That's what friends are for

As if he were part of that limb, old Ernesto's body was being whipped around as he was carried to where the trees and the growing fog clouded everyone's view.

The tension was obvious, that creature was here.

- H-How did he get here so fast?! What happened to Fausto?! - Luis exclaimed.

The whole place became silent, it seemed that there were only those five people. Seconds passed and there was no sign of either the guards or the monster.

Everyone did not hesitate to leave immediately, maybe it was an opportunity, because they thought that maybe that creature had been satisfied with Ernesto's body.

Taking Melissa with them again, they all left that place discreetly, or so they thought.

A few meters away from the bus stop, the group continued running, but not with the same constancy as before, because they felt that they were being watched.

Soon, that dark and desperate situation was illuminated by a ray of light when everyone saw, close to where they were, two cars.

They were two red cars of modern design that could carry six people normally. Yes, it was one of the cars of that group that was to come and pick them up.

The combined feelings of frustration, joy and hope turned into total despair.

Everyone in the group that was supposed to pick them up was dead. Some were outside the car lying on the ground and others were still inside. The reality was that those two vehicles were wrecked.

- Ha ha ha ...

Alison's unhinged laughter as she fell to the ground was to be expected, as her entire team was dead and they could not use the cars to escape.

- Everything is ... lost ... We will not survive until the others arrive ... - said Luis.

Understanding the situation, that last escort was plunged into despair like the others; however, a sign of courage was reflected in his eyes.

- How much time is left until we reach the bus station? 

- ... Ten minutes. - Aren answered.

- ... I see ... ... can you take them with you?

A request from that young man who seemed determined to give his life.

- What?

- Please... take them with you to the bus stop... I have faith that they can find a bus to take them out of here.

Before Aren could object, the fog came again.

- I understand.

Taking the other two women with him, who did not object as they were desperate enough, the young man left the place.

- Lady Alison.

Before leaving, the young duchess listened to her servant's call.

- Although all this has happened very quickly, I just want to tell you that today I will pay you for your kindness that day.

The woman looked up at the young man who was saying goodbye.

- Please take care of yourself. - Luis said goodbye to his mistress.

As if Alison had reacted, she wanted to speak, but was immediately grabbed by Aren's arm.

- Don't waste her efforts. - was what he said.

A tear of that cunning woman was spilled on the floor and, without saying a word, she left the place.

The fog was covering the whole area where the servant had stayed.

Near the area on the outskirts of the abandoned village, there were two men who were walking around leaning on each other. They looked a little bruised and wounded.

- Hah ... we made it somehow ... I think we got enough time for them to meet the other guys. - Faust said as he walked.

- That ... I hope so ... but what intrigues me and so far I wonder ... Why does that thing only show interest in them? - commented Bruno.

- Yes, I noticed that too... I have no idea, but thanks to that, after that monster hit us and threw us away from it, it immediately set its sights on following them, leaving us behind.

- Well, now we just have to worry about escaping from here... it's already starting to get dark.

- Yeah... you know... this reminds me, today must be the second day of the second stage of the ARET exam.

- Oh... that's right... if we get out of this, maybe I'll go take a look at the entrants... after all I am an alumnus.

- Yeah yeah... can you run?

- Of course I can!

- Then let's go quickly... we must confirm that they are safe.

The two men were running despite their injuries. This made their endurance clear.

As they ran Aren and the rest of the women; for some reason it seemed that their destination was farther away than it was. Really, the two women no longer had the strength to keep running; this was because of their physical exhaustion, but more so mentally.

"I don't think they can keep running anymore...they seem to be giving up." thought Aren as he watched Lisbeth and Alison giving their last efforts.

Although the speed was getting slower and slower, no one was stopping, but soon, their desperation increased as they heard sounds of footsteps coming at high speed towards them.

It was certainly that thing that came chasing them, but the sound was diffuse, plus they could not see anything behind them.

This only made their desperation constant, it was as if the hunter was playing with his prey.

Taking a wrong step, Alison fell to the ground.

Aren and Lisbeth stopped.

- W-Why? ... Why is this happening? - were the words of the fallen woman.

The princess went to help her.

Incredibly, the whole place was silent; not even the sound of birds could be heard; however, the whole place was filled with that fog that was getting denser and denser.

Everyone knew they were cornered.

The seconds passed, but nothing happened; however, the impact of a lump falling from one of the trees could be heard.

It was a deformed mass, but, upon closer inspection, it was the remains of Eric's corpse. It looked as if it had been devoured in parts.

Alison noticing this, did not scream, but fainted from the whole spectacle.

Lisbeth who was holding her was the first to notice this. Now she had to bear the weight of the young duchess.

The princess' loud exhalations only showed her exhaustion, it seemed that she too would fall at any moment.

A footstep was heard behind them. No one dared to turn around.

Another step accompanied by the sound of another lump crawling on the floor.

No one turned around.

There was no reason to keep running, it would all be in vain.

Seeing on the ground what was thrown in front of them, the corpse of Luis, but the terrifying thing was how suddenly a shadow appeared behind them that extended with each step.

That shadow of the creature's head began to deform, it was as if it was opening its mouth to begin its feast.

Lisbeth's suppressed moans did not stop while Aren looked thoughtful.

"It only remains for me... to do this..."

Looking sideways at that long-haired young man, the princess noticed something: Aren's raised right hand seemed to show a dark aura, but in the middle of it a faint, small white light.

