I do."
"What is it?" she asked, looking back at him.
Thino only grinned.
"Just run."
Ella didn't bother arguing this time. That answer was useless—but she could sense he was thinking beyond what he said.
In truth, Thino was. He needed to create distance—at least three meters between them and the creatures. That would give him enough time to execute what little plan he had in mind. It wasn't guaranteed to work, but it was all they had.
And then, their luck turned.
They skidded to a stop.
A wall of monsters now stood in front of them, blocking the hallway.
"Th-Thino… they blocked the way to the storage room," Ella whispered, horrified.
"Then we change the route," Thino said, eyes scanning for another path.
They stood sandwiched in a trap. Behind them, the creatures they'd been outrunning were still coming. And now—more ahead.
"There's another way," Ella pointed. "Down there. The stairs—but... we'd have to go past them."
"We'll do it,"
"W-What?! But—"
"There are more behind us, Ella. You want to go back?"
She shook her head quickly.
Thino smiled, calm despite the chaos. He unlocked the safety pin on the extinguisher.
"Don't worry. I've got a plan."
"Let me guess... we run?"
"Exactly."
Ella gave a strained laugh. "Then it's now or never."
Without hesitation, she dashed forward.
Thino watched her for a second, pleased to see that her fear had transformed into determination. Her fatigue seemed to vanish completely.
From behind, the monsters roared and charged.
Thino's grip tightened around the extinguisher. His heart pounded in sync with their footsteps. He couldn't afford to second-guess himself now.
They were almost on him.
He waited… waited…
Then—release.
He aimed the nozzle and blasted the extinguisher at the floor in front of them, spraying thick clouds of smoke into the air.
The hallway vanished in white.
The creatures halted, stumbling into the cloud. Disoriented.
Thino didn't stop to watch. He bolted into the smoke and followed Ella down the stairs.
Behind them, the monsters shrieked in confusion.
And that was when Thino realized something—something important.
They weren't chasing blindly.
They couldn't see through the smoke.
They weren't just fast… they were scent-driven.
And one of them—the one that had eaten Mosker—was now acting like it had gone blind.
That was their chance.
They had found a weakness.