As darkness shrouded the city, there was not a soul on the streets. The desolated city had turned into a ruin, devoid of its former prosperity.Adrian sat at the top of the trailer for a long time. When others came to take over, he finally decided to get some rest. The moment he closed his eyes, he began to dream about Samantha and the rest.Meanwhile, hundreds of people had gathered in an underground safe zone in Swallowston. They lay on simple bedding strewn across the ground. These people had been living here for several days.On one of the makeshift beds, a woman covered in dust cradled a little girl in her arms. The babe was wailing from hunger. The woman seemed slightly anxious as she tried to calm her daughter. The shelter echoed with cries, and the child’s despair was visible everywhere. "Your aunt will be here soon, Nova. Just wait a little longer, okay?" Samantha coaxed her precious. Yet, Nova continued to cry after being hungry for an entire day. Swallowston was in ch

Samantha clutched Nova in her arms and left with the others. There was only one thing that kept her going—finding a place to hide while waiting for Adrian to save them.Monsters lurked throughout the streets. Eira, Ivy, and Nyssa surrounded Samantha and Nova, guiding them past the monsters."We should get out of Swallowston and find somewhere safe outside the city to hide. But on second thought, Adrian won’t be able to find us when he gets back to Swallowston, so I've decided against it and chose to remain here. Let's hope we'll hear from him soon," Ivy said as she looked toward the surroundings. Without a doubt, Ivy was now their leader. She was a powerful fighter with Eira and Nyssa obeying her every command. Without her, Samantha and Nova would be bullied by wicked people in the safe zone, if not killed by the monsters. Adrian's past grace had proven extremely crucial for their current survival, and Samantha chose to follow Ivy without a doubt. Gloria was no longer the same wo

Adrian said as he got to his feet, "Well done, Matthias. Please distribute the communicators to everyone and decide on a channel for us to use. We’ll depart after you're done."Matthias nodded and handed out the communicators.Adrian climbed atop a trailer to look at the nearby village.Cian appeared beside him and asked, "Is something wrong, sir?" Adrian pointed up ahead and said, "That’s Cloud Village. Pass through there and we'll reach Gold Haven, and then Rivton shortly after. We have to be cautious as we move through the village. There may be traps."Cian nodded. "Do you think the villagers would want to hurt us in such a situation?""You can’t let your guard down, Cian. Kindness is a virtue, but we have to be careful of who we choose to be kind to. This is especially true in situations like these. We can’t show others how kind we are, or have you forgotten what many did when Chase Gardner started that bout of rumors?"With half the world's population gone, Adrian was cert

The trailers stopped at the village borders, and everyone formed a defensive line around their trailers upon getting out.Adrian walked into the village, with Cian following behind him. "Send ten men into the village and search for survivors. They should look out for resources like food, water, weapons, etc. After twenty minutes, they are to return, and I want them all to be on the alert while searching. Everyone else shall remain by their trailers in case we get jumped," Adrian ordered. Cian began making the arrangements. A team of men entered the village, going through every house in search of survivors. Aside from heading to Novemton, Adrian also wanted to save the survivors he found along the way. Rozi stayed behind with the others at the trailers. Since she and Adrian were the strongest fighters in the group, it was best they defended separate positions instead of sticking together. Monster carcasses were scattered all over and many houses had been destroyed. There were b

Adrian carried Miraya out of the house, while Cian and the others searched the rest of the village. Unfortunately, there were no other survivors, nor were there any resources. However, they were all happy when they saw Miraya. To them, it was a miracle to find even one survivor."Sir, we've searched the whole village," Cian said as he and Oliver walked over.Adrian placed Miraya on the floor and said, "Rozi, take care of her and give her some food."Rozi was the only woman in Adrian's group, and Miraya looked a lot less wary when she saw her. The little girl felt as though she was looking at her mother when she saw Rozi's beautiful smile.After Rozi brought Miraya into her trailer, Adrian asked, "How did it go? Did you find anything else?"Oliver shook his head. "Everything has been taken. There are corpses in some of the houses. They were shot to death. There are also signs of monster damage. It’s clear the village engaged the monsters in battle. After that, some people began to