Looking around, it became clear. This was a bust. Nothing was here. Nothing at all. Which would be a good moment for something to jump out, but… nothing did.

  I had made a mistake, clearly. Going out on my own to try and get ahead, only to arrive in the middle of nowhere. It seemed like a bad joke…

  Only… that didn’t seem appropriate. Why was it empty here? Why were there no undead or anything to fight for coins?

  Folding my arms, in the middle of the dimly lit space, illuminated only by the slowly setting sun that bled in from the windows. The ceiling was masked in shadow, only the sound of chains could be heard from above. Here, I thought. Pondered…

  Our objective was to survive for three days. Seventy-two hours. Then… the event ends? Even if it does end, the city shouldn’t miraculously become safe.

  Would we have to make it back to the central station? That didn’t sound right either. Compared to the number of undead that existed, our numbers were lacking. Even if each person killed thousands of undead, the city boasted millions of people.

  Which prompted a further question, where were they?

  Together, we’d dealt with quite the number of undead. Between us, we easily dealt with hundreds of zombies. Even closed on a thousand by the end of the day, if not more.

  Sure, we didn’t hunt every group we met, and many more groups existed along the main roads, but…

  Was this really all there was?

  Not just that, but when the power went out at midnight… where had those zombies come from? Not just that, but the streets seemed even more packed than usual.

  The buildings had been, more or less, empty. Broken into, or covered in bloody stains, but empty of zombies or people.

  Where then, could countless undead be, without getting noticed?

  The subway lines? It was fitting and yet… I feel as if the lines had been shuttered properly. Otherwise, we would have been cut off in our flight. Not only that, but even if every denizen of the city piled into the subway, I think we would have noticed.

  Where else…

  No…

  But…

  It seemed comical, perhaps a bit cliché, but… what about the sewers? What if the sewers are packed with undead?

  But… would the sewer lines even be big enough? What if they’re really just outside the city?

  I had a few more hours before it got dark, and… there should be a sewer access or manhole I could go down somewhere around here… I don’t have anything to light the way though…

  I am in the industrial district, plus… I am in the central part where goods are shipped around. How hard could it be to find some flashlights and batteries? After all, trolley cars and crates were piled about, it only made sense that one or two would have something useful.

  I considered bashing open crates, but a set of stairs led to a larger office that overlooked the whole place. The evening sun tinged everything orange, but in the midst of it, I saw it. This place too, had to have been a rescue sight. Medical supplies were scattered about, packages of food, lights, batteries, and bags were set around.

  After a quick look around, I even managed to find a locker room, inside were hard hats as well. A good find, all things considered.

  Now properly fitted, I made my way out to the main floor and planned out my next set of actions. No longer did I feel like I was being watched. There was an odd silence that hung in the air. Though…

  I couldn’t help but look around at the depot. A trolley was knocked over, numerous crates scattered on the ground, their contents splayed out. Further inspection showed the main entry, a pair of giant entry gates were oddly ajar.

  Had something passed through? Was I really alone?

  Perhaps I should just leave, but… Even now, I still heard chains clinking from the ceiling. Like something was moving above. Perhaps I should leave well enough alone, go about my business, but…

  Curiosity is truly a killer.

  Under the influence of ice, I dared to brave the unknown. Pointing my lantern up, a piercing beam of light banished the darkness…

  I saw something. White, alabaster almost. I wasn’t sure what it was. It looked like a giant mass. It was still, unmoving. But even through the ice, I felt the dawning horror building. Threatening to rip out of my chest with a scream.

  I hadn’t been alone. Something was up there. Sleeping.

  Carefully, slowly, I made my way out. Ever so careful not to disturb whatever it was that I saw. The moment I was clear of the building, I pumped my feet as hard as I could, the sun’s last glimmers of light guiding me.

  For a moment, I thought I was in the clear, but… Then I heard it. A keening cry, between a wail and a scream. It rippled through the streets, and I felt the very world come alive.

  I saw them, in the shadows. Alabaster things, long limbs, too long hands, faces without eyes or mouths. They avoided the light. The few pushed into it hissed, their skin burning away into ash. They came crawling out of the factories, out of crevices and holes. All coming straight for me.

