The center of the city was even more disastrous than the outskirts. Whole buildings had been toppled to the ground in the wake of the unfathomable wave of monsters that had overrun the city the night prior. Swaths of bloodsplatter painted the concrete below our feet as we walked. It felt as though I could see the bodies of those that had passed if only I were to peer slightly out of view.
Approaching the safe zone, the barrier began to glow again slightly, outlining the curvature of its dome-like shape. As we stood feet away from it, the glowing light resonated red. Placing my hand on the dome, another screen popped up.
[Would you like to register [Pinehill] on your map?]
A map? How many other functions haven’t they told us about? As the screen faded away the red glow shifted to a greenish tone.
“What happened?” the woman asked from behind me.
“It looks like you need to register the city on your map and then we can enter the safe zone.”
Entering the city center, we were soon met by hundreds of other survivors of the night’s incursion. Looking around, I couldn’t help but hope for a familiar face. Finding none, I found a spot to rest while the old woman wandered off in hopes of finding her cat. On the side of Grendel’s bubble, I pulled out a thick wrapper of parchment that contained a sandwich I had made before going out to fight monsters the night before. Mroah!
“Yes I know, I packed something for you too remember?” I grabbed a can of cat food from the opposite side pocket. Releasing the lid, I carefully slid the container of food into his plastic bubble. I watched for a moment as he began lapping up the wet food before turning back to my own sandwich. Peering around, I caught a few stares from others on the street. Taking a few bites of my sandwich I carefully gathered up Grendel and walked down the street a bit more before sitting back down to finish my food. Not sure why they were staring at me, but the last thing I need is a bunch of hungry people hassling me for food I don’t have.
“Hey kid,” a gruff voice said, causing me to flinch as I held my sandwich close to my chest. Turning my head, there was a large middle-aged man standing off in the distance. His clothes were a bit torn, as I realized most of the people I had seen were, including myself. The puffiness of his eyes, matched with the bandages on his arms was a sight to be seen.
“What do you want?” I asked bluntly. I don’t want to cause a scene.
“Umm… Your cat,” he scratched the back of his head with a wince, “I know this isn’t really the time, but would you mind if my daughter were to -”
“I don’t see why not,” I said, cutting him off. A little girl bounced out from behind him. Turning to Grendel, I pulled out a harness I had been saving from one of the bag’s pockets. Fastening his body into the harness I strung the empty bubble onto my back as the little girl waded over towards us. Her father stood close by as we watched Grendel purr, rubbing up against her legs, then her hands, as she knelt down to pet him.
“He’s so fluffy,” she said, sounding ecstatic as she playfully chased him about.
“Is it just you and your daughter?” I asked. It was hard to look him in the face. I wasn’t used to men being soft in the face of people they cared about. Peering around, a few people continued to watch as the young girl and Grendel played, while others had lost interest in their tiredness.
“We did have her mother… she didn’t make it through the night.”
“Oh… honestly it's pretty amazing someone so young like her made it through all that,” we shared a look.
“I did try,” he raised his arms as he spoke, his bandages bulging around his arms. Faint streaks of red soaking through the white.
A long bell tolled around us. What is that? I looked around trying to find a bell tower or anything that could have made that sound. A screen flashed in front of each of us as the bell’s tolling came to a conclusion.
[Welcome citizens of [Pinehill] to Phase 3. Reversion will now commence.]
The ground began to rumble beneath us. I quickly scooped Grendel up into my arms. We watched as large vines emerged from the ground, raking over the ruins of the city. Some city. Pinehill was in ruins. The vines merged to form large swaths of overgrowth that seemed to overtake the nearby buildings. They slithered and writhed around my feet, arching up and towards a nearby convenience shop that had been decimated. We watched as the growth cocooned the shop. Suddenly, a large burst of light came as the vines began to glow brightly. The light burst and dissipated as if something had been shattered. Looking again, the shop had been transformed into something new.
An umber mushroom cap had sprouted up in place of the roof. Its stalk had inflated to accommodate the walls of the building. What the -
Dingle
The front door to the shop popped open. A middle-aged man wearing an apron walked out with a broom. Gliding down the short stack of stairs, he proceeded to sweep. He seemed to pay little attention to the rest of us, who were still taken aback by the changes around us. It hadn’t just been the little shop, multiple buildings had been transformed into various fantasy-style locations. I could feel my heart begin to palpate as my breath seemed to get caught in my throat. Within seconds, I was back on the ground, trying to catch my breath. I couldn’t hear the man next to me as he tried to make sure I was all right. I could feel the exhaustion starting to overtake me as the sound of blood pounded into my head.
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