I looked closer at the woman who was still asking for help and when I saw that her legs were trapped by the bent metal I knew that there was nothing I could do for her. At least not if she wanted to get out of here alive

My hands shook and I held the handle of the guitar case firmly. I took a step back and looked at the girl with pity and guilt.

—I'm sorry–I whispered, asking for forgiveness with my eyes.

When she understood it, her expression changed to one of horror. I turned around and ran. I ran as fast as I could and ignored the screams of the woman behind me. Tears came out of my eyes as I felt like the worst person in the world for having abandoned her knowing that the monster would come for her soon. But the image of Liam smiling gave me the boost I needed to allow myself to be selfish.

The screams were soon silenced ending in a sort of gurgle and I forced my legs to run faster.

«It's there, the exit is there! Just a little more »

Heavy footsteps and loud screams began to be heard closer to me every second. Then I knew he had found me. My legs began to burn just as my chest began to hurt from the great effort I was making and to which I was not accustomed. I cursed myself for not doing more sports.

«No no no! Just a little more, just... » I stopped thinking when I realized. 

«If I leave the tunnel, will it no longer follow me?...no, even if I leave, that thing will still chase me »

More tears ran down my cheeks as I noticed how naive I was for believing that just by stepping foot out of the tunnel everything would magically end. The footsteps became closer and closer as the seconds continued to tick by and I knew it wouldn't take long for it to reach me. I can't run away from that thing. Then I'll do what I've been doing most of my life.

« I have to face reality. »

I brought the case in front of me and opened the zipper to take out Liam's katana. I barely felt the handle of the gun, my foot tripped on something and I fell to the ground. The sheath stayed with me but the katana flew a couple of meters in front of me, as did my glasses. I looked at what I had collided with and it was the body of a lifeless man. Above him I could see the blurry beast slamming a small car aside.

A scream left my throat as I instinctively covered my head when the car hit one of the walls not far from me.

 «T-this is crazy. I can't fight that! »

The beast roared and when I saw it again it was running towards me with one of its claws raised, ready to cut me. I was paralyzed for a moment believing that I had come this far when out of the corner of my eye I noticed that I had tripped right next to a bus and my body acted on its own. I rolled under the vehicle the second the monster's claws embedded themselves into the pavement, causing great damage. I felt dizzy with the idea that that could have been me.

The beast screamed angrily for having missed its blow once again.

He swung his hands everywhere hoping to get it right. Unfortunately for me, one of his attacks hit the bus. He continued to attack the side of the vehicle over and over. This moved abruptly from the force and produced a loud, stunning screech as it was torn apart.

I covered my ears and curled up into a fetal position, trying to distance myself from reality and wishing everything was just a horrible nightmare.

I don't know how much time passed before I stopped hearing the knocking. A growing hope planted itself in my chest.

«D-did he leave? »

I barely moved a millimeter when long claws fell from above and stuck in front of me, very close to my face. A scream escaped me.

«I-Is he inside the bus?! »

Another clawed hand pierced the metal floor and I barely managed to avoid it, but I let out another scream without being able to stop it.

«I need to get out of here! The sword, where is the katana? No, even if I find it, the skin on that thing is too thick, can I even scratch it without the katana breaking? »

While the monster tried to remove its stuck claws from the pavement, a liquid with a strong, familiar smell began to drip down the side of the car. My somewhat blurred vision went to another vehicle near us and my mind lit up with an idea.

I began to crawl as silently as possible. One of the claws came free and I was barely able to remove my legs before they snapped back into the ground. I continued dragging my body until I managed to get out of my hiding place and with quick but silent steps I approached my objective. I opened the passenger door and got into the car, ignoring the dead driver, for the first time in my life I'm glad I don't have good eyesight.

«Please please »

I looked in the glove compartment of the car hoping to find what could save my life. My heart jumped for joy when I did it. Take the lighter and the cigarette box.

—Thank you for smoking, sir, you just saved my life.—I whispered, smiling at the lighter.

There were only a couple of cigarettes left in the box so my number of attempts is very limited. With trembling hands, a flame came out of the lighter after a couple of tries and lit one of the cigarettes.

Now I just have to pray that this works.

I got out of the car and visualized my goal. I squinted my eyes a little trying to see more clearly but it didn't help much and getting closer was not an option. I took a deep breath, raised my hand and threw the lit cigarette towards the bus.

I wasn't sure if I had hit it or if it had gone out along the way, until suddenly a large fire spread followed by a large explosion. I covered myself with my arms as best I could to prevent anything from hitting me.

I could see the blurry fire rise in front of me and happiness came to me.

—D-Did I do it?...I did it, I did it—I jumped happily.—Thank you God for making gasoline flammable! I made it.

A slight growl stopped my celebration and a confusing shadow emerged among the flames. Despite not seeing it well, I knew what it was.

