The seniors shot out of the military vehicle in an instant.

“Hilde, get him out.”

Ami said it lightly and slipped right through the door.

She must have meant Walker. He and I were the only ones left inside now.

Surprisingly, despite being the least senior aside from me, William Walker did not reply.

But even silent, William Walker’s presence was overwhelming.

The largest man I had ever seen gripped my arm heavily and leapt out. My body was dragged along.

His strength matched his enormous build. If I had met Walker on the street, I would have avoided his eyes without question.

We landed into the cold wind.

A vast horizon spread before us.

A decayed city filled the view—deserted buildings, worn-down asphalt.

Strange things crowded close all around.

The compendium cried out.

[Creature ‘Reversed God’. Class 6. Attacks by ramming with its rotting body. The core is a black parasite that inhabits a host. The host, once turned into a Reversed God, dies within a week. Extremely aggressive, some specimens carry strong poison....]

[Creature ‘Witch’. Class 5. Floats in the air, approaches to fire energy blasts. The better the Witch, the stronger the blasts. Spears ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and swords fare better than guns. Weakness is....]

[Creature ‘Young Goat’. Class 4. Fires poison from three torn mouths. The better the Young Goat, the more eyes it has. Weakness is....]

[Creature ‘Gnat’. Class 4. Small body cuts through the air to self-destruct. Moves in swarms, creating successive small explosions. Weakness is....]

[Creature ‘Young Goat’. Class 4. Tears....]

[Creature ‘Young Goat’. Class 4....]

Bang, bang! Bang!

A Goat’s head burst.

“I’ll take the Goats.”

Aki pushed his short hair back behind his ears and declared.

“If help’s needed elsewhere, let me know.”

“Jason! You and I take the Reversed God!”

Richard Green hefted a gun half the size of his torso and sprinted forward.

From a distance, the Reversed God was the largest of the creatures. The most oppressive too. Could something of Class 6 really be that far above the others?

Trevain clicked his tongue and loaded his gun.

“Everyone else, clear the surroundings!”

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Headshot! Headshot! Headshot!

Aki’s bullets tore Goat heads apart with suffocating speed.

I stayed frozen where I had landed, watching the seniors carve through the creatures. My hand went reflexively to my sword hilt, but I could not gauge where to insert myself into their flow.

Jumping in rashly would only get in the way.

Walker released my arm and strode forward, heavy and unhurried.

“Rookie.”

He spoke in a deep rumble, his back to me.

“Yes.”

“Put the military vehicle back upright.”

What?

“It’s the only one we’ve got.”

Why is everything so barebones.

In E District’s library there were plenty of unmanned motorcycles that drove themselves.

Still, I did not argue. I spun toward the toppled vehicle lying on the asphalt.

I grabbed a wheel and pushed hard.

With a lurch, the military vehicle rose upright.

“Oh. Done.”

Squelch.

A crushing sound behind me.

I whipped my head around to see Walker’s massive fist. Blood and saliva dripped thickly from between his solid knuckles.

I stared blankly at the man who had just crushed a Gnat to death with his bare hands.

Where was his weapon....

“The Gnats go for you.”

Walker swung his bloodied fist.

Whoosh! His arm whipped like a pitcher’s. His thick arm sliced across my vision with terrifying speed. The crushed Gnat’s body flew like a baseball.

The curled corpse hurtled through the ashen air and smacked into oncoming Gnats.

Thud, thud.

Creatures hit by their comrade’s body dropped out of the sky.

He fought barehanded.

“You’re in the way. Stay by the vehicle.”

The man spoke bluntly, fists larger than Richard Green’s pounding through the air. I stared, dumbfounded, as Gnats were pulped by his lightning-fast blows and the macabre bombardment of corpses.

I didn’t need to get involved, did I?

When Walker finished swatting every Gnat and pelting the rest with bodies, moving away from the vehicle, I was sure of it.

As Ami had explained, they were all top-ten fighters—even without counting Yun, Yehyeon, or Ska.

Richard Green and Jason Trevain were war heroes who had survived both the First and Second Wars. But Aki and William Walker were direct recruits. They had never lived through war, nor lost family to creatures.

They had climbed purely on talent, pushing aside veterans with raw ability.

Aki had been a shooting champion from a frontier Core. William Walker, they said, had been a problem-solver from the Center Core.

‘If it’s pure talent, they might surpass anyone in the Badgers.’

Ami’s words echoed in my head.

