Chapter 003: Roars in the Darkness
Rezvan stood by the bus door, staring through the window that had become a sheet of absolute black.
The mist outside looked unnatural—not merely obscuring the view, but swallowing the light itself. There were no reflections. No shapes. Only a living darkness pressing against the bus from beyond.
His breathing grew heavy.
His chest rose and fell faster than usual as the muscles in his shoulders and neck tightened without him realizing it.
Panic crept upward, cold and slick, slipping into his mind.
Behind him, the bus attendant remained perfectly calm.
His gaze moved slowly, studying every corner of the cabin, every sound, every subtle shift in the atmosphere. He looked like someone forcing himself to stay rational in a situation that was steadily losing all logic.
To him, fear wasn't merely an emotion.
It was a signal.
Proof that the body sensed danger before the conscious mind could.
And his instincts kept repeating the same warning.
Stay inside the bus.
Don't go outside without information.
Don't move recklessly in an unfamiliar place.
Don't give whatever is out there an opportunity.
Strangely enough, the attendant's composure began rubbing off on Rezvan.
Not enough to erase his fear.
But enough to make him think again.
Rezvan drew a long breath, trying to calm himself.
His irritation toward the attendant still lingered, but he chose to let it go.
Arguing now would only make things worse.
He slowly walked back toward his students.
Most of them were still hunched over in their seats, struggling to regulate their breathing. Their pale faces were barely visible in the dim glow of the cigarette lighters that flickered from time to time.
They all complained of nearly the same symptoms.
Shortness of breath.
Heavy limbs.
A bone-deep chill.
A dull ache in their chests.
And most unsettling of all...
Rezvan himself was experiencing the very same symptoms.
"Can you all still hang in there?" he asked, trying to inject calm into his voice.
One by one, the students nodded, though their breathing remained labored.
They were vocational high school students.
Almost all of them were boys.
At that age, pride was often stronger than pain.
Especially with only three girls on the bus.
None of them wanted to look weak in front of the others.
Their teenage pride forced them to appear strong, even as their bodies were beginning to sound the alarm.
"Everyone's still alright?" Rezvan asked again, making sure.
They nodded almost in unison.
But their pale faces and ragged breathing told the real story.
Rezvan let out a slow sigh.
His eyes drifted once more toward the mist outside.
"Thick mist... dense air... freezing cold... and... something feels wrong... as if something is watching us..."
The feeling was impossible to explain.
There was no evidence.
Yet his instincts kept insisting that something outside was observing them.
"At least most of the students are boys... maybe they can still keep themselves together. If most of them were girls... this situation would've probably descended into chaos already..."
"Pak Guru... doesn't it feel like we're standing on top of a mountain?" the attendant suddenly asked.
Rezvan turned toward him.
He remained silent for a moment before giving a slow nod.
His face looked exhausted, weighed down by mounting pressure.
He knew his students were only pretending to be strong.
The bus was slowly becoming a chamber of anxiety, waiting to explode.
"Just like the students, I'm feeling it too," the attendant continued.
"Every step feels heavy... my chest feels like it's being crushed... my whole body aches..."
He paused.
"And this isn't because of the EMP."
"You're right," Rezvan replied.
"An EMP doesn't affect the human body. And if this were caused by a different environment, we would've noticed it back at the airport."
"If it were just the environment, I should've gotten used to it already."
The attendant shook his head slightly.
"I've been in Kalimantan for months. But all of this started the moment that mist exploded around us."
He paused again.
"For some reason... I'm convinced that's the cause."
He looked toward the driver's seat.
"And I don't think it's just us. Pak Marta grabbed his chest several times earlier. I think he's feeling it too."
"Mmm..."
Rezvan nodded slowly.
"To be honest, I've been forcing myself not to complain."
"My body feels like it's being tortured."
"This cold isn't normal..."
"My whole body aches..."
"My legs feel as heavy as if I were walking through mud..."
"My chest is tight..."
"The air feels thin in my lungs."
"It's like we're really standing on top of a very high mountain."
The attendant gave a slight nod.
He felt exactly the same.
The freezing air seemed to penetrate too deeply into his lungs, leaving behind a sharp ache with every breath.
For several moments, the three of them—
Rezvan.
Rafandra.
And Pak Marta—
stood in silence.
None of them wanted to lose control.
Dozens of students behind them were depending on how the adults reacted.
If even one of them panicked...
the entire bus would fall apart.
"What do we do, Pak?"
Pak Marta finally broke the silence.
The middle-aged driver's face was tense.
Cold sweat covered his temples despite the freezing air.
His question lingered unanswered.
Rezvan and Rafandra exchanged a brief glance.
Neither of them truly knew what to do.
"I'm... not sure, Pak, but—"
BANG!!
A deafening impact suddenly exploded from outside.
Everyone inside the bus jerked violently.
The entire vehicle shook so hard that the windows rattled loudly.
Several students screamed instinctively.
Others immediately ducked and covered their heads.
Before anyone had time to recover—
RRRRAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!
A series of long, echoing roars thundered outside the bus.
At the same time—
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The ground trembled beneath the pounding of heavy—
and numerous—
footsteps.
"W-What... was that...?"
Ardi's voice caught in his throat.
"That... wasn't a traffic accident, was it?!"
Indah trembled.
"Did something get hit?!"
Dina cried in panic.
"B-But... that sounded like an elephant... didn't it?"
Damar asked.
"Y-Yeah... I heard something like an elephant too..."
Kirana whispered.
"Right, Pak?! That was an elephant, wasn't it?!"
Bima shouted, breathing heavily.
Questions erupted throughout the cabin.
Yet no one dared stand up.
They remained frozen in their seats.
The air inside the bus grew even heavier.
Breathing became more difficult.
Their hearts pounded louder.
RRRNNNGGGHHH!!
The roar came again.
Closer.
Much closer.
As though it was right beside the bus.
Screams instantly erupted throughout the cabin.
Some students curled into their seats.
Others instinctively grabbed the hands of whoever sat beside them.
Then—
BANG! CRACK! SCREECH! CRASH!
The horrifying sound of metal being crushed came from somewhere behind the bus.
Then—
KRAAAANG!! BOOOOM!!
Something massive—
something made of heavy metal—
was hurled through the air.
When it crashed to the ground...
the earth itself shook.
The bus lurched violently.
The sound was far too real to be dismissed as an illusion.
Rezvan whipped his head around, his pupils widening.
Meanwhile, the attendant had already gone on alert from the very first impact.
"Everyone, stay where you are!"
he shouted firmly.
His voice wasn't loud.
But the weight behind it instantly silenced several students.
Before the shock had even settled—
CRAAASH!!
Another violent impact slammed into the bus.