Run like hell

Finally, the darkness and pain slowly subsides, bringing a distant light and sound to his surroundings.

Something he couldn't exactly express how grateful he is to experience right now.

Escaping from what looks like an eternal torment, the pain, agony, sorrow, just name them, all slowly fading away as he slowly opens his eyes to experience his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed as he woke up was the sound of what seemed to be a battle.

The unmistakable clang of metal against metal, the shouts of soldiers, and the screams of the dying filled his ears.

A feeling he couldn't quite identify why it felt so good.

He struggled to open his eyes, his vision blurry and his head throbbing.

As he slowly came to his senses, he realized he was lying on a beach, the sand gritty beneath him.

He could feel the waves washing over his feet and the hot sun beating down on his face.

And most importantly, he could feel a powerful force acting on his body as if his soul wants to be shaken off his body.

Dazed and confused, Arthur tried to sit up, only to find that he was sitting face to face with a lady about his age staring at him in a weird and worried manner.

"Selene, we have to leave now before more of them show up," a man's voice trailed in from the side, pulling Arthur's dazed attention from the lady in front of him.

Turning to the direction of the voice, he was a bit taken aback by what he saw.

The young man that had spoken is battling with a funny-looking creature.

A monstrous creature with scaly, alien-like skin made up of multiple layers of scales that are arranged in a tight, overlapping pattern, similar to the scales of a snake. And oversized, jagged teeth.

It stands tall on powerful, kangaroo-like hind legs, with sharp, clawed forelimbs.

Its body is covered in thick fur, giving it a wild and primal appearance.

This creature looks nothing like what he had seen before and there are a good number of them around with more still trailing in.

There were about five others along with this guy making it six that were battling these creatures nonstop with special abilities.

He also noticed his surroundings, the whole place looked like an abandoned city at a beachside.

Overgrown weeds and plants cover what used to be a living settlement, abandoned cars and other things that depict a well-developed and modern civilization litter the whole place, many in a worse state than what could be called condemned.

The group of six was dressed in a special kind of armor and wield special weapons to their own specifics just like the lady before him.

A few distances from this six are others battling against these creatures too but they aren't faring well enough like this six whose coordination is synchronized.

"Come on Selene, we've got to go now," another lady amongst the six shouted while dealing a heavy blow to the creature she was fighting against with her weapon, using the force of momentum to distance herself from the creature.

"Can you walk?" the lady called Selene asked Arthur in a hurried tone as she too kept her eyes on her surroundings, ready to engage if any of those creatures head her way.

Arthur opened his mouth to reply, but found his voice was still too weak to speak. Instead, he nodded slowly, his eyes still wide with confusion.

Like what on earth is going on here, had he spent another hundred years again?

If yes, what the hell happened while he was away, and what are these creatures?

Nothing was said about them the last time he was researching major events on earth, or did they show up after he left? Many questions were bugging his mind and he needs answers.

Most importantly about this lady in front of him right now.

"We need to get out of here now," Selene said, reaching out to help him up. Arthur took her hand and rose unsteadily to his feet, still feeling disoriented and weak.

"What's happening?" he managed to croak out, looking around at the others fighting nearby.

Selene looked at him as if she was looking at a retard but got an honest gaze back which stated the other wasn't joking.

He is completely clueless as it may be; how she doesn't know but guessing it had something to do with how he got in this state in the first place.

"It's too much to explain right now," Selene said, guiding him away from the fighting. "We need to get to safety first," she added.

Arthur followed her, his mind racing with questions. Who was this woman? How did he end up here? And what were these creatures attacking them?

As they walked, he noticed something; the world around them was in a worse state than he thought. The buildings they passed were in a state of disrepair, some of them even completely destroyed. It was as if this place had been abandoned for years. And yet, the people around him were dressed in modern clothes, and the weapons they were using looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

Arthur's head was spinning with confusion, but he knew one thing for sure: he had to get answers.