  I broke into a sprint. The sun going lower and lower, reducing where I could go. I ran under eaves and arches, monstrosities leaped out at me. I didn’t dare meat them head on. Instead choosing to push myself even harder. Ducking and weaving under blows.

  Farther back, as the sun set, I heard it. Felt it. Its large body touching down, the slight thump with every step. Its gaze on me, felt like someone had placed a weight upon my back.

  As the sun continued to fall, their movements grew more coordinated, less sluggish. Their faces split open, revealing lamprey like mouths, lined with teeth and tendril like tongues.

  They crowded in, they pushed and pressed. No matter how fast I moved, I knew they were closing in…

  That was when I found salvation. A manhole. An entrance to the sewers. I didn’t think as I lunged for the opening, ripping it out with a burst of strength. With a swing of my arm, the metal lid crashed into a nearby horror, shoving it back, but doing little to no damage to it.

  Just as they began to press in, I leapt down into the dark unknown, trusting my own powers. I crashed down, not into water, but into what looked like a walkway. Water rushed along the side, a small railing separating me from it. Above, I heard the creatures clambering in, along with the steady thumps of the larger monstrosity closing in.

  I ran without a second though. Moving down passages, taking turns when they came. I threw most off, leaving only one behind nipping at my heels.

  With grit teeth, I threw aside my backpack and readied myself for conflict. It came hard and fast. Long, scythe-like claws ripped out, easily carving out stone. My own fists hammered into its slender, almost skeletal body. I felt bone crack under my blow, but it seemed undeterred, it pressed on.

  Its maw clamped down where my head was a moment before, my fists continued to crack into it, breaking bone and pulping flesh, yet, undeterred it pressed on.

  It was tough. Absurdly tough. Each blow took all I had, and even a single strike would result in a lethal strike. I dared not take the claws head on. Opting to instead focus on weakening and crippling it. Even as I broke its joints and rendered it unable to move, its maw still snapped and cracked.

  It wasn’t until I stomped its head in that it finally died. Once and for all. Leaving me tired, exhausted, and entirely spent. I threw myself against the wall and panted.

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  Yet, it wasn’t done… now expired, the body began to flake away, turning into ash, leaving me further bewildered and concerned.

  The only reason I won, was because it was slow. It made wide swings, didn’t bother avoiding strikes. Comparatively, they were tougher and more dangerous than even Brutes at this point, but they were so slow that it didn’t seem to matter…

  Fortunately, it was just a single one of these things and not multiple. After catching my breath, I stood with a slight wobble and made my way further into the sewers. Both eager, and terrified with what I would find further in…

  After walking a bit, and having proper time to take in my surroundings, my first impression of the sewer was that it was unusual. Unusually well maintained and well kept. Like people were actually paid to come out and check over things more than once a year. Pipes weren’t really leaking. The path had proper railings to prevent people from falling into the slow-moving sludge at the center of the sewer line.

  I even heard the telltale signs of water flowing still…

  Which was a bit strange. With power out, the water lines should follow next. Without power to keep the pumps pushing water through the waterlines, water shouldn’t really be flowing. Not unless…

  I was in the industrial district. Maybe some of the factories are still operating? A single power outage could be devastating for a factory, so most tend to have backup power supplies.

  They likely ran dry of materials hours ago without someone feeding them material. However, they’d still cycle. Water would still flow and flush through the lines. It shouldn’t be an issue, but… I’d best keep an eye out for sudden bursts of water.

  I make my way down the tunnel. Lifting up my lantern to better illuminate the tunnel before me. It smelled about as good as I expected it too, but for the most part… I didn’t see any signs of trouble.

  Was I really alone here?

  A sudden shriek brought me out of my thoughts. I caught a blur rushing for my face. My hand slapped out, backhanding the shadow. I felt my hand hit, I heard bones crackle, and the shadow went flying into the nearby wall with a crunch, and a wet thud when it hit the ground.

  I shone my light to get a closer look…

  …A rodent of unusual size… It was the size of a medium sized dog.

