Something felt off about yesterday.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something just didn’t seem right. Maybe it was my anxiety telling me that something was very wrong, but I couldn’t be sure. Sleeping was tough because I kept worrying about something I still couldn’t figure out.

All of that didn’t matter, though, because I suddenly awoke to a man screaming.

"Everyone get up and run!"

I jolted awake at the sound of his voice. Melody stirred beside me, waking up when I grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"What’s going on?" she mumbled groggily.

"No time, we need to run!"

Our car wasn’t far, so leaving wouldn’t be an issue.

"Wait!" Melody yelled, making me stop for a second. "I need to find Rochelle!"

I hesitated. There wasn’t enough time to go after her, but we couldn’t just leave her behind. Even if she was still a stranger, I couldn’t let her die. After everything she had told us—after all the pain she had endured—she didn’t deserve to die so soon.

"Wait!" Melody yelled again, urging me to stop.

But I didn’t listen.

I rushed toward her camp, trampling leaves as I ran. Sweat dripped down my face. Was I going to make it in time? Was Melody right in stopping me?

I didn’t have time to figure that out.

I had to save someone.

But as I feared… she was right.

Standing there, towering over the campsite, was the massive dollhouse creature.

The description was exactly as Rochelle had told us. It was at least twice the size of an average person.

I couldn’t see Rochelle anywhere.

I couldn’t even call out for her, given the looming presence of the beast.

The hulking figure didn’t move. Its three doll heads turned, slowly scanning the area for movement.

I felt someone grab my arm.

"Come on, we have to go!"

Melody was desperate to leave, but my mind and body felt disconnected.

"We have to find Rochelle!"

"There’s no time, dammit!"

The dollhouse creature jerked its heads around, then slowly adjusted its massive body to face us.

Its hollow eyes locked onto us.

Then it moved.

Each step it took sent a loud boom across the area, the ground shuddering beneath its weight.

I was frozen for a moment, unable to react. But the oncoming danger snapped me back to reality, and I finally ran.

We sprinted toward our car. I didn’t dare look behind me, but I could hear the heavy thudding footsteps growing closer.

Melody fumbled through her pockets, desperately searching for the keys. Finally, she found them and started the car.

She slammed her foot on the gas.

The car roared to life, speeding down the road as fast as it could go.

We didn’t stop until we hit the highway.

We were safe… for now.

The drive to the next rest area was completely silent. Melody and I didn’t say a single word. Maybe it was because we had just seen someone left in such a state after sharing her tragic story with us, only to die the next day. Or maybe it was the fact that we had barely escaped death—again.

For her, this was probably a tense experience.

For me… it felt second nature.

Every day, it felt like I was running from death. Did it have some vendetta against me? Why was I at the center of all this misfortune? Maybe I was just going crazy—but who wouldn’t be in these circumstances?

The thought sparked anger in me. I needed to find the mastermind behind all this as soon as possible.

So many people were suffering because of this monster.

But despite the rage, there was still hope. And I couldn’t forget the promise I had made. Not just to Rochelle, but to Melody, to myself… and to the rest of the world.

If only I had gotten the chance to say a proper goodbye before we left. But there was nothing we could do about it now.

Even though I was filled with mixed emotions, I could tell Melody felt nothing. I couldn’t blame her. It would be hard to feel anything remotely positive after what had happened earlier.

We still had two days until we reached our destination. I knew we needed to hurry.

The machine had been acting up, too. For a while now, it kept repeating the phrase “closer” every few minutes. I couldn’t talk back to it since every response I gave was met with silence. Melody had no clue what it meant either. She suggested it was telling us we were getting closer. While that could be true, I had a sneaking suspicion that, in the long run, it meant something else.

“Stop here!”

I slammed the brakes as soon as she said that.

We were near a bridge, somewhere by a desolate lake.

When I stopped the car, she opened the door and walked toward the metal railing of the bridge. She leaned against it, arms resting over the railing as she stared out at the lake.

Eventually, I followed her, mimicking her actions.

We didn’t speak.

But I didn’t think talking was necessary.

