NOVGO.NET Chapter 51 Stranded Viii
Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Stranded Viii
Ethan began to repeat everything he had found in the diary, and Luna’s eyes kept widening with every sentence. The more she listened, the heavier her heart became because what he had uncovered was beyond anything they had imagined.
"I don’t get it... where is the guy now?" she finally asked.
Adrian shrugged.
"Isn’t it obvious? He’s either dead... or rotting away as a zombie if those things are really around here."
Luna immediately began pacing around the room, her mind racing through countless possibilities. Every missing piece suddenly started fitting together. At last she understood why her system had disappeared... and why the others had lost their powers as well.
"So this is why we couldn’t connect to our powers?" Adrian muttered.
Luna didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, her thoughts drifted toward the island where her hidden house was.
She couldn’t even get there.
Not because she didn’t know it existed, but because she had absolutely no idea where she currently was. She had only bought the island after seeing it online, following directions that had been available back then. Those directions were completely useless now.
The world wasn’t the same anymore.
There were no maps.
No internet.
No GPS.
Trying to reach the island on foot while wandering through an unfamiliar city crawling with monsters was simply suicide.
She would either lose herself before ever finding the coastline...
Or get eaten alive.
Neither option sounded appealing.
Which meant there was only one thing left to do.
Get the hell away from wherever that meteor had landed.
Only then would her system return.
Only then would she have a chance of surviving.
"That’s wild..." Adrian muttered tiredly. "I can’t believe nowhere in the world is actually safe anymore. It’s just danger after danger."
"Yep." Luna looked away before walking toward the bed where Kai was still sleeping. Ethan followed after her while Adrian trailed behind. "We’re living through the end of the world, not some vacation. Did you honestly expect whatever came with those meteors to play nice?"
She stopped beside the bed.
"We eat, pack our things and leave. Waiting here will only get us killed."
Without another word she smacked Kai on the butt.
Smack!
Kai practically flew upright.
"Who touched my ass?! Who did that?!"
His sleepy eyes darted around the room in panic.
Luna groaned.
"Dude, it’s me. Sit down, eat, and let’s move."
She folded her arms.
"If we finally find somewhere safe, we’ll continue stockpiling. We are not stopping until my coins become infinite."
The apocalypse had completely ruined her original plans, but that didn’t mean she intended to give up.
Not anymore.
Not when she wasn’t alone.
Kai’s remaining sleep disappeared instantly after hearing they were leaving.
"But... I thought we were okay here?" he asked in confusion. "What changed? Why are we leaving all of a sudden?"
His raised voice stirred Rowan awake.
He slowly sat up, blinking several times.
"We’re leaving now?"
Luna shook her head.
"Just eat."
She pointed at the food.
"It’s not like you didn’t already know this wasn’t our final destination. Were you planning to stay here until something finally found us? Ethan confirmed that every extra minute we spend around this city only increases our chances of dying."
The room immediately became colder.
Or maybe it only felt that way.
Everyone shivered after hearing those words.
There wasn’t even a trace of hesitation in Luna’s voice.
She sounded frighteningly calm.
Kai couldn’t help staring at her.
Wasn’t she scared?
Didn’t she need comfort too?
"Are you... sure you don’t want a hug?" he asked sincerely. "If you’re scared... I can do it."
Luna slowly turned toward him.
"...Or are you the one that needs one?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Because you’re the one shivering."
Kai instantly straightened his back and quietly pulled his hands from behind him, pretending he hadn’t been trembling moments ago.
He coughed awkwardly.
"This cold weather..."
Luna simply rolled her eyes.
This woman...
One day she was seriously going to kill him.
Breakfast continued in complete silence.
No one spoke.
No one joked.
No one even looked at one another.
At this point survival occupied every corner of their minds.
No systems.
No powers.
No ranks.
Nothing that gave them any advantage.
Walking outside now felt like willingly stepping into the jaws of death.
