26 Danger Approaches

The morning came, and the rising sun shined its light through the windows. The ray of light made the dust visible as they calmly float in the air. The door banged loudly, followed by a voice. The sudden banging woke everyone up from their sleep. Ian struggled to open his eyes and rubbed them with his hand. Lily slept beside him, cuddling in his embrace.

Ian shook her shoulders. "Hey Lily, can you answer the door?"

"Ugh, why me?" Lily moaned.

"Please?" Ian put on a puppy face to persuade her.

"Fine."

"Wakey, wakey!" Charlotte's voice yelled from outside.

Lily pulled herself from Ian's embrace and rubbed her eyes. She lifted herself from the bed and walked towards a door with a yawn. Ray and Mrs.Willard followed behind her with small footsteps as they both stretched their arms. Lily opened the door and saw Charlotte and Daniel.

"Come on!" Charlotte excitedly said. "Let's get going!"

"What time is it?" Lily said.

Daniel checked his watch. "Almost 6:30."

Ten minutes passed, and everyone left the house. Danial and Charlotte saw the Lizardman and screamed.

Daniel pointed his rifle at it and yelled, "There's a monster there!"

"Wait!" Ian used his body to defend the Lizardman. "This is Marvin's summoned beast."

Both of them felt uneasy while staring at the Lizardman. It looked no different from the monsters they saw on television. Daniel hesitantly lowered his gun with vigilant eyes.

"Damn it, Daniel!" Marvin shouted. "You were so close to shooting it!"

Mrs.Willard slapped the back of his forehead and loudly whispered, "Shut your mouth!"

"The hell? A summoned beast?" Daniel raised an eyebrow and pointed at his status system. "Oh! Was it from this system summoning magic thingy?"

Ian breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. "Yeah, that thing."

"That's the tool of the devil," Charlotte said. "Y'all been pulled into his dark magic."

Then, she saw Sir Piggy, and her eyes shined brightly. Charlotte bent her knees and pet his face. She picked him up and swung him in her arms.

"So cute! He's even wearing a chef outfit!" Charlotte yelled. "We saw the little wolf before, but we never noticed this little piggy."

Sir Piggy slapped Charlotte with his spatula before running behind Autumn's leg. Charlotte emitted a high-pitched yelp and rubbed her forehead.

Daniel said, "Let's stop dilly-dallying; we got work to do. Also, leave that thing inside; we don't want it to scare anybody."

Everyone hopped in the cargo bay of the pickup truck, and Daniel drove off towards a farm. The pickup truck parked in a patch of dirt road and everyone got out of the car. They were greeted by a large acre of land filled with ripe crops. Various crops were separated from each other by long stretches of grass. Soon after, farmers came out from the barn and walked towards them with tools in hand.

"We will be working with them," Charlotte said.

"So these are the newbies?" A thin man spoke out from the group of farmers.

Everyone chatted with each other then made preparations for work. One of the farmers gave large baskets and scissors to Ian and the group. Ian knew that a long day will be ahead of him, filled with sweat and misery. Charlotte guided them towards the strawberry field while Daniel drove away in his pickup. Red dots scattered everywhere on the green canvas; the strawberries had a beautiful bright red that contrasted the green leaves.

Charlotte cut the stem of the strawberry before placing it in her basket. "Y'all have to do the same thing I did. Simple as that!"

Everyone else separated into different rows and harvested strawberries. Hours passed, and Ian began sweating from the scorching heat. He pulled a bottled water and chugged it down before giving it to Lily, who had her share. Everyone sat down under the shade of an oak tree, and besides Ian, everyone had panted breaths from their day's work. Conner collapsed on his belly and moaned in pain. Autumn took the chance to sit on his back, and Conner cried in pain. Back at the entrance of the town, two men and a lion walked towards the blockade where Ian and the rest passed through.

Ronald peered through his binoculars with fear. "M-monsters!"

The guards quickly aimed their weapons at the trio. Before they had a chance to fire, the guards' eyes drooped, and they began to feel drowsy. In an instant, their bodies collapse to the floor and slept. Ronald resisted the temptation to sleep and struggled to pull his radio device out.

"H-help us!" He loudly whispered, struggling to get his voice out.

"Ronald, what's going on!" Daniel's voice yelled from the other side.

Before Ronald had the chance to answer, a large hand grabbed his neck and slowly picked him up. Baxter had a sinister grin on his face as he stared at Ronald.

"Did you know how many people tried calling for help during my years of killing?" Baxter said.

Sweat poured down Ronald's forehead, and he stuttered his words. "W-who are y-you?"

"Huh? I'm sure you saw it on the news before, but I guess it's because of my new appearance." Baxter laughed.

"I don't mind telling you." Baxter glared at him. "Baxter Mcalister."

"Harborview Killer!"

Baxter pierced Ronald's stomach with his large hands and smiled. Blood flooded out of Ronald's stomach like a waterfall, and his body compulsively shook. Ronald's eyes grew increasingly heavy as he rapidly breathed. He tried his hardest to remain awake, but the pain was too much for him to handle. Finally, Ronald's eyes closed, and his body slumped. Baxter sneered and threw his corpse away.

"Let's get going, Mr.Killer." The man said.

The two men walked off into the distance. Back at the field, Charlotte had a panic look on her face as she heard the cry for help from Ronald. Her anxiety worsened when the radio got cut off.

"Ronald, are you there!" She repeated this line over and over, and yet, there was still no answer.

Ian felt something bad happened and asked, "Did the monsters arrive?"

Everyone muttered to themselves when Ian said that. A looming fear cast over everyone and left them with disspirited expressions. Suddenly, A pickup drove towards them and screeched to a halt.

"Come on, Charlotte!" Daniel yelled.

Charlotte hopped in the car with haste. Everyone followed behind her, and Daniel slammed the gas pedal.

"Do you know what happened, Daniel?" Charlotte asked.

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know, but it's highly likely a monster appeared."

Daniel spotted two men walking along the road with a black lion. Ian noticed them as well, and he felt a sudden bad premonition inside his heart.

The man with greying hair pointed at Daniel. "Sleep."

Daniel's eyes felt like they weighed over a ton, and his head felt dizzy. He suddenly collapsed on the steering wheel, and the car went out of control. Everyone screamed as the car drove off the road and into the grass. Ian, Ray, and Conner fell out of the cargo bay and landed hard on the grass. Everyone else bounced around in the truck as it continuously rolled over. The pickup truck came to a halt, and smoke rose from the hood of it.

"Lily!" Ian yelled.