Before the Storm

There were no explosions or shots anymore. No screams and more deadly beasts but dead bodies. A weird silence was spreading. In the middle of a city that was supposed to be lively and loud.

Laura looked at the blue wall. It was only a steps away. She slowly moved towards it.

Besides the dominating tension there was curiosity in Laura's eyes.

She now suspected what it was. Not just a wall, but a gate where the monsters came out of. If that was the case, why did the monsters gather here again after they destroyed the city?

Now she was standing right in front of it. She had to look up to see it fully. It was half the height of the buildings around it. At least twenty meters. The gate didn't make a sound but was emitting a dangerous aura. Laura never felt something like that before.

As she was about to touch it a crushing sound interrupted her curiosity.

It came from a hallway not too far away from her.

For a moment she had forgotten what the most important thing should be and her curiosity distracted her. She scolded her own stupidity. Laura hurried towards loud sounds that were breaking the silence of the silent city.

That must be Anastasia.

She spotted the entry of the alley the crushing sounds were coming from and had to praise Anatasia's intelligence. She used a spot she couldn't get surrounded in. Only one beast was able to go in there at a time. That was what she was looking for, but instead she trapped herself between two tanks.

As she turned into the alley she had to pause for a second. There were lying wolf corpses all around. Six of them were lying in their own blood. All of them with smashed heads. She must have used the same tactic Laura used on the first wolf. Anastasia won.

Anastasia was kneeling before them, breathing heavenly with a painful face. Only after she noticed Laura she stood up with trembling knees.

Laura immediately noticed the blood.

Anastasia was bitten in her side. They still wore their boxer outfits so Laura could see the bloody bite marks in the side of her uncovered skin. For an outstander, they must look weird in their bloodstained short outfits they were still wearing since they entered the arena for the fight, which was supposed to be a friendly competition and ended in a fight for life and death.

Laura approached her and Anastasia smiled.

"You won round 3?"Anastasia asked and Laura was surprised by her light mood. She knew it was just a fake but wouldn't be able to do so by herself.

So she made a worried face but nodded.

"Don't look at me like that. It's nothing."

Anastasia was obviously lying. The wound looked horrible, but as far as Laura could see, there weren't any inner organs damaged or deep wounds. It probably looked worse than it actually was.

Her mood slightly changed for the better.

"Of course I won. Like I said, I feel like I can't lose today." She genuinely smiled now. "But let me see the wound now, you need to bandage it first before we go anywhere else."

Laura had some medical knowledge, training her body for her entire life resulted in a lot of injuries, also she trained with other people together who received some wounds, often caused by her. So bandaging some wounds and basic first aid was something she had done a lot of times before

"Alright, fine." Anastasia answered. She was clearly disappointed that she got hurt and Laura was fine. Not that she wished that Laura was injured, but she was disappointed in herself, although she knew that there was no reason for it. They survived, that was the only important thing now.

Only now did she notice how Laura's hands looked like.

"I guess we have to bandage your hands as well." a light smile formed in the corner of her lips.

Laura didn't notice until now. Her skin was almost ripped apart and badly bleeding. Although most of the blood was from the beasts. That must be very close to the bones. She touched her hands gently. It looked like a serious injury. Before today nobody would have ever allowed her to fight in that condition. But their bodies changed and so it seems like also their tolerance to pain changed for the good. "Can you move it?"

Laura just nodded. "It looks worse than it is, I guess." She wasn't lying but still made a worried face. Anastasia's hands didn't look any different. But they both agreed silently that this was only a small prize for their lives.

So they went to the main street again, past the large monster corpses piled up in the side alley and then they saw it again.

They were standing in front of that mysterious blue gate.

"The wolves must have come out of there. Maybe it's some kind of gate." Anastasia said while you couldn't avert her gaze.

Laura nodded in agreement. She was thinking the exact same thing as Laura did before.

"So there could be more of them out of there." And Laura immediately regretted what she just said.

Anastasia wasn't superstitious but she also knew that one should never say such things.

In that moment the gate was flimmering, emitting an aura that was even stronger than before. Something was coming.

And what slowly appeared out of there was something they could have never imagined.

It also had the form of a wolf. But it was way bigger. Only the mouth looked like it could swallow up one of the other beasts in one bite. Like the other monsters, it had green scales. They, however, were standing up, making them seem like blades, the size and sharpness of a medieval broadsword on almost every spot all over the body.

Both women looked in pure shock at the creature. Unable to move.

"You must be joking." Laura whispered. She had to look up to see the full body of the monster. It had the size of a large truck.

"It's alone." Anastasia said. Her look still on the beast.

"What?"

"You must have noticed it as well. They are like wolves. They are dangerous in a pack but easy to handle by themselves." Anastasia was surprisingly calm, while Laura was still in shock she analyzed the situation calmly. "We must find an opening. If we touch the scales we probably lose our hands."

"I guess we're going for the head then." Laura now finally went back to her usual calmness as she looked at the monster again. The head was the size of a car. And the swordlike fangs in the terrible scary mouth looked like they could even rip apart a tank with one bite. Unlike the other beats before the fangs weren't blood coated by human blood. They were almost shining in a bright white color. But the sheer size made them look even more terrible.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Laura said after they stood there watching. The smaller wolves immediately attacked after noticing them but the big wolf was looking around the area. It was still standing in front of the gate and didn't move. Only his eyes were focused on the battlefield.

"Maybe it's looking for his friends." Anastasia noticed.

"Yea, good luck with that." Laura was able to use some sarcasm again. The shock after seeing the creature for the first time slightly disappeared.

They finally realized the reason for the wolves coming back to the gate after their rampage in the city. They were waiting. Waiting for their leader.

And then the wolf made his first move. But instead of moving to the women it went for the last living monster Laura didn't finish off yet. Because of its completely destroyed jaw and the incredible pain it felt it still wasn't fully conscious.

They couldn't believe their eyes as the big monster that just appeared rammed his fangs into the mourning wolf. In size, it was almost like a puppy. Only a silent yelp could be heard as the monster took his last breath before it got swallowed by the big creature.

Only after a second the wolf focussed his blood red eyes on the two women. It was angry. Fletching his large fangs. Killing its fellow companion wasn't just cruelty but also an act of mercy for the suffering monster.

"I should really learn when to shut up." Laura rolled her eyes regretting her last words. Well knowing that Anastasia had the same thought.

In contrast to the smaller wolves the beast moved slower while stepping forward. The ground was trembling after each step. Even the solid streets only a day ago large tanks were driving on were breaking under the sheer weight. But maybe it only looked slower because of his massive size. Laura thought.

It was then.

The beast jumped towards the two young women.