My boss suddenly appeared behind me, shivering in fear.
What a pathetic man-child.
I pushed aside a bush covering the path ahead, and that's when I saw them.
"F**k! Run!" I shouted.
But before I could even start running, my boss was already gone, sprinting ahead with his big body bouncing clumsily.
That little—
I didn't even finish cursing him out. There was no time. I had no choice but to run.
His pace slowed just enough for me to catch up, not long after.
He looked back at me and gave me a furious glare.
I was a little ahead of him now as we continued to run, the forest whipping past us like some living nightmare.
Then he shouted, voice cracking, panicked:
"Xavier! Help!"
I turned instinctively, my heart tightening.
He was on his knees.
My heart… sank.
He clutched his chest, groaning, his body shaking.
It looked like… a heart attack.
"Help me, please! I beg you!" he gasped.
I hesitated. My conscience screamed at me not to leave him.
Damn it.
I slowed and walked back toward him, ready to try and help, even though my instincts screamed to keep moving.
And then—
SMACK.
A heavy rock slammed into the side of my head.
I went down hard, clutching the spot where he hit me.
Blood poured freely, running down my face, into my eyes, blurring my vision into a fiery red haze.
Pain exploded through my skull, sharp and relentless.
I staggered, trying to push myself upright, but my mind struggled to process what just happened.
He looked at me, eyes wide and wild, his chest still heaving.
"I'm sorry," he said through gritted teeth, his voice trembling with some mix of fear and madness. "But someone has to survive… between the two of us. And I'm your boss, right? I gave you a job… an income… at least with that, you should be grateful."
I blinked, trying to focus, wiping blood from my eyes with a trembling hand.
The forest around us felt impossibly close now, suffocating, alive with shadows and the faintest rustle of movement.
I shook my head, anger and disbelief clashing with the raw pain in my skull.
Grateful? Grateful that he almost got us eaten alive, then tried to kill me to save himself?
So this is how he survived until now.
He used people… humans… as bait.
Just so he could run away while those monsters tore apart whoever he left behind.
Every scream. Every frantic struggle. Every life lost—it didn't matter to him.
Despicable.
Absolutely despicable.
My blood boiled at the thought.
The man I'd once called a boss was nothing more than a coward hiding behind the suffering of others.
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms.
How many people had he sacrificed before?
How many more would he throw away if we didn't make it out alive?
And the worst part…
He still had the audacity to call it gratefulness.
I could barely keep my teeth from grinding together.
No.
I didn't have the luxury of letting anger take over—not yet.
Not when every step could mean death.
But one thing was clear.
If I survived this, if I made it out alive, I wouldn't forget.
Not him. Not his cowardice.
He could run now. He could survive today.
But I…
I wouldn't let him get away with using others as shields forever.
He will pay for everything he did.
I swear on that.
He didn't glance back at me again. He just kept running, leaving me behind like I was nothing.
How laughable.
Here I was, swearing I'd make him pay… and I wasn't even sure I could survive this.
I struggled to stand, one hand pressed against my throbbing head.
Even if my skull felt like it was splitting in two and my vision was blurred with blood, I had to keep moving.
I had to run.
Even if my life was miserable, even if the world hated me… as long as I survived this, I wouldn't give up.
I wouldn't.
Because maybe… someday… I could believe I could be happy. Even for just a little bit.
I'm willing to endure a thousand times the suffering, if it meant gaining even one small thing I've desperately wanted my whole life.
Maybe I'm just making excuses right now.
Maybe my brain is gaslighting me, tricking me into moving forward, into surviving, just like it always does.
And you know what?
I don't care anymore.
I don't care how much it hurts.
I don't care how hopeless it feels.
I just have to live.
I struggled hard to push myself forward, but it felt like the world itself was laughing at me.
Like some twisted joke of fate, the monsters were catching up.
And not just randomly—they were forming a formation.
Cornering me.
Like a pack of predators, perfectly executing a plan, cutting off every escape route to catch their prey.
I was surrounded. No gaps. No openings.
I looked around frantically.
How many were there? Ten? Twenty? More?
I couldn't tell. My head throbbed, my vision blurred with blood and sweat, but I could see their glowing eyes moving with terrifying precision.
My heart pounded like a drum in my chest.
I had nowhere to run.
Every instinct screamed at me to flee, but I was trapped.
Is this really the end of the line for me?