Sometimes, it’s better to just breathe on your own.

Staring at the lake made me feel at peace. For a moment, I could forget everything bad that had happened. I could close my eyes and just… rest.

“Enjoying yourself?” Melody asked, still gazing at the water.

“What about you?” I sighed. “To be honest, while the sight is beautiful in its own right, I still can’t forget everything that’s happened.”

“That’s understandable. We just needed some peace for now. It’s crazy to think that even in this hell, there’s still a spark of beauty that lingers on.”

“Heh. I guess that’s a nice way of looking at it.”

Even though Melody had been detached, I could feel her easing up as we talked.

“I could probably just lie here forever,” I muttered.

“Until some rabid animal or a lunatic comes and kills you.” Melody chuckled slightly at her own joke.

“I don’t think the chances of both happening are very high.” I smirked. “At any rate, we’ll just kill whatever comes after us. I guess, if by some miracle we actually take down the mastermind, the rest of the creatures will die off too. Then, when that’s done, I can finally relax from all this shit.”

“What’s got you all riled up?”

For some reason, that question struck a nerve in me.

I snapped.

“Riled up?! Of fucking course, I’m riled up! I’ve nearly died five times in barely a week. Why the hell should I just sit back and take it easy while these things keep roaming around, killing more and more people? I’m just… so fucking tired!”

My hands clenched into fists.

“I keep telling myself I should let my emotions go, but I can’t anymore. I don’t want to keep suffering. I want—”

I hesitated.

I thought about what I was going to say.

I want to save everyone.

I want no one else to suffer.

I—

Melody sighed. “Look, I get it. I really do. I just think we need to stay calm and collected through this. We don’t want to lose our sanity, for god’s sake.”

She shook her head slightly, as if in silent apology. “I’m sorry for what I said. I should’ve been more aware of how much you were hurting.”

“No… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” I sighed. “But for now, let’s just try to get through this as quickly as possible.”

Melody stared at the ground, unsure of what to say next.

“Well,” she finally said, hesitating slightly, “we should probably head back now. We still have a long way to go.”

I took a deep breath, letting the tension ease out of me.

“Yeah… we should get going.”

We got inside the car and drove off toward the next rest area.

The machine said our next stop was at least an hour away.

But as it kept repeating that we were getting closer, I noticed something.

A change in its tone.

A deep voice.

And in it… a sense of delight.

The layout of this location was another section of a smaller city. It wasn’t as large in scale as the last one—although, to be fair, the previous area hadn’t felt that big either, mainly because we hadn’t explored much of it.

As much as I would’ve liked to venture out and see more of this place, I knew we’d just be wasting time. It’s not like we had much to spare anyway.

I wasn’t sure if our next encounter would be as pleasant as the last one. Melody had said we got lucky that the people there had been so friendly.

Something still felt off with her, though.

I didn’t know why I was thinking this way. It wasn’t like I was paranoid or anything, but there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

A little while later, we finally arrived at our second destination.

This city area was even smaller than I had imagined.

Unlike the last city we’d encountered, this one seemed unblemished, untouched. But despite that, it didn’t feel as abandoned as the others.

Maybe everyone had managed to evacuate sooner.

But if that were the case, why didn’t it look like the city from earlier?

There was something unsettling about the place. Every street, every corner—it all looked so… normal.

But of course, looks could be deceiving.

I was more worried about Melody than anything else. If something happened, I was afraid she’d have too many doubts and could end up causing a scene.

Melody tapped my shoulder. “We should probably leave. This place seems… troublesome.”

She was on edge, and I couldn’t blame her. The eeriness of this seemingly normal city was enough to put anyone on alert.

She wasn’t wrong about something being off, but we needed a place to stay, maybe even some extra supplies.

“I know it may not seem all that welcoming, but we shouldn’t just leave yet,” I said.

“Maybe,” she admitted, “but I’m keeping my guard up.”

She probably wasn’t wrong about that. Keeping your guard up was never a bad idea.

We walked from building to building, looking for anyone—or anything.

But there was no one.

The city felt even more like a ghost town than it had when we first arrived.

