The silence in the narrow alley didn’t last long.

  Kaelion and Lucas stood beside the Crawler they had just killed for a few seconds. The creature’s gray body still lay twisted on the ground.

  Lucas rested the pipe on his shoulder.

  “Hopefully that was the only one.”

  Kaelion didn’t answer.

  Because the smell reaching his nose had changed.

  Thanks to Rotten Smell, the scent of blood was now far more distinct.

  But this time the smell wasn’t coming from just one place.

  It was coming from several.

  Kaelion frowned.

  “Lucas.”

  Lucas immediately straightened.

  “What is it?”

  Kaelion pointed down the alley.

  “Be ready.”

  Lucas took a deep breath.

  “I really hate that sentence.”

  At that moment something moved behind the dumpsters farther down the alley.

  Then another movement.

  And another.

  Lucas’s face tightened.

  “Damn it…”

  Three Crawlers emerged.

  All of them crawled in the same twisted way.

  Their legs barely worked, but their arms pulled them forward with incredible speed.

  Their yellow eyes locked onto the two of them.

  Lucas raised the pipe.

  “This time it’s too many.”

  Kaelion tightened his grip on his knife.

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  “Stay next to me.”

  The Crawlers attacked at the same time.

  The first creature lunged toward Lucas.

  Lucas swung the pipe.

  The metal struck the creature’s shoulder, but it only rolled to the side.

  The second Crawler leapt toward Kaelion.

  Kaelion jumped aside.

  Claws sliced through the air.

  Kaelion slashed with his knife.

  The blade cut into the creature’s arm.

  Black blood splattered.

  But the third Crawler had already reached Lucas.

  Lucas stepped back.

  “Kaelion!”

  Kaelion turned—but it was too late.

  The Crawler lunged for Lucas’s leg.

  Lucas slammed the pipe downward.

  The blow hit the creature’s head.

  But this time the strike wasn’t strong enough.

  The creature was still moving.

  Lucas stumbled backward.

  “These things are too fast!”

  Kaelion clenched his teeth.

  Two Crawlers were attacking him at once.

  Predator Instinct screamed in his mind.

  Right!

  Kaelion shifted aside.

  A claw struck the concrete wall.

  But the second Crawler came from behind immediately.

  Kaelion barely avoided it.

  Lucas raised the pipe again, breathing heavily.

  “If this keeps going—”

  He couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Because at that moment—

  something slammed into the Crawler’s head.

  Its skull shattered.

  Lucas’s eyes widened.

  “What the—”

  A man stepped out from the corner of the alley.

  He was holding a heavy axe.

  He pushed the creature’s body aside with his foot.

  “Watch the ground!” he shouted.

  At the same time, another shadow moved.

  A woman rushed past Kaelion.

  With a swift motion, she drove her long knife into the second Crawler’s neck.

  The blade sliced through its throat.

  The Crawler collapsed instantly.

  The last creature was about to attack Kaelion.

  Kaelion didn’t waste the chance.

  He lunged forward.

  And drove his knife into the creature’s skull.

  The Crawler trembled.

  Then went still.

  The alley fell silent again.

  Lucas didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

  Then he looked down, breathing heavily.

  “That was close…”

  He lifted his head and looked at the two newcomers.

  “We were about to die.”

  The man with the axe exhaled slowly.

  “We thought the same thing.”

  Lucas stood up.

  “Thanks.”

  The man nodded.

  “No problem.”

  Kaelion studied the newcomers carefully.

  The man looked to be in his mid-twenties.

  He was tall, with broad shoulders. He wore a dark jacket, though parts of it were torn. Dried blood stains marked the fabric.

  The axe in his hand looked like a standard fire axe—but it was sharp.

  His gaze was calm.

  But alert.

  The woman beside him looked younger.

  Maybe early twenties.

  Her black hair fell to her shoulders. She wore a gray hoodie, the edge of the hood torn.

  The knife in her hand was small but sharp.

  Her eyes constantly scanned the surroundings.

  Her movements were quiet.

  Lucas broke the silence.

  “I’m Lucas.”

  Then he pointed at Kaelion.

  “This is Kaelion.”

  The man with the axe gave a short nod.

  “Ethan.”

  The woman glanced at them briefly.

  “Aria.”

  Lucas chuckled softly.

  “Looks like we’re all in the same boat.”

  Ethan shrugged.

  “If that boat is sinking, yeah.”

  At that moment Kaelion’s expression changed.

  A new smell reached his nose.

  Blood.

  But this time it was much stronger.

  Kaelion lifted his head.

  A sound came from deeper in the alley.

  scrrr…

  Lucas heard it too.

  “Again?”

  Ethan raised his axe.

  “That sound…”

  Aria looked toward the dark end of the alley.

  Then she spoke quietly.

  “We’re not alone.”

  Then a second dragging sound came.

  scrrr…

  Then a third.

  And a fourth.

  Lucas’s face went pale.

  “This is really bad.”

  Kaelion raised his knife.

  His eyes locked onto the darkness at the end of the alley.

  Because inside that darkness…

  multiple things were moving.