"Ahh.....Ahhhhhhhhh"
The scream tore through the suffocating silence like a rusty blade dragged across bone. It came from the dense shadow of the black-leafed canopy, raw and wet—the sound of a boy realizing the world had already decided he didn't matter.
"Save me—! No, no, please—!"
Branches snapped. The forest floor, a carpet of rotting mulch and ancient soot, muffled the heavy, rhythmic thud-thud-thud of something massive lurching forward. Behind a fallen, moss-slicked log, two boys—no older than fifteen—pressed their bodies into the filth. Their skin was the color of ash, sweat carving clean streaks through the grime on their faces.
The creature emerged from the gloom. It was a glitch in reality, a sinewy nightmare glistening with black ichor that dripped like hot tar. Pale, eyeless slits split its elongated skull where a face should have been. Jagged, yellowed teeth protruded at crooked angles from a maw too wide for any natural jaw.
The fleeing boy—a fellow candidate, his uniform torn to rags—tripped over a gnarled root and sprawled face-first into the sludge. With a sob that broke into a cough, he scrambled backward, his hands fumbling at his waist.
He pulled it—a standard-issue pistol. His hands trembled so violently the barrel danced in the air.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
Four flashes of orange light kicked into the dark. The bullets slammed into the creature's chest, tearing small, dark holes in the leathery hide. The monster stopped. It looked down at the entry wounds, then back at the boy. It didn't bleed; it just hissed, a sound like steam escaping a pressurized pipe.
"Gods, please… Gods, don't… don't kill me… please save me…"
The boy's voice broke into a pathetic whimper as he pulled the trigger again. Click. The gun jammed. The world's cruelest punchline.
The creature lunged.
Its massive, clawed hand slammed over the boy's face, crushing his lips against his teeth. Blood welled between the creature's obsidian fingers. The boy's muffled screams vibrated against the leathery palm—a claustrophobic panic as he realized he couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't even beg anymore.
The creature lifted him effortlessly. For one terrible heartbeat, the boy's wide, pleading eyes locked onto the two hidden watchers behind the log.
Help me.
Then the jaws opened. The creature shoved the boy's head between the jagged rows of teeth and crunched.
The skull gave way with a sickening crack-pop, like wet wood splitting under an axe. Bone fragments and grey matter sprayed outward in a hot mist. Fresh, steaming blood gushed down the creature's chin and splattered onto the dead leaves in thick, rhythmic pulses—splut… splut… splut.
The body twitched violently even after the head was gone, legs jerking in mindless spasms. The creature chewed slowly, the wet crunch-crunch-squelch echoing horribly through the trees. A torn piece of scalp with matted hair fell from its mouth and landed with a soft plop in the pooling blood.
Everything went deathly still. Behind the log, the two surviving boys pressed their faces into the dirt. One bit his own arm to keep from screaming, his own blood filling his mouth. The other—stared with hollow eyes, his voice a ghost of a whisper.
"This is the world... This is what we are... Meat."
The creature continued chewing that boy's body with slow, wet smacks, strings of bloody saliva dripping from its jagged teeth onto the forest floor. The torn piece of that boy's scalp lay half-buried in the spreading pool of blood, dark hair matted and glistening.
Behind the thick bushes, the smaller boy whose name is Axel had bitten so hard into his own forearm that fresh blood trickled down his chin. His whole body shook like a leaf in a storm. Tears mixed with snot and dirt on his pale face as he fought to keep any sound from escaping.
In a broken, trembling whisper that barely carried even to the boy beside him, he spoke:
"Raizal… what should we do now…? That was Leo, right…? He was the fastest runner in our class… and he just… he just…"
His voice cracked and died. The name hung in the air like a death sentence.
Raizal didn't answer immediately.
His eyes stayed locked on the creature as it licked the last strings of meat and tendon from Leo's severed leg with slow, disgusting care. Sweat poured down Raizal's pale face, mixing with the dirt and grime caked on his skin, but his gaze burned with something colder than fear — a desperate, hollow determination.
