"Mom... I am hungry..."
A young boy around seven years old huddled against an elderly woman. The boy possessed deathly pale skin, gray and lifeless like a plaster statue.
"Do not worry. Do you see those people over there, my child? They are all the finest members of the hound guard squad. Everything will be fine."
"Mm..."
"Now, be good and go to sleep..."
The mother coaxed the boy to sleep, waiting until he finally drifted off before she stood up.
Strangely enough, she did not appear to be wearing a bra. No, even the clothes she wore seemed far too large for her, and their plain design resembled garments typically worn by men.
The mother's face looked quite clean, contrasting sharply with the suffocating, dusty atmosphere of the room.
She turned her head, casting a glance back at the sleeping child before making her way over to old woman Lily.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am..."
The girl sat down on the cold floor, looking at the hardship worn old woman who was blind in one eye.
"Thank you so much, child. Without you, I would not have known what to do."
The old woman let out a heavy sigh, looking toward the cellar door. In her hands, she held two grapes, though they resembled two solid gem stones as she idly toyed with them like trinkets to pass the time.
"Yes... yes..."
The mother scratched her head, then allowed old woman Lily to pinch her cheek. From that single pinch, an entire layer of wrinkled face skin unexpectedly peeled back.
From beneath that layer of skin emerged a young man with gray hair, his countenance filled with a desperate craving for fresh air.
"Phew."
The young man tapped his own face gently to regain his composure, quickly freezing his expression back into place.
He glanced toward the child, and upon noticing that the boy was still asleep, he finally let down his mental guard.
"I am going to get some water."
The young man stood up, feeling his chest. Finding that it had returned to normal, he let out a sigh of relief.
"How is it? Has the child... fallen asleep?"
This time, a woman around his age approached him holding a piece of black bread to offer him some strength.
The young man nodded in gratitude and pointed toward the child.
He offered a few brief instructions before walking away, leaving the girl to put on the layer of skin he had just shed moments prior.
"Ha... damn it."
He sat down on the floor, idly fiddling with a lollipop in his hand. He considered eating it but ultimately refrained. It seemed he was afraid of something.
Glancing around, his gaze pierced through the crowded shelves, landing on a figure lying sprawled on the ground with striking golden hair, accompanied, of course, by the dark stain of blood.
"Was she ever with us before?"
He patted a bald man on the shoulder, pointing toward the girl's distant body. The bald man merely waved his hand dismissively, indicating he had no idea.
The young man fell silent. Since there was no connection between him and the bald man, their interaction remained utterly superficial.
After all, they were merely strangers who happened to board the same train together, thrust into mutual assistance amidst this tragedy. It was difficult to form real bonds with anyone, especially when... every single train car had bodies, and in many cases, numerous dead.
Worse still, everyone had previously tried to slap the label of 'demon' on one another during that sick game on the train. As a result, this lack of cooperation was hardly surprising.
'Haizzzz.'
He did not intend to walk over and check on the girl. He noticed that a bottle of water and a rag had already been placed beside her, meaning someone was already looking after her.
And if she died or went insane, he would end up taking on partial responsibility by stepping in. Therefore, staying away remained the smartest choice.
"Strange, isn't it, Corin?"
He uttered aloud, turning to face the man named Corin standing before him. Corin was one of the Cor brothers, those who had shared a train car with him.
Strangely enough, unlike the other two brothers, Corin got along with him quite well, largely because... both of them were preparing to take college entrance exams for the history department.
"That girl... I know her. She was traveling with that guy with brown hair and golden eyes... But they split up when we blew up the train station...
Who would have thought that blowing up the train wouldn't solve anything... even the explosives I grabbed from the police armory weren't enough to completely sink the train car... it seems to possess some kind of magic that counters explosive terror magic.
What is even stranger, though, is that..."
Corin gradually recounted his story of what he had encountered outside, while the gray haired young man simply listened without interjecting.
That was until another frantic sound echoed from the cellar entrance.
"Everyone! I just found another group of survivors in the city! But... someone please help me! They are raping a girl! Three of them, one girl and two men!"