Apocalypse Ascension

Justin looked back toward the barricade, staring at the hounds just on the other side waiting to devour their prey.

The alpha, foam still falling from its face—met his gaze. A small, eerie smile formed, like it knew Justin was different from the rest; it was the gaze a predator gives another predator.

[72…]

Justin had asked Pathway to countdown their remaining time, every second mattered in a moment like this. His gaze quickly shifted from the barricade back toward the woman beside him.

"Tanya, where did those things come from? And where's Director Smith and the rest of the staff?"

She flinched at the questions, her knuckles white around the rod. She slowly exhaled for a second before meeting his gaze and answering.

"When everyone woke up this morning, we didn't just see these weird screens… we heard all sorts of horrifying noises from outside. There were constant bangs on the door, screams, and just all around sounds of destruction—."

[71…]

His brow twitched slightly.

'So the others have something like this thing too…'

Justin suspected that he wasn't the only person with a Pathway like entity—Tanya just confirmed it. But based on what he'd seen, whatever they had—it couldn't hold a candle to Pathway.

Listening to her speak, Justin's fingers flexed unconsciously—Pathway's voice sounding inside his head.

[Justin, during the battle you gained a conditional skill. I recommend you view it immediately!]

'Got it: statu- wait, other people can't see this right?'

[Correct.]

'Great: status'

==={STATUS}=== 🧬

NAME: Justin Morrow

RANK: E+

SPECIES: Human (Evolving)

STRENGTH: 33 (+1)

AGILITY: 29 (+1)

DEXTERITY: 28

INTELLIGENCE: 29

VITALITY: 30 (+1)

PERCEPTION: 31 (+1)

ASCENSION ENERGY: 92/139

TRAITS:

Pain Forged Will ++

Situational Awareness ++

Unseen Nerve ++

Reactive Instincts++

SKILLS:

Passive: None

Active: None

Conditional: [Pack Hunter] ++

…..

===

Earlier, Justin had discovered a function of the "++" icon. The one on the left let him check the description of any skill, trait, etc; the other was greyed out, seemingly locked.

[Conditional Skill—Pack Hunter: When the user is outnumbered/surrounded by canine type enemies in a 10-meter radius, upon detection—a brief boost to agility, perception, and multi-target spatial awareness is applied. The boost increases depending on threat level—higher threat: more focus.]

'Great… toward the end I did feel sharper, this along with my traits probably helped, a lot at that.'

[70…]

Each passing second itched at his thoughts, even standing still felt dangerous.

A subtle smile formed on his face as he examined the interface—until a slender hand gently tapped his shoulder.

"Hey Justin, you listening?"

Tanya's touch instantly snapped him out of his daze, closing his status screen.

"Uh, yeah sorry. Just got a little lost in thought."

Tanya's left eyebrow rose a little.

"It's fine. Anyway—after the chaos settled a bit, the Director and the staff set out for the police department to get some sort of help. They helped us make the barricade and left a few hours back but…"

Her face suddenly turned grim.

"About thirty minutes ago, DeMarco—a guy who set out with them—returned and told us that… they met that same pack of hounds—and were slaughtered…"

Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to stream down, and Justin's mouth dropped. He suddenly felt angry—not just because the director and staff he'd grown close to were dead, but at the fact… that he didn't feel a thing after hearing that… like he was already used to losing the people closest to him.

Regaining her composure, Tanya dropped another horrible fact.

"He also told us that this wasn't the end of them… from what he saw, there was about a dozen more. And that their alpha hadn't even shown itself yet…"

Justin's eyes fell to his feet.

'Pathway did say there were more where that came from but shit, twelve? And the alpha hasn't even appeared yet?"

He clenched his fists, but ultimately he loosened them—they still had a growing threat on the horizon after all.

[64…]

Justin looked back up at Tanya.

"So where is DeMarco? And how was he the only survivor?"

She hesitated, lips parting twice before her voice came out.

"That… is what I'm trying to figure out too—has anyone seen DeMarco?!"

With that—A young hispanic man emerged from the crowd. His wavy black hair was slicked back in a way that let a few strands of hair fall on his forehead, his eyes—a deep shade of brown—emitted a level of arrogance that could sell sand to a desert.

He slowly walked over to the center—where Tanya and Justin were.

"Damn, Tanya—I heard you yelling, I was just trying to reinforce the back wall alright?"

Tanya gave him a strange look.

"Right…"

"What? Don't believe me, this guy saw me back there."

DeMarco grabbed the man closest to him, put an arm around his shoulder, and quickly whispered something in his ear—of course, Tanya didn't pick that last part up.

But Justin did, his eyes narrowing, he couldn't catch the words—but whatever was said, it made the man do exactly as told.

"Y-yeah, he was with us moving tables and stuff!"

The man in DeMarco's arm shouted, he was like a puppet—moving his mouth in the exact way DeMarco wanted.

Justin disliked his type—the type of person whose every move felt… calculated. But what he hated even more, was being played—and the man in front of him reeked of someone who played every angle.

A few in the crowd who didn't know any better started looking at him like he was a hero—while others who could read between the lines remained indifferent.

[58…]

"See? Crisis averted, or are you going to interrogate me even more?"

Tanya faltered for a moment—DeMarco, the only survivor of a group the crowd held dear—could put her in a difficult position if she kept pressing him.

Still, this was a question—everyone wanted the answer to.

"You're right I do have another question. You never told me exactly how you were the only person able to escape…?"

All eyes in the shelter shifted from Tanya—to Demarco, everyone awaited his response.

Demarco paused for a second, before finally answering.

"We tried… God knows we tried, Director Smith… he gave me this look—said someone had to make it back, to warn the others."

He suddenly rubbed his face, wiping off tears.

"Camilla… Johnson… even Ellis. They held the line just long enough for me to slip away."

Demarco sighed heavily, slumping onto a nearby crate. He looked haunted—but something about it left a bad taste in Justin's mouth… like it was all an act.

"Have you heard one of those hounds scream? It's not a bark, it's like bones grinding in a blender."

A few people in the crowd shivered, the sound echoing in their heads.

"Poor guy."

"Yeah, he did a good thing coming back and warning us!"

A few in the crowd started patting his shoulder, while a specific duo at the center simply stood—silent.

[40…]

"So what-"

Before she could finish, Justin interrupted.

"Tanya."

He gave her a knowing look, DeMarco's words completely turned the crowd. Anymore interrogation would sow distrust in the shelter—and that was the last thing they needed right now.

"I have more questions too, but we've got hell hounds knocking on our door so it'd be best to save them for later."

She stood silently, fists balled—her body language alone told Justin exactly how she felt, still, she nodded in agreement.

Justin's gaze shifted from Tanya back to DeMarco.

'Just wait… for now, your mask holds. But whatever you're hiding beneath it—will eventually slip.'