PART I

The car stopped. As usual, Emma was still using her phone. Matthew and the rest of the survivors arrived at a group of huts in the middle of a forest. "We're here. Rest Meadow Manor," Mason, Matthew's cousin announced. "What kind of forest is this?" Emma shrieked. "Oakley Corners State Forest," Madison, Mason's sister, or simply Matthew's other cousin replied.

"Ugh, this place looks dark and creepy," Daniel groaned. "I have to agree. Plus, it's only sunset. After dark it going to be worse," Matthew added. "C'mon, out of the car everyone," Mason told them. "They all stepped out the car and took in the fresh and earthy smell of the forest.

"Okay, so these are your cabins," Madison told them, pointing to three cabins, one assigned to each of them. "We will provide you three full meals each day. Feel free to roam around the area within the manor boundary! But at all costs, try not to leave the area, there may be 'forest creatures' roaming around out there," Mason warned. "I'll get dinner soon, enjoy your time!" Madison said cheerfully.

They each walked into their cabins and familiarised themselves with the appliances and amenities. They were pretty basic, but good enough for them. Soon, Madison walked over to each of their cabins with hot and hearty meals on a tray each. "Looks good!" Matthew complimented.

After finishing their meals, the trio walked around the manor, each by themselves as Matthew's cousins got ready to sleep. Daniel looked at some strange-looking machines. "What are those for?" he asked himself aloud. Matthew looked over. "You could ask Mason or Madison tomorrow," he suggested.

It was not long before it became late, so they all walked back to their cabins at around the same time. "Good night," they said to each other. Emma opened her door and stepped into the balmy and comfortable cabin. She took off her jacket and hung it onto one of the clothes hangers provided.

She removed her shoes but left her socks on in case the night got colder. She sat down on the bed and pondered about her previous experience with the boar-creatures. She then walked over to her bedside lamp and turned it off, before walking over to the curtains to draw them. Then someone stared at her. Something. She shrieked.

"Oh, crap."

PART II

It was finally morning. Emma could not get a wink of sleep after seeing something that she did not expect to encounter again. She scratched her head as she opened her door and walked to Matthew's cabin. Knock, knock! Matthew opened his door to an exhausted Emma.

"Woah, Emma. Your eyes rims are all black and your hair is like, super fussy. What happened?" Emma gulped. "Okay, I couldn't sleep yesterday. When I went back to my cabin, I went to draw the curtains, but I saw something I couldn't believe seeing again."

"What did you see?" Matthew questioned. "A boar. A humongous boar standing on two feet," she replied. "It was standing within the boundary of the manor." Matthew thought for a while. "Are you sure? My cousins said there were lots of wild creatures outside the manor," he responded. "No, it was inside. I'm sure of that," she clarified.

"Okay, so there's some horrible animal roaming around here, but how are we going to prove it? If we want to prevent getting hunted down by this creature, we have to tell my cousins, but we need proof," Matthew doubted Emma. "Red glowing eyes," Emma snapped. "What did you just say?" Matthew asked in shock. "The creature had red glowing eyes. It was the boar-creature," she continued.

"Oh, not that again," Matthew groaned. "Wait, I remember you slipped the keypad cover panel into your pocket? Do you still have it?" Emma asked. "Yes," Matthew answered, reaching into his pocket before removing the panel that read 'Yael Technologies', or rather 'Y ael Technologies', as Emma said, "I noticed that strange spacing in the middle of 'Y' and 'ael'. Touch the space gently. Do you feel anything?" Matthew touched the space once before removing his finger from the panel and rubbing his fingers together.

"It feels oily," he replied. "Great, I've got this powder. I'm going to pour it onto the panel," Emma said before taking the panel and pouring lycopodium powder onto it. She carefully tilted the panel and blew off the remaining powder that did not stick. Matthew frowned.

"It reads Ysrael," he stammered in confusion. "Remember Jamie and Jake?" Emma reinstated. "Oh, not my traitor best friend and his nefarious girlfriend again..." he moaned. "They said something about 'Ysrael' paying them. And what were they doing to us? Trying to kill us," she alleged. "Woah, let's not jump to conclusions about what's happening now too fast," Matthew responded.

