Srini was worried about his mistake, regret written all over his face, and when he reached the second floor, suddenly a door opened. Someone came out of the house with torn clothes, scratches all over his body, and blood dripping from his hand onto the floor.
"What? Who is that, walking toward death?" Srini thought.
When he got closer, he was relieved.
Manu was standing in the doorway, facing the door.
"Ha, I can relax. Manu is safe. But… why is he standing near the door? What happened to him?" Srini thought again.
"Oh no, that creature is following me. I need to hide along with Manu first," he thought in panic.
Then Srini grabbed the collar of Manu, who was standing near the door, pushed him into the opposite house, and went inside himself, closing the door behind them.
"Manu, you're okay, right?" Srini asked.
"That's not important. We need to get out of here," Manu said.
"Don't worry, we're safe here . now we're inside the house," Srini replied.
"How did you know I was here?" Manu asked.
"Actually… I was followed by a two-foot-long insect. That thing was building its nest with human bones and flesh," Srini said.
"What? You were also followed by the insect?" Manu asked in shock.
"Yes—wait, that means you were also followed by it?" Srini said.
But at the same time, a hole was created in the door by the wasp's stinger.
"What? How did it find us?" Srini said.
"I don't know how, but we need to get out of here," Manu said.
"But how? It can follow us anywhere!" Srini said.
Then Manu struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.
"We need to get down to the first floor and escape. Search for a window we can climb through," Manu said.
"You're okay, right?" Srini asked.
"Yeah… it just chased me for a long time. I'm catching my breath," Manu said.
"When I searched this house before, I found a place. I think we can escape from there," Srini said.
"Okay, let's go," Manu agreed.
Then Srini took Manu toward a room where there was a big hole in the floor connecting to the first floor.
"Give me the rope," Manu said.
Srini had been carrying the rope with him from the third floor, slung over his shoulder.
"I think it can hold until we get down," Srini said and handed it to Manu.
Manu hooked it onto the broken floor surface and threw the rope down.
"You go first," Manu said.
"Okay," Srini replied.
When Srini was midway down, they both heard a breaking sound.
"Make it fast—I think it'll break through the door any moment now," Manu said.
"Can't that insect rest for some time?" Srini thought bitterly.
When Manu was climbing down, the door of the room was struck with two stingers at once.
"Oh no, it's following us. We need to hurry!" Manu thought.
He had felt relieved for a moment, but now the fear returned.
As soon as Manu reached the ground, he grabbed Srini's hand and pulled him forward, starting to run.
"Why? What happened?" Srini asked.
"Both insects are following us. We need to escape!" Manu said.
They both ran out of the house, down to the ground floor, and out of the building.
"Gasp… gasp… finally, we're out!" Srini said.
"Come on… gasp… gasp… we need to head back to the settlement first," Manu said.
"Wait… gasp… gasp… let me catch my breath," Srini said.
They went some distance away and sat on a broken cement block.
Two hundred meters away from where Srini and Manu sat, five men stood on the roof of a small two-floor house, watching them.
Tarun, the tall man with a sword strapped across his back, narrowed his eyes.
"I didn't think they would make it out alive," he muttered.
Punith, medium in height, with one eye darker than the other, scoffed.
"Alive? That's not luck. They probably never crossed paths with the creature."
The skinny one, his face marked with scars, leaned forward.
"Or maybe… the creature already left the building."
The youngest, a cloth tied around his head, shifted uneasily.
"What if… what if that thing is still inside? You saw what it did to the others."
The brown-haired man, gripping a knife tightly, frowned.
"If the creature is still there, then how did they come out alive?"
Tarun's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and a cruel smile tugged at his lips.
"They dared to take what belongs to us. We'll snatch it back… and send them to their destined deaths."