One of the creatures' claws caught Vivi across the thigh, dragging her right out of. Y grip. I heard her agonizing cry “Kae!” as I jumped right to grab her hand. I tried pulling her closer to me but that only made it more hurtful to her as the claw deepened into her thigh. She screamed in pain which immediately alerted every monster in the area.I pushed Cent into Vira's arms. "Keep running!" I shouted, then turned back for Vivi.The creature that had wounded her raised its claws for a killing blow. I grabbed a rock and hurled it at the monster's head, getting its attention.I could see more were coming, heading straight towards us due to Vivi’s scream.The creature began stalking toward me while I desperately searched for a weapon. I spotted a piece of broken rebar from some construction debris.As the monster lunged at me, I drove the metal spike straight through its skull, pinning it to the ground.Even as more creatures approached, I grabbed handfuls of stones and threw them in

“So this is the plan.”She paused, looking at everyone to know if we were all paying attention. When she saw that we were, she went on, "I've got one more of these so here's the plan. When I activate the device and draw the creatures away, you all run to the right side of town, there's a Razorwing transport waiting. Under no circumstances should anyone look back, neither should you slow down." We all nodded. "Who here can't run?" she asked, "Excluding the little one." The nurse and a few older survivors raised their hands."Then the faster ones will need to help pull them along," she said matter-of-factly like that sounded helpful. I looked at Vivi, whose face was pale and drawn with pain. "You're doing great, darling. Just hold on a little longer."She just cried quietly, the pain was overwhelming for someone her age.Vira stepped forward. "I can carry her."I shook my head. "She's probably too weak to move. I've got this."I carefully lifted Vivi and positioned her against my c

"Not again," I muttered, feeling the weight of despair settling over me like a shroud.I glanced at Vira, who looked confused and frightened. She quickly left the tent, probably to find her sister.I started to follow her when Cent grabbed my hand. "Where are you going?""Stay here and watch Vivi for me," I said. "I'll be back.""You can't leave us again!" His voice rose with panic."I'm not!" I said firmly, perhaps too harshly. "She needs at least one of us beside her when she wakes up." he looked away angrily and I had to place my hands on his shoulders to force him to look at me as my tone softened. "Please, Cent. She needs someone beside her and I need you to be strong for that, at least."He looked at Vivi's unconscious form, then back at me, another fresh tears forming in his eyes. Finally, he nodded reluctantly.I kissed his forehead. "I'll be right back. I promise."Outside the tent, chaos had erupted. People were running in every direction, screaming and crying as they fled t

Hours passed. I'd given up hope of getting out in time when I heard footsteps approaching. The door opened, but instead of guards coming to process me, a figure in a dark hood slipped inside.I rose to my feet and pulled out the nearest wood to slam it straight into the figure's head. It grunted as it staggered back and I took that opportunity to slam him again. At this point, the figure was on the ground with hands raised high when I was going in for the third strike. “Hey! Hey! It's me.” a familiar voice whispered. He pulled his hood to reveal his face. It was Lex! I felt embarrassed. “Oh man, I'm sorry.” I pulled him up “Thought you were an assassin.”“Noted.” he wiped the blood that had painted his face and rubbed his head “come on, we need to move.”He quickly led me through a series of maintenance corridors, avoiding patrols, until we emerged into a vehicle depot where several ground transports waited.Kambi stood beside one of them, her expression a mixture of anger and det

The wreckage began to shake violently as mutants swarmed over it, searching for prey. I held my breath, hoping none have found me.I was trapped and alone, with no escape route, that is, until I heard crackling static from the cockpit. A man's voice came through the damaged comm system."Kambi? Baby, are you there?” It's Xavier! “Please respond. If you can hear me, there's help on the way. I need you to get to the government building. That's where the extraction team will look for you."A mutant lunged at the sound, knocking the comm unit across the cockpit. It slid to a stop right in front of my hiding spot.I waited until the creature turned away, then slowly reached for the comm unit. I whispered, "Kambi isn't here but she's safe.” I didn't spare a minute as I immediately identified myself and I explained my situation.Xavier's response was fury. "Honestly, I don't know why she has to go to great lengths for you but if anything happens to my wife because of you, death will be a me