As I gradually got closer to the heart of the city, day had begun to break, with the first bit of sunlight filtering in-between the skyscrapers that were far ahead. I couldn’t tell how long my grocery runs would take each time I went out, so I had to leave early each morning despite how hard it was to see in the dark.

  The closer I got, the more destroyed the whole place looked. Houses and buildings here and there were falling apart, looking like they had been hit by an earthquake. Unkempt lawns in front of residential homes had overgrown, with creeping vines strangling what was left of some of the houses. The asphalt of the road was cracked in many places, with weeds growing out of them.

  Cars with broken windows and rusted exteriors were littered all over the streets. Some of them had been crumpled by the weight of something massive like the rocks that fell from the damaged buildings, others by the heavy body of something that had long left the scene. On the latter, there were rows of indentations in the metal frame, evenly spaced out.

  It was all a familiar sight. Most places probably looked this way at this point, with the level of destruction varying by how lively and bustling the place was before they arrived. Nature had done its part in trying to clean things up as best it could.

  But beyond this familiar scenery lay a portion of the city I hadn’t dared explore in a while. A part that was marked by a very prominent boundary I was about to reach.

  An abyss.

  Those were the only words that came to mind as I reached the edge of the gaping hole that blocked my path. Perhaps the majority of the town was destroyed by the very thing that made this hole. It emerged at a very peculiar spot, right at the intersection of four major roads. There were still a few vehicles around it, most of them toppled over by the shockwave that emanated from this point. Looking straight ahead beyond the hole, at the road that led deeper into the city, were tracks. A pair of uniform cracks in the asphalt, the space between them as wide as the four-lane road. It was reminiscent of the dents on those cars earlier, although a much larger version.

  This was the artificial boundary I had drawn. Behind me were the relatively safe parts of town, but across this gaping maw was the place where most of the carnage and despair took place, along with the highest concentration of juveniles as far as I knew.

  I put on my foam sandals and made my way around the hole, skirting the edges while eyeing it warily. I knew nothing had come out of it for a very long time. The weeds and dusty soil around its edges were a testament to that. Still, being unable to see just how deep it went unnerved me. The irrational fear of suddenly being pulled into its embrace and falling for what felt like an eternity gripped me. I decided to put some extra space between me and the edge.

  After circling it, I followed the tracks and headed deeper into the town. The scenery quickly changed a few metres down the road. Short buildings and normal houses were gradually replaced by taller buildings and apartment complexes till I was surrounded by glass skyscrapers.

  Another notable change were the holes. Sinkholes that weren’t even close to the size of the Abyss, but still big enough for a car to fall into. There were many of them, dotted all over the place. These were the work of juveniles.

  My goal was to find small stores and minimarts. Malls and supermarkets were a no go. They were too open and spacious, and every sound echoed easily in their vast emptiness. But I wasn’t having that much luck

  A vast majority of them had been raided. Glass doors had been shattered and a brief peek into the interior showed rows of empty shelves. Even a few boutiques had their looking windows broken, with the mannequins stripped naked of their outfits.

  After a few more disappointments, I found a non-descript shop that looked relatively intact. The glass door was locked. I could smash a bit of it and use my hand to unlock it from the inside, but that would probably cause a lot of unnecessary noise. I decided to put my picklocking skills to the task and managed to get it open in a matter of minutes. As the door swung open, I got hit by a nasty smell.

  At first I thought it was coming from rotten food, but all the stores I had ever raided didn’t smell like this. I decided to investigate the source of the smell later. Looking at the shelves, it seemed I had scored a minor win. There was still a decent number of canned goods in there, although they weren't the sort of stuff I or anyone liked.

  I would have thought someone had been here before me with how sparse some of the shelves looked. But considering the locked door wasn’t damaged, perhaps the store had just been running low on stock before the incident. Still, beggars can’t be choosers. I took a bunch of them and stuffed them into my bag. I went to a different aisle, grabbing other supplies I needed. I decided not to carry a lot to keep the weight of my bag manageable considering the long trek I’d have to take on my way home.