The team retreated tactically, the guy that had spoken earlier now known as Oliver morphed into a giant dire wolf that charged against the influx of creatures chasing after them.

While the lady from earlier, urging Selene to hurry up, was smashing on any beast that broke through the energy force field with her shield, which had great strength to throw the creature away for some reason.

Countless arrows were shot out by another, while one controlled vines to clear the path ahead.

As Arthur watched the team work together to fight off the creatures, he understood their tactic to cover each other's flaws in battle and mentally gave them a thumbs up.

The woman's shield was unlike anything he had ever seen, and the man's ability to transform into a wolf was unlike any animal control ability he had ever heard of.

Not to mention the archer's arrows were like nothing he had seen before, arrows made of light that seemed to have a mind of their own seeking out the target and hitting the intended spot to create damage or lend helping hands to allies.

They seemed to be made of light, and they moved with incredible speed and precision.

As they continued to retreat, Arthur noticed that the creatures seemed to be getting more aggressive.

They were gaining on the team, and it was clear that they would be overpowered pretty soon.

Most of the other teams had fallen to these creatures, what's so fascinating or unfascinating is the fact that once a soldier falls, these creatures fight over it, tearing it to pieces, gulping every last piece down before charging towards the next prey.

The creatures were feeding off the fallen soldiers, gaining strength and power from their bodies.

It wasn't just the soldiers they were doing this to; any of their fallen were torn to pieces and gulped down just like the soldiers, leaving nothing behind. A sight that astounded Arthur for a few moments.

As he watched, he noticed something else. Among the creatures, there was one that stood out from the rest. It was larger than the others, with a powerful presence that made the air around it seem to vibrate with energy.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who had noticed this; the others had noticed it too and had a grim look as the beast gave out a shrieking sound before charging over.

The rest of the creatures created a path for it while following behind, charging towards the team.

"Yeah right, what sick luck, encountering an advanced-level Fathom Selenite," the lady with the shield known as Terra smirked, seeing the creature charge over.

Selene had a difficult look on her face. Taking out the immediate level Fathom Selenites was a breeze for the team, but dealing with an advanced one is a whole new game entirely.

"What's the plan, Selene?" asked Oliver, who had transformed back into human form, standing beside Marcus, a telekinesis guy with a bow for a weapon, who was readying his bow.

He had it aimed at the approaching creature, a light arrow now formed on it, ready to be shot out anytime, but Selene held up a hand.

"We can't take it head-on," she said. "We need to figure out a way to disable it, or at least slow it down so we can escape."

Multiple strategies were employed in a very short time, with everyone working together to slow the beast down. Selene used her gravity manipulation ability to reduce its speed considerably, while Marcus kept firing at its hind legs to further slow it down.

All the while, the group was retreating as fast as they could, taking out any immediate level Fathom Selenites they came across instantly.

It was evident they were giving their all to survive this ordeal, but with the creature drawing closer and closer, that hope was slowly turning into despair. "I can't believe today is my day," Lyra spat out while controlling vines to further slow the creature, but it swiftly dodged them, burrowing into the ground and popping up somewhere else.

"We really should have bought that advanced sonic blast," Selene said, her brow furrowed in concentration. "We just need to make do with what we have. It would only stun it for a few seconds, but that should be enough. Whatever you do at that time, run like hell," her voice serious as she said it.

"Oliver," she called, "we will be needing your aerial assistance to make the drop. Whatever you all do, make sure to make it back alive to camp. No one should die on me, okay?"

Selene ordered with a stern voice, but one could feel her emotions, care, and pain hidden within those words she was trying her best to hide.

Wiping out a grenade-looking object, she tossed it to Oliver before turning to Arthur, "Hope you can run?"

This question surprised Arthur, who had his eyes on that strange-looking object.

From the look of everything, he could tell this creature was bad news, especially now that it had pushed the group to disband and aim for survival.

Arthur shifted his gaze from her to the creature charging over. At the same time, Oliver had morphed into a giant hawk-like bird and took to the sky with the object already blinking like it was on a timer.