The sound of a truck skidding to a sudden stop after being cut off at a full intersection, followed by gunshots that shattered the windshield, announcing the driver’s death as he lay already bathed in blood.
A mother ran with all her strength, gasping for air and sweat beating down her forehead, through the streets with her son and dog in her arms, not looking back at the chaos unfolding across the city.
“Mom, I’m scared…” the boy said, his expression terrified.
“Relax, son…” the mother replied with a smile, before refocusing on running without any clear direction.
Screams and gunshots filled the air without stopping, a chilling reminder of the fate the mother would face if she dared to stop for even a moment.
“Over here!” A woman’s voice rang out, and the mother immediately turned toward it, seeing that the woman had her shop’s gate cracked open slightly, as if waiting for them to come in.
The mother hesitated, but seeing a group of trucks approaching her direction, she crossed the street between corpses and made it to the shop, where the woman slammed the gate shut the moment they were inside.
“Are you alright?” the woman asked, more concerned about the boy who had a pale expression, frozen with fear and confusion.
“What’s happening, Mom?” the boy asked, watching his mother with a serious expression.
At that moment, the shop’s TV was playing a comedy show, then switched automatically to the news channel where a girl reported the situation from a helicopter.
The camera focused on the entire city sunk in chaos, made worse by the lifeless bodies scattered across the streets.
“The Descent has begun again, citizens.
Be careful, this one started suddenly at Horde Five, something completely unheard of until now.” The reporter kept talking, but the women paid no attention because of the sudden pounding that shook the gate, followed by shouts and then a harsh voice.
“Open up, damn it!
We know you’re in there!” the gruff voice ordered, sounding like it had two others behind it.
“Shit…
Let’s go, follow me, quick,” the woman ordered as she locked the gate and then led the mother to the back of the shop, a small storage room, where both women barricaded the entrance with a rusted shelf.
“Do you think it’ll hold them?” the mother asked, clearly worried the thugs would break in and hurt them.
“I don’t know, but if I’m sure of one thing, it’s that they won’t get in easily,” the woman replied, already holding a bat she’d grabbed from a box in the damp storage room.
But in that instant, a loud crash echoed outside the room, making it clear they’d finally broken through.
Both women tensed as the woman tightened her grip on the bat, positioning herself between the entrance and the mother with her son and dog, which wouldn’t stop barking.
“Shut the dog up,” the woman muttered.
The mother immediately covered the dog’s muzzle, though afraid of being bitten, while breaking into a cold sweat over the situation.
Even after silencing the animal, the door began to be slammed against violently, making it clear they’d finally been found, before the old shelf collapsed with an aggressive crash.
“Well, well, well.
What do we have here?” the gruff voice said.
In front of them stood a huge man with broad shoulders and a psychopathic stare, like he’d escaped from an asylum, not to mention the massive axe in his hand.
“Get away!” The woman snapped, still positioned between the mother and the man, who just laughed mockingly before swinging his axe.
But before it even reached her, the woman had already swung her bat, landing a hit to the man’s face, faster than him.
Furious, he dropped his axe and charged like a bull, slamming the woman into the wall with a pained cry.
But the man, not satisfied, started choking her as two more men burst through the main door, probably his accomplices.
“Shit…” the mother thought as she could only cling to her son and the dog that wouldn’t stop barking.
The idea of letting the dog attack crossed the mother’s mind.
But it was also a stupid idea, since the most likely outcome was that it would be killed brutally, a guilt the woman didn’t want to carry.
Though at that moment, two gunshots rang out.
In the process, the two men who had burst in dropped to the floor with dull thuds.
“Hands up!” a soldier ordered as he entered the room and shot the bulky man, who didn’t have a moment to react, collapsing dead on the floor just like his accomplices.
The soldier then whistled, signaling for two medics to come in who immediately went to check on the mother and her son.
“Are you okay?” one of the young medics asked, his expression tired but firm about his job.
“Yes…” the mother whispered as she watched the other medic tend to the woman.
“She’s dead.” The words hit the mother like a brick, at the thought that because of her, the poor woman had met such a tragic fate defending them.
“Relax…
you’re safe now,” the soldier said before glancing briefly at the dead woman who was already being covered with a sheet.
In the background, all that could be heard were gunshots and coordinated footsteps outside the room.
“That’s all I remember…” a tired voice murmured.
“That sounds terrible, Zak…” a girl replied, wearing winter clothes while holding a cup of coffee.
“Right,” Zak added before looking up, revealing a boy with a healthy build, black hair with a small wine-colored streak, wearing all black except for his gray boots and skin pale as snow.
“Well, my turn,” a boy sitting on another chair said.
Zak was in a circle of people sharing their past experiences, a way to relieve trauma or painful memories.
At that moment, the boy with the wine-colored streak looked at his phone, noticing the time already read six in the evening, along with an alarm notification that said: “Go Home” Zak sighed before standing up and announcing he was leaving while everyone nodded without questioning, just like the girl.
“Don’t worry, Zak, you can go,” the girl said goodbye with a smile.
Zak left with slightly hurried steps toward the exit, and before leaving, grabbed his coat that was hanging on a rack.
Outside, the wind howled while snow covered almost the entire city.
He started walking through the streets, noticing how people had already begun closing their shops and businesses.
It was normal…
After all, who knew when another Descent would happen?
They were inevitable.
As a kid he didn’t really understand them, now that he’s older he knows what these Descent events are.
Events categorized by Hordes, from one to five.
Five was considered the worst.
Those events made people more aggressive than they already were or not.
It didn’t matter if you were a good Samaritan, if you had really bad luck you’d fall under its effects.
No one knew exactly when one would occur.
It’s believed it already existed before the beginnings of the universe and that it could also affect climate change.
At the end of the day they couldn’t do much more than endure until the military arrived.
But it wasn’t like they could do much, same for the government.
Everything was pathetic and frustrating.
Finally Zak reached his building and started climbing it, noticing how most of his neighbors and nearby buildings had already begun closing their homes, while on the streets even the homeless guy was taking shelter in a dumpster, spilling a few bags in the process.
“And here I was blaming the dog,” Zak thought with a snort, though understanding the homeless man.
Reaching his floor, he walked briefly before getting to his apartment where the smell of old carpet and the sound of the living room light being on were comforting to the lonely boy.
He closed the door behind him, dropped his keys on a table, and finally collapsed onto his couch, where he looked up at the ceiling briefly before touching his gold medallion necklace he’d been wearing as a gift from his mother on his twentieth birthday, which was five months ago.
He opened it briefly, seeing a family photo of him and his parents together on an outing from when he was a kid.
He sighed before falling asleep.
*** He was walking through the streets toward the supermarket he always visited frequently to do his weekly shopping, also because it was close to where he lived.
Upon entering, he felt a comforting breeze wash over him thanks to the air conditioning and just continued with his shopping, though halfway through, an alarm blared through the entire supermarket.
The shutters slammed shut as the guards positioned themselves in front of them, while one or two people started to lose it but were immediately subdued by security.
Gunshots and the sounds of cars crashing outside didn’t take long to follow, along with screams and pounding on the shutters from people desperately trying to get in.
Once again the Descent had begun…