  I came to the magazine section, where there was a bunch of stuff on display. I ignored the outdated magazines about celebrities that were probably dead, fashion that wasn't practical for survival, sports and instead kept an eye out for the newspapers. I finally spotted them in a box just beside the aisle.

  I dipped my hand into it and brought out a couple. Looking at them, I was surprised to see some of them had relatively recent dates, some being published as early as a few days before the incursion in this city.

  I dropped my bag and sat on the floor as I perused each one, scanning through the headlines first and reading the ones that piqued my interest:

  “Subterraneans Spotted On The East Coast Of Australia, New Zealand Already Levelled!”

  “New York, San Francisco, Tokyo And Other Major Cities Have Been Decimated!”

  “CEO of Magma Dynamics Still Missing Since The First Reports!”

  “10 Interesting Facts About Myriapods!”

  “Subterraneans: Invasive Species Or Evicted Residents?”

  “‘We brought this upon ourselves.’ Says Spokesman For Nature's Pretorium”

  “New Wave Of Bombings in Moscow. Subterraneans Unscathed.”

  I had never read these articles. The last thing I remember seeing in the news were some of the protests that were going on. When the incursion happened, the affected cities weren’t heard from. Journalists and news crews were reluctant to go and cover the scene, even in a helicopter. And considering the government’s reluctance to share, we were left in the dark till the problem landed on our doorsteps.

  I put a few of the papers into my bag, deciding to read the rest when I got back. I got up from the floor and resumed my shopping. By now I had picked up a decent number of the stuff still worth eating from the shelves. There was no guarantee I’d find another store so I decided to keep searching.

  I noticed a door right beside the row of freezers. There was a sign on it that said ‘Staff Only’. The door was slightly ajar, and as I got closer I realised the foul smell from earlier was coming from it.

  ‘Maybe it’s a storeroom?’ I thought.

  However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I pushed the door open, I immediately saw something that made me gag. I put a hand to my mouth and with the other I grabbed the door and slammed it shut in a panic.

  Bam!

  I immediately tensed up.

  ‘That was too loud!’ I yelled in my head.

  My heart started beating madly. Sweat ran down my back as I slowly turned to look out of the store. I held my breath as I observed the streets. Nothing stirred save for some dust, papers and plastic bags that were being thrown about by the wind. After a few more minutes I gradually calmed down and started breathing again. Either the door slam wasn’t as loud as I thought, or there were no juveniles close enough to hear it.

  Nevertheless, now my attention was back to the equally unnerving thing I had seen. I contemplated simply leaving the door shut and exiting the store to find another. But who was to say I wouldn’t encounter the same thing again? When would I stop avoiding it?

  I gathered my courage and opened the door once again and there it was.

  A body.

  It sat back against a shelf. I wasn’t a coroner or a forensic scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but I could tell this person hadn’t been dead for long. Some patches of blood on the ground had yet to fully dry, and maggots hadn't begun to fester on the wounds, nor were there any few flies buzzing around.

  As for the mortal injury…

  By virtue of the gun in his lap, I had a decent guess of what caused it.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at his head. I looked around the place and it turned out it was indeed the storeroom. There were a few unopened boxes that I reckoned were filled with food items. I also noticed a couple of cans that must have been brought in from the shelves outside. It seems this was where he liked to eat.

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  I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the presence of the body. I shivered from time to time due to the proximity. I stepped out of the room and took a few deep breaths. I had seen many dead bodies over the years, but for some reason I could never get used to them. I surveyed the store and spotted the aisle that had toiletries. I went over and took a couple of towels from the racks while grabbing an air freshener.

  With a grimace on my face, I sprayed the storeroom and then draped the towels over the body as best as I could without looking at it. I placed a few towels on the floor and used my leg to drag them over some of the undried patches of blood. I had no means of giving the body a proper burial, neither did I have the stomach to do so. But this was the least I could do.

  I brought my bag over and began to open the boxes. It felt like I had won the lottery as I saw the contents.

  ‘Finally! No more crackers and peas for at least a month!’ I exclaimed in my head.

