Hellish March

As they marched towards their destination, more and more goblins had been popping up. Sometimes it will appear directly in the middle of their formation, causing them to slow down or even break from the formation.

The old man's house was pretty far. They have been walking for almost ten minutes and the old man didn't say anything about them being near to his house. They also had to take another route every now and then because of the rubbles along the way, slowing them down further.

There were many dead bodies lying everywhere. They also weren't able to find any other people alive. It's either they died during the earthquake or the goblins killed them.

Constant goblin attacks from all directions were also why they are so slow. Each and every person on the outer side constantly battled against 1 to 2 goblins at a time!

Luckily for them, the goblins are dumb and seemed to only attack with pure instincts. Even then, casualties started to shed their ranks and each person lost added to the pressure made by the goblins.

When they first formed the formation, there were at least 20 of them. There were 5 kids, 2 elderlies and the rest were adults ranging from the early 20s to late 60s. Of course, Nathan and Michael were in the early 20s group.

Now, only 15 were left. 5 people died in the last 5 minutes as they were surrounded by tens of goblins. The group was already running on fumes. The older group can't keep up to the goblin attacks anymore and was slowly getting left behind.

Nathan already felt his arms getting numb as he constantly blocked, slashed, thrust, and hack any goblin that came his way. The same goes for Michael. Even though he never played any sports, Michael surprisingly held up for this long.

Nathan asked Michael with an exhausted voice.

"Michael, do you know the old man?"

"No, I've never seen him before."

Nathan looked confused. Who was this old man then? But in any case, Nathan didn't have to care about those things. The man might be suspicious, but at least he helped them survive.

Right now they are walking in an asphalted road wide enough for 2 cars to drive side by side. Goblins popping out of nowhere has lessened as time goes on. The goblins also stopped pursuing them too much as their numbers decreased.

By now, Nathan had already memorized the attacking pattern of the goblins. The goblins always charge without any hesitation then almost always attacks with a stab. Nathan would just kick them in the head with a roundhouse kick as they can't react to attacks properly when they are already in an attacking position. Then, he would stab the goblins in the head or in the neck to secure the kill.

Although this sounds gruesome, Nathan had no choice but to do it. He even felt like vomiting sometimes, and with the yelp and cries of the dying goblins, he somehow felt pity for them.

"My house is only 50 meters away from us! We can do this!"

The group felt relieved at what the old man said. Finally, this hellish march will be over! Everyone was already exhausted to the point that they can't even block the attacks properly and they got hurt because of that.

Soon the old man pointed at a house directly in front of them. It was a bungalow type house with a lot of backyard and front yard spaces. It also has high concrete walls sturdy enough to withstand an earthquake. Luckily, they were only at least 30 meters away from the house.

SWISH

But then, arrows started flying in their direction! A man from the rear was hit in his right leg causing him to fall to the ground. Before the man can even call for help, another arrow hit the man, this time it was his head that was hit.

The arrows came from above. The group was frightened. Just how can they even fight archers or block an arrow? Another arrow flew next to Nathan almost hitting him in the head, but it instead hit the man behind him who was on the other side of the formation which quickly killed him.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Nathan's heart beat faster when he realized that the arrow was supposed to hit him instead of the man. Nathan felt agitated as they neared the gate. "Just a little bit more! You can do it, Nathan!" He muttered to himself.

They saw the archers on the rooftops or on top of the rubbles. The archers were also goblins! Just to make their situation worst, the goblins who were falling back, rushed at them again! The combined attack of melee and range proved to be detrimental to them.

Soon, a flurry of arrows started flying towards them! The group's formation has finally broken when the fifth victim of the archers died. The older ones carried the kids and the elderly as they run for the house.

One goblin suddenly appeared in front of Nathan as he ran towards the house. While the goblin was still confused, he took advantage of it and just stabbed its head with his knife. The goblin wasn't able to react at the sudden attack. Nathan didn't have the time to pull out the knife embedded in the goblin's head, so he just left it there and continued running.

By reflex, Nathan placed his hands on his head as he ran across the road. The arrows were still flying around them while the knife-wielding goblins continued their pursuit. The slower ones were killed but it also slowed the goblins down. Somehow, Nathan felt glad for their sacrifice but he shook his head at that thought. "What? am I a psychopath!?" Nathan muttered to himself.

After a minute of running, they finally entered the house and closed the gate. The arrows were still flying at them, though. They had to lean their backs on the wall to avoid the archers' arrows. Then, there's also the problem of goblins that appeared inside the house.

