The sight of families huddled together and a few children crying, looking for their irresponsible parents, was something that disgusted Zak, not because of the lost child but because of what the Descent was causing.
Not to mention the guards trembling with fear, especially one who seemed on the verge of breaking at any moment.
It was probably his first time in an event like this.
“Why do they hire people like this?” Zak thought, frustrated at the idea that the government and more common areas chose inexperienced people as defenders.
“Tsk,” Zak muttered, followed by a bitter growl from his corner.
The boy in the corner simply remained calm, as if waiting for his next move, because Zak had already experienced these events far too often and knew how to hold out until the military arrived.
While murmurs and worried breathing piled up inside the supermarket, a voice far too loud, as if transmitted through a megaphone, rang out: “Citizens!
Be ready!
Horde One has just begun!” The voice exclaimed, and Zak immediately identified it as a girl’s.
This was the alarm they always broadcast whenever a Descent occurred.
It announced the Horde in progress.
It helped everyone understand the scale of the event.
If for some reason the Horde reached five, it was a serious problem.
“Shit, shit, why is this happening to me right now, when my life is already a mess?” a teenage voice said from a column, holding his head, clearly worried and desperate.
Supposedly his life was a mess.
Yeah, right.
Zak figured it was a breakup.
How naive, to consider that something bad, not to mention those who were truly screwed, like the homeless or the street kids who had no one to protect them during the Descents.
That was what Zak thought, clearly disgusted by people who didn’t stop to reflect on others.
“Great, now I can’t even shop,” Zak thought to himself as he watched the minutes pass.
The air conditioning had stopped working, and people’s sweat and breathing began to mix in the air, even though the supermarket was a super spacious place.
He noticed how a few people fell asleep to pass the hours.
It wasn’t recommended to sleep during Descents, because who knew if your friend or family member got hit by the Descent’s effect and stabbed you.
It was an idea that constantly hit Zak, sending a shiver down his spine, though of course it wasn’t like it was going to happen, since almost all of his family was already dead.
“Citizens!
Get ready for the second Horde, things are getting uglier!” The voice announced once again from outside the supermarket, now with an anguished tone.
It was allowed, after all it was a Descent and the announcers’ job was to try to convey safety to people until military force arrived.
“Uglier?” Zak thought.
Since the moment the Descent began, everything had already turned horrible.
Still, it didn’t really matter as long as they didn’t try to break into the supermarket; everything would be fine.
Maybe it was only a matter of time before they tried to break in there too.
Zak didn’t wait and got up, heading toward where the security guards were.
He knew that if they stayed there until Horde Three, everything would go to hell.
Horde Three was already considered the most dangerous, even if not as bad as Five.
A few people watched the boy walk calmly toward the guards.
People instinctively moved away, believing the young man had probably fallen under the Descent’s effects.
Zak didn’t care about their opinions since he knew it was normal, he didn’t blame them.
But before he even reached the guards, one of them rushed to intercept him.
“Hey, stop right there, kid!
Don’t come any closer!” the guard ordered, his hand instinctively already on his weapon.
Zak tensed for a moment seeing how the guard prepared to use his weapon, but he swallowed and forced himself to keep going.
“Hello,” he greeted, finally getting close enough to a safe distance, making sure not to make the guard uncomfortable or think badly of him, since the guard would probably end up shooting him.
“What do you want?!” the guard asked, sweating slightly but constantly watching Zak’s hands, which were in his pockets.
“He probably thinks I’m carrying a gun or a grenade.
How naive, but understandable,” Zak thought, then slowly took his hands out a little.
Something that seemed to calm the guard, his posture relaxing a bit more.
“Relax, I get why you’re like this, but I’ll tell you something,” Zak said.
“What?” the guard asked, incredulous at Zak’s comment.
Then he opened his mouth again, “If this is some kind of joke, I swear it’ll cost you.” “Yeah, right.
Well, as you can see, the Hordes are escalating.
Plus, it looks like you eight won’t be enough,” Zak explained, while explosions and gunfire could be heard outside, not too far from the supermarket.
As soon as he said that, the guard’s expression changed to one of disbelief mixed with a hint of anger that was slight but noticeable to the observant boy.
“Are you underestimating us, brat?” “Calm down, man.
I didn’t come to judge you or anyone.
I just came to propose a solution to all of this.” “You?
A solution?
Hahaha,” the guard laughed, while the others looked at each other, a few of them sweating cold, not to mention the doubt and small hope in their eyes.
