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  Folks stared at the policeman, seeing his holster empty. Whispers spread quickly in the group.

  The well-dressed man, noticing the worried expressions, jumped in again. “Are you trying to cause panic?”

  “I’m just being real with everyone. No sense blindly marching from one hotpot to the next. The calmer we assess reality, the better our chances are.”

  Dom’s dad, Réal, stepped forward. “He’s got a point. We can’t just waltz on into another mess, only to be chased off, or worse. Better to hunker down and come up with a plan.” His words carried a lot of weight. Everyone in town knew of Réal Fairbanks. A Quebec born métis who moved to the small town, worked five jobs at a time until he finally bought and turned one of the local gas stations and made it into the best auto-shop around. Making it easier to get cars, machines and tools fixed up than having to travel two hours to Sault Ste-Marie and back. Everyone appreciated his hard work and reliability.

  At a loss, the two men leading the charge sighed heavily. “Then what do you think we should do?”

  All eyes turned to Niles and Réal, the latter also turning to the younger man. Unfazed by the attention, Niles spoke in earnest. “About five kilometers, roughly three miles from here, there’s a clearing with a stream running through it that runs from the many small ponds and basins in the area. It’s a little over a third of the distance to Hawk Junction, but still far enough that we could lay low for a while. When we get there, we use anything and everything at our disposal to protect ourselves. We’ll have clean-ish water to drink and I have enough fishing line and tackle to make several crude rods. We won’t have to worry about water or shelter as long as we work together and each focuses on the roles they take on. Food will be scarce, but it’s not like we can’t live on reduced rations.”

  The fifty or so people seemed to calm down a fair bit. Being in a remote part of Ontario, most people are used to working outdoors. Most families have a fisherman, hunter or forager of some kind. That much can be guaranteed. Even the two at the front couldn’t argue.

  With a quick explanation of directions, along with a map he had tucked away in his backpack, Niles let the others lead, while he caught up with the Fairbanks, whom he had not talked to in a few weeks.

  The walk up to the clearing is slowed by the few elderly and younger children, but within about two hours, they ended up at the location where they’d need to turn towards the woods. The clearing itself isn’t far off the road, though it is uphill, meaning a bit more arduous than preferred. Still, no one complained, as it would be better than a longer walk on asphalt and potentially more teeth gnawing at them.

  Niles, Dom and the officer stayed at the back of the group, making sure no one accidentally wanders off the path or gets left behind. Dominic volunteers to even carry an older woman who couldn’t seem to get over the hill.

  This opened the door for the policeman to speak with Niles. “You seem pretty prepared for something like this. And how did you know about the clearing?”

  “This is a spot me and my dad would secretly camp out at during the summer during highschool.” Niles goes pale. “Sadly, I’m happy that he passed away long before this crap started.” The officer frowned with empathy.

  “I see... And the bag?”

  “I grew up learning about hunting and stuff. My dad was in the military. Though he didn’t raise me as strict as a soldier, he wanted me to be prepared, no matter the circumstances. I’m sure he never thought of monsters swarming our home, he was the type to believe that any group of people is capable of rioting and violence if pushed too far, or if they’re gullible and easily manipulated. So he had me make and maintain a go-bag constantly growing up. Long story short, it’s the kind of thing you learn from a single, overprotective, country dad who loves his kid.”

  The trees began to thin at the end of his story. Silence befalling his conversation partner as they and everyone else sat down for a breather.

  Niles had set himself down next to the Fairbanks family and pulled out a journal, pencil and eraser. “Dom, I’m going to need your help here.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Where do you think the walls should go?”

  Chapter 1.1:

  Issue in the Sault

  Sault Ste. Marie, or the Sault (Soo) for short. A city just southwest of Wawa that finds itself nestled on a corner landmass where Lake Superior and the St. Mary’s River is connected. It’s a decent sized city with a population just over seventy thousand.

