Chapter 29: Too Far from Everything

"Can you really walk?" Marcus asked seriously as he watched Dante stand. "Your wounds haven't healed. If what you said is true, the Felroz that hit you was pretty strong. Maybe a mutant."

Dante let out a pained laugh and cracked his back, then stretched his arms. His joints seemed to be in place.

"If I told you I fought over thirty of them, would you believe me?"

Marcus scoffed and turned away. He was far too serious. Clara walked past him with a notebook in hand.

"No one would believe that, Dante. We need to leave now. You've slept for nearly half a day, so we have to move before nightfall. We have time to make it to the other side of the city."

The building they were walking through had one end twisted upward and broken. Stones had crumbled, and beams formed a field of rusted spikes. However, planks had been laid down, allowing them to cross over.

Dante struggled to climb due to the pain in his abdomen and chest. He crawled hunched over and arrived slightly after the other two in another building. From up there, the entire city unfolded before him — vast, enormous, so extensive that his eyes couldn't see the end of it.

"It looks like the Green Fields," he muttered to himself. They heard him. "Sorry. It's massive."

"It's supposed to be," Clara said. "The city was designed decades before we were born. It used to be a bustling metropolis, full of people working, with lots to do. In the end, when the Felroz appeared, this became hell."

The streets below were uneven, with highways crisscrossing one another, but no clear paths. Vegetation had taken over, concealing many shops and houses within the greenery, and even the skyscrapers had succumbed to nature.

Up there, Dante also touched the stretched grass.

"The rule we follow is to move during the day and hide at night," Clara said, pointing north, where a massive X-shaped building stood, also formed from a collision. "That's where we're headed, and after that, it'll take a bit more time to get home."

"Our home," Marcus corrected, moving ahead. "He doesn't live here."

Clara didn't correct him. The two kept walking. Dante didn't feel comfortable being there. The place wasn't awful, but he didn't know anything about it. These two people — he didn't know them or their intentions, nor did he have any idea where they were headed.

For the next three hours, Dante paid attention to the details of the surroundings. Even though they were destroyed, certain spots remained intact, like pharmacies and large places with metal carts outside. He didn't ask about them, not wanting to draw attention with foolish questions.

They slid down the tilted building and crossed three joined planks. They were getting closer to descending back to the street when Marcus knelt near an edge.

"We'd better stop here."

"It's still early," Clara said, pointing at the sun. "We have two more hours."

"We won't make it there in two hours. I don't want to be caught with the Felroz on the ground again." He glanced back. "Yesterday was an unusual fluke I don't want to repeat."

Dante suspected Marcus didn't like him for some reason, but his grudge seemed to be with another group — or many. Marcus didn't mistreat them as Radius had; his words were just too blunt and objective.

"We don't have time to waste here. We got the supplies for the week; we just need to return."

Against Marcus's advice, Clara Silver descended further. She touched the grass covering the sidewalks. In the shadow of a large house, she turned back and raised her arm.

"See? It's fine. Come down."

On the other side of the street, the house wall burst open, and a Felroz let out a sharp screech that echoed through the city. Dante's heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the creature. Marcus quickly aimed his weapon and fired.

The pressurized shot struck the creature's thick, four-legged arm. Dante furrowed his brows. It's the same creature from the simulation...

Clara took two steps back and ran into the shop behind her. Marcus shouted after her.

"Dammit, no. Not there, Clara!"

The weapon's bolt was drawn again, and its barrel glowed red. Before Marcus could fire, Dante jumped down the same slope Clara had taken.

Another shot. The creature roared as its shoulder was torn apart.

"One less arm. Three to go."

Dante hit the ground. Inside the shop, no one was there. He shouted for Clara, but no one responded. He looked up, Marcus had disappeared from the ledge. The creature charged at him.

"Vick, how much do I have?"

"Energy accumulation at 3%, Dante. Body damaged. I recommend using basic attacks."

He faced the Felroz and opened his arms, clenching his fists. He feinted a punch to the right, twisting his body. The pain coursed through his muscles and flesh. He roared in agony.

The air shifted. A crushing force hit the Felroz's chest, throwing it into the shop and shattering the wall. The impact collapsed the roof, and debris rolled onto the creature, pinning it.

Dante dropped to a crouch, coughing blood.

"Body damaged at 80%. Recovery time undetermined."

From atop the building, Marcus had raised his weapon, and Clara held her dagger. The two had witnessed something stranger than the Felroz.

"He just faced it head-on," Marcus said flatly. "Without hesitation, he jumped at that monster to save you."