"RUN! RUN! RUN!"
West's voice tore through the underground ruin like a whip.
The herd responded instantly raising their bone-staff arms with their hollow eyes flaring as they charged forward with a unified, unnatural fury.
And the people… scattered.
Panic did what panic always did.
Some bolted straight ahead, following the direction West pointed. Others swerved left without thinking, desperate to put distance between themselves and the charging nightmare behind them. Someone tripped and screamed. Another person yanked them up. Footsteps pounded as heavy breathing rang out.
The ruined neighborhood became a twisting death maze in seconds.
Harlan didn't hesitate.
He grabbed his wife with one arm, yanked his kids close with the other, and shouted over his shoulder, "FOLLOW ME! I'll get you guys to safety! Don't listen to that kid!"
A few frightened neighbors who were already shaken by the stampede and hungry for certainty, followed him instinctively. They clung to the loudest voice, the one that sounded most confident even if it had been the one that caused this.
West didn't waste time arguing.
His eyes locked onto the rising stretch ahead which was the end of the street as it used to be. The spatial distortion there felt different, like the ruin was thinner… weaker… as if the world's skin had been ripped and only loosely stitched back together.
"Aria! This way!" West barked.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her hard enough that she stumbled, then caught herself and kept moving.
Auntie Maribel and the other aunties ran behind them, causing the sound of slippers slapping against cracked ground to ring out loudly.
The rescued woman and her injured fiancé limped after them.
The others who trusted West after seeing him get them this far, followed without hesitation.
However, the creatures split too.
Half of the herd charged after Harlan's group.
The other half focused on West's.
West glanced back once and spotted about ten following after them. Despite their sizez they were fast.
Their long jointed legs hit the ground in a rhythm that made the air tremble. Their bone-staff arms dragged and scraped against the ruin-floor as if ready to hook flesh and rip.
"Don't stop!" West shouted.
Everyone pushed harder.
They rounded a broken corner and the end of the street came into view.
It wasn't a normal end anymore.
It had turned into an inclined pathway, like a ramp made from fractured concrete and strange black stone fused together. The incline rose upward into a glowing opening.
An oval-shaped tear was up in the air where daylight spilled in harsh, beautiful beams.
This hole, led to the surface... It was the exit.
Everyone's eyes brightened hopefully as they pushed forward with every ounce of strength they could muster.
"We're almost there!" someone cried.
Aria's eyes widened. "West—look!"
West nodded and smiled back at her as their fingers interlocked tighter while they ran.
He estimated that in about thirty seconds or perhaps less, they'd get there.
Unfortunately, the injured fiancé stumbled.
His knee buckled and the beautiful woman supporting him nearly fell with him.
She gritted her teeth and tried to pull up as her face contorted due to the strain.
"I— I can't—" the fiancé groaned in agony as blood kept gushing out of his legs.
The creatures behind them clicked louder... they were closing in.
West noticed the struggle as they got closer to the exit.
Beings from ruins couldn't come to the surface. For some reasons, laws existed that kept them confined to this space but if they caught up before they got to the exit...
"Keep moving!" West barked at the group ahead. "Go! Don't look back!"
Some were already scrambling up the incline toward the opening. Auntie Maribel was among them, panting hard but refusing to slow. The other aunties clung close with wet eyes.
However, West stopped at this moment and turned back toward the injured couple and the approaching creatures.
Aria's grip tightened on his hand. "West—"
He squeezed her fingers once and then let go.
"Go," he demanded.
Aria stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
West's eyes remained focused.
"Go," he repeated with a firm tone. "Get them out. I'll be right behind you.
Aria's throat worked as if trying to swallow fear.
Behind her, Auntie Maribel screamed, "WEST!"
West backed away and winked at Aria before fully turning around and hurrying along.
He scanned the debris littering the street and spotted a long and thick rusted metal pipe, half-buried beneath broken slabs.
He grabbed it. "Perfect."
West inhaled once and then whispered, "Adrenal Control."
The system responded instantly.
> [ Adrenal Control Activated ]
[ All Sub Stats boosted by 13 Points ]
[ Timer: 90 Seconds ]
The world sharpened.
Sound became crisp and incredibly vivid. Every footstep, every breath, every click of the beasts' limbs against stone didn't surpass his perception. His vision widened as his peripheral awareness expanded like a predator's. His muscles tightened and warmed as if molten energy had poured into them.
Strength increased... speed increased...
Even his aura swelled outward, causing many ahead, Aria included, to glance back at him. At this moment, West's presence was difficult ignore...
West felt like he could punch through a wall... he could feel his body climbing past its limits.
This is what awakened people feel like…?
He had a feeling he had passed the threshold because all his sub stats were closer to 30 temporarily.
Meanwhile, the first creature leapt towards the injured fiancé.
Its mouth splitting open wider than should be possible, displaying creepy mandibles as its bone-staff arms raised to strike.
The beautiful woman screamed.
"NO—!"
West moved, closing the distance between him and the creature at astonishing speed.
West swung the pipe sideways with brutal force and the metal connected with the creature's skull with a sickening CRACK.
The beast flew.
Bang!
It was launched sideways and slammed into a broken wall, collapsing in a twitching heap.
Silence rippled across everyone's faces.
The woman stared at West like she was seeing a monster. However, her mind was reeling in a multitude of ways. 'Why does he suddenly look so dreamy...?'
On the other hand, her fiancé's mouth hung open in utter shock but West didn't bask in it.
He shouted, "MOVE! NOW!"