After all, security central had stopped contacting them because of the Descent, but what outraged Zak was how they could just leave people to their fate like that.
At the same time he briefly watched a guard trying to use his radio, sending signals that clearly would never be answered.
“Well, I guess you eight will be enough to deal with the horde of criminals or bandits that must be on the way,” Zak commented casually, though inside he was trembling at the feeling that what he said might be real.
In the past, about four years ago, Zak witnessed a Horde where, in a mini-supermarket that no longer exists now, the same thing happened.
Only that time everyone was confident in the ten guards and two police officers protecting the entrance, but…
Right then, a burst of gunfire from outside pierced the shutter, killing the guards in a horrifying way and leaving a police officer wounded.
Zak didn’t wait and immediately ran out, taking with him a group of people who decided to follow him.
That day, those who went with Zak survived by hiding, while the others didn’t have the same luck.
Zak had no plans to let that massacre happen again.
But at that moment, as if his suspicions were answered, a burst of gunfire struck the supermarket entrance, immediately sowing chaos among the people and guards who, by pure luck, managed to throw themselves on the floor and avoid certain death.
“Shit!” the guard exclaimed, clearly hurting from throwing himself on the floor so hard, especially since he was the oldest of them all.
“There’s no time, lead us to a zone where we can take shelter!” Zak ordered.
“Citizens, please be careful, Horde Three has begun!” As soon as the megaphone outside said that, people got even more agitated despite the current situation.
The sweating guard didn’t wait and immediately activated his radio, signaling all the other guards who also didn’t waste time and started moving through the aisles, guiding the people.
The old guard led everyone through long asphalt corridors to finally reach a large warehouse where everyone entered quickly.
Some positioned themselves in corners or formed circles with more people.
Once inside, no one was clear yet on what Zak was doing.
But the boy, who had noticed a single shelf in the room, started moving it toward the entrance.
An act that was seen by the old guard, who also started helping him along with two more until they finally managed to barricade it.
Something that would serve as a hold in case the new visitors outside took time to reach their location.
It would buy them time until the military arrived.
At that instant another loud crash echoed outside, making it clear they had gotten in.
The sound of things being destroyed like glass and other stuff reached the guards’ ears, who only gave a brief signal, but enough.
Right away the warehouse sank into a terrifying silence, accompanied by the cell phones that had been on and lighting things up being turned off to avoid attracting the attention of the bandits or criminals outside.
Otherwise the slightest sound or sign that there were people inside would be like bringing a wolf into a world of rabbits, something that clearly never ends well.
Though at that moment a familiar voice echoed again despite the distance and the zone they were located in.
“Citizens, please hold on!
Horde Four has just begun, we’re doing everything we can, hold on!” This time the girl’s voice was clearly very tense, worried and scared, since it was rare for the event to escalate all the way to Horde Five.
Something imminent now.
“This doesn’t look good,” a young guard commented, while Zak and the lead guard looked at each other with faces that were slightly calm given how the situation was escalating.
“Keep calm,” the guard ordered as he got up to his feet, just like the other guards, ready if necessary.
A few people in the room grabbed crowbars or bats that were around the warehouse, just like Zak, who gripped a crowbar.
The bandits who had managed to get into the supermarket seemed like the kind that carried guns here and there but not all of them.
At least they’d give a chance to stop some and the rest would escape.
Everyone was determined to fight to the end, if only to let the most defenseless escape, though Zak and the guards, not to mention the other men, were sweating and doubting their decision, especially because every time they thought about dying a horrible feeling ran through them, accompanied by old memories that for some reason came back.
But at that instant gunfire was heard outside the warehouse, seemingly killing the bandits and criminals, not to mention coordinated footsteps and whistles similar to signals.
“The military…!
The military!
Help us!” a guard shouted and immediately ran toward the door, which he began to move the shelf away from.
“Stop!” the old guard ordered.
But it was too late.
He was met by a burst of gunfire, killing the impulsive guard in the process, his head blown off because they seemed to have used high-caliber weapons.
Everyone was already on the floor, scared by the intensity of the weapons.
Clearly Zak and the old guard understood these weren’t military…
“Shit…” Zak murmured, noticing how everything had gotten complicated.
A poor term for these situations, as if that was even the worst of it.
Unfortunately the door began to be forced open by something hard, as if they wanted to get in.
Something that became imminent because after a moment the door, despite having the shelf, finally gave way…