  I began to replace the unwanted stuff in my bag with my new spoil. I couldn’t take it all but this would have to suffice for now. As much as I didn’t want to, I might still have to take more trips to this store till I was able to move everything back home.

  As I arranged the cans in my bag, my mind began to wonder about what this guy could have gone through. He was surrounded by food, yes, but I knew there was more to living than just that. The fact that he was staying in this part of town meant the constant fear of danger had to be maddening. He had to be careful and silent with his every move because there could be one nearby. It was a life of perpetual caution.

  In contrast, my life on a rooftop was quite peaceful. Even if there was a juvenile nearby, it wasn't very likely whatever vibration I made up there would flow down the entire building and reach one of them.

  Then there was the isolation, something I could more easily relate with. I knew there were people out there. The orange lights every morning reminded me of that fact.

  However, in a world such as this, the only thing controlling people's moral compass was their conscience and the values they held. Without a governing body or authority, the worst of people could come to the fore with no repercussions. I didn't know the sort of people that were under those lights, so I never thought of approaching them. And it seems they thought the same because no one had tried to make contact with me either.

  Yet, for some reason, we couldn't help but turn on those lights every morning, despite the risk of it serving as a beacon for scumbags. The hope that there was human life out there, the knowledge that it wasn't just monsters all around, that was reason enough. I hadn't seen another living human being in so long. But I could take solace in the bodies that were still warm under those lights.

  But this guy had none of that.

  At some point, he probably felt there was no one else. He couldn't see any reason to keep on going.

  I couldn't see a reason for myself either. The world wasn't going to magically go back to how it was with time, not unless someone did something.

  But what could a few straggling survivors do when even the world at its prime found itself helpless?

  Our guns and nukes had no effect. They were only ever useful for killing other people. But when it came down to ridding us of a real threat, it was mostly worthless.

  The person nearby was another testament to the worthlessness of guns. I was curious as to how he found one, considering they aren't just lying around in your local stores.

  They were nothing but a nuisance at this point, incapable of even killing a juvenile. The noise would simply attract—

  My body froze as the thought crossed my mind.

  'The body hasn't been here for long…'

  I could feel my heart picking up pace. I rushed to put the rest of the stuff into my bag and bolted for the door before the fragmented thoughts fully came together.

  'He died from a bullet to the head...'

  The shot had to have been loud.

  'Some juveniles must have come around...'

  It hasn't been that long so they might still be in the area.

  'They were probably close enough to hear the door slam!'

  I burst through the entrance. No time to lock it. I took off down the street in the direction I came from, awkwardly running in my foam sandals.

  ‘I have to get as far away as possible!’

  I had only gone a few metres before I heard it.

  Klink!

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  'It's here!'

  I slowly turned around. At a junction that turned into a street I couldn't see, I saw it.

  Or rather, I saw them.

  At first sight, they looked like overgrown centipedes on steroids. However, they were much more dangerous and built differently. The first thing to peek out from behind the bend were their drills. Two of them. White like ivory yet sturdier than diamonds. They were straight like rods, inclined at an angle that caused them to almost touch each other as they protruded from both sides of the head.

  I didn't understand the Biology behind it, but those things could spin around the head to resemble actual drills capable of burrowing through asphalt, concrete and even metal in mere seconds.

  Their bodies were as long as four shuttle buses lined up and just as wide as one. Its exoskeleton shone like obsidian, with the sun’s rays dancing off its back as it moved. Their many legs were as hard as metal, with each one causing a clinking sound as it made contact with the asphalt. On its head, in between the drills and closer together, were a pair of antennae.

  Seeing the juveniles brought back many lost memories I would have rather forgotten. I could hear the screams, the crumbling of buildings, I could hear people calling my name.

  But most vividly of all, I could remember the fear. The same fear that gripped me right now as I slowly walked back into the shadow of an alley. The creatures drew closer, crawling at a leisurely pace. They never really exerted themselves except for when they were hunting prey. Which means they didn't know I was here at the moment.

  My heart was beating madly in my chest and I was worried for a moment if they would be able to detect the pounding. The thought further quickened the pace of my heart. There was nothing I could do but wait till they snooped around the area and eventually left. That could take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours. At least the day could end without any drama.

