Johnquis rushed toward the last spot he'd left his slave; the Level 2 High Eater, Runner class.
Johnquis scanning the trees, and whispered,
"Hello? Are you here? Come out, it's me!"
Before he could finish, the Runner shot out from behind a thick trunk, landing lightly on a low branch. Johnquis jumped back, heart pounding.
"WHAAA!"
The Runner tilted its head, watching him carefully.
"I-I'm sorry!"
Johnquis stammered, rubbing his chest.
"I'm just not used to having an Eater with me. You're not going to eat me, right?"
The Runner nodded once firmly.
Johnquis exhaled, relief flooding through him.
"Good. Come on, let's go somewhere no one can see you. I'm good at finding places like that. Places where it feels like you're the only one left in the world. These things stress me out. I need to unwind…"
The Runner crouched and leapt down silently, falling into step beside him.
Together, they moved through the dead world, the dark swallowing them as the sun sank lower.
Johnquis smiled faintly as they moved through the thick underbrush, branches scraping against his suit. Ahead, the rusted silhouette of the old amusement park loomed by the seaside. The air was heavy with salt, and the cold wind off the waves.
Faded banners flapped weakly in the wind. Tilted rides stood frozen in time. Twisted ferris wheel cages, a roller coaster track sagged and the half-collapsed remains of a carousel, its painted horses chipped and lifeless. Nature had claimed the place.
"Hard to believe this place was once joy… Now it's just another corpse in the world's graveyard."
They walked beneath the ferris wheel. He stopped and looked up.
"This was my favorite spot. Up there… you'll know why."
The wheel creaked in the wind.
"Come on. Let's climb."
He fired his hook and shot upward, cape snapping behind him. The Runner followed right after, leaping with ease.
"Those long legs really help you out, huh."
He climbed fast, almost excited. Looking down, he saw the Runner keeping up, and it made him smile.
It felt like showing off a secret place like a kid bringing a new friend to his old hideout.
"Almost there! You'll see why I loved it up here."
They reached the top, landing on the highest platform just beneath the rusted crown of the ferris wheel. The wind was stronger up here, pushing at them with cold fingers. From this height, they could see everything—the broken coastline, the towering buldings, and far beyond, the thick green wilderness swallowing what was left of the city.
The view held their breath for a moment.
"Do you get it now? This view's amazing. You can see everything from up here. When I was a kid, I used to wonder what the world looked like outside the walls. And now… seeing all this... I still think it's worth saving."
Johnquis sat down slowly, legs hanging off the edge.
"Whenever I climbed up here, it felt like time stopped. I always wished I could freeze every moment."
The two sat quietly. The sea below sparkling in the moonlight. Stars glowing across the sky.
After a while, Johnquis spoke again.
"I met Lex's brother today. At the Bloodpost."
The Runner turned its head slightly, listening.
"You remember Lex, right? The one you ripped open, tore through her abdomen and clamped your jaws around her throat?"
He let out a dry chuckle.
"Freaky monster…"
He glanced across the park.
"I wasn't even supposed to be on that quest last night. I just took it without checking… Turned out I was a fill-in. For their squad. Because Rex, Lex's brother bailed."
Johnquis's voice dropped.
"I could feel it. He's strong. Dangerous. If he wanted to, Rex could rise to a high rank in no time."
The Runner remained still.
Johnquis looked down at his gloved hands.
"You killed them. All of them. But it's her, Lex. He'll care about most."
He turned toward the Runner.
"And now… you're bound to me. He doesn't know what really happened. Not yet. But when he finds out… he'll realize you're still alive. And that I'm the one keeping you as a slave."
Johnquis paused. His next words came out with worry.
"He'll lose it. He'll blame me. And maybe he should. I wasn't strong enough. If Rex had gone instead of me, maybe… maybe they'd still be alive."
The wind howled.
"I don't even know what you are anymore. You killed them… but now you follow my commands. You're quiet. Controlled. Tamed…maybe."
He looked up at the stars overhead, face pale in the moonlight.
"But when Rex sees you…"
He swallowed hard.
"He will want revenge. He will kill you."
Johnquis's voice cracked.
"I-I don't know what to do, killing you would be justice… but…"
Silence.
The wind swept through the ferris wheel, rattling its rusted frame. Below, the waves crashed against the shore.
Somewhere deep in the ruins of the abandoned city, Rex stood before his squad.
"All right, listen up! We're sweeping fast and tight. Our target is a single Eater, a Runner. We're certain it's here."
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"If you spot it, don't even think about engaging. That thing's mine. My prey. Got it?"
The squad shouted in unison.
"YES, CAPTAIN!"
They moved out, sweeping the high street. The same area Johnquis's squad had cleared the night before. But unlike that mission, Eaters were everywhere.
Rex lifting his Eater Blade onto his shoulder, a long serrated weapon jagged like a row of shark's teeth. A saw blade.
"Something's off. Eaters all over the place. This should be the last nest I haven't hit yet. And if a Runner's here, it would've eaten the lower ranks to grow stronger. No way Level 1s should still be crawling around like this."
They pressed on until the ruined road opened before the skyscraper, the same one Johnquis's team had entered.
Eaters poured out from the shadows, snarling and hissing from every crack and alley.
Rex scanned the scene. Smashed cars, broken-down vehicles, fresh craters in the pavement.
"The damage… it's recent. Someone took this quest last night."
He looked up at the building.
"The Queen must've spawned again. New Eaters… but if they killed the Runner, why wasn't the quest marked complete? Why leave the Queen's nest intact and not finish the job?"
A chorus of snarls ripped through the silence.
"Grrrr… Grahhh… KRAAAAH!"
The squad sprang into action. In minutes, they tore through the oncoming swarm, blades flashing, Eater corpses piling up in the street.
One Eater Blade called.
"All clear here, Captain!"
Another replied.
"Same on my end!"
Someone added.
"No sign of the Runner."
Rex replied.
"Then we head for the queen's nest. Rooftop."
A sudden scream rang out.
"CAPTAIN!"
"What is it?"
"A—A corpse! Over here! It's… it's a body. Must've been a squad that came before us…"
Rex strode over, pushing past the others. One of his squad members stepped aside, revealing the body.
One of the Eater Blades muttered,
"Someone moved them here... kept them out of reach so the Eaters wouldn't tear them apart any further."
He scanned the ground.
"Three bodies. One girl, two boys... Damn. They must've gone through hell."
Another stepped closer, eyes narrowing.
"This wasn't a Level 1. Look at the wounds. This was a Runner. No low-tier Eater could do this kind of damage."
"So… you think they managed to kill it?"
Rex knelt beside the corpses. His voice was flat.
"No. If they killed the Runner, we wouldn't be here. The quest would've been marked complete."
He reached out and peeled back the tattered black cape covering the girl's body.
And then he saw her.
Lex.
His sister.
Her face was bloodied, her body torn open, but it was unmistakable.