SWY 20

If it spreads through bites… As soon as Sharhan realized that, his mind flashed to the wide-open city gate. If those monsters made it beyond the territory of Luhas… He didn’t even want to imagine what horrors might follow.

“The gate!”

The words burst out of him instinctively.

“We have to close the gate!”

Lestel turned his head urgently and shouted the same. The moment their thoughts aligned, both of them bolted forward.

“Now’s our chance!”

“The gate’s open! We can get out!”

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

“Help us!”

Suddenly, dozens of people came running out from somewhere, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Their eyes lit up with desperate joy at the sight of the open gate. Their arms were full of hurriedly packed belongings, things they’d hidden and prepared to flee with when the moment came. But most of them never even made it to the gate.

Creatures burst out from houses that had seemed abandoned. It wasn’t just one or two. There were many. Their bloodshot eyes glared unnaturally wide, and their mouths gaped as if ready to tear into flesh at any moment.

“Aaah! Please, help!”

“Let go of me! Get away!”

The monsters grabbed at anyone in reach and sank their teeth into exposed skin. When they pulled away, strands of flesh dangled from their teeth. Some people dropped their belongings and ran, screaming. Others weren’t so lucky, they were caught, and became nothing more than meat.

Some turned away from loved ones and ran, sobbing. Others tried to save someone, throwing anything they could get their hands on. And still others, paralyzed with fear, were helplessly seized. A living nightmare unfolded before Sharhan and Lestel’s eyes. Their faces hardened as the chaos consumed everything.

“Stay close to me!”

“Don’t worry. Even if I die, I’m not leaving your side.”

As soon as Lestel said it, Sharhan sprang into action. He wasn’t looking to be a hero, but he couldn’t watch this horror unfold and run away to save himself. Not yet. Not while there was still something he could do. Lestel, blade already in hand, followed closely at Sharhan’s side.

“Fucking monsters!”

Sharhan’s sword struck true, slicing into their weak points. Each time he slashed a throat, the creature collapsed. He swung again and again, like he was back in the heart of a battlefield.

“When the hell did there get to be this many?”

No matter how many he cut down, the monsters just kept coming. More must have been drawn by the noise. He could hear the pounding of feet in the distance, more were rushing in.

“This isn’t going to work. We need to pull back.”

Sharhan nodded at Lestel’s words. He saw people still scrambling and screaming, trying to escape the swarm, but they couldn’t save everyone.

“P-please…”

Sharhan beheaded the creature hunched over a young woman. Her arm was half-chewed and her abdomen had been torn open. Through tear-filled blue eyes, she pleaded with him. But she didn’t have a chance. She wouldn’t make it.

A wet, gurgling sound came from her throat. Sharhan gritted his teeth and drove his blade cleanly through her neck. He couldn’t leave her to suffer – or worse, to turn into one of them.

A single tear slipped from her lifeless, wide eyes as her head rolled to the side. Watching it fall, Sharhan’s chest tightened with a strange, nameless grief.

“What are you doing? Let’s go!”

Lestel, his jaw clenched, grabbed Sharhan’s hand and pulled him away. Neither of them let go. They raced for the gate, relying on memory and the dim, flickering moonlight to find their way through the darkness.

“Damn it!”

Lestel cursed as they reached the gate, slashing down a creature that lunged from the shadows. Sharhan bit his lip. There were monsters everywhere near the gate, crawling, creeping, packed in like maggots around rotting meat. It was revolting.

“They’re swarming. What do we do?”

“We hide nearby and wait until morning. It’s too dark now.”

Even the faint moonlight had vanished. Clouds had smothered the sky. In this pitch-black night, forcing their way out was impossible. They had to wait for dawn.

“Where do we go?”

They couldn’t just duck into any house. Creatures had already jumped out of buildings they thought were empty. Shoulder to shoulder, the two scanned for a place to hide.

Then something small tapped Sharhan’s arm. Startled, he flinched, and another light tap landed on his shoulder.

“…?”

He turned and spotted an old, shabby house about ten steps away. Its door was cracked open, and someone inside was urgently motioning to them. It was hard to be sure in the dark, but it looked like a young man. He waved frantically, then held up an index finger to his lips.

