Chapter 27 - Alex's Fears
The group didn't march for long before they started seeing more and more of the true scale of the destruction that befell the entire city. Fire, ruined buildings, and blood flowing like rivers wherever they looked. It was as if this entire lively city had been rendered a complete ghost town in mere hours.
Above them, aircrafts kept flying every now and then, but the missiles had stopped raining down — possibly because the government realized how useless this method was, and how the monsters kept increasing in numbers rather than decreasing.
However, the damage was already done, and the number of buildings reduced to piles of rubble was not small after the relentless bombing.
The streets were quiet, except for the occasional grunt of a monster or the distant scream of another victim running for their life. It felt… like an alien world of sorts.
To Jack and the others, nothing was familiar. Some places looked vaguely recognizable, reminding them of how that building or that street looked before everything unfolded.
It was an odd and eerie feeling — to see their own world collapse in such a spectacular and horrifying manner. It was far worse than a curse; it was the complete and utter damnation of an entire race of creatures and everything they had built over thousands of years of development.
For almost ten minutes, nobody spoke as they focused on their surroundings. Jack, who was walking behind the group, kept an eye on everything. His sharper senses were very useful in that regard, as his spatial awareness was superior to the others.
'There are some Undead here and there… but the city is oddly empty,' he thought. 'That's strange.'
The reason he was confused about that particular detail was their current location. The school was situated in the heart of the city — where people were most active. He expected to see bigger hordes everywhere and far more monsters around them.
Yet, for some reason, the number of monsters was much lower. Something about that gave him a strange, uneasy feeling.
'Something isn't right about this.'
"RAAAH!"
As he was lost in thought, Jack heard a noise coming from behind. A monster had noticed them and rushed to attack.
"Let me take care of it," Jack said as he pulled his sword out. But he didn't attack immediately — he waited, letting the creature get very close.
As it tried to grab him, Jack suddenly slashed his sword. The speed at which his hand moved shocked even him.
Swish.
It passed like a flash, and before he knew it, the monster's head was severed from its neck. The cut was so clean and fast that it took a moment for the head to slide off.
The monster fell dead to the ground.
'Unbelievable.' Jack frowned. 'I feel like I can move the sword in the blink of an eye. It's so easy.'
The feeling of power was intoxicating. For Jack, these Undead were nothing. They were as easy to kill as a swarm of harmless insects.
'I didn't even get anything from killing it. Now I need to aim for much stronger monsters. Do they even exist yet?' he thought, frowning. 'I don't know when everything started exactly, so I should assume some beast out there is already stronger than me.'
"Let's go. We can't stay in one place for too long," he sighed, putting his sword back in its sheath.
The group then started marching again, heading down the main road. The empty city only grew emptier with time.
"So silent…"
"Where is everyone?"
Even the scattered monsters had seemingly disappeared at some point, and all that was left was the group and the remains of the ruined city. For almost twenty minutes, they walked without encountering a single Undead.
"Liliana," Jack called to the seductive demoness floating around him. "What's going on?"
"Hmmm." Liliana smiled. "It's safe to say you won't find many Undead in this area."
"Why?"
"You'll soon know why," she replied mysteriously.
"Hey, guys…"
At that moment, Alex spoke.
"Can we make a small detour?" he asked.
"Hm? Why?" Emi raised an eyebrow.
Jack looked at the boy, then at their surroundings. "Do you want to check your house?"
"You figured it out quick, haha…" Alex laughed awkwardly. "I don't have much hope of finding my parents there, but… I still want to check."
"...Alright. We'll take the detour. Your house isn't that far away anyway," Jack replied. He could see the worry and uncertainty in his friend's eyes, and he knew it wouldn't hurt if they just checked.
'His parents are most likely dead. But…' he exhaled.
With that, the group took a right turn and headed down the street, entering a residential area in the heart of the city.
Just like the rest of the city, everything was in ruins. Not a single house or building was left untouched by the carnage.
The group walked in silence, staring at the remains with dread. Eventually, Alex halted and stared directly at a large house in the corner.
One could tell it had been beautiful before everything happened, but the destruction had hit it too — half the house was blown to pieces. Alex stared blankly at it for a few seconds before stepping forward, passing through the rubble, and entering the house.
"Mom. Dad." He called out. But nobody answered.
He looked through what was left of the rooms and halls. There was nothing.
"..."
Jack and the others followed after him, looking around. After a short search, they found nothing inside.
Alex stood in the middle, staring around with an unreadable expression. It was clear that he was devastated.
"Hey, there are no traces of blood," Luna approached him. "They most likely weren't home when everything happened. There's still a chance we can find them somewhere in the city."
"..." Alex didn't reply immediately. He kicked a small pebble near his foot, exhaled, and looked at Luna with a bitter smile.
"Yeah, I know… I haven't lost hope yet. But… I'm just a bit sad that our house is gone. I was born and raised here…" He muttered. "I wish it had a better ending."
All the memories he'd made here, the days he spent with his family — all of it was gone, and he couldn't recover any of it.
It was all over.
"Anyway, let's go. We can't stay too long in one place," he said as he tried to swallow the bitter feeling. Walking ahead, he left everyone behind.
"Alex…" Emi muttered softly.
"Will he be fine?" Luna whispered to Jack, who kept staring at his best friend's back.
"Who knows…? He has a unique way of looking at things," Jack replied. Alex was an innocent and very pure-hearted person by nature. He hated cruelty and evil and always stood against them.
For him, this was a devastating blow — something he wouldn't easily recover from.
'And if it turns out his parents are dead indeed… then…'
Jack didn't let that train of thought continue. There were far more important matters to deal with at the moment. Perhaps they would find Alex's parents alive somewhere, and perhaps they wouldn't.
That was too distant a dream to make their goal.
What truly mattered then and there was to survive.