Kate pedalled through a heavy downpour. She and Kiel wore raincoats, yet both were soaking from the relentless rain. Visibility was almost nil, and raindrops sounded like a constant, overwhelming roar.

  Despite everything, she thought how stupid she’d been to leave Adam.

  She knew Adam had a point — it would be best to get Kiel to safety — but still…

  “Umm… can we wait the rain out?” Kiel asked. Kate could barely hear him over the storm.

  They were only fifteen minutes behind where Adam had been. The causeway, however, lay another hour away — far enough that resting wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  She steered toward one of the houses for shelter.

  At the house they got off the bike and peeled off their raincoats, which had done little to keep them dry. Kiel sat on the stoop and immediately pulled off wet shoes and socks.

  Kate checked the door; it was locked. With no luck, she sat beside him.

  “Do you think Adam would be fine?” Kiel asked.

  “If he left the house? Sure. But I doubt he would. He planned on searching for something, and that search could take longer than a day — he’d need food.”

  “Does that mean—?” Kiel trailed off.

  “He would try to defend the house,” Kate answered.

  Kiel suddenly remembered the favor Adam had asked of him, besides the map.

  “What was he looking for, and why is it so important?”

  “Solar panels,” Kate said. “Someone needed them.”

  When she answered, her expression shifted; Kiel tried to change the subject.

  “How did you two meet?”

  The question surprised Kate.

  They’d known each other for years, yet she could still remember that night clearly.

  Kate had lived with her brother since childhood. Their parents worked overseas, so meetings were rare and reserved for special occasions. She was eleven when everything began.

  It had started like any other night: her brother warned her not to stay up too late, and as always, she didn’t listen.

  She lay on her bed reading. She loved books; maybe it was her memory or her imagination that made reading her only hobby.

  Her brother left to buy groceries. He always took good care of her, but the quiet night was the best time for her to read. During one of those nights, she grew thirsty, set the book on the nightstand, and got out of bed in plain yellow pajamas. Just before she could go downstairs, she saw something strange through her window.

  A shooting star fell — and it was green.

  Kate stood in awe as the streak struck earth. Then other streaks followed, almost painting the sky green. People poured into the street with phones out to record the spectacle.

  She noticed a family of three watching below. At first, they seemed innocent and curious.

  Then it happened.

  A gust shook the window frame with a loud crack. Kate stepped back, heart pounding, but curiosity dragged her forward. She peeked again.

  Something was wrong with the people below.

  First she noticed the father: he staggered, gripped his stomach, and fell to his knees. The mother rushed to him, but before she could reach him, the same thing happened. In an instant, they changed.

  Grey, crusted skin crept over their bodies, eyes flared green, and spikes erupted from flesh.

  Kate froze, unable to believe what she saw, yet she couldn’t look away. She felt like a moth drawn to a flame — she needed to know what would happen.

  She crept closer to the window and pushed the curtain aside for a better view.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Her breath came loud in her ears; her hands shook as she held the fabric.

  The couple were now vastly different from humans. Grey skin covered them completely, and their eyes had gone green, but their postures, sizes, and the way the spikes grew differed.

  The husband was bulky and hunched, a single ram-like horn curling from his head. His teeth had lengthened into fangs and his nails into claws.

  The wife was tall and thin, upright with long arms and impossibly long fingers; Kate couldn’t make out her face except for a long, snake-like tongue.

  Kate stood frozen, her heart thudding so loudly she feared those things might hear it.

  Then she noticed the boy — their child. He hadn’t changed. He watched his parents with a terrified expression, trembling.

  He tripped on the gravel and fell onto his back. The creatures noticed him.

  The boy tried to run, but they were quick and caught up to him. Kate could have sworn he glanced up at her window; his eyes begged for help.

  She crouched and covered her mouth, afraid to make a sound. Then she heard a shout — the boy calling for help. Kate pressed her hands to her ears and trembled.

  After a few minutes, she let her hands fall and wiped tears from her face. She wished her brother were there; he might have known what to do. She stayed crouched for a few more minutes until a realization struck her.

  The front door was unlocked.

  Kate wiped her eyes, went downstairs, and tried not to look out the window.

  Her footsteps echoed on the empty stairs. At the door, she touched the knob slowly, turned it, and locked it. When it clicked shut, she ran back to her room.

  When she arrived back at her room, she lay on her bed with her arms covering her eyes. She tried to fall asleep, and after quite a long time, she finally succeeded.

  “I’ve always wondered what it was like before these things happened.” It was Kiel who spoke, making Kate return to her reverie.

  She heard the intense rain once again as she realized where she was.

  “Maybe that's for the better,” she said.

  Kiel tilted his head.

  “Why?”

  “Well, you wouldn't have to compare our life to before; you technically didn't lose anything.”

  There was bitterness in her voice. Kiel wanted to disagree, but he knew Kate had a point.

  He wouldn't regret losing something he never had.

  Kate noticed that Kiel looked down with what she said; now she felt bad.

  She remembered the boy also had lost her brother.

  She decided to continue her story to change the topic.

  The next morning, the warm morning rays of the sun from her window woke her up.

  Kate wondered, or maybe hoped, that what she saw last night was all but a dream.

  She stood from the bed yawning as she scratched her eyes.