"I'm not," she protested. "Remember the police station? The ethnologist under the surname "Trafts" confronted you when you thought that there was a creature coming to kill us one by one. He then asked you about how you would know that it was all part of an organisation, which you never alleged about. He must have known something about Ysrael, then accidentally exposed it to you. That's why he wanted to kill you. Also, I used an anagram solver and put 'ethnologist' and 'trafts' together. It reforms into 'Ysrael Technologies'." She held up her phone to show him.

"So..." Matthew said. "You are saying this is all plotted against us by this organisation? But why?" Emma sighed. "That's what I don't know about. But, remember the bullets Gary were shot with? Darts? They were spiked with some substance that turned him insane and... transformed," Matthew paused for a while to process the information before he made a bold assertion.

"If, that's the case, then there's a creature within the manor here to kill us."

PART III

"We have to tell Daniel now. Let's go—," Emma said before there was a knock on the door. Matthew opened it and, conveniently, Daniel appeared right at the right time. "Hey. I heard you guys discussing about something as I passed by your cabin after coming back from my morning walk. What's going on?" he asked.

"Well, Emma spotted one of those boar-creatures today. We think that it's here to try to kill us, again. For you it's the third time. For me, the fourth," Matthew responded. "There's something off about this situation," Emma added. "Either we have a mole, or someone is tracking us down."

"Hey, what if we are already locked in now?" Matthew questioned. "No way. During my walk, I saw that the manor entrance was just closed, not locked," Daniel dissented. "Never mind, let's just forget about this for this couple of hours and figure out what is happening later," Emma suggested.

They then went back to their own cabins to see Mason and Madison holding their meals. "Good morning!" Mason said. "Thankfully, the food's still hot! Where did you guys go?" Madison asked curiously. "Uh..." Emma stammered. "We were discussing about how nice and relaxing this place is!" Daniel took over. Mason smiled. "This place has been run from generation to generation and we have all kept it at its best condition," he said.

"Here you go!" Madison cheered as she handed them their still-warm breakfast. "Thank you," they all said before walking back into their cabins. A few hours later, Emma walked out of her cabin and approached Madison. "Hey, sister!" she said. "Hey! Can I help you?" Madison replied. "Uh, recently, my data stopped working. Is there something that is blocking the internet here?" Emma queried. Madison took out her phone. "Huh," she said. "Strange, my data isn't working like it is supposed to. Something's blocking the signal. Hang on a while. I'll check with Mason. This might take a while."

Emma then walked away from the cabin and took a stroll for an hour before going back to Madison's cabin. Soon, Madison walked out to the front door. "Hey, again! I've found out what's wrong. There's some machinery here that is blocking all internet, data and even our Wi-Fi," she replied. "Wait, you have Wi-Fi?" Emma asked. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about that. I didn't know you would need much internet," Madison apologised. "No problem, it's not important," Emma reassured.

"Okay, I'm going to look around the manor for anything that could be blocking out the internet. I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow if I find anything. See you!" Madison told her before she walked away from the cabins.

Hours passed, and before long it was nightfall. Matthew turned off his bedside lamp and slipped into his bed before tucking his blanket in properly and resting his head against the soft pillow. It was a long week. His eyes slowly shut close as he was ready to get some good sleep.

THUMP! THUMP! Loud whacking sounds reverberated around the manor. Matthew's eyes blinked right open. Soon, drilling sounds also started. He looked out of the windows in his cabin. He could not see the source of the sound at all. He stepped out of his bed and pushed his door open. He took careful tiptoes as he quietly walked out of his cabin. He moved towards the sound, towards the entrance of the manor. Then there was an intruder.

Placing locks on the exit fence.

PART IV

"HEY, YOU! STOP THERE!" Matthew shouted at the intruder as they dashed away. The intruder was masked and completely clothed in black jacket, black boots, black pants, so he could not see who it could be. Just as Matthew almost caught them, they slipped down a secret hatch and locked it, dashing to an unknown place...

"Damn it! I lost that piece of crap!" he cursed angrily. Out of their cabins came Daniel and Emma. "I heard loud thumping and drilling sounds. What's going on?" Emma asked. "Wait, why are you both sweating? The intruder was running, so they would have had some sweat," Matthew said in suspicion of them. "I was scared. I saw the boar-creature again. It's somewhere here. And you know I always sweat when I'm nervous!" Emma retaliated against Matthew's assertion. "And I'm not sweating! I just took a shower, like I always do at night!" Daniel grumbled.

