Survivors and Forgotten

They quickly moved away from that area, even so, there was still no time to mourn the dead. The nightmares still threatened them.

"Arthur... Can't we help in any way?" asked the burly man.

"Just don't bother me..." Arthur answered concentrated.

The creatures seemed to have infested the entire place. Their presence was always there.

Even so, the emperor did his best to keep them away from the vehicle.

In front of them a destroyed city began to come into view. And in the center of it a great fortress rose.

"How much longer?" asked Safwane exhausted.

"About ten minutes, hold on." Arthur answered again.

As the emperor assumed, the capital had a smaller amount of nightmares. The reason was simple, there were places where nightmares could kill more easily.

However, that doesn't mean there weren't any.

The vehicle began to slow down.

Safwane frowned as he watched the car come to a stop. 'No... What the hell is Arthur doing?' His grip on the katana tightened. "Arthur, why are we stopping?"

Arthur clicked his tongue angrily.

"Damn it... It's out of fuel." the young man stammered.

"It can't be, so what are we going to do now?" a young woman said desperately.

Arthur pounded the steering wheel in frustration. "Safwane, the car can't go any further. We have to run." His voice was shaking, but his gaze was determined.

'That's why I prefer horses.' Safwane thought, taking out the katana sheath from the roof of the vehicle.

The emperor jumped out of the vehicle.

"Go in front of me, I'll cover you."

"Come on, get out of the car and run, your lives depend on this!" Arthur shouted as he got out of the vehicle.

The young man and the two survivors got out of the car. In front of them they could only see the sights of a horror movie.

Devastated houses and buildings. Creatures that roamed around hungry. In which their only objective was to hunt these new prey.

Still, the three survivors ran. They ran without looking back or anywhere other than the huge fortress. They put all their trust in Safwane.

On the other hand, the emperor had it more complicated. His objective was to prevent any of the nightmares from reaching those people.

Left. Right. In front. From behind. The young man had to cover all the sides where they could attack.

A failure meant the death of those three people.

'Why are you doing this?' that cold voice said again. 'How easy it would be to get there alone.' he added.

Safwane tried not to think about anything.

'Think about it. No creature here could do anything to you, but it's getting complicated for you because of those people. Isn't it better to leave them?'

The emperor gritted his teeth.

'When you were young you were guided by instinct. However, after meeting that person, you only focus on fulfilling that promise.' the voice continued.

'Just shut up.' Safwane thought angrily.

'Don't try to change what you once were.' the voice finished saying.

The young man angrily gave a powerful cut. Splitting a nightmare in half.

"Safwane, one of the great creatures from before is in front!" Arthur shouted nervously.

The emperor, without saying anything, quickly went towards the nightmare.

As he approached, the creature let out a powerful roar. It attacked, launching its powerful claws towards the young man.

Before they hit him, Safwane jumped. The claws pierced the ground with force. And the emperor stuck his sheath hard into the back of the creature's hand.

Using this as momentum to make another jump. After jumping, he gave a cut to the nightmare's neck. And to finish this, he gave him a powerful kick to the head.

The three survivors passed the place of the fight.

'That easy?' Arthur thought confused.

But it was a mistake. The young man looked away from the front for a moment and that was enough for a creature to stand in front of him.

Arthur covered his face scared. And after a few seconds.

"Run Arthur, what are you waiting for?" shouted the burly man.

'How do you want me to run with a creature in front of me?' he thought removing his hands from his face slowly.

"Do you want to move?" said a voice behind the young man.

Arthur looked back.

"Stop looking at me and run!" shouted Safwane annoyed.

Arthur began to run in fear.

'Did he really throw his sheath at the creature?' thought the young man seeing the disfigured head of the nightmare.

The fortress was a few dozen meters away from Arthur. The other two survivors had already arrived.

The closer they were to the huge fortress, the fewer creatures there were. Which allowed them to reach it without much danger.

But now that the creatures did have a reason to go to the fortress, they were not going to hesitate to do so.

"Knock on the door hard!" Arthur shouted to the two survivors.

"We tried..." the burly man replied.

In front of them a door about three meters long stood out. Its color was black like the entire fortress. Which showed its immense hardness.

Arthur arrived at the door tired.

"Come on, open it! I know you can hear us!" Arthur shouted as he knocked on it desperately.

Safwane was behind them. Protecting them from any creatures that came near. However, they kept appearing.

Sleep. Hunger. Tiredness. Pain. All of that was what the emperor was going through.

During the last ten days of the journey. The young man barely ate so that the others would eat, he barely slept to protect them from a supposed danger, his wound on his side continued to sting.

His body screamed accordingly.

'Just hold on...' Safwane thought, trying to contain the pain.

But even if he killed one nightmare, two would come. If he killed those two, three would come.

The creatures seemed to multiply, driven by an insatiable hunger. Those four people could be the only thing they will devour.

'How long has it been since I rested?' Safwane wondered, looking at his dry and bloody hands.

His eyes were trembling. His body could barely stand. But the desire to survive was greater than any of those things.

"Hey, I know you bastards are listening, open the door!" Arthur continued shouting.

Hundreds of creatures seemed to be arriving, increasing the tension in the atmosphere.

"We have come from Busan to here alive, we are strong enough, open the door!" the young man continued while desperation appeared in his voice.

Safwane looked up at the sky. Letting out a long sigh.

It was dawn. But this was not going to stop the nightmares from coming. His accelerated steps made the ground rumble, raising the dust from the broken ground.

However, Safwane after observing that dawn felt freedom. Or was it hope. He did not understand it, but he knew that their lives were not over yet.

Arthur knocked on the door with all his might, his voice breaking with fear. His breathing was erratic, and sweat was pouring down his forehead. 'Open up!' he shouted one last time, his voice barely audible over the roar of the creatures.

The seconds passed in silence. The only noise present were the hundreds of steps of the nightmares and their guttural roar.

The group waited. They hoped that those people who controlled this door would accept this proposal. But the seconds kept passing.

"We are finished..." Arthur stammered, defeated.

But as if they had waited for that moment. The door opened.

Its sound was enough to make the interior of that group overflow with happiness.

They began to enter quickly. The last one was Safwane, who took a last look back. Watching what could have been his last battle.

After completely passing through the door, it slammed shut. The members of the group fell exhausted to the ground.

They had been through a lot in a short period of time. Deceased relatives. Trying to survive creatures. Death in front of them.

The three survivors could not bear it any longer. Tears began to flow from their eyes as they hit the ground and their limbs weakened from the pain.

A pain that was not physical, but mental.

However, the emperor reacted in a different way.

Hatred. Anger. Contempt. Resentment. All the negative feelings began to well up inside him.

Safwane gritted his teeth accordingly.

He could not believe what he saw. A city in perfect condition, where people walked through its streets calmly. Without fear of what was happening out there.

As if all the suffering they had gone through meant nothing to them.

And not only that, but they looked at them strangely wondering. Why are they crying?

The emperor could not believe that in the same country some people were left to die just because they were not rich or strong enough.

"I hate them."