  She stepped closer to the window and slightly moved the curtains.

  Then she saw it.

  Creatures with identical looks to the ones she saw last night roamed freely by the street.

  Kate gasped and stepped away from the window. She returned to her bed, crying with her hand on her face until she was too hungry to do so.

  The fact that her brother had gone out to get groceries said something about their stock of food supplies.

  Kate had a couple of eggs, bacon, ham, and two apples — all in small quantities.

  It would usually last her three days a week if she really tried to save it.

  She tried reading to waste time, but the passion she used to have seemed completely gone now, so her days consisted of crying and watching through the windows.

  Kate found out that the creatures didn't seem to aggress as long as they didn’t see anyone as a normal human. Days passed, and her supplies continued to dwindle down.

  She realized that the number of creatures had gone down to almost none. She had no idea where they had gone, but she decided she would make use of it.

  Kate wore a blue shirt and a sweater. She took her school bag and emptied its contents.

  There was a convenience store a few blocks away, and she decided she had to go there. She couldn't just stay here; she wouldn't survive longer.

  Kate wondered where her brother was, yet she was also afraid that if she saw him.

  she might not even recognize him at all.

  She headed downstairs and slowly unlocked the door. The cold breeze of wind touched her face.

  It was quiet — as if everyone had abandoned the entire street. Not even the creatures were there.

  Then she started walking. Kate found it strange yet thankful that the walk was so uneventful; she was a few minutes out, and she had yet to see anyone or anything.

  The only sound that she heard was that of her own footsteps.

  When she finally arrived in front of the convenience store, she pushed the glass door to enter.

  She noticed that most of the items had fallen out of their shelves, but strangely enough, there didn’t seem to be a lot missing.

  Kate realized she carried some of her money with her, forgetting she wouldn't need it.

  She moved through the aisles of the store, taking any food that could last long. She found a shelf filled with canned goods.

  However, the shelf was too tall for her to reach. Kate tiptoed, trying to get the supplies she needed, but when she gripped the side of the shelf, it tilted and fell over.

  Luckily, she was able to avoid it by taking several steps back.

  A loud crash sounded when the shelf had fallen, with the cans rolling all over the place.

  Kate immediately retrieved the cans and stored them in her bag.

  But a loud thump made her freeze.

  Kate thought that she might be hearing things and continued to pick up the cans.

  But there it was again, now louder.

  Again.

  Again.

  The banging kept turning louder and more and more often.

  Kate stood and hastened, picking up the cans. When she finished, she realized that it was coming from a door behind the counter.

  Then a crack.

  The following bang broke the door, and falling to the floor, it revealed a creature with the same grey, crusted skin and green eyes.

  Instead of having hands, it had pointed spikes that resembled spears.

  Its half-slitted mouth screeched at Kate.

  Her heart beat grew louder; she immediately dashed towards the door.

  Kate got out first, with the creature following her from behind.

  Fortunately, its spear-like hand wasn't built for opening doors, giving Kate some time to run.

  As she did, she heard footsteps quickly catching up on her, yet she dared not look back.

  She was running out of breath, and the creature would catch up soon enough.

  Then suddenly she heard the sound of broken glass, making the footsteps behind her halt.

  She was unable to stop herself from looking back. Kate saw a boy roughly the same age as her, with black hair and black eyes, wearing a white shirt and a backpack.

  His hands were trembling; he seemed to have thrown a bottle of liquid at the creature.

  On his other hand, he held a lighter.

  The good news was he was able to distract the monster from Kate; the bad news was he now had its attention.

  He tried to start the lighter with his shaking hands, but it didn't seem to be working.

  The creature was now straight-up charging at him.

  He fumbled more and dropped the lighter accidentally, and instead of picking it up, he ran inside the store, fearing the monster would reach him.

  The creature chased after him, and suddenly Kate stood alone, dazed, in an empty street.

  She fought the urge to just return back to their house and instead picked up the lighter and followed where the boy and the creature had headed.

  When she entered the door, she saw the boy hiding behind a fallen shelf with the monster trying to reach him.

  The creature was still wet from the bottle the boy had thrown; Kate assumed it was something flammable.

  She tried the lighter.

  The first one failed, but fortunately, the second one lit a small flame.

  Before the creature could notice her, she threw the lighter at the monster.

  Flames grew over its entire body as it screamed in pain. Slowly, it had fallen to the floor, showing no movements.

  Kate then helped Adam stand up, and a twitch from the creature's body sent them outside without a word.

  “So that's how the game started?” Kiel asked, his voice mixed with the loud sound of rain.

  “Technically no. We did it after getting somewhere safe. We couldn't settle on arguing who saved the other person more. So, we started a count.”

  …

  Adam stood on the veranda, feeling the wind and the light rain against his face. He knew he couldn’t leave—he had no idea where to even find panels, or if there were any left to find in the first place.

  He looked at the fire. Instead of putting it out, he decided to do something different.

  By the fire pit lay a couple of arrows and his knife.

  He took the bow slung across his back and felt its weight.

  Before Kiel had left, he’d asked if there were any weapons he could use. Adam had wanted to avoid using the gun as much as possible—bullets were limited, and the noise always drew more of them.

  He had never used a bow in his life.

  But he figured it wasn’t too late to have new hobbies.