  On the day the world fell into chaos, three calamitous events occurred.

  Like in Wawa, monsters tore through, killing and eating. A third of the population died, the amount would have been less, had it not been for the powerful beings who seemed to control or at least direct the monsters. Orchestrated assaults in strategic locations, mainly high density traffic and gathering spots like malls and theaters.

  The second was the rise of a mountain. The earth shook, though it was only felt in the Sault. The pillar of stone nearly blocked the river before completely emerging. At the peak, an eerie haze bellows, blanketing the sky in a depressing shade of purple-ish gray. From this peak, a voice can be heard. “Hu... ngry...” A few times a day.

  The third, and most devastating, was the appearance of the monster that eats anything, including metal and other monsters. It looked small. Not much taller than a hundred and sixty centimeters. Or five foot, two inches if you’re imperial.

  This being showed up at the same time as the mountain, and runs around looking for the biggest creatures to feast on. Be wary, as even though it looks human at first glance, and has been seen wearing a suit and tie, its worm-like head seems to be able to swallow any prey without ever increasing its own mass. One of the only witnesses who’ve seen in and lived beyond the first week claims to have watched as it ate a mini-van, a monster the size of an elephant and chunks of building debris alongside its human appetizers.

  Day one; The humans hid and panicked.

  Day two; several groups attempted to fight back, while three smaller groups evacuated in different directions. The fighters all died. The escapees lost a few who sacrificed themselves as decoys for the others to run. Mostly, these were elderly folk of older men.

  Day four; Any remaining hide in squalor and filth. Too scared to seek better living conditions. After all, if they leave, death will only come quicker.

  Day eighteen; Someone found the truth behind the rumors that floated online just being the internet went down. Unlocking powers unheard of in all of human history.

  Day fifty; The hero’s funeral takes place after their sacrifice to seal away the Cannibal Beast within the mountain some believe to be its origin.

  Day seventy-three; A lone traveler, bloodied and broken, enters the city. Cackling mad, and rampaging through the people, until they shatter the Hero’s seal. Silence... then nothing.

  Chapter 2:

  Rumors and Terrors

  Three days had passed since the evacuation of this hodge podge group from Wawa. Réal Fairbanks and his son Dom have been helping out and instructing wall building, as well as scouting for monsters that may notice them and come for a snack. When I say wall it’s actually more of a fence. Using thick branches as stakes to hold tree trunks in place. Due to the rush needed in case of sudden attack, there’s no time to do much else. Several people were armed with practical tools to defend themselves, so it didn’t take much effort with the handful of axes and shovels.

  It only took about a day to construct the ones facing where they came from, so the second day, with Dom’s knowledge of historic military tactics, trenches began to be dug out just behind the walls. The dirt used to further fortify and make raised platforms for lookouts.

  Meanwhile, with the long, more flexible branches, Niles was able to make about fifteen fishing rods. A small basin just a bit further in the woods held fish and had plenty of cover in case of Harpies. While the elderly and few younger kids fished for food, Niles and other men and women kept a lookout.
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  Water was mostly drunk straight from the lake or stream. Since Niles had his canteen, he gave out the extra bottles of water to small groups to share and his portable water purifier would be passed around as needed.

  There have been a handful of confrontations in the few days that went by. Some Goblins and a Direwolf being the most recent. But the most interesting was when a harpy came down and tried to whisk away one of the bigger men. Probably only thinking of how much it could feed from him, it didn’t realize he was too heavy to lift, even with its ridiculous wingspan. The other monsters didn’t seem edible, but the Harpy was bird-like enough to rouse curiosity. After someone taste tested it, it was deemed safe to eat. That person being Niles.

  On the fourth day of World’s End, Apocalypse or whatever folks would call it in those days, Niles, Dominic and Denise gathered around the bodies of the Goblins and Direwolf to decide how to handle them. Réal is busy acting as a ‘civil engineer’ to improve the camp’s construction. Along with them, the suited man who was no longer as well kept after working hard in the dirt, stood contemplating. He gave his outer jacket to an old woman who was cold because she only made sure her grandson had everything he needed to weather the climate.

