A Monster Horde (Part I)

Eo stumbled for an unknown distance before finally collapsing. He had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, so he just slept right on the spot.

Honestly though, his whole adventure to "become stronger than the protagonist" because of jealousy was starting to sound pathetic.

Did he still believe in this?

Eo had no idea. He just lay there in the dirt, slowly waiting for his death via dehydration. He had completely run out of supplies by this point.

After an unknown amount of hours passed, Eo woke up. His mouth was so parched that touching the roof of his mouth with his tongue was painful.

Eo hobbled around with only one thought in his mind: Water. Food was a distant second thought.

Eo walked in a straight line in the same direction he was pointing. He couldn't really think properly at the moment, so he failed to realize he was just heading closer to the outbreak epicenter.

By the next hour he had almost completely traversed Zone D. He had also managed to find the edge of what seemed to be a city.

After entering through, he stopped at a playground and found a water fountain. Eo collapsed onto it and drank water until he felt sick.

A distant second thought suddenly seemed much closer.

Eo was hungry.

☆

Eo found an abandoned grocery store. In fact, every store he found was abandoned. An even bigger fact: he couldn't find people anywhere.

It seemed that every food which was perishable in a short amount of time had already gone bad. The meat, bread, and other short-lived foods had either rotted or disappeared, with nothing but mysterious patches of slime in their place.

Eo eyed these carefully as he finally decided on canned food.

After grabbing his grub and drink, Eo headed out. He wasn't sure whether or not his goal was a wise one, given that he was probably one of the most wanted people. At the very least, though, he had figured out a goal in his current state.

Eo was going to try to find someone.

☆

Nighttime fell and Eo sighed. He had walked all around town but there was no one to find. Eo plopped some tea and food near him in an abandoned warehouse. Eo was going to sleep the night out for the first time as a wanted man.

Eo's eyelids grew heavy as he heard the rhythmic chirping of the birds, crickets, and Phase III monsters.

(Wait, what?!)

Eo got up, chugging the caffeinated tea while stuffing biscuit chunks in his mouth. He shook his head to get rid of the rest of his sleepiness as he slowly crept outside.

Eo saw a Phase III Ogre-type monster. No, he saw the Horde.

Not just a hordeling, but the Horde.

Eo saw at least five hundred monsters of various phases and types slowly march into the abandoned town.