Anyone who couldn’t handle the suffocating silence reached for the cans of soda Luna had taken from her supermarket during one of the raids.
The fizz echoed softly as several cans were opened.
They drank greedily.
The cold sweetness washed down their throats.
But it did absolutely nothing to wash away the fear.
Spoons occasionally clinked against plates, becoming the only sounds inside the room.
The silence grew heavier with every passing second.
Finally, Luna finished eating.
She carried her empty plate toward the sink tucked at the edge of the kitchen.
Turning the tap, she waited for water.
Nothing came.
Instead...
A thick black substance slowly dripped out of the faucet.
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
It oozed like rotten tar.
Luna’s pupils shrank.
She immediately stepped backward.
"Okay, guys."
Her voice remained calm despite the alarm bells screaming inside her head.
"I hope everyone’s packed."
She grabbed her bag.
"We’re leaving now."
She wasn’t about to stand there waiting for whatever that disgusting thing represented.
The signs were already appearing.
Which meant whatever Ethan had read inside the diary...
...had already started.
Kai quickly picked up his backpack before checking the gun hanging from his shoulder.
Ethan grabbed only his rifle.
Unlike everyone else, he didn’t have a backpack.
His old clothes were the only things he carried besides his weapon.
Adrian and Rowan were the last to finish packing.
They quickly stacked the used plates into a cardboard box before placing it inside Luna’s oversized handbag.
She intended to wash them later if they actually survived long enough to settle somewhere else.
There simply wasn’t enough time now.
"Leaving this city will bring our powers back," Luna reminded everyone while adjusting the strap on her bag.
"So the faster we leave, the better."
Her gaze swept across every one of them.
"Fall behind..."
She paused.
"...and whatever is hunting this place will eat you."
No one questioned her.
No one argued.
They all understood.
Keeping up wasn’t optional anymore.
It was survival.
Once everyone was ready, Luna stood with her handbag hanging from one shoulder while gripping her pistol firmly.
Rowan stepped in front of everyone.
"I’ll open it."
Luna didn’t protest.
She wasn’t afraid something waited behind the door.
She simply wasn’t foolish enough to stand directly in front of it.
If anything suddenly burst through...
She preferred Rowan taking the surprise first.
No offense.
She had only known these people for a short while.
She wasn’t risking her own life that easily.
Rowan slowly reached for the handle.
The others immediately aimed their guns.
The door creaked open.
Instead of the hallway...
They found darkness.
Not ordinary darkness.
It was so thick it looked almost solid, swallowing every bit of light before it could travel even a few meters.
"...Can anyone actually see through that?" Adrian whispered. "I’m not even sure the torchlight will work."
There was no answer.
One after another, they carefully stepped outside.
The moment the last person crossed the doorway—
Bang!
The door slammed shut by itself.
Everyone spun around.
Kai hurried back.
He grabbed the handle and twisted it repeatedly.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
The door refused to move as though it had never been meant to open again.
His breathing became uneven.
"It won’t open..."
He rattled it harder.
"It won’t open!"
"Relax."
Rowan’s voice sounded steady despite the tension.
"At least we’re still together."
He lifted the flashlight.
"And we still have—"
Click.
The beam died instantly.
Then every other flashlight followed.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Complete darkness swallowed them whole.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The silence stretched endlessly...
Until—
Something shifted.
A faint scraping sound circled around them.
Another came from behind.
Then another.
It wasn’t one thing.
There were several.
The sound moved impossibly fast, weaving around them inside the darkness.
Everyone instinctively raised their guns even though they couldn’t see a single target.
"Luna..." Ethan whispered.
"I hear them."
"So do I."
Before anyone could react—
Something cold brushed past them.
A violent force suddenly wrapped around one person’s leg.
"What the—?!"
The figure was yanked backward with terrifying speed.
"Grab him!"
Someone reached into the darkness but caught nothing except empty air.
A horrifying scream tore through the corridor.
"My leg—!"
"ARRRGGHHHHHH!!"