  That wasn’t going to be fun. I looked up, and of course, more of them were coming. They went for my ankles, some leapt into the air, only to be slapped aside. A few went sailing into the flowing sewage and either died on impact or drowned shortly after trying to swim away with their body crippled. Not a pleasant way to go, I surmised.

  At least they weren’t more of those horrors…

  I kicked, stomped, or otherwise dealt with the other rats. It wasn’t hard. Their teeth left marks in the ice covering my body, a few even nicked my clothing, but none of them were capable of chewing through to my skin before I killed them. Plus, the kills occasionally gave me coins, which was a bonus.

  If I let them latch on, I knew they could work their way through my ice. I’ve seen what they can do to metal. The little biters can and will chew through most anything.

  They kept coming and I kept killing. It was more of a bother, but I was careful not to slip or get complacent. Even then, their numbers were worrying. As was their size. Luckily, they were just large enough that I didn’t need to worry so much about them climbing all over each other, like smaller rats were want to do. Not just that, but the path was only so large and only so many could walk forward.

  Eventually, a few manages to gnaw away at the ice along my legs to start chewing into my flesh. Even then, I was calm. I was ice. Working slowly, without emotion, I continued to kill and eventually, they broke and fled.

  My shoes were gnawed to hell, but serviceable. My ankles were exposed, the pants gnawed away to nothing. The skin underneath was covered in smaller wounds, but otherwise fine.

  I let the ice recede. As expected, pain came back. My ankle began to bleed. I wiped it down and did my best to disinfect it before bandaging it. I wasn’t in the best spot for this, but… it was the best I had.

  Once done, I resumed my walk. Through the twists and turns. Occasionally, a rat would leap out of a pipe, but rarely was it a threat. Eventually, I came to an odd sight. A tunnel that ran further down. The stone appeared older, but not by much. The railings were less maintained as well.

  Without a second thought, I made my way down. The steps were slick. As were the walls. I put my hand on the railing, and the only reason I held my disgust in was thanks to the ice freezing over my emotions.

  Still, I wish I had gotten new gloves. My suit and gloves were essentially ruined after fighting that brute inside the parking garage on the first day of being in this event. The tracksuit I was wearing was serviceable, but I really should have gotten new gloves. Then again, my bandages served well enough though…

  Regardless, it was a mistake not to replace them.

  Burying those thoughts, I continued forward. Truly, this part of the tunnel appeared less traveled, but my path forward was quickly barred by an unusual sight.

  “Webs?” I muttered, staring at the white substance standing before me. It covered the tunnel.

  A larger mess of webbing was barring the path forward. Cautiously, I touched it with a hand and as expected, it stuck. The web was surprisingly stubborn. Even using all my strength, I couldn’t quite get it off. I kept pulling and pulling…

  Then, the web snapped back, nearly pulling me into it. Inevitably, I had to stop reinforcing the ice on my hand, allowing me to pull away, and in the process peel away the layer of ice. It was strong. I didn’t think I could punch through this…

  I straightened my hand out, hardened it with ice, and my arm. Making it into a makeshift sword. With a swift chop, I cut into the web, but…

  “Tch…” I clicked my tongue. I didn’t really do much. I’d have to keep hacking, or at least saw away at it.

  …

  Could I freeze it?

  Might as well give it a go.

  I extended a hand and placed it on the web. It stuck fast, like the last time, but this time, I focused on letting my ice out and into the web. The thick strands slowly crackled, becoming almost translucent as they froze. In a few breaths, the entire web barring my path was frozen. I pulled my hand away, no longer stuck and with a sharp jab, the web shattered.

  That works then… I made my way through, ice crackling under my shoes. I walked a bit further when something fell from above. I swung my lantern, smashing into the incoming shadow. A loud crunch announced their collision.

  The lantern flickered from the abuse. The black shadow revealed itself… a spider. A big damn spider. Easily the size of a large dog… I felt the ice deepen, and I stepped forward.

  Before it could right itself after having taken that nasty hit and fall. Before it could even try, I stepped down on it. Over and over. Smashing and smashing until it was nothing but paste.

  “God… I hate spiders.” Even with the ice muting my emotion, the sheer disgust I felt for them manifested into an almost sadistic urge to kill. As it was, it wasn’t the only one to appear.

