Chapter 6

They began sprinting back towards their group. Suddenly, a series of guttural moans could be heard outside, coming closer to the restaurant as dozens of more similar entities entered the room, groaning loudly as they walked towards the exit.

"There are more out there—dozens and dozens of them! We can't escape this place alive!" Ren warned Adamo and urged him on.

"Okay! Keep running! We'll hide here somewhere else in case those things come back or follow our tracks."

As the monsters followed them back inside, Ren pulled up the shutters on a window on their way through the kitchen and threw herself out first. She climbed out of the building, swinging her body towards one of the nearby parked cars and jumping on top of its roof, landing with both feet firmly planted on its hood, ready to run. The door to the roof was then opened quickly by Ayoub.

Adam climbed out last, turning around just in time to see several hands reach inside, trying to pull the shutter down, which failed to go back into place and remain locked, as something was obstructing it. Suddenly, one of the green, mutilated monstrosities stumbled forward and landed flat on his face before getting pushed aside by others trying to enter. One of the mutants banged violently on the shutter with a closed fist repeatedly, while another struggled to squeeze himself in through a tiny hole in the wall, its face distorted horribly into a weird grin showing all its teeth and gums, eyes glowing an eerie color green, and tongue flailing wildly like a fish.

Two men had appeared on either side of Ren, apparently waiting for her. One of them held his right hand out to her and offered it to shake while keeping one foot firmly placed against the left corner of the shutter. Ren looked at him with suspicion. He wasn't just waiting for her; he was also supporting the metal shield door and preventing more monsters from breaking through it.

He grinned at her with crooked, bloody teeth.

"Hello, lady," his voice a strange, rasping murmur. "Would you please be kind enough to accompany us out of town safely? We don't mean harm, only survival."

"REN, get out of there!" Adam screamed at the top of his voice and ran towards her, but he stopped immediately upon noticing the pair. Their gazes fixed solely on Ren, their eyes full of hunger.

"What do you say, Ren?" The monster inquired, holding out one of his claw-like hands towards her face.

"You guys look creepy and definitely sound scary, especially with your claws and all. Besides, we aren't even safe ourselves."

The mutant chuckled darkly to himself, turned around, stepped out onto the street, and gave a thumbs-down signal to Adamo.

"GIVE REN BACK, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Both males glared angrily back at Adam.

"Sorry, I'm afraid that's not going to happen, because..." He said it at a slightly higher pitch than before. "You see, your lovely Ren-chan... She belongs with us now."

"Ah— what?"

Adam gasped, then growled. His vision was rapidly growing darker and darker with each passing moment. He could see his vision fade completely as his anger peaked, and when the two men walked away from him after their brief confrontation, he was left all alone, a rage he could barely contain. Before Adam took another step, Ren kicked the men holding her captive from behind. They crashed and tumbled, rolling across the dusty road until eventually stopping halfway between where she and Adamo were standing, both laughing hysterically. Adam tried calling out for help, yet there was no response. He then sprinted towards her and screamed, "REN, REN, REN!"

However, there was no answer, nor did she give any. Her eyes and pupils dilated as if in a trance, and she stared lifelessly ahead of her, oblivious to his cries and calls.

"PLEASE! GIVE HER BACK TO ME! COME ON, REN! LISTEN TO ME, OKAY?"

Yet, no matter how much he called out, nothing happened—nothing happened at all—nothing would make her snap out of the spell the mutant put her into. Adam had to reach out and pull her hair, forcing her face closer to his, snapping the spell, and looking him in the eye.

"Give up." A shadowy figure stood before Ren.

"Who is that...?"

The figure spoke in a voice that sent shivers up Ren's spine, making her flinch. She saw a dark being with one leg missing and the other turned into an abhorrent monstrosity. What was once a face was now a pool of black fluid. His jaw hung limply from the side of his mouth, exposing razor-sharp fangs within, and a gruesome, putrid odor wafted through the air.

