Adam felt despair, anger, and yet what he felt in the moment greatly was confusion.

  He stared at their assailant and noticed that the grey patches of skin were growing larger, his horns longer, and his eyes, which were once green and black, were now both green.

  Adam also saw the body of a lifeless boy, his face mostly covered in blood, and the place where the eye should have been was filled with grey skin and green spikes that filled almost half of his face.

  The boy that had once helped them. One that had taught Kate how to use the bow. He remembered how everything was normal, how they had just talked yesterday, and then suddenly it was gone.

  He thought it might be how Nolan felt when Beth died. But right now he couldn’t care; looking at the lifeless body of the boy, he felt anger. Yet he could do nothing, he was too weak, too fragile.

  Nolan held one of his eyes and cursed under his breath, he squeezed the left side of his face until it was bleeding from his sharp nails.

  Then it turned to a laugh. He let go of his face, and the wounds he himself inflicted slowly healed.

  “So how should I kill all of you?” He spoke in a different tone, with a smile, not authoritative but something sinister.

  “But you had the boy, let them go, please, we had a deal,” the captain pleaded.

  The smile was wiped off Nolan's face as he slowly approached the old man.

  He pulled Richard's coat and used his other hand to pierce through his chest.

  Blood gushed out of the old man’s body, both from his injury and from his mouth.

  “No, I never had a deal with you,” Nolan said. He pulled his hand out of the captain's body, letting it fall to the ground.

  Something was wrong, Adam thought.

  It doesn’t feel like Nolan. He knew he would have done everything to kill Kiel, but he would not do it to anyone, at least that’s what he liked to think.

  But the man in front of him now doesn't seem to have any bit of humanity in him.

  Something had changed.

  If he thought that Nolan seemed to be a monster before, now he felt like the devil.

  Nolan wiped the blood off his hand using his trousers.

  He stared at Adam and smiled.

  “Are you still there? Are you mad? Or do I need to kill more?”

  Adam was barely trying to stay awake; he was trying to think of a way to escape.

  He couldn't think of any.

  He saw his pistol lying by his side, but with the state of his other hand and the amount of grey surrounding them, it probably wouldn't mean much.

  “Hey, don't sleep yet. Don't you want to kill me? Maybe I could give you a motivation.”

  As Nolan said those words, the winged grey stepped back, removing its weight off Kate.

  Why is this guy smiling? He seemed to be enjoying it, like it was a game, Adam thought.

  He was serious just a while ago, but now his personality took a complete turn.

  Nolan stepped closer to Kate, who was lying on the ground.

  His footsteps echoed as he got closer.

  Althea was just beside Kate; she was trembling as Nolan approached them.

  She wanted to protect Kate, but her fear made her freeze in place.

  Nolan gave her a sharp look, and she shivered.

  Nolan chuckled and took Kate by her neck, lifting her off the ground with ease.

  “Would killing her motivate you?”

  Kate struggled at her assailant's strength.

  She tried to flail around and hit Nolan's arm, but he didn't seem to feel it.

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  “Oh wait, I have an idea. If I spare her and kill you instead,” Nolan paused as if to think.

  “Do I get a point?”

  What?

  Kate thought, still struggling from the man's grip.

  They never told him about it, but why does it sound familiar?

  “Time’s ticking—decide now.”

  Before Adam could even answer, he saw a hazy figure move swiftly behind Nolan, so fast that it turned into a blur.

  He wasn't sure if it's because of the figure’s speed or his vision fading.

  Either way, he was surprised at what happened next.

  A long, sharp grey object pierced Nolan's chest. Its edge was green and dripped with blood as it pulled itself out of Nolan's body.

  Surprised, Nolan dropped Kate to the ground.

  He started coughing blood as he fell to his knees.

  When he did, Adam saw his attacker. The creature from the antique shop, the one Kate said was following her.

  It stood thin yet tall, with its additional spider-like limbs that were as sharp as a sword.

  Its empty face that contained nothing but its eyes looked down at Nolan. The creature still had its scar from its eyes that Adam inflicted.

  What was that doing here? He thought. But he couldn't care less why. His instincts screamed they must use this to run now.

  He mustered all his strength to take his pistol lying on the ground with his uninjured hand.

  He stood up and wobbled. He looked at Althea, who seemed to understand what he was doing.

  Immediately, she tried to shake off her fear and helped Kate stand as well.

  She also picked up the rifle lying by Kate’s side.

  Adam fired two shots at the greys that were guarding the gate. Fortunately, he managed to hit one of them. But there were still two other greys on the other side.

  Althea, who had the rifle in one hand and Kate on the other, fired several shots.