  More skittered out. Clearly alerted when I had messed with the web earlier. They were looking for dinner. The only reason my skin didn’t crawl was because of the ice covering me. However, the ground crackled. The moisture freezing as I intensified the use of my power. The ice around me grew thicker. The air around me snapped and popped.

  Everything felt so… distant. Like I was watching myself move from outside. The first spider that lunged forward was promptly smashed into the ground. A foot smashed into their body, leaving a shoe shaped hole in its carapace that leaked ichor. Like a machine, devoted to only one purpose, my body moved with mechanical efficiency.

  That purpose was to kill. To kill them in the most efficient, and horrific ways possible.

  My body reached for one of the spider’s legs. Ripping it out with a single swift motion. Ice crawled up the limb, turning it into a spear. With spear in hand, my body shoved the spear into another approaching spider’s eyes. The thing screamed, and my body merely moved and thrusted into the spider’s other eyes, until the spider was blinded. Then thrust the spear through its mouth, skewering the thing. Only then did my body drop the spear and with it, the spider skewered to it.

  Then, another leg was taken. Frozen. A spider lunged, was impaled and swiftly stuck to the wall where it screamed and twitched. Another leg was pulled free. Another spider was stabbed until they were filled with holes, then thrown into the sewage where it drowned.

  Another leg. Another dead spider. This continued until it ran out of legs, then my body simply crushed its skull with a heel, killing it. Then, the impaled spider on the wall was next. Leg after leg. New spiders were added to the mess.

  My body walked forward. It moved like a machine, almost marching forward. Killing, torturing as it went. The further it went, the more spiders it met. The more it killed. Webs filled with cocoons were frozen and shattered. Inside, were countless rats that the spiders had been feeding on.

  Other webs split open, unleashing millions of smaller spiders out into the world. The sheer cold emanating my body froze them as they approached, only to be then stepped on without a single care.

  The normal spiders gave way to the more dangerous members of their kin. Their carapace thicker, their front legs like scythes. Almost contemptuously, my body beat them down. Ripping their legs out to more efficiently slay their kin.

  Spider screams filled the tunnel and for the first time, the unceasing swarm seemed to pause. The webs grew thicker as my body went, but none barred my way for long, freezing and shattering in my wake. In the midst of this, the swarm shifted, shuddered. A larger spider came crawling out from ahead. Filling the tunnel with its girth.

  It took one look at my body. One look at the devastation behind it and… it didn’t get the chance for much else. A frozen spider leg shot into one of its eyes. Then another and another, the thing screamed out for help. The spiders rushed forward.

  None made it far. Impaled. Tortured. Killed. Eventually, they all died in all manners of horrific ways. The large spider was rent and torn. Its organs spilling out into the sewage as its abdomen was ripped open with the limbs of its children. Its eyes all poked out. Legs ripped out and stabbed into its larger body, essentially vivisecting it. Even then, it lived. It squirmed and heaved with both rage and terror.

  Uncaring of that, my body stepped forward and stomped. Once, twice. It continued to stomp until the head was no more, then it continued forward, uncaring for the carnage it had wrought. All at once, the ice fled my body. I gasped and hit the ground. My body screamed. I hit the ground and curled up like a shrimp. Every emotion came crashing into me. Bile rising up in my throat, only kept down by my clenched jaw and shuddering body.

  An eternity passed, or so it felt, until I could regain even a small portion of control. Shakily, I pulled myself up against the wall. I could taste bile on my tongue and smell it at the back of my nose.

  I washed it down with some water I had brought. Shakily, I took out food and ate. I breathed in and out. Doing my best to recover. I felt wholly drained and emptied.

  “I… fucking hate spiders…” I muttered after a few minutes. My words didn’t reach far, but the sentiment likely did. However, I may have hated them but…

  That felt like way too far… It almost felt like I went out of my way to make them suffer instead of choosing the path of least resistance…

  Why was that?

  Was it just another peculiarity of the ice?

  Or was it a symptom of something else?

  At the moment… I couldn’t care less, not with my head pounding and my stomach roiling…

  A moments rest would do me good…