C wandered down the empty streets for a few hours, looking for a working car while also stocking up on supplies from the various stores he came across. He slowly approached the eastern side of the city, and eventually walked towards a street surrounded on both sides by skyscrapers. An odd feeling swelled up inside of him, as if someone was watching him. He looked around, glancing at the roof and windows of the buildings, but saw nothing. He tried to continue forward, but the ominous pressure grew stronger. It soon compelled C to rush inside an apartment complex. 

He entered the front door moments before an odd, low-pitched horn echoed across the hollow cityscape. The sound was eerie enough to stun C momentarily. He quickly ran behind the front desk and tried to breathe slowly again, although he could feel his body start to shake. A loud thud was heard from just outside the door, which then made a distinct creaking sound. C glanced at a hallway just outside of his cover. He prepared to bolt as the tiles to his side started to make an ear-splitting scratching noise, as if they were being scrapped with a knife.

C brushed aside all of his anxiety as he dashed into the hall, prompting a noise similar to shredding wood to sound right next to him. C ran past the doors to his side, choosing instead to go straight to the stairs. He climbed the stairs at a breakneck speed, with a chilling pattern of slashes following not far behind. C continued running up until he reached the top, where he ran out to the roof and slammed the metal door shut. Whatever was chasing him started to make a loud call akin to a long electric alarm, which then prompted several other similar calls to echo across the city. The pursuer then started to slam at the door with enough force to cause visible dents. 

As the metal door started to bend outwards, C knew that the only way out was to leap to another roof. He ran to the edge closest to a neighboring building, and took a deep breath. A horrid strain then rung through the air as the door behind him was punctured, and a slow rip sent out a screech of metal that resonated across the barren rooftops. Panicked, he gave himself a running start before jumping, and propelled himself across the air. He attempted to angle himself correctly; one mistake and it would all be over.

C landed the roll, recovering from the jump without any major injury. C paused, and listened around carefully. The creatures were gone.

"They gave up?" C asked himself. 

C dusted off his pants and looked behind him. He froze, as he realized why the aliens had left. There was a hooded figure standing at the edge of the building C was just on, staring directly at him. The figure had a long purple cloak, with a hood that darkened the area underneath; making its head unseeable save for two eyes, which were masked by a reddish glow. Underneath the cloak was what seemed to be armor of pre-modern origin. What struck the most fear into C, however, was the fact that he somehow knew what he was staring at: "K." A primordial dread overcame C.

C tried to turn and run, but was intercepted by the hooded being, who leapt in front of him. Unaffected by the impact of the jump, a drop of over ten feet, the figure rushed at C. C pulled out the gun and struggled to turn the safety off, but in that time it was swatted out of his hand and launched off the roof. A painful sting radiated across C's arm. C attempted to react, but his feet felt like they were locked in place. Thoughts raced through C's mind, "Who is this person?", "Why do I remember that name?", "Is this even a person at all?"

The cloaked figure leapt back a few feet, before revealing its right hand, which appeared to be holding a metallic, circular object. A dreadful feeling suddenly rose inside of C, and he started to have vivid flashbacks, remembering one moment in particular; when robbers drove in front of a bank in a stolen APC and started mindlessly shooting, one shooting C's gun out of his hand and leaving him defenseless. C's mind cut back to the present as the figure slugged him in the stomach. C flew back a couple meters, nearly falling off the edge of the roof. A wave of pain washed through his body. Even so, C managed to get back on his feet and run down the scaffolding on the side of the building. He tumbled down the stairs and reached the bottom in little under half a minute. 

C kept running down the street, afraid to look behind him. C stumbled over, and another wave of pain flushed through him. He struggled to get up, but stopped when he realized that the being had suddenly left. He looked around, but did not see or hear it anywhere. Dead silence filled the area. After a slight pause, C got up and took a breather. He glanced around at the buildings in his vicinity, making sure that the being was truly gone. Dazed, he went forward and tripped onto the hood of a car. The car was an old muscle car, and appeared similar to the charger car models from the 1970s. He got up and looked inside, and to his surprise there were keys in the ignition. The door was unlocked, so he went inside. He checked the gas, which was a little under half-full.

He put his backpack in the passenger seat and sat still in the driver seat. C's mind was racing, and he knew he could not drive in this condition. After a couple of minutes, C started to doze off. His rest was cut short, as he was shaken awake by an explosion coming from the interior of the city. A booming headache plagued him, but he took no chances and started up the car, driving it onto the street to make his way out of the ruined city. The car would be able to at least drive to the river near the city, and from there C planned to go across on foot and reach the base that was mentioned on the radio. C let out a sigh of relief, as he remembered that he was not the only human left in the area.

He drove sloppily, and barely missed the cars that were left petrified on the highway. A loud explosion roared past the car from the direction he was heading, making him immediately turn into a nearby freeway. He drove past an empty neighborhood, and reached the sub-urban part of the city. The explosions became more frequent, but started to become quieter the further C got. A sudden series of turns and blocked roads threw off C's bearings, but his only goal was to get out of the city as quickly as he could. He eventually reached a dirt path, and headed into the forest.