In the darkness, stands a humanoid creature towering at the height of almost 5 meters, glares at a young soldier. Its terrifying four limbs, its two horns, its sharp, long claws… and its… menacing grin easily sent the soldier into a state of shock.
Thud!
His grip of his weapon loosen before completely coming out of his grasp. The young soldier took a step backwards slowly in fear, but keeping his composure relaxed. Again, he took another step… and then ran quickly, terrified of what he has witnessed in the darkness.
"Run!"
A faint voice in the dark was heard by multiple soldiers. They looked at the place it was coming from and saw a young, terrified soldier. Behind him, a tall monster with four arms, walks slowly and menacingly.
The sight of the beast sends shivers down the soldiers' spine. The young soldier continued to run, but before he could let out another scream, his world turned upside down.
His head rolled forward, his eyes full of fear and shock, his eyelid twitch one more time before the light in his eyes faded away.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One soldier fired at the terrifying beast. Just like the rest, he was afraid and terrified but he fought, his determination unwavering. Multiple soldiers soon joined, firing their assault rifles toward the monster.
ROOOOAAAAAAR!
The monster roared, not from pain but from amusement. The monster's eyes were closed, almost like giving itself a handicap to enjoy its hunt. It took a step, and another. The bullets didn't seem to work on the monster as it let out a menacing smile, clearly enjoying the desperate attempt of the terrified creatures in front of it.
One soldier gave up and ran, and then another one joined the faltering soldier. The rest of the soldiers continued their assault, but more and more soldier retreated as the monster got closer and closer. Not long after the start of the onslaught, everyone was already running for their life.
"F*CK! I didn't sign up for this sh*t! If I had known there's a damn monster here, I would've stayed home!" a soldier said, his voice shaking and full of fear.
"No… No, please… don't approach…" the voice then screamed, but was immediately cut off, replaced by the sound of flesh being torn apart.
"Damn it!" the terrified soldier cursed underneath his breath. He continued to run, desperate to live and to escape from that horrifying creature.
He looked back only to see the sight of dead soldiers everywhere. The scene caused his eyes to widen and he felt nauseous, but the desperation to leave this place alive is the only thing that is keeping him from not faltering.
"OVER HERE!" an old man leading the other soldiers said. "There's a building in front! We can use it to hide while that f*cking monster is distracted!" he said. The other soldiers didn't say a word, only following the man to the building.
The screams continued and other horrifying monsters began to come out from different places. The only safe place, at least for them, was the building ahead of them
Fortunately for them, no monsters have taken notice of them, only taking interest in those fallen and injured soldiers who kept screaming, not realizing that they had attracted the monsters within the area.
The soldiers, along with the terrified but determined soldier, arrived at the building.
Heavy breaths, silent sobs and prayers was the only thing heard inside the building. No one bothered to even say a word, terrified of attracting the attention of the monsters.
But one soldier broke the silence. With a grin on his face, he said, "We… lived!" His voice was happy, and his cheerful gesture lifted the soldiers' spirit a little. Unfortunately, life had other plans.
On top of the soldier, in the dark, a mouth came down, cutting the happy soldier in half, with its top half eaten by the unknown mouth, and the lower half falling lifelessly on the floor. The monster swallowed, and looked at its dinner being served in front of him.
Everyone was silent…
"KYAAAAAH!" a female soldier screamed.
"Move out of my way!" an arrogant soldier said, pushing soldiers blocking his way from escape.
"RAAAAAHHHH!" a soldier screamed, firing immediately at the monster, only for him to be grabbed by a tentacle and placed inside the monster's mouth.
The soldiers, who thought they had escaped, once again faced danger. The building was brought to chaos. Screams, gunshots and a screech of a monster was evidently heard, attracting the monsters outside, including the menacing monster from earlier.
With quick thinking, the terrified soldier jumped from the window, landing on the ground with minimal injury. He ran, not looking back. The monsters filled the building and the screams only got louder.
He continued to run, the screams which were once loud, had grown quiet, not because of the distance, but because almost everyone in the building was killed.
Monsters who hadn't noticed him were in front of him, forcing him to make a left turn. He ran, panicking, his breath growing heavy and raspy.
"Help… me…" A girl's soft and trembling voice caught his attention. He looked at a building to where the voice was coming from, and was bewildered to see a young girl, not even at the age of 10, inside this hell. He changed his direction to run to the building where the girl is, clinging on a hope for the monsters to not see him.
Fortunately, the monsters didn't see him and he successfully managed to get inside the building. Immediately, he looked for the girl, hoping that what he heard was not a real voice and was hallucinating about seeing a young girl, terrified of the fact a young girl is in this hell, however, the girl was, in fact, not a hallucination. The girl was frail, trembling and thin as a stick and was looking at him with hope and a hint of fear. Quickly, he took off his bag and opened it, searching for any food that he could give to the girl.
Five or more seconds later, he found canned food inside his bag. He grabbed the only can opener he had and desperately and quickly opened the canned food.
The food was opened and he offered it to the girl along with a spoon and whispered, "It's the only thing I have left." The soldier's voice was soft and kind, making the young girl feel easy. She accepted the opened canned food and was about to take a bite when the soldier said, "Eat slowly."
The girl was initially confused at first but did what the soldier advised.
***
"What's your name?" he asked, curious about the girl's identity. He wanted to ask about her past, but thought that it may make the girl remember something bad.
"Miya… Miya… is my name," the girl answered, her voice still soft and trembling.
The soldier, ready to speak again, was stopped as he heard of another terrifying roar. His body stiffened and so did the girl.
He let out a deep breath to calm himself. "That… monster… are you… familiar with it?" the soldier asked again, wanting information about the beast.
The girl looked at him confusedly, not understanding what he meant by 'that' monster. The soldier immediately understood and cleared his voice.
"Four arms, two horns… and sharp claws… familiar?"
The girl hesitantly nods, "That monster… it killed everyone… and takes pleasure in fear… not just the fear of humans, but also… other monsters."
The soldier's face grew dark hearing the answer. It wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but the sadistic tendency of the monster he learned disgusted and scared him.
"Light…" the girl said. "It's weak to light…"
"That… monster gets blinded easily," the girl added.
The information then made him remember something. While they were firing at the monster, the monster had its eyes closed. He thought it was toying with them, but it turned out that it was protecting itself from the muzzle flash from the assault rifles.
"Its sadistic trait is also one of its weaknesses. It wants to enjoy more so that it won't use its full power immediately. I saw it… it was enjoying his hunt and was attacked, almost killing it by a monster weaker than it. That time… was also the first time I saw its true power. It ripped its enemies… roaring loudly and almost…" the girl shuddered, not wanting to finish her sentence.
The soldier immediately understood what happened at that time and didn't ask anymore. He remained quiet, not wanting to waste any more energy than needed.
His eyelids grew heavy. He wanted to close his eyes, to sleep and forget everything that happened tonight… but the monster kept appearing in his mind, making him stay awake and forgetting his tiredness. He was dedicated to live and to protect this unknown girl. But as more time passed, his tiredness got the better of him. His eyes grew shut and fell asleep, forgetting everything albeit temporary…
The girl next to him looked at him curiously and noticed that the guy had already fallen asleep. She dragged his body to somewhere safer, but her strength couldn't even move him an inch. Desperate, she grabbed a cloth and covered the man's sitting body to hide him from being seen. The girl then crawled through a tight wall. The night grew colder and the screeches, roars and demonic laughs of nearby monsters made her silently cry, hoping for this nightmare to be over… And just like that, the sun has risen once more.