Quiet, he was saying. Come quickly, but quietly.

Sharhan gave Lestel’s shoulder a light tap and nodded. Lestel glanced back, then nodded as well. The two moved cautiously, careful not to make a sound. As they drew close, the man opened the door wide. Sharhan and Lestel quickly slipped inside, shutting the door behind them.

The door was so old and rickety it looked like one good punch would knock it down, but once it closed and blocked off the outside world, both of them let out a deep breath. Only then did Sharhan realize how tense his body had been. His skin was sticky with sweat, and the muscles in his arms and legs trembled uncontrollably.

It reminded him of his first day on the battlefield, swinging his sword like mad under crushing tension, only to return to camp and collapse from muscle aches like the flu.

“Are you okay?”

Lestel asked as Sharhan tried to release the tension from his body with his breathing.

“Of course I’m okay. Why? Do I not look okay to you?”

“Well, you wouldn’t let go of my hand. Thought maybe you were scared.”

Lestel held up their still-clasped hands. Sharhan recoiled like he’d seen something disgusting and quickly shook Lestel off. Then he rubbed his palm on his clothes like he’d touched something filthy. Lestel looked at him in disbelief.

“That’s cold. I was trying to be nice.”

“Did I ask you to hold my hand? Just the thought of walking around holding your hand makes my skin crawl. Don’t ever grab me without permission again. You’ll die.”

“If I die, you’d just die with me. It’s perfect. Maybe I’ll leave a will asking to be buried together.”

“Are you insane? I wouldn’t want to be with you even in death. I’m sick of you.”

As they slipped back into their usual bickering, a soft cough interrupted them. They turned to see the man who had let them in had collapsed onto the floor, legs giving out the moment he shut the door. He wore a loose black robe with a hood and awkwardly raised a hand.

“Um… I’m Derry.”

“I’m Sharhan. This is Lestel. Thank you for helping us.”

“O-oh, no problem. Um, you two aren’t from Luhas, are you? I mean, I don’t know every resident here, but you both, uh, stand out… a lot.”

“Yes. I’m a mercenary, and he’s a merchant. We just arrived in Luhas today.”

“You came here to… uh, do business?”

“Something like that.”

Sharhan subtly assessed Derry. It was hard to say for sure since he was sitting, but Derry looked to be around five and a half feet tall. His thin frame was hidden beneath the robe, and he seemed timid, with fear written all over his face. His hands were trembling. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists as if trying to stop the shaking, but it wasn’t working.

Doesn’t look like he has any combat ability.

He looked fragile enough to die from a single punch. Still, Sharhan didn’t let his guard down. It was kind of Derry to help them, but he was still a stranger.

“You came to do b-business in Luhas? That’s, uh… that’s a tough choice.”

Whether out of habit or nerves, Derry kept stammering. Before replying, Sharhan glanced around the room. The windows were all covered with cloth, probably to prevent light from leaking out. Even the bed had no blanket.

The only light came from a single lamp, dim and flickering. The cheap oil filled the air with a foul smell. The bed was big enough for a whole family to sleep in together, probably parents and two children at most.

“Yeah. And to walk into this mess the moment we arrived…”

Sharhan shrugged with a wry smile, and Derry awkwardly laughed as he stood up.

“Oh, right! Y-you weren’t bitten, were you? I should’ve checked that first, I’m sorry…”

He tapped his own head in frustration. Sharhan and Lestel glanced at each other immediately. Their eyes said the same thing – he knows something about those things outside.

“We’re not.”

“Th-that’s a relief. Because, um, you can’t get bitten.”

“What happens if you do get bitten?”

Derry didn’t realize he was being probed. He let out a sigh and answered honestly.

“You turn into one of them.”

“What do you mean ‘one of them’?”

“You saw it, right? The ones out there… eating people. If you get bitten, you become like that. Uh, y-you didn’t… drink any tea after coming through the gate, did you?”

Derry had turned pale, startled by his own question, but one word in particular caught their attention.

Tea.

They instantly knew what he meant.

“You know about the Paphun tea?!”