  There was practically no aim in it, but thankfully, with several bullets fired, there were some that luckily hit their target.

  One was hit straight at its skull, and the other took the hit at its legs, making it lose balance and fall off the causeway.

  Adam nodded at Althea to go first. The massive winged grey was still waiting for its orders, but when it noticed Adam, it screeched at his face so loudly that it sent a weak gust of wind at him.

  With the creature's mouth still open, Adam raised his gun and fired straight at its throat.

  The creature coughed blood until it slowly fell to the ground.

  Adam proceeded to run away from the island with one hand on the gun and the other unable to move.

  The greys were no longer attacking; they seemed to be cautious about Nolan's state.

  Adam took one last look.

  The grey raised one of its spider-like limbs just like an executioner, swiftly making its way towards Nolan, who was now kneeling and looking at his attacker.

  However, before the creature's attack could even connect, Nolan simply caught the blade-like limb. His hands were dripping with blood, but he doesn't seem to notice it as he tightened his grip on the limb and bent it in with a sharp crack.

  Suddenly, it was his attacker that had fallen to its knees.

  Adam could no longer afford to watch. Whatever time he got from the unexpected attacker was quickly running out.

  He ran across the causeway for what seemed to be an eternity until he finally saw the shore. He saw Kate and Althea by the car.

  Kate was leaning by the car, and when Althea noticed Adam, she immediately helped him towards it.

  Adam handed her the pistol and opened the car with his good hand, sliding into the passenger seat.

  He signaled Althea to get in with Kate.

  Althea helped Kate into the back seat. She was about to take her seat as well when Adam spoke.

  “No, you drive.”

  “What? But I can't drive,” Althea protested.

  “Neither can I,” Adam said, barely raising his broken hand.

  “You have to learn,” he followed.

  Althea sighed and closed the door of the back seat and slid into the driver's seat.

  She stared helplessly at the foreign buttons in front of her.

  “Here,” Adam said, handing her the keys.

  “I'll teach you.”

  …

  Althea proved herself to be a decent driver. By decent, Adam meant not hitting anything and somewhat being able to move away from the island.

  Adam sighed. What used to be their safe place had now been overthrown by those creatures; what's more was that they left the residents there.

  He was still sitting in the passenger seat, with Althea at the driver's seat, slumping her head on the steering wheel, and Kate still asleep in the back seat.

  Adam then noticed his ruined hand; his bones seemed to have gone all over the place.

  “Hey,” he said in a whisper.

  “Hmm?”

  “Keep watch.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Before Althea could receive her answer, Adam had already put a clean cloth in his mouth.

  Using every bit of strength he had left, he cracked the bone of his hand in place.

  He screamed but produced no noise. He bit into the cloth as hard as he could until finally the pain was too much to handle, sending him unconscious.

  Althea stared in disbelief. She sighed and looked around the road.

  It was empty, a few kilometers away from the island. She assumed that they should be safe, for now at least.

  She was worried about the residents. She wanted to return, but that was not possible, and chances are they would just get themselves killed.

  She sighed and slumped her head on the steering wheel once again.

  …

  After a few minutes, Kate had finally woken up. Her entire body ached from its injuries.

  She assumed that both Althea and Adam were asleep. She made her way to leave the car. After doing so, she stretched her arms. She thought that she didn't break any bones, at least that’s what she had hoped.

  Suddenly, before she could return back to the car, she heard footsteps and leaves rustling.

  They were in the middle of the road; there were some tall grass by the sidewalk and the usual abandoned houses.

  Fearing a grey might attack them, she swiftly opened the door of the car and took her rifle.

  When she looked back once again, a figure was already standing in front of her.

  It was the same monster that attacked Nolan and the same one that had been following her, also the same one they met at the antique shop, the one that stabbed her.

  But strangely enough, this time she didn't feel any ill intent from the creature.

  It simply stared at her with its head tilted. One of its limbs was bent in an awkward way; Kate assumed that Nolan did it.

  The creature took a step back, and what it did surprised Kate.

  It mumbled, but no sound was released.

  Then it touched its face, as if to search for its mouth, and when the creature failed to find it, it started digging its fingers into its face. Blood gushed out until the creature managed to split a part of its face to form a mouth.

  The skin was ripped in order to do so. Slowly, the creature tried to move its newfound jaw.

  “A—T…”

  Kate gaped her mouth as she realized it was trying to speak.

  “A…t-e”

  Ate? She thought. Was the creature hungry?

  “Khh—”

  The creature coughed blood but still continued to form a word, and when it finally succeeded, Kate was unable to believe what she had heard.

  “K-A…TE”