"I'm you, Ren." It gestured its claw-tipped fingers forward.

"Wha— "

Its eyes burned crimson as it walked toward her and clutched her arms firmly in a tight grasp, glaring with its soulless orbs at her.

"Accept who you are and make a choice. Run and be free, or hide and die. Choose one, Ren. Now." Its voice grew raspier as the seconds went by, dripping with hatred. The voice grew colder as its grip tightened. "CHOOSE."

"What are you?"

The shadow creature merely smiled maliciously, its eyes glinting red with amusement and its mouth curling in satisfaction. "ACCEPT ME AS PART OF YOU!"

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" 

Ren screamed as she gripped back into reality and fell into the arms of Adam.

"Where the fuck did you go, Ren?"

"Nowhere..."

"Well, where am I?"

"... nowhere." Ren mumbled softly.

"Shit," he cursed, shaking her shoulders and bringing her to attention.

"Is everything okay?" Adamo asked gently.

"...yes, yes. Sorry for worrying you so much, Adam." She apologized and wiped the sweat away from his brow with a tissue she carried around. Then he wrapped his arms around her as gently as he could. "Enough with that lovey-dovey shit right now; there are two hideous monsters trying to kill us." Ayoub said.

"Right!" Adam remembered, whipping around to glare angrily at the mutants.

One of them lunged toward Adam, trying to swipe his throat. Connor blocked its attack, using both of his hands to grab hold of its wrist and preventing the creature's claw from reaching Adam's jugular.

"They really are like zombies!" Ayoub yelled and cried hysterically, then raised his shovel high above his head and brought it down forcefully against the creature.

"Are you acoustic?" Adamo asked as he was trying to hold off the creature with Connor.

The mutant, seeing that its attack missed Adam completely, jumped away from him and scrambled across the pavement towards where Ren was standing, preparing to strike.

But before the mutated person got the chance to strike her again, Adamo sprang out at the mutant's side and caught it with one hand by its neck. While simultaneously kneeing it repeatedly and punching its ribs brutally, Adamo was also shouting, "YOU FUCKER!"

When the monster finally let out a short, gritty screech and let himself fall backward onto the asphalt, Adamo felt like a huge burden lifted off him. Adam and Ayoub joined in on the beating. Both he and Ren were then thrown aside by an invisible force that sent them crashing against a building far from them.

"So fucking annoying." Another mutant said, standing right in the center of them while sporting a bored expression on its hideously disfigured face. "Why don't you all stop beating the shit out of my little friends here?"

"They can speak?" Ayoub whispered to the group.

"Actually," another figure slowly joined the first's side, "we should speak to one another too. After all, we've met under unusual circumstances, so why wouldn't you show a little courtesy and speak your minds instead?" The man's voice was deep, guttural, and commanding.

"How can those creatures talk if their heads are completely deformed?" Ayoub replied. "And even if that's so, there's nothing courteous about a single thing they're doing. Look what those freaks tried to do to Ren! Not so different, are ya?"

Connor punched the ground beside Ayoub's foot with his fist, warning him, "Get a fucking grip, Ayoub! This is no place for talking. All you have to do now is stand tall and defend her! Now."

The man continued, "Please, do us a favor and shut up."

Ayoub gritted his teeth tightly, holding back the insults on his mind and replying bitterly, "Why should I shut up when you guys came to pick a fight with us? Talking can save our time here. It would make the whole situation more pleasant. Why not try?"

The other creature chuckled derisively and replied sarcastically.

"Talking makes me sick. That's why I want to cut you down to shreds with my sharp nails and tear apart your flesh into tiny bits before letting our acidic spit dissolve what's left into goo, along with what remains of the people I'm watching."

"Don't forget that I'm no weakling who will submit easily." Connor growled lowly, glaring at the man from behind.

He continued. "Now let's see if you can withstand my sharp claws."

"I just have one question before we go back to fighting... did you make Ren cry?" Adam's animosity could be sensed in his bones as he uttered those words.