Monster Surge

 Avis woke up, chaos all around him, Maizy was carrying him along the streets as people fled, screaming of monsters. He found himself only wearing a pair of pants and a shirt, his wound was bandaged, and his arm was locked in place.

 "Maizy…"

 "Avis! You finally woke up… The monster surge… It reached the town…" She said between breaths, it was amazing that she could keep up with the fleeing crowd while carrying another person.

 "It reached us? But that would mean…"

 "…"

 "..."

 They remained silent, Avis gaining new admiration for the girl, she was now an orphan like him, but her resolve didn't waver.

 "No… It doesn't mean they died… Just that the monsters slipped by…" She tried to reassure herself.

 "Right, we need to get on a boat, it's our best chance!"

 "That's where we're going, but a lot of them already left!"

 "We'll get on the chef's boat, I traveled with them before, they won't say no."

 "Alright, but we should get there alive first!"

 They ran through the streets, dodging the people who could not go on, their path was clear, but as they passed a building, its wall was suddenly busted down as a giant man with only one eye went through it.

 The monster wasn't as much interested in the people that ran from it, as it was trying to flee a man on the other side of the building. The man seemed surprised that the monster was running away, but as he saw the two children running away, he tried to raise his hand at them but was attacked by an agglomeration of animal limbs, each trying only to rip the flesh off his bones, a deformed chimera.

 But just as it appeared, it was cut in half with the greatsword the man was holding in only one hand, as the other was occupied by a shield, matching his vibrant blue armor.

 Avis couldn't see any more of the fighting as Maizy quickly ran away, but he would remember such a strong person.

 As they got closer to the port, more and more monsters started to catch up, at first it was only wolf-like creatures, but soon even giant human-like monsters with red skin and horns, wielding swords that could cut tens of people at once.

 "Maziy! Put me down! I can run on my own!" He had to shout over the screams behind him otherwise she wouldn't hear him.

 She wasn't convinced of his ability to run, but as his legs were uninjured, she nonetheless threw him up so she wouldn't lose momentum. He graciously landed, and while the cut on his side gave him hell, it also gave him more than enough adrenaline to be able to ignore it.

 When they finally reached the docks, as if the hell they ran through wasn't enough, a pack of little green men with pointed ears were preventing people from getting their cargo onto the ships.

 "We won't leave before you load the goods, you monkeys, hurry up and kill these creatures!"

 "Hah, greedy pig." As she ran by the group, Maizy used her sword to swiftly cut down more than half of the goblins. Avis ran not far behind, and as he passed, he showed the merchant his own piece of mind by raising a middle finger.

 "Maizy! There is the chef's boat, it's about to leave! Hurry and jump aboard!"

 Maizy jumped, but the boat was already too far for her so she had to use her sword as a step to jump on, finally reaching it. She was about to celebrate but remembered Avis wouldn't be able to jump so far, so she quickly turned and held out a hand.

 Avis was about to reach the ship, but as the monsters were catching up, he had to jump early, as he was about to catch onto Maizy's hand however, something grabbed his leg. Unable to see the creature that doomed him, as it let go when it realized it too would fall into the water, Avis was plummeting to the ocean.

 He braced himself, diving head first and surfacing as fast as he could, he looked with desperation at the distancing boat.

 "No… No!" As he was about to give in to the panic, a rope was thrown at him, and without a shred of hesitation, he grabbed on.

 …

 "Thank you… Thank you, chef!! I would have been the meal of some creature if it wasn't for you!" Avis, wet from head to toe, was hugging the chef's legs.

 "Hmph, you should do the same to me otherwise you would be the meal of some monsters right now." Maizy added.

 "Yes… Maizy… I am so indebted to you I don't know how I'll ever repay you!" He now wrapped himself around her legs. "If-if you ever want anything from me, I won't say no… I thank you from the bottom of my heart…"

 "You can stop with the piss poor performance, kid, you ain't fooling nobody. Come on, we need to make inventory, we should at least know if we'll starve to death before we reach the other continent."

 "What's a con...diment, cortinent? What was it?" Avis asked.

 The other two looked at him, thinking he was joking.

 "Leave him be, let's move already. With you two, I reckon we are now fifteen. Ten from my crew, the other three are adventurers."

 With a last look back, Avis saw the only place he could call home, now engulfed in flames, screams still echoing even at this great distance.

 They made their way to the underdeck where they found four people counting crates.

 "Vsevolod, how's it looking, mate?"

 "Urgh, we only have fifteen crates of bricks, five of different salted meats, some sacks of dried beans, two chickens, and most importantly four barrels of beer! The rest are loose spices and perishable foods, we can live on them for two or three days."

 "Bricks?"

 "Crackers, flour, and water."

 "Oh…"

 "With this much, it could last us almost a month." Another voice said, a young male with dyed white hair and a darker complexion, presumably one of the adventurers. His clothes were somewhat questionable because he was wearing furs with exotic patterns over white, blood-stained clothes that could at most be called pajamas.

 "Nargh... Who said we'll eat good, we can live three months off of this." The chef said.

 "And how long will it take to reach that continent?" Maziy inquired.

 "Three months."

 "..."

 "Alright, gather everyone on deck, I'll assign posts and duties."

 "Yes, chef!"

 …