After a few minutes, the archers stopped shooting at them, and the melee goblins also stopped pursuing them when they met a solid metal gate. The gate was at least 6 feet in height and the frame was solid metal bars enabling the humans and goblins to see each other on each side.

The old man's group saw movements inside the house as they peeked on the windows. The shadows were small, so it is definitely goblins.

The man looked at the people resting on his front yard. There were 3 kids and 2 elderlies and only 4 adults excluding him. They lost 11 men and women from the goblins, it is really lucky that the archers are not that good. The old man pointed at the adults in the group.

"You and you, go to the back. Enter the house through the backdoor, the key is under the doormat. Just go inside as soon as you find the key, okay?"

The man pointed at Michael and the other guy behind him. They are really exhausted, but they have to do what the old man says. He is their savior, after all. Then the old man pointed at Nathan.

"You, your coming with me. And you, stay here protect the kids and the elderlies and don't let those creatures get close, Okay?"

The man nodded with a resolute expression on his face. The old man also nodded at him. They checked their weapons for a bit before they headed out to their assigned destination.

Since Nathan didn't have his goblin weapon, The old man handed him his machete and just proceeded to walk towards the door barehanded. Nathan was a bit reluctant when the old man gave him the weapon.

"Uhm...Mister, what about you? You don't have any weapon on you, it's dangerous"

"I don't need a weapon to kill those little bastards, kid. You are the one who needs weapon the most"

When they reached the front door, Nathan stood on the left side of the door while the old man slowly turned the doorknob and silently opened the door. The old man scanned the living room and saw three goblins, one was standing near the TV to the right, the other one was admiring itself in front of a large mirror on the left side of the living room and the last one was walking towards the kitchen where the backdoor is also located.

"You go for the one on the right, I go on the left. Move slowly, don't make any noise, and stay calm. Got it? This will be easy because they aren't facing the front door right now"

"Okay!"

Nathan nodded and grasped the handle of the machete even tighter. He readied himself before the old man opened the door only enough for a single person to go through.

The old man went inside first then Nathan followed. The old man was crouching and was only making light steps to avoid making any noise, Nathan copied the old man and slowly approached his target goblin.

The goblins might be dumb, but their senses are sharp enough to alert them of their presence! Nathan and the old man were only a meter away from their targets when they were spotted. The old man was fast to react as he instantly grabbed the wrist of the knife arm of the goblin. He then kicked the right leg of the goblin causing it to fall down. The old man pinned down the goblin by going on top of it. He then directed the knife to the goblin's chest by forcefully twisting its wrist.

The old man proved to be stronger than he looked like! The goblin struggled for a bit before its own knife pierced its chest instantly killing it. Green blood started pouring out of the goblin's chest and mouth.

Nathan also did well. Although he struggled for a bit when the goblin noticed him, he exactly knew how the goblin would attack. The goblin leaped with a stab which he evaded by sidestepping to his left then he kicked the goblin on its side with a push kick causing it to fall down. He didn't wait for the goblin to recover and quickly jumped at the back of the goblin and stabbed it in the head.

When they finished fighting the two goblins, there were still sounds of fighting in the kitchen. It seems like Michael and his partner still can't finish off their target. Nathan rushed at the kitchen only to see Michael's partner bleeding on his stomach while Michael was cornered between the refrigerator and the wall and the goblin were facing him while laughing.

"KYAK KYAK KYAK"

"Asshole!"

Nathan charged at the goblin who was about to stab his friend. A roundhouse kick did the job as the goblin wasn't prepared for that kick. Nathan slashed at the neck of the goblin while it was still struggling to get up.

"Thank you!"

Michael was able to let out a sigh of relief as he got out of his cornered state. Nathan just nodded at him and looked at the still bleeding man laying on the floor.

"We were caught by surprise. When I opened the door, the goblin was already standing in front of us and just stabbed John here"

Michael explained what happened to them with his eyes filled with guilt and shame. He didn't check the other side of the door before he opened it, and it might cost someone's life because of it.

Nathan patted Michael's back to reassure him that it was not his fault. He checked John's pulse by placing his finger on John's neck. The pulse was weak, but at least he is not dead yet.

The old man walked in on them and stared at the bleeding man. He shook his head and said

"There might be medical supplies on the top shelves there, find it"

Nathan quickly got up and did as he was told. The old man then called the people outside to come in.