Everything seemed fine—until the sound of heavy, squelching footsteps began approaching us.

“What have we got here?”

A man’s voice spoke from behind us. He sounded like he was in his mid-30s.

“I didn’t know we’d be getting guests,” he continued. “Guess you guys saw how empty this place looked and decided to steal our stuff?”

We turned around.

The man was muscular, wearing a plain white t-shirt, long jeans, and a belt.

His presence felt… off.

I hesitated before speaking. “N-no. We just needed a rest stop for the night. We don’t want to interfere with anything you or your people might have here.”

“And how the hell do I know I can trust you two?” he said. “You’re outsiders. We don’t exactly trust anybody from out there.”

I frowned. “I’m just confused. If you don’t want people coming in, why is it so easy to enter?”

The man’s expression soured.

“We just didn’t have time to put security over every damn corner,” he said. “Don’t question us about it. You both should leave.”

Melody chimed in. “Sorry, sir, but I’m afraid we’re not just going to leave because you told us to.”

His face darkened.

“Excuse me?” His voice was lower now, more dangerous. “Do you have any idea what kind of shit you’re getting yourselves into by staying here? You don’t wanna start pissing me off.”

Melody rolled her eyes, completely unfazed by his threats.

“Yeah, yeah, sure…” she muttered.

“Melody, what the hell are you—”

I didn’t get to finish.

I could already see the red materializing on the man’s cheeks, his frustration boiling over.

“Alright, that’s it. I’ve fucking had it,” he snapped.

He raised his arm, his hand curling into a fist.

He was about to swing—

BANG.

A gunshot rang out.

Melody had drawn her gun and shot him in the arm.

The man recoiled from the impact, stumbling back and falling to his knees, clutching his wounded arm.

“Ah, fuck!” he yelled in pain.

Melody grabbed my shirt and tugged.

“C’mon,” she said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

---

We ran further into the city until we felt safe.

"Serves that bastard right."

I couldn’t believe Melody had just shot someone. In all fairness, it was self-defense, but I was still a little shocked.

Why did she think it was a brilliant idea to aggro him in the first place?

"I still can't believe you just shot someone," I said. "It was justified, but I was pretty surprised."

"Which is why I wasn’t scared," she replied. "I knew he was trouble, and I wanted to push his limits."

"But why would you do that? Wouldn't it have been easier to just move to a different part of the city? What if he had a firearm too? You put both of us in danger just then."

Melody stayed silent. She probably knew that would’ve been the smarter move, but maybe she had her reasons.

"I know I said earlier that we should leave because something felt off," she finally said, "but I’ve changed my mind since that happened. It’s better if we find whatever supplies we can and leave afterward."

I couldn’t argue with her anymore. She didn’t want to deal with even more trouble, and I couldn’t blame her for that.

Still, I wasn’t over her reckless actions.

The stress between us was so thick that the stop at the bridge earlier felt completely pointless—we were right back to square one.

All we could do now was keep searching for whatever supplies we could find.

Something felt off.

It was strange that the man had been the only person we’d encountered so far. If people were here, you’d think we’d have seen more by now. I highly doubted this small city would go unnoticed.

And yet, there were barely any supplies. It looked like everything had already been taken.

That had to mean more people were here. But if that were the case, why was it so quiet?

And why were his shoes so muddy?

There was a forest nearby, sure, but why would he need to go that deep into it?

"Don't you think it's weird that no one’s around besides us?" I asked. "Starting to feel a bit worried about our position right now."

Melody glanced at me, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, I guess it does seem weird," she admitted. "I was checking some of the stores for food, and all the shelves were empty. Some stores had a little, but most were completely out of stock."

"There could be people hiding. This city’s pretty isolated—it’s a winner-takes-all type of thing."

"Yeah, that’s very plausible."

Melody kept searching every building she could, while I stood there, trying to make sense of everything.

Something was wrong here.

Maybe even worse than I had imagined.

But more importantly, we needed to find a safe place—somewhere away from all the deranged lunatics.

I just hoped that guy wouldn’t find us.

"Lost or confused?"