He finally turned his head slightly toward Axel, voice low and steady, though his jaw was clenched so tight it looked painful.
"Don't lose hope. We've already survived two days in this cursed forest… We only need two more hours. Just… stay still."
Raizal paused, swallowing hard as fresh terror clawed at his chest. His next words came out quieter, almost like a confession to the indifferent woods.
"We have to kill that mutant somehow… Otherwise we'll never reach the hill."
Axel's eyes widened in pure shock. His trembling grew worse, teeth chattering audibly now. How could Raizal sound so calm? How could he even think about killing that thing when Leo's blood was still steaming on the ground?
Raizal's right hand slowly closed around the pistol tucked into his waistband. His left hand drew a short, sharp knife, He was terrified — every instinct screamed at him to run, to scream, to curl up and die — but he forced the fear down into a cold ball in his gut.
Then a single drop of Axel's warm blood fell from his bitten arm and hit the wet leaves
with a soft plip.
The mutant froze mid-lick.
Its eyeless head snapped toward the bushes with unnatural speed. A low, wet hiss escaped its mangled throat, black ichor dripping from its jagged teeth.
Raizal's heart slammed against his ribs.
"Move—!"
He grabbed Axel by the collar and exploded out of the bushes just as the creature lunged.
The mutant crashed into the spot they had been hiding with terrifying force. Its massive shoulder slammed into the thick tree. Wood exploded with a deafening
"CRACK"
The entire tree snapped like a rotten bone and toppled sideways, smashing into another tree with a thunderous crash. Branches rained down like broken spears. Dust and shattered bark filled the air.
The creature rose from the wreckage, covered in Leo's blood and its own black slime. It turned its horrifying, slit-headed face toward them.
Raizal dragged Axel backward,
The mutant's eyeless head snapped toward them, jaws dripping with Leo's remains.
Raizal's hand was already moving. He squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet slammed into the creature's thigh with a wet thwack. Black ichor sprayed. The mutant roared and crashed sideways into the dirt, its massive body shaking the ground.
"Axel, get up—quick!" Raizal snarled, gun still trained on the fallen horror, barrel smoking.
Axel scrambled, legs weak and slick with his own blood. Raizal yanked him upright with his free hand, never taking his eyes off the mutant. The wound on that Mutant's leg was already knitting together — but slower than before. Much slower. Raizal noticed it instantly. The regeneration on the leg was sluggish, unlike the lightning-fast healing it had shown like when Leo has fired shoots at its body.
"Damage on different body parts, means different healing speed…"
His mind raced even as terror clawed at his throat.
The mutant growled and pushed itself up, the leg almost fully healed already. It lowered its hunched shoulders, ready to charge again.
Raizal's gaze flicked to the broken tree. One massive branch still hung precariously from the splintered trunk, barely attached by a few strips of wood and bark — directly above the Mutant.
"Shoot the branch!" he shouted.
He opened fire. Axel hesitated for half a second, eyes wide with shock, then ripped his own pistol from his waist and joined in. Bullets tore into the weakened wood. Wood chips exploded. With a final crack, the heavy branch broke free and plummeted like a falling guillotine.
It smashed down onto the mutant's head with a sickening crunch. Dust and smoke billowed up from the impact. The creature's body twitched beneath the weight.
Raizal's voice came out harsh and urgent. "Listen — this mutant doesn't have eyes. It only hunts by sound. I'll distract it. You run straight for the hill. The other students should already be there. Go!"
He pointed sharply in the right direction.
Axel stared, stunned. Before he could protest, Raizal was already sprinting the opposite way, deliberately loud, boots slamming against roots and leaves.
The mutant roared and lunged after the louder footsteps.
Raizal weaved like a madman through the dense forest, deliberately crashing into rocks and snapping branches to keep the creature's attention. The mutant slammed into trees and boulders with bone-shaking force, roaring in frustration. Raizal spun, fired twice into its legs again. The creature stumbled and fell.