"Ugh, now we're never going to find out what happened!" Emma groaned. "Worse, we're locked in," Matthew sighed. "WHAT?" Daniel and Emma screamed. "What is the commotion about?" Mason asked as he walked over towards them. "The manor is locked from the inside!" Emma told them. "What?" Madison questioned puzzledly. "Matthew said he saw someone placing locks on the main exit. It's likely that they are among one of us here," Daniel explained.

The five of them looked around and stared at each other. It was hard to believe there was a mole. The Matthew lifted his finger and pointed it at Madison. "It was you!" he contended furiously. The whole group gasped. "What? You know I wouldn't do such a thing!" Madison retaliated. "Yes, that's what you claim. The intruder was about your height, and I saw their hoodie slop down slightly, revealing a patch of syrup-brown hair!" Matthew accused.

"Hey!" Emma stood up for her. "Look at my hair! It's also syrup-brown! How can you accuse her? Shouldn't you be doing that to me too?" Daniel then also stepped forward. "I have gingerbread-brown hair, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the dark! I should be suspected too!" he added. "Fine! Then you all can be the dumb suspects!" Matthew howled before stomping back to his cabin. "I'm so sorry about Matthew. As your cousin, he should be gentler." Emma comforted Madison. "It's o-okay," Madison sobbed as she walked away miserably.

Daniel and Emma then confronted Matthew. "Hey! What the hell was that impatient attitude?" Daniel scolded. "Yeh, that was your cousin! Even if you suspect her, can't you give her some respect?" Emma chided. "I have no idea what the heck is going on with you!" Daniel added angrily.

"SHUT UP!" Matthew screamed, causing silence to flood the room afterwards. "I've been going through a really hard time." Emma sighed. "Matt, we all are. Ever since this horrible creature thing started, we've all been shocked."

"No, not about that," Matthew said. He took a deep breath. He then continued, "You know I'm the only child, and my father died seventeen years ago, when I was eighteen. I was left with my mother. A few days ago, she passed away. I was going to go for her funeral after visiting the gallery, but then we got trapped in the it and after escaping, we had to flee. I missed the funeral, and now I will never see her again."

Emma placed her hand on Matthew's. "I'm so sorry about that," she said. "I'm sorry too. It's been hard for you," Daniel apologised. Matthew grinned. "I'm going to apologise to Madis—"

"Matthew! Red lights!" Emma shrieked. They turned their head to the windows. There were red glowing eyes. The creature was back for them. "Uh, we should really get out of here," Daniel stated. Then the creature took its sledgehammer and smashed the cabin window open. "Yes, like now," Matthew said.

PART V

Within a second, they dashed out of the cabin and ran towards Madison's cabin. Unfortunately, on the way, they spotted an injured and unconscious Mason at the foot of a watchtower, with Madison crying as she tried to wake him up. "Good thing you guys are here! Help Mason, please!" she bawled. "I've got a first aid kit somewhere, come to my cabin and help me find it," Emma said. They all ran back to her cabin. "Stop," Matthew held them back. "Let's check to see if the creature is still here."

The quartet creeped forward and saw no sign of the creature. "Okay, let's hurry!" Madison said as they ran into Emma's cabin. They dug through her pile of items and clothes and finally found a compact first-aid kit. Daniel grabbed it and they dashed out of the cabin towards the watchtower. "Hang on!" Emma squawked. "Oh, no," Emma quivered. The faint silhouette of the boar-creature and its menacing eyes were seen behind Mason. "Mason! Behind you!" Madison screamed in fear. Mason's eyes slowly opened, before red eyes glowed into his own eyes.

"ARGH!" he screamed before being thwacked by the sledgehammer and dragged away. "AHHHH! NO!" Madison screamed in melancholy. Emma gasped. "He's...gone..." Matthew gulped. "He must have slipped off the tower," Daniel said. "But how?" Madison asked, still sobbing. Emma looked down on the floor. "This wooden plank. It must have been part of the watchtower. It was removed," she said.

She then walked up the watchtower carefully before seeing the place where the missing plank should be. She then lay the plank down and crossed over and went up to the top floor. There was a safe with a yellow lock, some ammunition, and an orange key on the table. She grabbed the ammo and the orange key and slowly walked down the tower.

