Walking into a trap

Alex followed closely behind Cassie as the group cautiously maneuvered through the ruins of the city. They were extremely close to the strip, and as such there were groups of monsters around every corner. If they weren't careful they'd also encounter a beast or two.

The party had traveled less than a kilometer from the airport, yet they were already outside the safe zone. They were on edge, and ready for combat at any moment, with weapons in hand they pressed forward as they circumvented the strip.

It was not long before they encountered the first group of monsters. It was an enemy they were all too familiar with, a pack of goblins led by a monstrous hobgoblin. Apparently, humans weren't the only ones who could gain strength. The increase in the number of hobgoblins that had been seen lately was a cause for concern.

Alex began to wonder if monsters could evolve into higher forms, though he quickly put the concern to the back of his head as he readied his fists for combat. Brandon had already knocked an arrow and let loose at the hobgoblin, the man had transitioned from a rifle to the bow long ago.

The arrow struck the monster's chest, though it failed to penetrate its primitive bone armor. It roared in defiance as it charged at the man who dared to challenge it. Meanwhile, Derek and Cassie focused on the Goblins nearby. At their level, as long as they weren't surrounded by the little bastards they weren't a cause for concern.

Blood and sinew spilled across the floor, and charred corpses filled the air with their burnt stench as the two engaged the numerous monsters. Alex on the other hand had attracted the hobgoblin's attention and was fiercely engaging with it in hand-to-hand combat, while Brandon rained fire upon it from afar.

Alex's punches and kicks mostly made contact, slowly accumulating damage on the muscular goblinoid. He was roughly the same level as the hobgoblin but lost out to it in terms of strength. Nevertheless, he stood toe to toe with it evading its shots while dealing out his own. It was rare for him to come across an unarmed opponent, and he took his time as he thoroughly enjoyed the fight.

Though the hobgoblin was strong, it quickly became apparent that its race had lacked sophisticated hand-to-hand combat techniques, and relied solely on brute force. Which made the fight all too easy. Alex adeptly dodged and parried the monster's strikes while fiercely counterattacking. After a while, Alex grabbed ahold of the creature and brought it into the clinch where he began attacking it with knees, elbows, and headbutts which rapidly deteriorated its health.

An idea flashed in his head as the hobgoblin struggled to break free of Alex's clinch. He turned the monster around and faced its back to Brandon who took advantage of the situation to fire arrows into its body. Within a matter of moments the hobgoblin stood there lifelessly, the only thing keeping it standing was the strength of Alex's clinch. As he let go the body collapsed to the ground, its soul has already departed.

Alex exhaled deeply in relief, before looking over at his teammates. Surrounding them were the corpses of nearly a dozen goblins. After spending weeks fighting with their lives on the frontlines, this kind of skirmish could hardly make them break a sweat. After searching for useful loot on the corpses of the goblins the party departed, they did not want to waste more time than they needed to.

Alex gazed around at the ruins of the city and noticed that the once-proud American infrastructure had already begun to crumble. Truthfully, the infrastructure of the country was already in a state of disarray long before the fracture. However, the massive shift in the environment had rapidly deteriorated its state.

Bridges and highways had already begun to collapse, and roads split apart, leaving behind giant ravines. Alex thought to himself of a quote he once heard before the world fell apart. He was paraphrasing as he voiced his thoughts aloud.

"The only thing keeping the American infrastructure together was the will of the department of transportation and a hell of a lot of duct tape. It appears we have run out of duct tape"

Seeing the dilapidated state of the city, and hearing Alex's words the party gazed at the ruins of the magnificent city and took his words to heart. Before the apocalypse, they never realized just how fragile society was, and took everything for granted. If Vegas was already in such an unforgiving state, they could only imagine the rest of the country.

Still, the party marched forward towards their destination, completely unaware that they were being watched by a group of slayers from afar. One which gazed upon them with murderous intent. A lanky figure with a rat-like appearance looked through his binoculars as his twitchy eyes followed Alex and his party as they ventured further into the city. He licked his lips in excitement as his sight fell upon Cassie's backside

"Today is the day huh?"

he asked the burly man who stood next to him. The burly man was bald and bearded, he wore a leather jacket, a pair of jeans, and hiking boots. Evidently, he was the leader of this party, and if Alex and the others could see them they would appear very familiar. After all, it was not long ago the two parties had almost come to blows within the airport.

The burly man spit a chunk of chewing tobacco on the ground as he stared off into the direction his prey was in.

"Those bastards think they can threaten us and get away with it? Fuck that! This time I won't be satisfied unless I take their heads"

The party surrounding him chuckled with ill intent, previously they had come up short against Alex's party. However, they knew where they were headed, and it would be easy to Alex and his party into an unforgiving trap. For now, they would stalk from behind while waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

This time there would be no escape for their rivals, their malevolent plan was progressing smoothly. If Alex and his party knew Lucas had set them up, they would have torn him apart. However, they didn't know, as such they were unknowingly walking into a trap.