  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement. I looked down the street, in the direction opposite the juveniles. I could see a man who looked to be within his 30s or 40s. His black hair was dishevelled and his clothes were rumpled and dirty. There was a slight glare from the sun bouncing off his glasses, and even at a distance I could see a bit of the fear and apprehension on his face. I was initially shocked to see someone. But that shock was quickly replaced by exasperation when I noticed his actions. It wasn’t wise of him to be moving about with these things so closeby, even with the neatly cut foam tied to his shoes. And especially not when he was carrying something so heavy.

  Or rather, maybe not something but someone. On a closer look, what was wrapped in a grey blanket looked to be a small child. Their head was perched against the man’s shoulders as he held them closely to his chest. There was a white cloth wrapped around the boy’s head, with a small patch of red staining it.

  The man kept walking, stealing furtive glances over his shoulder as he walked away from us. I doubted he could see me in the shadows of the alley. I looked at the creatures, studying their reaction. They didn’t seem to have taken notice of him yet, still poking around the store. But it was only a matter of time before they picked up the rhythm that belonged to walking feet.

  I looked back at the man as he was approaching another intersection. He made a turn at it, going out of sight and for a moment I thought he would be able to get away. Not long after he made the turn though, I saw him walk back. A few seconds later, I saw why. Another juvenile came from that turning, slowly turning onto this street. To make matters worse, it made a series of clicking sounds, a call to the juveniles up the street.

  They responded by making clicking sounds of their own and then moved towards the third one. They went past me, pinning the man in the middle of their path. But he wasn’t their target, otherwise they would move quicker. Even now, the third one was simply moving past him as it went to meet the others.

  He looked with terror as it got closer but he seemed to vaguely understand that his life wasn’t in danger.

  ‘As long as he keeps his cool and doesn’t move, he should be—’

  A gust of wind blew by, stirring up more plastic bags. A particularly devious plastic bag found its way to the man, hitting him on the back of his head. Being on the brink of panic and suddenly feeling something on the back of his neck, he let out a loud gasp and spun to see what touched him, his arm hitting a nearby lightpost in the process.

  I heard the low ding of the pole from where I was. All three juveniles froze on the spot at the sound. Perhaps if he had hit something made of wood or glass, he would have had better luck. But hitting a metal pole in this world evoked the sound of a death knell.

  The third juvenile slowly turned in his direction, inching closer and closer to him.

  ‘All hope isn’t lost. It’s still not sure whether what it heard belonged to someone or was just a random object making contact with another. As long as he didn’t…start…running…’

  He started running.

  He only had a few seconds headstart before the tap tap tap of his footfalls registered in the minds of the juveniles as the sound of running prey. All three picked up after him, dashing madly in pursuit.

  There was no way he could outrun them. Perhaps by his lonesome he could have made it if he avoided the holes, but carrying someone was slowing him down. And in his panic, he forgot to take off his foam sandals. He had no chance.

  ‘This was the state of the world we currently lived in.’ I thought to myself as I unslung my backpack.

  ‘You could live every moment of your life carefully, but it all became pointless the moment you slipped up.’

  I took off my foam sandals.

  ‘And in that dire situation where you needed your brain the most to make it out...’

  I pulled the baseball bat out of the bag, quickly unwrapping the bandages.

  ‘Fear and panic strip your thoughts away.’

  I stepped out of the recesses of the alley.

  ‘It wasn’t fair, losing your life because of one blunder.’

  I started running in the opposite direction of the man and the juveniles.

  ‘Then again, the world ending because of one man’s blunder wasn’t fair either. Yet, here we are.’

  The juveniles were closing in on the man as I also closed in on a flag pole up the street.

  ‘All I could do was minimise my own mistakes and hope that the mistakes of others didn’t affect me.’

  I gripped the bat in both hands as I got close.

  ‘So then…’

  Coming to a stop, I used the lingering momentum to swing at the pole with full force.

  ‘Why the heck was I doing this?!’