"Well, I got these two items," Emma said as she displayed the items she had in her hand. "How's that supposed to help us?" Madison cried, still grieving. "From our experience, these keys will help us unlock something else with another key and eventually we will get out of here," Daniel explained to her.

"Let's take a look around the area and see if we can find any orange padlock," Matthew suggested. They took a careful walk around the now hazardous manor before the quartet came to a stop. Emma pointed to a fence in front of them. There was an orange lock on it. Emma slotted the key into the lock before they unlocked it and pushed the fence open. In front of them was a tent, and inside was a silver key. Daniel grabbed it. "Will be useful," he said. They walked to the manor exit fence.

"Let's get this open," Emma said as she got rid of the first lock on the fence door. They then walked around the dark manor in search of more items. Unfortunately, it was hard to see in such terrible lighting, "This isn't going anywhere. We should just go back to our cabins and go back to sleep. We can search tomorrow," Madison whined. Matthew eyed Daniel. "Well," he said. "Fine, tomorrow," Emma groaned. "It'll be easier to see in the light anyway," Matthew said. Emma walked back and muttered.

"Doesn't mean it'll be safer."

PART VI

Warblers began to chirp as the sun rose over the horizon. Matthew rubbed his eyes. It was seven in the morning. Then there was a knock on the door. He stepped out of his bed and pulled his door open. In front of his cabin stood Madison. The rims of her eyes were black, and her eyelids were crimson red.

"Hey, you okay?" Matthew asked worriedly. "Yeh, I'm fine. Here's your breakfast. I don't think it will be as good as usual. Mason was a good cook. I only helped with the dishes, and I figured that now he's gone, I have to... I have too..." Madison replied before she started stammering and crying. Matthew held the plate up. "Hey, it's alright. Mason would have loved how you are helping us now. It's a lot for you to take in now, but please, don't worry," Matthew comforted her. "Thank you," she said before wiping her tears and walking away.

After breakfast, the group gathered at the campfire. As the sun rose, the air got strangely and ironically colder. "Matthew, I can have you stay in the extra guest cabin, since your cabin window is broken," Madison told him. "Okay, let's begin. We're gonna find some things today. Oh, look. The golden key," Emma said before pointing out that she had noticed the golden key lying on one of the campfire seat logs.

"Well, I'm just going to grab that," Matthew declared as he leaned towards the key and picked it up. "The golden key is for the safe in the watchtower. Be careful when we go there later. Don't fall," Emma cautioned. She continued, "Okay, everyone, be careful. Always go in pairs. The creature is still lurking in here. I'll go with Matthew. Daniel, you go with Madison. If you find anything, use these walkie-talkies to contact us and we will meet back in the middle of the cabins." Emma then distributed the walkie-talkies.

The quartet then split up into their pairs in search of useful items. Matthew and Emma walked up the watchtower. Suddenly, Matthew stepped on a creaking floorboard. It was scratched and half-torn. "Woah, be careful," he warned Emma. "Mkay," she replied. They stepped over the floorboard and hopped over to the next. "Emma, you be on lookout," he told her. "Sure," she responded. He took the golden key out and put it into the keyhole. He opened the safe which revealed a wrench in it. "Great!" he cheered as he grabbed it.

He then inspected the walls of the watch tower. He noticed specks of blood scattered across them. There were also multiple holes and dents in the wood. Then a faint thumping sound came. Matthew ignored it as he considered a terrifying possibility. "Hey, Emma. Be careful. I think Mason didn't fall. The creature attacked him," he warned. Then there was a scream. A loud scream and a roaring sound near him.

"Emma?" he asked. There was no response. "Oh no," he muttered as he ran out of the observation room to the stairway. "Oh, damn it," he stuttered. On the ground below the watchtower lay a wounded Emma. An unconscious, wounded Emma.

PART VII

Matthew fumbled in his pockets for his walkie-talkie. He pulled it out and spoke into it. "Guys, this is Matthew. There's an emergency. Meet at the foot of the watchtower. Over and out," he said before carefully but hastily making his way down the tower. Meanwhile, at the extra cabin that Madison was going let Matthew stay in instead, where Daniel and Madison were at, Daniel asked her, "Do you think it happened again?" Madison shivered. "What happened again?" she questioned in fear. "Matthew asked us to meet at the foot of the watchtower. He said that it was an emergency," Daniel reinstated. Madison shook her head. "You think, Emma fell?" Madison asked in disbelief. Daniel nodded his head. He quickly grabbed the red key and ran towards the watchtower.

