The little girl stared at him for a moment, then lowered her head. As she did, Kael noticed a metal drinking bottle lying by the wall behind the girl.
"Did you drink from that bottle?" he asked, pointing toward it.
Kael wanted to confirm if the girl had really drunk the contents of that bottle—the same bottle he drank from at Platform B.
If that's true, she has now become an Awakened.
The girl looked at the bottle he pointed at and then nodded.
"Did you drink all of it?"
She nodded again, and Kael smiled. "What's your name?"
"Mira," she replied softly.
"Alright, Mira. We need to leave here quickly. The monsters are back," he said as he stood up.
The girl's eyes widened, and as Kael turned, she grabbed at the hem of his pants—what was left of them after he'd cut them at the convenience store earlier.
He looked back at her and said, "Yes? What is it?"
"I'm scared," she whispered.
Kael stared at her for a moment before asking, "Would it be okay if I carry you? I'll protect you."
The little girl nodded and released her grip on his pants.
Kael immediately crouched down, picked her up, and they hurried away.
The distant roars grew louder, and they ran faster.
Even though Kael carried a backpack and the girl, he ran with ease, leaping over debris and abandoned cars until they reached the mall he'd been heading to.
After a few seconds, her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the mall.
The mall was completely destroyed, with debris scattered everywhere. Several holes gaped in the floors, and shards of glass were strewn all around.
He entered the mall quickly and went straight to the underground parking lot.
'If those creatures come, the last place they'll likely go is the basement,' Kael thought.
He half-ran down a damaged staircase, jumping through a hole in the floor to reach one level below.
On the lowest floor, he headed straight to the area beneath the spiral ramp for cars to exit.
He set Mira and his backpack down there, then changed into the clothes he had packed in his backpack.
Mira sat quietly, hugging her knees and resting her head on them.
After changing, he sat down beside her, pulled out some food and water from his backpack, and offered them to her.
She only glanced at the food before looking up at Kael.
"Eat. You must be hungry," he said, placing the food beside her.
He placed the pistol beside the little girl, then grabbed his shotgun and a bag of salt from his backpack.
Handing the salt to the girl, he said, "Rub this all over yourself, and scatter the rest around where you're sitting."
"Use the pistol. The bullets are coated with salt too," he added.
Mira stared at the pistol, and seeing the little girl remain silent, Kael said, "Everyone's scared. I'm scared too. But we have to survive."
Standing up, he said, "Wait here. I'll be back soon."
He walked away, scattering salt around the area, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.
***
He rushed around the mall floor, looking for the sword he needed. He searched everywhere but couldn't find it.
"Where is that stupid sword?" he grumbled to himself.
Standing in the middle of the fifth floor, he glanced at his watch. It was 5 p.m. He had only fifteen minutes left before the monsters arrived at the mall.
And there were about eight hours until midnight, when the second gate would open and unleash a different kind of monster.
He took a deep breath and kept searching.
When there were just five minutes left, he finally found the long sword in a store selling all sorts of hardware items.
The sword was displayed among some car accessories like bumpers.
The sword was a katana with a black hilt and scabbard. Along its blade were carvings in symbols that Kael could not understand, clearly not belonging to any human language known on Earth.
Shaking his head, he unsheathed the sword to inspect it and swung it once.
Grinning, he muttered, "I may be weak now, but my memories of fighting with various weapons are still intact."
After putting the sword back in its sheath, he checked his watch again and hurried down to the ground floor.
But as soon as he reached the first floor, he heard snoring and growling sounds coming from the ground level.
Slowly, he approached the open gap between the first floor and the ground level. He knelt down and peeked into the hole.
What he saw was five creatures with tentacle-like heads roaming the ground floor, illuminated by the sunlight that was about to set.
The five creatures moved separately, making snorting and low growling noises.
Kael watched them for a moment until he noticed another creature descending the stairs to the lower grounds.
Holding his breath slightly, he then rose and jumped down through the hole.
As he landed, he drew his sword and immediately charged at one of the creatures, which turned upon hearing the sound of his snickers hitting the ground.
Without wasting any time, he swung his sword at the nearest creature's neck, effortlessly slicing it. The head rolled onto the floor.
Kael grinned as he observed the other monsters charging toward him, except for the one hurrying down to the lower grounds.
He ran toward the nearest monster, sliding underneath it between its legs.
Quickly rising, he kicked the monster standing behind it.
Using the second monster's body as a foothold, he jumped up, turned mid-air, and slashed the neck of the first monster.
When the second monster stretched its arms toward him as he hovered in the air, he flipped backward and landed lightly on the ground.
But the hands of the third and fourth monsters were already reaching for him, forcing him to leap aside to evade.
Wasting no time, he moved to the side of the third monster, whose body was slightly hunched as it extended its hands to attack him.
He made a small jump and swung his sword from the side of his body, adding extra force with a twist of his waist.
The monster's head rolled to the ground for the second time.
"Four more to go..." he muttered with a grin.