"What is that?" wondered Lisbeth.

Suddenly that aura shone brighter illuminating the whole place and leaving her blind for an instant, the only thing she felt was how a hand grabbed her and pulled her forward.

When she opened her eyes, she could notice the presence of that monster, the previous descriptions were certainly close, but the appearance was more frightening. A creature of fantasy, out of a horror story, was what she wanted to believe, but what stunned her the most was to see that the creature did not seem to be able to move, as a long iron rod had pierced it.

However, it was not necessary for it to move, for by lifting that limb, Lisbeth knew that they were still within its range.

At that moment, the young woman remembered the time she was attacked by that limb in the abandoned village. This would happen again.

The direction of the limb was aimed at that woman; the princess would be the first victim.

As if it were a bullet, that limb extended towards Lisbeth.

Only a whimper was heard.

Seconds passed, Lisbeth, who had closed her eyes, opened them slowly, because she had not yet been killed, but rather she could hear the sound of a car engine.

As she opened her eyes, she noticed that the limb was only centimeters away from her; however, something had stopped the creature's action.

"This...I really didn't expect this." thought Aren as he saw what was happening.

A familiar voice was heard.

- Take your banana, you monkey!

The high-speed impact of a minivan that had run over the creature sent it flying through the air.

- You ...

- He's the one you cried for! - Glen exclaimed.

- What? - Lisbeth muttered.

Surrounded by a group of six people, two of the applicants were subdued and forced to show their cards. The place was deserted, but there were no others present besides them.

- ... 16 ... 183 ...

- Well ... with that, we would only have to find five more tokens and we would all have passed.

- What do we do with them?

- Leave them ... it is forbidden to kill them ... just throw their tokens away. - ordered a teenage girl of about 17 who had beautiful wavy red hair.

The pair who were gagged showed no resistance, they just wanted to be released or rather give up the competition.

With the sound of falling leaves, the group was alarmed by the sudden presence of two men who had the ARET emblem on their uniforms.

- We will take them away... they are already disqualified. - spoke one of the uniformed men.

 - ... Do whatever you want. - replied the young girl.

Taking the pair with them, the two men left the scene.

- So those are the supervisors, huh? - spoke one of the guys in the group.

- Do you think they are graduates?

- Yes... no doubt about it...

- Well, let's go ... in a few hours we must find a place to rest before it gets dark.

While they were walking, another conversation was established.

- Is it true that there is a test out of term?

- Oh ... I have heard about that ... they say that there is another group that will not participate in this exam ...

- So far, all the applicants for this exam have been referred by graduates and high ranking people. But now ARET has created a preparatory ... they themselves select and prepare a group of young people who show skills ... it seems that they have another kind of test.

- So ... could this year be the one with the most R class entrants?

- Maybe ... or maybe they are in another special class ...

- Wow ... can't wait to finish this ...

Suddenly, the young woman who seemed to be the leader of the group stopped.

- Is something wrong, Anna?

- You remember that the Duchess of Saragossa instructed us to be careful from 6 p.m. onwards?

- Yes ... why are you mentioning it now?

- You seem to have noticed it too, didn't you? - mentioned a male in the group.

- I have sensed a change in the atmosphere... it seems that this warning was for today... - stated Anna.

This statement left the group worried.

- So, shall we stop for today?

- No ... we still have a couple of hours ... only if we come across a pack of those beasts or that dark guy, we will retreat.

They all agreed.

Walking through another area of the large field, a group of young people who were not having much luck were talking.

- Well... What do we do? Now we have not found anyone ... - said Renato somewhat frustrated.

- Maybe it's because we are in a group ... maybe they saw us from far away and didn't want to mess with us? - replied Daniel.

Renato sighed.

- Then, why are we still together! - exclaimed the young man with green eyes.

- You can leave if you want to. - commented Liam indifferently.

- Little ...

- Besides, it's not like we can't pass ... according to the rules, anyone who has formed a group of at least three people can pass. - Liam stated.

Everyone was a little confused by that statement.

- What do you mean, Liam?

- Remember ... the objective itself is to know two codes of other participants ... nothing else ...

The young people remained confused; however, it seemed that the young girl following them noticed something.

- It won't be that ... - muttered the young girl as she fixed her gaze on the boy with the patch.

Only a smile she received from Liam, so that she kept secret what his words meant.

- Well... there's no point in being in a group of three if there's no target.

Liam sighed.

- Hey, cut the bullshit and explain yourself... - spoke Renato somewhat obfuscated.

As they continued walking, the whole group could hear a rifle shot.

Consequently, five more shots were heard.

- A shooting? - asked Daniel somewhat worried.

Liam, who had also heard the shots, looked up at the sky.

- Now what's going on? - he muttered.

In front of them, a small suitcase was thrown in front of them; however, there was no one who had thrown that thing.

- What's that?

- Read it, please.

A voice was heard giving the indication.

- Hey... What was that? - said Renato.

- I don't know... Why did they throw that away? And what should we read?

- Is it a trick of another applicant?

Everyone got into a defensive pose.

- Hey, whoever you are! Come out at once! - Renato exclaimed.

No one responded.

After a few minutes passed, with no one responding, Liam noticed that there were some water supplies inside the suitcase.

- Is this a trick? - muttered the young man.

 The sound of his hungry stomach alerted everyone, at which point they all noticed that the suitcase contained some bottles of water and food.

By that time, they all remembered that they had not eaten in more than a day.