  The bodies of the goblins and wolf were laid out a few dozen meters away from the camp. There weren’t any other attacks since then, but in order to reduce the odds of a pack finding the location, they’d have to move them and get rid of the smell.

  After much deliberation, it was decided that a small group would throw the corpses on the opposite side of the highway, then bury them as deep as they could in one day. Lighting a flame for a bit to replace as much stench as they could from the bodies as possible, then covered in mud, dirty and whatever plant material, the majority of decay and blood odor should be gone. Dom and Tyrel, the lawyer, volunteered to go with a couple more folks. Bruce, the guy who was the victim of the Harpy, gave his name in. Though he was injured, it didn’t stop him from working all day.

  His girlfriend Sasha nearly threw a fit and insisted on helping out.

  The four of them headed off. Dom carried one of the Goblins and a severed goblin head, Sasha holding the rest of that one, Tyrel and Bruce took the wolf together. They wouldn’t be back for a while.

  Denise went fishing with Danica and Réal once he finished explaining and organizing the camp. Niles, on the other hand, had something on his mind. The last rumor he read on social media. A ‘strange window like in a video game’ that appeared after a strange white light and explosion.

  He asked around, but no one knew anything about it. The vast majority of people were too busy working or running away to pay any attention to their computers and phones. And the younger ones were either playing or at school beforehand, so it was the same for them.

  If nothing else, Niles wanted to at least get that off his mind.

  Despite his desires, he couldn’t really think of any method to figure it out. The idea of a white light and a crater forming didn’t have any sort of cause or rational reason to have happened, so Niles simply sat by the fire as he contemplated what it meant.

  During his inner ramblings, a dark skinned woman who looked to be a bit older than him came up to him, looking as though she wanted to say something.

  “Can I help you?” Niles asked.

  “Oh! Uh, yeah. Uhm... I’m Nadia Khatri. I wanted to thank you.” She stumbled a bit with her words.

  “What for?”

  “Well, the other day when we were on the road, you convinced us to not go to Hawk, and because of that, we were able to find a place to rest closer. My grandmother is in her late 70s and isn’t really capable of walking that far. So for reducing the stress on her and the other elderly, it really meant a lot.”

  “I see.” Niles nodded. “Well, I wasn’t doing it specifically for them, but I’m glad I could help nonetheless.”

  The two talked for a bit and after thanking him again and left. Leaving him to his own thoughts and worries.

  Niles started thinking about the future. Winter is only about seven weeks away. It isn’t impossible to live outdoors in that cold, but it would be better if there was a big building everyone could shelter in. On top of that, food would become an issue within just a couple weeks. It’s already difficult with just a day's worth of fish for this many people.

  There was no telling when more monsters are gonna show, so having four solid walls would be leagues better than a camp made of twigs out if the open. Plus getting any more injuries would result in defenses becoming too weak.

  Water would be easy to get, but food would get scarce fast.

  While deep in thought, Niles didn't notice Dom's group's returning. The rest of the Fairbanks sat around his fire too.Tired of the continuous train of thoughts, he simply laid down and slept. He already ate a bit of hardtack, fatty crackers often used by sailors in days of yore, which he kept in his go-bag, so that the others wouldn't need to share their catches with him.

  Around three in the morning, Réal wakes him up for his shift on watch. A simple system was set up where the first to pass out would lookout for trouble when those who managed to stay up were unable to anymore.

  Niles turned away from the fire as he got up, wanting to keep his dark adjusted vision. They nod to each other, making as little noise as possible and switching places.

  He walks out a ways away from the lights. A few stretches and a heavy yawn helped him to wake up properly. It was still quite dark, even with all the stars in the sky. It’s rare to see them so clearly, but light pollution is a net zero with the town in ruins and being far out of the way.