"Oh my gosh," Madison shrieked in fear as she covered her face in fright of the ugly sight of wounded Emma. "I-I don't even think she's in a coma. She looks dead. There's no pulse either..." he stammered. Daniel inspected Emma's body. "You know, I used to be a lifeguard. I'm going to see if she still has signs of life," he told them. He checked her pulse and looked around the wounds on the body.

"Yep, she's definitely dead," Daniel announced. The remaining trio quivered. "How did this happen again? Matthew, you were supposed to look out for her!" Madison panicked. "I'm sorry!" he apologised. "I was too caught up with understanding what had happened to Mason. I think... I think the boar-creature killed him..."

"What?" Daniel and Madison screamed. "And so was Emma," he added. "But, how did you know?" Daniel questioned confusedly. "As Emma and I were going up the watchtower, there was a scratched and loose floorboard. In the observation room, there were specks of blood across the walls and holes and dents in them. If Mason actually fell, why would there be that much damage and blood on the walls? It looked like there was a fight," Matthew explained.

"Well, then how did you know that it was the same for Emma?" Daniel asked again. Matthew thought for a while. Then he breathed out. "When I was thinking about Mason and what had happened to him, I heard a faint thumping sound. I ignored it because I thought it was insignificant. When I realised what had happened to Mason as the thumping sounds got louder, I warned Emma. But then I heard a roaring sound, and then a scream from her. I knew the creature took her," Matthew answered again.

"Wait, if the creature was already coming up the stairway, why didn't Emma react until it reached her?" Madison asked. Then the trio stood in silence. No one could answer that. Then Daniel realised something. "Remember Gary? After he was infected and he escaped, no one noticed him on the roof, waiting to pound on us, until I did. By then, we had almost died. This creature is a silent killer. So we all better keep our eyes peeled wide open or it will be our 'Happy Death Day'."

"Since Emma's not with us now, we have to all go together. Keep your walkie-talkies with you at all times, in case you accidentally wander off," Matthew told them. "Oh, I should tell you. In your new cabin, I found this red key. There was also a safe with a purple lock in the cabin," Daniel said before showing him the key.

"Hey, I saw the cabin opposite of the one we went to having a red padlock on the door," Madison realised. "Let's head over," Daniel said. They walked over silently as so not to attract any attention from the creature, wherever it was. Daniel took out the key and unlocked the cabin. The door creaked open to show a hammer, a purple key and a security system control pad.

"Huh, I wonder what this controls," Daniel said as he looked at the security system control pad. "Well, I'm going to disable it anyway," Matthew said as he plucked out the wires, disabling it. Daniel grabbed the purple key while Madison grabbed the hammer. "With the hammer, we can break down the bolts locking the entrance and get out of here!" Madison exclaimed in delight.

"Hang on, let's go back to Matthew's new cabin and get the safe open so I can get the gun out for safety," Daniel stated. "Alright," Matthew replied. The trio walked back to Matthew's new cabin and unlocked the safe. Daniel took out the gun, and Matthew handed the ammo he had to him.

They then ran to the main exit to get the wooden boards off. Madison held the hammer up high and smashed it down onto the wooden boards with all her strength. Both boards snapped immediately at such great impact. "Oh, damn!" Matthew and Daniel exclaimed. "Out of this sucker!" Madison roared proudly as she kicked the fence open.

Well, it did not open.

PART VIII

"Ouch!" Madison screeched in pain. Matthew and Daniel grimaced. "Wait, why isn't this exit open?" Madison queried. They all looked at one another. They had no idea. Then Daniel looked to his left. "Hey, that's the strange machine I had seen when we first arrived here. What's that for, Madison?" Daniel remembered. "I'm not sure. I had never seen that there before. Something's off," she said.

"Wait, I think I get it!" Matthew cheered. "There is one green beam and two red beams on it. We have disabled one security system control panel. There should be two more left that are continuing to lock the main exit. There's one on that machine itself!"

They quickly dashed over in joy that they would finally leave the peaceful manor that had turned into a creature's hunting ground. Matthew grabbed the wrench out and disabled the control pad. One of the red beams turned green.

