Harvest of The Fallen

Chapter 04

Laga slumped into a seat, gasping for breath as though he had just run dozens of kilometers.

No.

I can’t die here.

I... I still want to live.

Heavy breathing echoed throughout the bus as the lights began to dim.

The metallic smell of blood mingled with the stench of rot, sweat, and rust.

“Get me out of this bus!” the overweight man shouted, clinging desperately to his seat. “Someone! Anyone! Just get me out!”

“Shut up before I throw you out of the bus, you crazy pig!” The tattooed woman kicked the overweight man in the shoulder.

Amid the silence, red and white lights began to appear through the opening of the window.

As they drew closer, their shape became clearer.

Claws.

...

Fangs.

...

A wolf.

A black wolf suddenly smashed through the open window, trying to force its way inside.

White smoke billowed from its back.

The middle-aged man immediately kicked the wolf in the face. He then ripped a bus seat loose with a powerful pull and quickly used it to cover the opening.

“Help me cover the opening!”

Everyone froze.

Only the muscular man immediately stepped forward to help.

“That wolf... It’s probably the one that’s been following and attacking this bus all along.”

The bespectacled man adjusted his glasses, which had slipped down his nose.

“Its red eyes are exactly the same as those red lights I’ve been seeing since the beginning.”

He briefly glanced at the woman with shoulder-length hair before kicking her remains away from the window.

“Damn. Are we really lost in the woods?” the tattooed woman asked.

The middle-aged man gripped the seat as tightly as he could.

“Find a weapon! Protect yourselves! And whatever you do, don’t open the doors or windows!”

He pointed toward the window.

“The fog was poisonous!”

Laga spotted a long piece of metal near the window and immediately reached for it. Just as he managed to grab it, the bald man tried to snatch it away.

“Give me that bar, kid! Give it to me right now!”

“This bar is mine! Get one yourself!”

Laga pulled it toward himself.

“You damn brat! Hand over that bar! You just need to pull it back! I’m going to use it to help those two people!”

“No!”

Laga refused to let go.

“You little bastard! You have to give in to men older than you! You’re just a snot-nosed kid! If you die, no one will mourn you! But if I die, my child in the hospital won’t have anyone to take care of him!”

The bald man slapped Laga across the face and hurried away from the window with the metal bar in his hand.

No one will mourn when I die?

Laga fell silent.

Those words dragged him back to the miserable days he had spent at home. His heart pounded wildly, pumping both blood and rage through his veins.

Laga immediately grabbed the bald man by the shirt and threw him through the window.

Everyone who witnessed it was startled, but they quickly refocused on searching for weapons and finding cover.

“How dare you slam me down, you damn brat!”

The bald man tried to get back up.

Laga stomped repeatedly on his chest before finally stepping away.

“Get me out of here!” the red-haired woman shouted from beneath the seat.

Laga moved toward the middle-aged man and the muscular man. But the bald man suddenly grabbed his leg, nearly making him fall.

“Get away from me, you bastard!”

Laga kicked the bald man, sending him flying into the overweight man.

Laga wasn’t going to back down now.

A sudden screech of brakes rang out.

The bus lurched forward violently before finally coming to a stop.

The middle-aged man and the muscular man were thrown backward through the open gap.

A black wolf immediately burst through the opening.

Something protruding from its back tore through the bus wall, shattering it and making the hole even larger.

The wolf landed on top of the bald man. It sniffed the blood before licking the bald man’s head.

The bald man immediately urinated himself and began silently sobbing.

His eyes seemed to scream a single plea.

Please... save me.

“A wolf... What the hell is that?” the muscular man asked as he slowly backed away.

The wolf had numerous sharp stones protruding from its back.

“It... isn’t an ordinary wolf.”

“Could it be... a monster?” the bespectacled man stammered.

“The stones on its back... and that red crystal on its forehead... They aren’t normal.”

The wolf suddenly let out a deafening howl.

The stones on its back pulsed and began to glow.

A second later, dozens of stones, each roughly the size of a child’s fist, shot toward Laga and the other passengers.

“Get out of the way!” the middle-aged man shouted.

Laga immediately dove beneath his seat.

The stones shot through the bus at incredible speed, smashing into seats, metal poles, and windows.

Cracks spread across the glass before several panes shattered completely.

“Get that wolf out of here right now!” the red-haired woman screamed hysterically while hugging herself.

The overweight man lost consciousness after a stone struck him in the forehead.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged woman began to regain consciousness.

The others were scattered across the bus, some lying on top of seats and others hiding beneath them.

The Stoneback Wolf turned around and fixed its blood-red eyes on the middle-aged man.

Then it crouched.

Just before the monster pounced—

BANG!

A gunshot suddenly rang out.