The ambush was sudden, but the defense had no issues. Rat-a-tat! Aki’s gunfire tore the air. Walker shattered energy blasts with his fists—(could that even be possible?)—then crushed a Witch’s head with his bare hand.

Richard Green and Trevain were turning the Reversed God into a beehive.

And Ami?

[Creature ‘Mad Buffalo’. Class 5. Individually not strong, but always move in herds....]

“Crazy bulls incoming!”

Ami’s shout rang from above.

“Run! We’ll all be trampled!”

The ground trembled.

I followed Ami’s gaze. A dust cloud smothered the base of a ruined apartment.

What the...

I gaped at Goats being flung into the air and twisted water buffalo emerging from the dust cloud.

Those exist?

What’s the point of those? And why do creatures keep coming nonstop here? Is it me, or the district?

Both?

“Hey! Start the engine!”

Trevain roared, already sprinting toward me.

“Get the vehicle moving!”

“Yes?”

I don’t even have a license.

“Are you blind? Don’t you see that?”

“I do, but...”

“This is live training!”

Ami dropped from the sky, laughing brightly.

“Hilde! Driver’s seat! Left pedal’s brake, right pedal’s gas!”

Wow, that’s really simple.

No time to argue. I dashed to the upright vehicle and yanked the driver’s door open.

I jumped in. Through the half-shattered windshield, the road stretched ahead. The sound of seniors piling in filled the air—Walker, Aki, Trevain, Green.

Ami slipped into the passenger seat.

Wait. I think I get it.

“Hilde, that’s the acc—”

Screeeeeech!

I slammed the gas pedal.

The vehicle shot forward. Ami, pointing at the pedal, screamed and tumbled forward before regaining balance. Behind me I heard seniors reflexively curse.

No time to apologize.

The rearview mirror showed the buffalo herd closing in.

I pressed the gas harder. The battered vehicle wasn’t fast, but it crushed through the ruined road.

Just keep this speed. I twisted the wheel, swerving past obstacles rushing close.

“Damn! Use the blinkers before turning!”

“You’re doing well!”

Trevain snapped. Ami stuck her head out the window and laughed.

“Hilde, you really just didn’t have a license!”

Indeed.

A forgotten memory surfaced. The steering wheel overlapped with something familiar.

I remembered driving.

Someone had sat beside me. Neutral, friendly voice. “You’ll get your license quickly,” they whispered. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Ah. They usually wore a white coat. Their hair was two-toned. Black and blue? Or blue and purple?

Anyway, -- had looked down on that person. Called them ignorant, unable to guess the inevitable future.

But since they were friendly, we had to act nice outwardly.

-- would brush aside long black hair like a curtain and say it.

Who would have guessed we’d live this comfortably.

Anyway, got some time to kill—how about a spar with swords?

Like the old days?

Thud!

A mad buffalo rammed the back of the vehicle.

“Don’t stop!”

Richard Green barked as he popped open the hatch.

“Just keep driving! We’ll clear them out anyway.”

“Richard. Let me handle it.”

Ami leaned back, then vaulted through the sunroof.

The rearview mirror showed her leaping up, still wearing those odd boots.

Was she going to kick the buffalo down?

I kept my eyes flicking between the endless road ahead and the mirror.

Richard Green didn’t object. Ami vanished from sight.

For about two minutes—

Craaaash!

An enormous sound erupted behind.

Startled, I glanced at the mirrors. But every pane was smeared with blood, nothing visible.

What the hell?

“I took down about twenty of them.”

Ami slipped back inside.

“The pile of bodies will give us some distance.”

Green grunted his approval. The others sat unfazed.

The stench of blood filled the vehicle. I struggled not to stare blankly at Ami casually dusting herself off.

I had no idea what she had done. Judging by the bones and flesh stuck to both side mirrors, she hadn’t just kicked them.

Twenty at once?

The girl who had always seemed like a little sister threw off her black outer coat and returned to the passenger seat.

She flashed me a bright smile.

“Now we can slow down!”

“...Yes.”

“If you go too fast, the shock’s worse if we hit something.”

Let’s go steady. She spoke lightly, and I only nodded.

Behind me Richard Green muttered that with skills like this I should’ve gotten a license ages ago. Aki asked Walker if maybe I had been from their world, why hadn’t I gotten one?

I ignored them, rolled down the window, wiped the mirror clean with my hand, and kept driving.

Until we reached the safe point.

***

The safe point lay in a wide-open wasteland.