Matthew then looked across to the right. There was the last machine. They quickly sprinted to it as Matthew grabbed it out. Madison snatched it before lasers suddenly appeared before them. There was a motion sensor that detected them, and apparently, blocked their reach of the control pad. "We can't get across that!" Daniel cried. "Yes, we can! Watch me!" Madison exclaimed proudly.

"Madison don't—," Daniel and Matthew screamed. It was too late. Madison hopped right through the lasers – to her death. "AHHH!" she bawled in excruciating pain as the lasers wiped clean burns onto her skin and dissolved them into ash. "RUN!" Matthew screamed to Daniel. They dashed away as waves of blood spewed out of the clean-cut wounds on Madison. It was an absolutely traumatic and gory sight for the remaining two of them.

Soon, smoke and vaporised blood circled around the machine as the charred body of Madison lay lifeless in front of it. Out of the smoke was a glaring Daniel. "I knew it was you!" he hurled in anger at Matthew. "What?" he asked confusedly. "It's only you and me! I know it isn't me, so it's you!" Daniel continued to scream. "Daniel, what are you—," Matthew got interrupted. "You were the only one at the 'house', so you could have made up such a story only to bring us into this to kill us. Then, at the station, you befriended Bryan, who turned out to be a mole! Because asked us to trust him, Samuel died!" Daniel asserted. "I...I—," Matthew fumbled. "And then, your so-called cahooted 'friend' Jake was part of your scheme in this whatever Ysrael Technologies crap! It killed Megan!" Daniel alleged furiously. "Unless, you murder me now, I'm getting out of here," Daniel hissed, stomping away while pointing both his middle fingers up.

Matthew stood motionlessly in shock. Unless Daniel was putting up a show, then there was no mole after all. It was all a false assumption. The doors could have been set to lock by themselves. Then, contradicting thoughts came to his head. Traditional locks can't lock themselves, he thought. He was utterly confused.

Then he looked at the spot where Emma's body was. It was gone. He inspected the area carefully. There were scratch marks on the ground. The creature had taken away her body, he thought, until...

"WHAT?" he screamed aloud when he saw the creature's body on the ground nearby. Its sledgehammer was missing. "What's going on?" he asked, quivering in fear and confusion. The place was messing with him, or as he thought. He then walked into Emma's cabin.

Nothing was unusual. Until he noticed a black cloth sticking out of the closet. He opened the closet door, revealing a dirtied black jacket, black pants and black boots. Matthew stood absolutely stunned. Emma was far from dead. She was the mole.

He quickly took out his walkie talkie. "Daniel!" he spoke into it. "Emma's not dead! She's the mole! Over and out!" There was no response. Then Daniel replied, "Are you serious? If you are lying and you are the mole, I WILL shoot you. But if you are not, be careful. Where are you? Over and out." Matthew quickly responded, "Emma's cab—," before getting cut off by a door creaking noise and multiple footsteps.

Then the figure behind him stopped as a sledgehammer was held beside his face. "Miss me?" a feminine voice asked wickedly before whacking Matthew out with just enough force.

"Matthew? Matthew?" the walkie-talkie played. Emma picked up the walkie-talkie, laughing. "Hey there Daniel. Thought I was dead?" She continued to cackle. "I'm bringing Matthew over to another place, and I am going to end him. If you try to save him, you'll be next." Then there was a pause. Then Emma continued with a threatening statement.

"Oh wait, you'll always still be next."

PART IX

After ten minutes, Matthew came round. His eyes blurred open. He was in his old cabin, tied to a chair. He could tell because the cabin window was broken. In front of him was his bed, and on it sat Emma. She chuckled viciously. "Oh, nitwit. You're awake. Wanna know how I did all this?" Matthew shook his head.

"Well, I'm still going to tell you anyway," she retaliated. "In the station, I protested against your remarks to cause confusion. Remember?" Matthew gulped. "Then, in the gallery, I never found a gun. I had a gun all along. Then I shot Jamie. It was easy to get into character," Emma continued explaining her wicked scheme. "But why? And what do you mean 'getting into character'?"

