The Forest's Hunger

Walking through the city wasn't the safe affair one might have assumed, even during the day.

There weren't only food stalls, cafes, and normal activities, or better, legal ones.

Behind a food cart selling sandwiches was a woman standing. Many knew she didn't really do a legit job, but since a lot were her customers, among both the males and the females, no one talked.

But sex wasn't the only thing one could buy in the middle of the day in New Alexandria. Drug dealers, most belonging to the crystal cross gang, could be seen at every important corner or darker alley.

Even the near annihilation of humanity didn't stop people's greed. On the opposite, things quite worsened with the advent of the brain crystal powers, which only exacerbated discrimination and wealth disparity.

Erik later arrived at the train station; the place was always full of people and trains leaving and coming.

<The old weapon seller has a lot of clients today, uh?>

In front of it, several tough-looking people were waiting.

<The line isn't as long the barbershop, though.> The line was even longer there. <Looks like the dude must be really good at his job.>

Soon enough, after a bought ticket and a trip to the northern district, he entered the city's edge and reached the farm.

Mister Fox owned a large portion of land, and aside from the space in which he kept his house, the barn, and the like, most of it was used for the crops.

From a distance, Erik saw the man tending the field.

<Greedy prick…>

"Good evening, Mister Fox," Erik said once he reached him. "I came to work."

The man raised his head. "You are almost late."

"Yes, sir… Sorry about that."

<I 50 guess someone makes him pay New Dollars every time he says hi.>

Erik went to the barn to change his clothes and came out when he was done.

"Go over there," Mister Fox said. "I've already harvested everything and prepared the soil. Now, get to work and do something useful."

Erik went there, used his power, as he did every day, and after he was done, he collected some of the plants. However, that turned his mood a lot, not because he enjoyed doing all that manual labor, but because he could see the effects of his powers really changed.

The plants were thicker, taller, and much more healthy-looking. He even tasted some of the fruits, and they were fresher and sweeter.

The sun started to set, and Erik kept working with a grin on his face.

"Ah... Ah... Ah..."

Footsteps echoed through the forest around New Alexandria. A soldier ran because his life depended on it.

Even that grown man was crying, because if he didn't run, he would be devoured.

Thaids were chasing him, Densoph, as humans called them. Medium-sized rats, most of the time as big as large house cats, sometimes bigger than dogs, but with sharp, and most importantly, deadly teeth.

"Fuck!"

The man tripped.

"Agh!"

With difficulty, he stood up again and resumed his sprint across the forest.

"I should not have accepted the mission. I should have refused!"

Densophs were not powerful thaids, on average at least. Oddly powerful ones could still come out from time to time, but they were mostly manageable to kill. However, he and his team had been sent to search for them because more often, bigger groups had been seen roaming the forest, too close to Frant's capital.

Yes, Densoph were easy to kill, taken alone, but their reproductive capabilities made it easy for them to get to numbers so vast they could threaten a city.

Whenever that happened, teams were sent to cull their population, and that was what was going to happen, but not before humans found them.

However, that wasn't the only reason for the military to send teams to search for them. Densophs, while voracious and usually in huge numbers, usually remained in one area, unless competition was too strong, food ended, or something pushed them away from their territory.

That was what Frant feared, because food shouldn't have been a problem, and their numbers were greater than usual.

It took some days before the team entered the deep woods east of the city, and that was because Densophs weren't the only thaid in the area. The problem was that, aside from the huge numbers, some thaids shouldn't have been even that close to the city.

The team didn't even reach the target area; they found a swarm of Densophs moving west.

At that point, it became clear that something was pushing the thaids away from their original habitat. On the way back, though, Densoph must have seen them, and then the chase started.

…

…

…

"Martin, Luke, run. Make sure you can warn the city!"

Both men nodded. After several days of escape, without proper rest, everyone reached their limit. Some earlier than others, as many team members had been devoured by the Densophs.

"Shit! I don't want to die eaten by a fucking Densoph! Damn, even a Leylarhad would be good, but not a fucking rat-thaid!"

"Run then, you idiot!"

Their team leader was too injured to run anymore. The best he could do was to give enough time to Martin and Luke to run.

He conjured his mana-sword, a rather common brain crystal power, but not a useless one. Soon, he started slicing and whacking at the monsters, until he got overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

"Run, Martin! RUN!"

"Ye—Yes!"

The two went west, trying to get out of that monster-infested woods, hoping to reach safety somehow.

The chase went on for a while. Every time they thought they escaped the monsters, a new group appeared.

Sometimes, different species fought among them, but not always. A Densophs' horde was scary even for stronger Thaids, especially for those weaker than the average human. Numbers made up for every difference in strength there might have been.

Martin tripped and fell face-first onto the ground.

"Are you ok?!" Luke said.

"Who fucking told you to stop?! RU—"

In an instant, a monster attacked Martin. It grabbed his throat and tore it open. Martin died.

"MARTIN! SHIT! SHIIIIIT!"

Then a monster jumped on the man, grabbing his arm. Luke resumed his sprint with the monster still biting on him. He killed him, but the Densoph basically tore at his arm.

Until he found a healer, he would not be able to use that arm.

The man sent illusions after illusion to try to fool the Thaids, but the smell of his blood was unmistakable. It was a mild solution, at best.

A large boulder appeared in front of him. Luke was not able to run anymore. He hid behind it to rest.

"Two minutes. Just two minutes," he said with quick breaths. The monsters were getting closer.

Luke didn't have two minutes. The smell of his sweat and blood was too strong, making it easy for the creatures to find him. One of the monsters jumped onto the rock next to him. Its sharp teeth dug deep into his shoulder.

Luke killed the rat, but others came.

"Fuck!"

Luke ran again, but exhausted; even he tripped, landing hard on his chest.

"AGH!"

Hitting the dirt floor, he turned and saw the horde charging at him.

"This is really how I die."

He tried to stand up, but it was too late. The beasts arrived.

They tore off his limbs and ate him while still alive until some had the idea to eat its head. He died quickly, and his death was painful.

One of the creatures looked up. Reflected in its eyes were several skyscrapers.