More streets devoid of human life filled their vision. Desaray was hoping that no matter what happens in the near future that her father would still be alive. She felt that no matter what form he took on, she would recognize him right away. He was the man that raised her and was also the only family she had left in this world. There could be no way she would not recognize him. “When this is all over, I am finding my father a wife…. That Claire girl seemed nice….” 

“Desa, did you say something?” Becky could have sworn that Desaray had just said something just now. But when she saw Desaray shake her head, she began to think that maybe she was just hearing things. 

“Wait.” Desaray stopped and lowered her body slightly. “Something is coming.”

This time Desaray did not notice any smell of any kind but felt a strong vibration underfoot. It was subtle at first, so it did not really make her think too much about it. But those vibrations quickly grew strong and stronger. “Yu, protect Jake and Mike. Becky, to the left, I will take the right.”

“Got it!” “Okay!” Becky and Yu answered at the same time. They quickly got into the formation that had decided on while walking. 

The vibration on the ground got stronger and stronger until, finally, even the street lights were shaking. The doors and windows on the buildings also shook. It was as if an earthquake was hitting the city. 

It did not take long to see what was coming towards them. A group of large gray beasts with hairy long upper arms and short legs. Its face had three large eyes and a nose that was pushed into its face leaving only the two holes for it to breathe from. But the thing that made these beasts, or more like monsters, scary looking was their large wide mouths that went from the edge of one of its hairy pointed ears to the other. They had their mouths open, which revealed two rows of razor-sharp-looking teeth and a long black tongue that hung out ever so slightly with a black liquid dripping off of it. They pushed down the street tossing any car or truck that was in their way to the side. When they spotted the small group ahead one of them roared rattling the windows around them and began moving any faster toward Desaray and her group.

“Desa, I do not think we can fight those!” Becky was the first to see that the situation might be bad. There were four monsters and three of them, who were all level 1. Plus, Jake who had yet to gain a system and gain his first evolution, and then Mike, who was unconscious. They had no way to fight these monsters, of which they had no idea what their levels were, and hope to survive without injury. 

“Everyone into the building! Becky, you break the door down!” Desaray made an immediate judgment. Until she leveled up and got the appraisal skill, she had no plans to fight unknown monsters, especially ones that looked like they could swallow her whole.

“On it!” Becky did not hesitate in the slightest as she ran towards the building next to them, up the front stoop, and slammed her body into the door, breaking it off its hinges. “Open!”

“Alright, Yu help protect Jake’s back while he makes it up the stairs.” Desaray knew they were too short to help Jake physically, but that did not matter. They only had less than a minute before those gray monsters arrived. And she could tell their eyes were staring right at her. 

“Jake, hurry up!” Yu yelled out. She was standing in front of Jake, but Jake was not moving at all. It was as if he was frozen in fear.

Desaray turned to see Jake just standing there and was starting to get aggravated. He was picking now of all times to freeze in fear. “Jake, if you do not want to die, then move your ass! Otherwise, I will take Mike and Yu, and I will run to safety instead of trying to protect you!”

It seemed the word die sunk in, and Jake finally snapped out of his frozen state. His face was pale as he adjusted his grip on Mike and quickly ran up the steps. Yu and Desaray were not far behind him, backing up with each step he took until they had all entered the building. 

But just because they entered the building did not mean they were going to be safe. One of the gray monsters roared as it watched the prey it had just been charging at try to hide from it. Its roar shattering nearby windows all around it. In its anger, it bashed a car that was in its path and sent it flying into a storefront not far away. It stared at the building its prey ran into for a few seconds before roaring once more and charging toward it.

“Not good!” Desaray yelled out as she saw the gray monster charging right at them. “Quickly make your way to the stairwell!”

They had only just started to turn to run when a loud explosion of brick and metal could be heard behind them. This debris shot forward, a large clump of cement and brick smashed into Yu’s back, sending her flying forward. “Yu!” Becky cried out and ran over to her side to check on her.

Desaray was still pushing Jake forward, but she already opened her mouth and was charging her ice breath. She did not want anyone she knew to die. Not when they had already made it this far. She dodged a few bricks before finally shouting: “Ice Breath!”