Emma laughed again. "Mr poor-memory, don't you remember what Jake said? We don't care about each other, because the less people alive, the less money to share with. Ysrael Technologies gives us ten million in total for the group. Whoever is alive in the end will get their proportional share. And about 'getting into character', you should know this."

Matthew stared at her. Then she said, "I'm not Emily Watson. I'm Roxanne Kelly." Matthew's mouth opened wide. "Oh, I would love to smash this sledgehammer into that big, dumb mouth of yours," Roxanne squealed nefariously. "But I've known you for so long!" Matthew exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"I met you only two years ago, stupid! Planning for Operation Lazarus had already finalised!" Roxanne squawked back. "Now, I'd love to smash you to your bones. Finally get my hands on your rotten blood. I'm going to turn the whole head of this hammer red in your remains!" she screamed psychotically.

"But first, let me get myself into a more psycho mode, to make your death more painful but quicker," Roxanne added, still smiling wickedly. She took out from her pocket a small box containing three syringes filled with a substance. She took one out and plunged it into her skin. Then she started to foam. "Ha! You're dying!" Matthew laughed back. "I-I'm...not..." she groaned. She dropped the box of the remaining two syringes. Matthew grabbed it and hid it in his pocket.

Then Roxanne rolled off the bed, motionless afterwards. Then red lights began to emerge from the ground, beyond her head. She suddenly cracked her neck and twisted her enlarged self, holding the sledgehammer, which had become deadlier than ever. She held up the sledgehammer high and smashed it down towards Matthew. He swooped to the side and the hammer smashed the backrest broken. Matthew had no more escape.

Out of the gloom, there were four gunshots. The infected Roxanne fell to the ground, dead. Daniel hopped into the cabin through the broken window. "Daniel! Thank goodness!" Matthew praised him before running him and giving him a handshake and a pat. "Thank you so much for saving me!" Matthew cheered. "No problem, you have guided us through this terror so much. Now, I have the blue key to disable the lasers! Quick, let's get out of here!" he exclaimed.

The remaining two ran back to the last machine. The lasers came back on, so Daniel inserted the key and successfully disabled the lasers. The lasers shut down and Matthew quickly hopped to the machine. He grabbed out the wrench and turned off the control pad. All three beams lit up green and there was a clicking sound from the main exit fence.

Daniel and Matthew finally rushed out of the horror manor into their car, finally gone after three horrifyingly tormenting days...

PART X

The two survivors had been in DoubleTree Hotel in Binghamton for four nights. It was finally a good chance for them to rest. They decided to meet up for breakfast at River Bistro. It was a lively morning. Daniel sat down on his reserved chair, waiting for Matthew. Not long after, Matthew arrived.

"Hey! Thanks for waiting!" Matthew thanked Daniel. "No problem, how are you?" Daniel asked. Matthew scratched his head. "Not very well. Can't sleep well after this terrible experience. I've encountered so many betrayals, and I feel like I'm responsible for trusting them wrongly," he replied, disappointed in himself.

"Hey," Daniel said, patting his shoulder. "I'm sorry that I blamed you for Megan and Samuel's deaths. I was triggered at that time. I didn't mean it. It wasn't your fault. I know it's hard to trust people, and being the two last survivors left among seven of us, we need to have each other's backs," he apologised. Matthew smiled. "Thanks, bro," he said.

"Oh," he continued. "This is important, I have to show you this." He grabbed out the box of syringes that he had taken from Roxanne from his pocket. "What's that?" Daniel asked puzzledly. "I got it from Roxanne," Matthew replied. Daniel frowned, still confused. "Emma. Her real name is Roxanne Kelly. She has been using a fake identity for the past two years," Matthew elaborated.

Daniel was stunned. "So, what are those syringes?" he asked. "They are syringes containing a material called Substance 128. I believe this is what you shot at Gary, which turned him into an infected boar-creature. I don't exactly know the background of this, but never, ever, use this, because this is what Emma used which turned her infected too," Matthew said before warning him.

Suddenly, static came out from his walkie-talkie. "You still keep that with you?" Daniel questioned. "Yeh, for emergencies," he answered. Then there was a voice. "Hello? Is anyone there? This is Mr Palmer. I need you to rescue as many children as you can from Scranton Middle School. Please hurry!" After that, the signal went back to static.

Daniel looked at Matthew. "We gotta go," he said. They quickly grabbed their items, left the restaurant, and drove off...