Chris stood frozen, his entire body trembling as if his bones were hollow and his legs were ready to give up on him. Fear crawled over his skin like cold water, making his muscles stiffen until even breathing felt wrong.
For a brief, desperate second, his eyes darted toward Raven.
And that was when he saw it.
Not the indifference. Not the arrogance of someone who believed they could survive anything. No. Chris saw fear. Raw and real. It glimmered faintly in Raven's dark eyes, hiding behind the unwavering calm that masked his face.
He wasn't imagining it. Raven was scared too.
But unlike Chris, Raven stood his ground, feet firmly rooted like an old tree refusing to break in a storm. While Chris? He felt like a thin branch, one gust away from snapping in two.
'Talking with him… it made me feel safe. Like maybe, just maybe, I'd survive if I stayed near him. But outside? This is exactly what I expected when the world ended. Monsters. Blood. Death. I thought I'd prepared for it in my head… but I was wrong.'
His throat tightened, a bitter taste pooling in his mouth.
'I'm not like him. I'm scared. Weak. Pathetic. Nothing special... I never was. Just a teenager whose world revolved around novels and fantasies. And now? I'm standing in one… except here, people like me don't survive.'
No matter how much he told himself otherwise, the truth dug its claws deeper.
'I… I can't do this.'
It was natural, wasn't it? For someone his age to break down? To cry? To beg someone, anyone... for help? And wasn't that why he clung to Raven like a lifeline? Because Raven felt like certainty in a world that had none?
Yet, here they were. Surrounded. Death grinning at them with hollow eyes. And Raven... despite the same terror clawing at his chest, stood like a man who refused to die.
'How? How can he act like this? Isn't he scared? One wrong move and those things will rip us apart like paper. Just one. God… I want to live too. But… how?'
Raven's breathing deepened, his chest heaving as the weight of the moment sank in. The chains wrapped around his hands rattled like an ominous bell tolling his fate.
'There's no way out of this' he thought coldly.
'Not for me. Not for him. I never intended to rely on anyone. In this world, you either fight or rot. Unless your will to live is greater than your fear of death, you will never face them. And I can't give that to him. If he dies here… then so be it. I will live.'
One after another, the undead closed in.
Bones cracked under their own weight, rotten flesh clung to pale skeletons, and their joints bent at unnatural angles. Their hollow sockets burned faintly with a sickly blue glow... a mockery of life. Every movement made a sound, a wet, grinding noise as if death itself chewed the air.
It wouldn't be wrong to say they were the only two humans alive in this hellhole.
Raven's grip tightened, his body lowering into position. His arms swung wide, momentum building like a whip's crack.
The first two undead lunged, jaws gaping, claws slicing through the air.
Clank!
The chain blurred, slicing across their necks with brutal precision. A sharp snap echoed, followed by the thud of two skulls rolling on the bloodstained ground.
But Raven didn't celebrate.
His arms throbbed, muscles screaming with strain. These things weren't like before. Their bones had gone thicker and harder absorbing most of the force. If he didn't strike their weak points, the blows would be useless.
"Haah… haaaah…" His breaths grew ragged, each swing heavier than the last. Another undead fell, its head caving under a desperate strike.
But momentum only lasts so long.
And his luck ran out.
The next swing missed.
In that instant, an undead pounced so fast he barely registered the blur of movement.
"Krggghh—!"
Raven twisted instinctively, his ankle screaming in protest as he spun to dodge. He avoided a fatal blow, but pain lanced through his side as claws ripped across his flesh, tearing near his ribs.
"Ahhh!!!"
The scream tore free before he could stop it. Warm blood spilled from the gash, soaking his shirt. It wasn't deep but deep enough to slow him down.
His body slammed into the ground. Chains slipped from his fingers.
And in seconds, shadows fell over him. Undead. Dozens of them. Claws raised, jaws snapping like rabid animals.
'Fuck… this hurts…'
He bit down so hard he tasted iron, rage and pain mixing into one bitter mess. He refused to close his eyes.
'Not yet. Not ever.'
If he was going down, he'd go down fighting.
But there was nothing. No weapon. No time. Only death rushing toward him.
"Grrrhhhhh…"
A guttural growl filled the alley as claws slashed downward when...
CLANK!
The sound ripped through the chaos, loud and violent. Everything froze for a heartbeat.
One undead crumpled, its skull crushed like glass.
Behind it stood a boy. Hands trembling. Breath quivering. A crowbar gripped so tight his knuckles bled white.
Chris.
His eyes were wide, tears glistening at the corners. And yet, his lips twisted into something strange. Something wild.
A smile.
"I… I did it."
His voice cracked. But in that broken sound, there was life. Defiance.
It was his first kill.
A moment he'd never forget.
Even if it lasted only a second, it was enough for Raven. Enough to breathe. Enough to think.
His gaze darted around and landed on the fallen corpse. Without hesitation, he tore its femur free, the slick bone heavy in his grip.
"Don't just stand there!" Raven's roar cut through Chris's haze. "Kill them all, idiot!"
Raven lunged, smashing the bone down with brutal force. The undead's skull shattered like rotten fruit, spraying dark gore. The irony wasn't lost on him, using death to fight death.
Beside him, Chris moved. Hesitant at first, then frantic. The crowbar slammed again and again, his eyes squeezed shut as if refusing to see what he was doing.
And yet, he didn't stop. Not once.
Bones cracked. Flesh tore. The alley reeked of decay and blood.
Together, unknowingly, they became something more than two scared souls clinging to life.
They became a duo. Born of chaos. Forged in death.
***
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