Chapter 3

He ran towards the direction of the voice and there laid his sister on the floor. She looked terrible. Her face was bruised and her dirty clothes were drenched in blood. He almost didn't recognize his own sister and tried to control his tears as he fell to his knees and held her in his arms. 

She smiled at him weakly with her bruised face and thanked him for always having her back because even though she was just his half sister, he cared greatly for her and always protected her as though she had always been a part of his life. 

They only had the same mother, but different fathers. Noah's father had died years ago, so Noah's mother remarried. She had Lillian after her second marriage.

"P-Please, Noah. Promise me you're going to try your best to stay alive," she stuttered weakly.

"Come on, Li. We're both going to stay alive" he replied with a broken expression.

"No, brother. My time is up and..." She replied weakly.

"No! Lillian please, he cut in. You can't leave me" His voice broke as he begged her, but she only shook her head and asked him to leave before the monsters would come for him.

Noah refused and told her he wasn't going anywhere without saving her. 

"No. Please go. I-I won't make it. I-I will only slow you down." She said as she choked on her words.

Noah refused and begged her not to leave him.

"Please, Noah. If you really love me, you'll do this for me. This is my last wish to you" she said to her brother with tears in her eyes and made him promise to leave her there.

Noah refused but she wouldn't give up and begged him again.

He finally agreed reluctantly and she smiled at him as her body slowly went limp in his arms. Noah felt heartbroken as he felt his sister's body slowly going cold in his arms and held her tight as he sobbed into her chest. 

He couldn't believe his eyes. His dear sister was gone and he was all alone in this cruel world. His body shook violently from the force of his sob. His mind was so overwhelmed with his sorrow that he didn't even think of the possibility of getting attacked by the monsters that roamed outside the safety of the barrier. 

He sat there and cried for hours until he finally stood up with a sigh, ignoring her promise and carried her blood stained body in his arms as her blood stained his clothes. He took her to a corner, dug a pit and buried her in it. 

He stared at her grave with a mix of anger and sadness when he was done burying her.

Angry because he had failed to protect his dear sister and sad because he had just lost the only family member he had left. 

Their parents had died years ago. That was before they went under the Bernard family's protection. Their father went to get them food and never came back because he got attacked by one of the monsters. Their mom died shortly after when their house was attacked by these monsters and he managed to get away with his sister. 

Noah had no special ability and since his sister's ability wasn't exactly useful in a fight because there were hardly ever any animals around to even try talking to (the monsters had feasted on most of them) and even if there were, the monsters were way stronger than the animals, so they had to go and start working as servants in Master Bernard's mansion.

Noah was happy at first and thought it was a blessing at that time, but now he regretted it. If only he'd known, he would've come up with another way for him and his sister to survive.

"You wait and see, Li. I'm going to make them pay for what they did to you. That's my promise to you." He said still staring at her grave.

With a heavy heart, he continued with his journey after making his resolve. He had never been outside the barriers, so he had no idea where he was going but he kept walking anyway and as he walked, he noticed this place looked very different from where he was coming from. 

Everywhere was quiet and foggy. The only sound he could hear was the sound of his footsteps as he walked. The soil here was black. He saw a few skulls here and there and shuddered, but he kept walking anyway.

Suddenly, he heard a shriek. He couldn't see clearly, but he could make out shapes from inside the fog. He stood still and looked closer as the fog finally became clearer and to his horror, he saw three of those monsters feasting on a lifeless body. 

He was too shocked to move and felt sick to his stomach as soon as he saw that, but the monsters continued with what they were doing, not seeming to notice his presence. This was the first time he was seeing these creatures and he had no idea what they were.

They looked like ugly lean koalas. Only, these creatures were taller than koalas and their heads were bald. They were almost the same height as him or a little bit taller and had long fangs with teeth that looked sharp enough to tear through anything. 

They were not too far from where he stood, so he could see their big, slitted eyes and their long claws which they used to claw at their victims.

He noticed the creatures had thick silvery scaly skin that looked like no weapons could penetrate through it and long tails that moved as they munched on the person they were feasting on. 

Suddenly, one of the creatures—the one facing his direction raised its head to look at him and let out the loudest shriek Noah had ever heard. Noah's heart skipped many beats as a million thoughts ran through his head.

"Shit! This is definitely going to be my last day on earth" he muttered under his breath