He ran harder, deeper into the woods, footsteps growing lighter, almost silent now. The mutant thrashed in pain behind him, its weird, gurgling howls masking Raizal's escape.
Minutes blurred. His lungs burned. His legs screamed.
Then — a dead end.
A massive boulder blocked his path, the only break in the suffocating canopy. Moonlight poured down in cold silver, revealing the night sky for the first time in days. Stars twinkled mockingly above. Raizal and Axel had only seen the sky twice since entering this cursed forest — that was how they knew they had already survived two full days.
Raizal leaned against the cold stone, chest heaving. He closed his eyes and let the faint night breeze touch his sweat-drenched face.
"Just a little more…" he whispered to himself, voice raw with exhaustion and something darker. "You can't give up now, Raizal. After this final test… you can leave the Restricted Sector. You can finally get out of this hell. you finally leave this shit behind."
The words tasted like dust.
About Twenty years before everything had changed. That day when it rains not of water but of something else. A red coloured strange liquid fell on all seven continents of Earth and the darkest hour of humanity began. That day marked the beginning of the worst phase of humanity. That day is known as The Day Of Wrath. And here he still was — a Defect like so many others — breathing when it would have been easier if all Defects just died back then and more Defect would have not been born.
A low, bitter chuckle slipped out, heavy with exhaustion.
"Really? If there's really a god… why give us life like this? It would've been more peaceful if all Defects just perished that day."
The self-loathing sat thick in his chest. Sadness carved deep into his young face as he stared up at the indifferent sky.
Perhaps the gods heard him. And he was certainly not happy with what he just said.
A guttural growl tore through the trees.
The mutant leaped from the darkness, jaws gaping wide.
Raizal twisted aside at the last instant. Mutant slammed into the boulder with a crushing force, stone cracking loudly beside his head. He staggered, frustration exploding out of him.
"Dammit! Just die, you son of a bitch!"
All the fear, all the running, all the days of scraping by — it boiled over.
He raised the pistol and unloaded shot after shot into the mutant's back and head. Bullets punched into thick hide with dull thuds, but they did almost nothing. No real damage like the leg wounds earlier.
The mutant whirled and lunged.
Its massive body crashed down on him, pinning Raizal to the ground. Two clawed hands slammed onto his chest with monstrous weight. Ribs creaked under the pressure. His organs felt ready to burst. Hot, stinking saliva dripped onto his face as the wide maw opened above him, jagged teeth gleaming with leftover blood.
For one heartbeat, raw animal fear flashed in Raizal's eyes.
Then it burned away.
A savage, broken grin split his face instead — the grin of someone who had nothing left.
He twisted his arm desperately, yanked the knife from his waist, and rammed it deep into the mutant's mouth, twisting hard. The creature howled in pain and reared back.
In that split second Raizal grabbed the pistol again, aimed at the large loose rock balanced on the edge of the boulder above them, and fired six rapid shots.
The rock teetered… then fell.
As the heavy stone plummeted toward both of them, Raizal's grin widened into something feral and hopeless.
"Die, you son of a bitch."
From his body, a strange black-and-white mist suddenly erupted. Thin living threads of pure black swirled with ghostly white, cold and unnatural, swallowing the moonlight around him. The mist surged outward in silent waves, wrapping around Raizal like a shroud. It felt icy against his skin, yet burned viciously in his veins. For one surreal moment the world flickered — the falling rock, the roaring mutant, the dark forest — all blurring at the edges as if reality itself was coming undone.
The stone smashed down with a thunderous
"CRUSH!"
It crushed the mutant's torso completely. Black blood and pulped organs oozed slowly from beneath the boulder in thick, glistening rivers. The creature's limbs twitched once… twice… then went still.
But when the dust settled and the last faint wisps of that eerie black-and-white mist drifted away like dying embers…
Raizal was gone.
Only a few ghostly threads of the mist still lingered around the blood-stained boulder, slowly fading into the cold night air.