I ran out of the school grounds.
A small drainage canal flowed nearby. I approached and wanted to wash my face, but... I saw almost another person in the reflection. My face, but pale skin. Blue eyes. Hair dyed white. I used to be an ordinary human: brunette with brown eyes, not too pale skin. In the reflection—pale, blue-eyed, with short white hair.
I ran a hand over my face. Touched my hair. It was me. Maybe this sword affected me? But what's the point?
Questions piled up.
I pulled out my phone and looked at the blank screen. Blinked. In the reflection, Anna stood behind me. As if alive. Blinked again. She was gone. A shiver ran through my body. Cold sweat covered me again.
— Just hallucinations, — I began to reassure myself.
Wanted to wash my face. The water stank. Corpses floated in it. It was clear—this disaster had engulfed at least the entire city.
I poured out the water I'd scooped in my hands. Wanted to wipe my hand. But wiping it on my clothes wasn't a good option either. My school uniform was soaked in blood.
Just before the catastrophe, that voice had announced its start. I remembered. [Your world has been chosen as the arena for the Hunger Games between worlds.] [Guests from other worlds will soon arrive.]
So, they're aliens? The voice in my head—a host? Either way, it's just a hypothesis.
I walked through the streets of the ruined city, lost in thought to avoid noticing the piles of corpses.
— How did you survive? — a voice came from behind.
I turned around.
About ten meters away stood... a living corpse? A schoolgirl's body with a mangled face, but intact limbs.
— Another type of alien? — I scoffed.
— How clever you are, — she smirked. — No wonder you survived.
— I plan to outlive you all, — I replied with a grin.
— But can you spend eternity alone?
Her words made it clear the voice in my head wasn't lying. The winner gets immortality.
— Why would you think I'd be alone?
— You need to learn to listen. Didn't the voice say the last survivor wins?
She sat on the asphalt. I couldn't understand her.
— So, it's like a battle royale? — I asked.
— Don't know what that means, but it's a game to the last survivor, — she replied. — And I don't believe your race has any chance.
She stood. More corpses emerged from every corner. They surrounded me.
— So afraid of one human you won't face me one-on-one? — I shouted, raising my sword.
— Sorry, my friend, but cheap tricks won't get under our skin, — she replied.
Whoever they were, their abilities seemed limited by human bodies, but they held bats, knives, even guns.
If I tried, I could handle them with my new abilities. Or should I run?
Several ran at me. They didn't see me as a big threat. I raised my sword and took a stance.
One lunged at me with a knife. In an instant, I swung and cut off his head. The others following him stopped.
My abilities now surpass human limits. This plays in my favor.
Suddenly, something like slime crawled from the severed head. It was completely transparent, almost liquid.
No shape, but capillaries were visible inside. Like human ones.
It crawled out and tried to escape, but I stabbed it with my sword. It instantly hardened, as if dried out.
They exchanged glances and... charged at me in a mob. Over a hundred. For two seconds, I froze, unsure what to do. Then an idea hit.
I threw the sword into the air and controlled it remotely. It spun at high speed around me, slicing everyone in half.
They froze.
A second later, they scattered in all directions. Reinforcements came from the alleys. There were even more, but this time they didn't charge head-on. They spread out, vanished from my sight, and attacked in pairs or threes from all sides, never stopping.
The sword couldn't stop them all. One was about to stab my head. I dodged in a split second and called the sword back. One swing, and his face split in two. Blood sprayed on me.
While I was distracted, more attacked from behind. One bit and clung to my neck. Another hit my face with a bat. I kicked a third, and he flew back. At that moment, they all charged again.
I released the sword again. It sliced the face of the one on my neck in half. Blood splashed into my eye, and I went blind, not understanding what was happening. A second later, I felt several knives plunge into me.
Just before, I'd grabbed the sword. It kept me alive, on the edge. I pushed several away and wiped my face.
Fighting further was pointless. I had to run.
— AAAAAAAAAAA!
I screamed at the top of my lungs and charged forward, slashing everything I saw. Those in my path scattered, fearing death. Meanwhile, they kept wounding me from behind. I turned and kept swinging.
I just ran. I was faster than them, so they couldn't catch me. Those in my way fled in all directions. I ran like that for at least ten minutes.
I stopped and looked around. No one in sight. I pulled out the knives stuck in me. The sword glowed the whole time, keeping me alive. My wounds began to heal.
Before I could sit and rest, I heard screams from a building. I ran toward them but didn't make it in time. The screams stopped. On the third floor, I saw three monsters like those at school and several fresh corpses.
Rage blinded me. Before they could attack, I killed them all.
— BASTARDS!
I stood, hacking their dead flesh. They hadn't moved for a while, but I kept going. I enjoyed it. That scared me.
How did I sink to this? I had to keep a cool head.
After a few minutes of fury, I came to my senses.
The floor was one big supermarket. These people must have come here for food.
Near one corpse, I found... a radio? It emitted only white noise, like an old TV.
What if it works?
I took it with me. Grabbed a new backpack from the shelves and stuffed it with water, cans, and dried fruit. Found new clothes and changed.
It was getting dark. I needed a place to rest. I chose a hotel. Surprisingly, it had electricity. I picked an empty room on the 25th floor. Walked to the window.
A dead, ruined city stretched before me.