  Niles walked the perimeter of the camp, hopping on the elevated lookout platforms when he did. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary happens. Plenty of ambient snoring, a light autumn breeze, the sounds of crackling cinders. Despite the circumstances, it really is quite peaceful. By the time he reached the same edge he started at, the calmness of the night swept over him, leading to a gentle rest on a stump from one of the trees they cut down.

  He placed his hand on the knife he always has on his waist and surveyed the area. Left to right. Right to left. Niles focuses his sights on the treeline quite intensely. There’s fifteen other people keeping watch, so if all goes well, nothing should be able to sneak up on them.

  Two hours passed and still silence remained. Feeling up for another walk around to check on the others who are awake, Niles picked himself up off the stump. After his first couple steps, he heard a loud ‘SNAP’. Like a thick branch being ripped off a tree. The sound woke a few of the lighter sleepers. It seemed to have originated north, uphill towards the mountain peak. Not hesitating, Niles quickly ran to the closest guard on that side, which happens to be the police officer, and told him to get everyone up.

  “Right.” He nods, just noticing Niles running north. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m gonna check it out. I’ll signal if it’s a threat!” Without another word getting in, Niles bolted past the trees and headed for the peak. Not many knew, but Niles kept three small utility items on his at all times in the woods. The first was bear repellent in the form of a small pocket sized but very potent pepper spray. The second was a similar sized flashlight. Lastly, an airhorn. Though it’s not a big one, it would still be loud enough to be heard from a distance even in a dense forest like they were in.

  Praying he wouldn’t need it, he made his way with purpose. Flashlight in his left hand, while the airhorn was in his right. Meanwhile, the camp was bustling with fear and panic for a few moments as the children and elderly were corralled in the center, surrounded by the more capable people armed with axes and spades. Anyone without a proper tool having wooden clubs for bludgeoning instead.

  Dominic and Réal standing in front of Denise and Danica facing west, but staying wary of where the ‘snap’ came from. Keeping to the middle of camp, the fires everyone was using to keep warm end up at the edges of the circle. Meaning that any monster trying to get near would have to enter the light,
making it easier to spot and defend against them. At least, that was Réal and Niles’ thought process when suggesting those locations.

  Low, guttural groaning echoed through the clearing. Eyes widened, frantically searching for the source.

  A child sitting by his grandmother and shaking, pointed to the south. “Th-there... It’s there.” He tremblingly muttered, tears flowing down. The few adults who heard him grip their tools tight and follow his line of sight. Just beyond the border of the forest, in the opposite direction Niles ran off to, two black spheres caught and reflected the fire light as it stared into what it could see as a free buffet.

  Two long, trunk-like appendages extend from its shoulders, pulling a serpentine body along the forest floor. Scales the size of dinner plates and jumbled mane of tendrils on the back of its head. Everyone who locked eyes with it froze. Paralyzed with fear. Compared to the other monsters they’ve encountered, this one alone seemed like a predator among predators. Its great size was enough to stand at half the height of most of the spruce trees in the area.

  “There’s no point in fighting back.” A thought all those who see it have. As death seems almost guaranteed.

  The reptile arches its body, preparing to jump into the group of small, fragile humans with all of its might. But it staggers.

  It didn't hesitate thinking they might pose a threat. That would be absurd. No. Back to the north of camp, A loud high-pitched honk resounds, and the cop snaps back to reality, realizing it's the signal Niles mentioned. That sound was but a mere moment’s distraction. The one that followed on the other hand, seemed to scare the lizard beast.

  After the air horn came the sound of trees, not just branches but whole trees, breaking and falling to the ground. And a scream like a cross between a whale and a classic dinosaur movie roar blasted down the mountain. Wind caused by the mighty cry was torrential, making the trees near camp bend as if they stood in the midst of a storm unlike anything seen in that part of the world, ever.