«Damn it! 'Why isn't he dead? »

I searched the ground as best as my vision allowed and to my good luck I was able to find Liam's katana. I pulled it out of his holster as quickly as I could as the furious beast emerged from the burned remains.

I pointed the shaking gun at him and was thankful that he was now just a big blurry mound. If I saw it clearly I was afraid that I wouldn't dare attack it. Even then I'm not sure I can do it, but there is no other way.

«Come on Ash, for Liam »

The monster screamed before running in my direction. I am a fan of video games, anime and fantasy and action movies. I have seen many times how they fight, despite not having the practice, I trust that by knowing the theory I will be able to do something.

My enemy launched a vertical blow that I was able to predict and dodge. I clumsily swung my weapon at him and managed to make a large gash on both his arm and torso. A loud screech came out of him and I could see blue blood dripping from his wounds.

«I hurt him! The fire worked, now his skin is not as thick as before... I can do it. Now I have a better chance of achieving it. »

He launched another attack at me that I barely avoided by ducking. I pressed the handle of my sword and drove the key into his abdomen. I had to suppress my urge to cover my ears when I heard another scream. I tried to take out the gun but before doing so I felt something hard hit my side. The next thing I knew, my back hit something and then I felt my face hit the cold pavement.

An intense pain spread throughout the side where the monster had hit me and I began to cough and gasp to recover the air that had been knocked out of me by the impact.

In a hazy way I watched as he took off the gun and tossed it to the side, falling with a metallic sound. He started to slowly approach me. I knew I should be afraid of being close to death, but instead I felt anger. I was angry at myself for being a good-for-nothing, I was angry at that monster for not letting me go with Liam and for beating me...I was angry at the world for being so horrible.

Ignoring the pain I leaned on my arms and took all my strength to get up. When I leaned against what I had hit, it moved almost making me lose my balance. I looked at it and saw that it was the door of a car that had come loose when I crashed into it.

Taking advantage of my anger, bravery and the sudden energy that ran through my veins, I took it, ignoring how heavy it was. I raised it in shield mode and refusing to analyze my plan further I ran towards the monster.

When I was close to him, he launched a claw that I tried to dodge but I couldn't completely dodge so his claws tore the metal.

«His movements are more clumsy, it seems that those injuries bother him more than it seems »

Once I managed to reach his body, I threw all my weight forward as my improvised shield hit his injured side. I pushed him to the side as hard as I could, luckily I managed to make him move enough to let me pass. I let go of the door and walked past the monster, straight toward the katana. I picked it up and pointed it at the still unkempt creature.

My chest hurt from my crazy heartbeats and breathing. I gained momentum and letting out a war cry I threw myself towards my opponent. He responded to my scream with another but I barely gave him time to react when I stabbed my weapon into his chest, causing him to stagger backwards. The monster screamed and threw a blow that I dodged while I pulled out the kanata while crouching.

Taking advantage of my small size compared to his, I slipped back and hit behind his knees with the blade.

The monster fell on one of his knees and extended one of its hands towards me, with a single movement I was able to cut off part of it. More screams and blue blood appeared.

I raised the katana above me and then lowered it, stabbing his forehead. His cry of pain sounded quieter this time. I drew my sword and prepared to deliver another blow when the monster collapsed to the ground. His chest was still moving and slight moans could still be heard coming from him letting me know that he was still alive.

I had to tighten my grip around the handle of the katana to prevent my hands from shaking. I don't know what this sudden bravery and strength that appeared inside me is, but if I can survive and get back to Liam then I will use it as much as I need it.

«He's not a person Aisha, just do it»  I had to convince myself.

I approached the creature and stabbed the sword into it again, and again, and again. I felt like a maniac, but this way I would end her suffering quickly and I would be free faster.

He let out one last moan and when he stopped moving I moved away from him. I couldn't see him clearly, but in the blurry darkness I could see that he was completely covered in blue blood, just like me. The katana fell from my trembling hands and then my legs gave way causing me to fall as well.

Then I cried. I cried because despite being a monster I had the bitter feeling of having murdered someone, because I thought he would die here and because I thought I would leave Liam alone.

A small part of me cried because of how overwhelmed I felt for daring to fight that thing head-to-head.

I don't know how long I was there until I calmed down and decided it was time to get out of the tunnel. I took the katana and on the way I ran into my broken glasses. Luckily there was still a part of the lens that was intact.

«At least I'll be able to see where I'm walking »

Fearing that I would see a clearer image of the monster's corpse or that it would rise again, I quickened my pace toward the exit. I had to cover my eyes once I set foot outside because of the strong sunlight.

When they got used to it and I looked down at the city my blood ran cold and I had to blink a few times to make sure they weren't playing a bad joke on me.

There were some buildings broken and others were on fire. On the roofs there were strange creatures and in the sky I could see three of them flying in the distance. I could hear the sound of sirens. I even swore I could hear people screaming

Everything was chaos.

What's going on?