Chapter 2

Thinking back to the road that they were on, she couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was following her...following them. Just to make sure that no one was, she was heading back to the forest. Alexia made her way down the stairs to the lobby where that fight happened just five minutes ago. She pushed that memory to the back of her mind as she peaked outside to see if there were any moving bodies, prowling the night for any Normal's, or worse, Dreadful's.

Since Alexia came here, there hasn't been any Dreadful's to cross their path at their hideout, but that didn't always mean that it couldn't happen. The cold air hit her skin, sending goosebumps to appear on her arms, and a shiver run down her spine. Heading closer to the fence's entrance, she looked around, but a light shone on her to stop her escape.

"What are you doing?" A male voice came from behind her.

Turning around, she focused her attention on another boy that she knew, but she wasn't that close to; Youngjae. He was also close to Mark and Jackson, but to Alexia, they would fight and argue, just like Jaebum would. She rolled her eyes and leaned against the fence. Of course, out of all nights, he had to be sent on night watch. It wasn't a surprise to her that Jaebum would now send someone out for night watch right after they discovered that she went out on her own.

"Just going out for a walk." She answered.

It was the truth. She figured that she could find a better answer out in the forest than just sticking in a fenced in area.

"You know the rules." He glared, not putting his light down from shining on her. "Oh, wait, since knowing you, I already know that you break rules."

Youngjae grabbed her hand forcefully and made her walk back towards the building. She struggled against him, but since he started to be a watcher and a runner to get supplies, he's been working out more than when he came here.

"I need to go out there!" She argued.

"No you don't." He slightly looked back at her. "You might bring...them...here."

She didn't even want to start an argument. "Someone is following us."

This made Youngjae laugh, shaking his head. "You're lying."

With a powerful yank of her arm, she freed herself from his grip. Youngjae turned around, but surprisingly didn't go back and grab her again. Knowing if they started a fight, it would just get Jaebum even more pissed off than he is already. "How do you know?"

Alexia tensed up, not really knowing how to answer. If she said that she just knows, or, to put more truth to it, that she feels like someone is, he wouldn't believe her. A light laugh came from his lips as he came closer to her, hand extended out to grab hers again. "See? You don't. And if you go out there, you'll be in deep- HEY!"

Alexia made a run for it, her hand near her dagger, just in case she finds a Normal behind the fence. She heard Youngjae's footsteps coming closer and closer to her, all the more for her to climb up the fence faster instead of trying to unlock the door. She felt his hand lightly touch the bottom of her pants, but he was too slow as she landed on the opposite side of the fence, his flashlight pointing at her. Eyes glared toward him, he tightened his grip on the flashlight and saw his hand move towards his walkie that was tucked into his pocket.

"I wouldn't." She warned.

Youngjae sighed and lowered his head. "I swear, Alexia, if you do one more stupid thing, I will tell Jaebum."

"Is that a warning?" To Alexia, warnings really didn't mean anything to her. Considering how much they need her with them, none of the warnings that they gave ever came true. So why do they keep trying?

He glared towards her. "Don't mess up."

Wow. That was a first. He must be in a better mood tonight.

Before she wasted anymore time, she headed out towards the forest. The trees passed her like unmoving shadows, always watching her and silent. The running made Alexia warmer, to say the least. Her black leather jacket didn't seem like it was to be needed now, but it was her favorite, so she did what everyone did when she was young; she tied it tightly around her waist, but not so much to cover up her dagger.

Alexia eventually came to the path that she took to the city. The path was clear of any obstacles, giving a nice and easy exit to go back to the hideout. Only problem was the trees; since they were on each side of the path, it would be difficult to decipher where a noise would come from. And that's why Alexia went back to find out where the source was coming from.

Clouds would go in front of the moon from time to time, making it hard for her to know where to start. Closing her eyes, she pictured where she and Jackson were coming back from the city. From what she could remember the sound echoed through the trees, the sound sending waves of air brushing through the leaves. The sound was like static the first time. Turning her head, eyes still closed, she tried to remember where the second sound came from. Slowly turning on her heel to her right, she was moving her body where she originally turned when she heard it again earlier.

"That's it..." She whispered.

Alexia stopped mid turn and stared straight into the woods filled with nothing but trees and maybe a Normal or two. She could take of it herself. Her mask was still around her neck, ready for use, and her dagger was sealed tightly around her waist.

Crunch

The sudden noise made her release the dagger and turn on her heel, holding it out in front of her in a protection pose, but when she saw what appeared to be Jackson standing on the other side of the path with his mask on, she relaxed and slowly put her dagger back.

"Dammit, Jackson!" She cursed. "I could've gone after you."

He didn't say anything.

"Jaebum sent you out here, didn't he?! Youngjae told him about where I went and asked you to come out here to get me back?" She kept coming closer to him, but he was unresponsive. And that's when Alexia stopped in her tracks when she realized something was off.

First and foremost, he was on the other side almost hiding completely in the shadows. If it was Jackson, he would be right behind her, regardless if he was spying on me or not. And secondly, he wasn't moving or reacting to her in any way that he normally would. Usually he would do his quirky comebacks. Alexia slowly stepped towards the figure, but he just took a step back.

"You're not Jackson." She whispered to herself.

Through the darkness, she tried to decipher who this person was. He was dressed in clothes like everyone else that she's seen in her group, his black bangs were almost covering both of his eyes so it was hard to recognize him. There was no reek smell to him, which Alexia could tell from where she was, so he wasn't one of them. Was he a spy? Perhaps someone from another group that is trying to find more supplies and they are planning to take it from theirs? Whatever the case was, she didn't feel safe with him there. There was an instinct running through her that she had to get out of there. But for the first time since this apocalypse started...she couldn't run. It was as if her feet were glued to the ground.

The two of them were in a stare off, studying each other as if they were waiting for someone to do something.

Alexia was the first one to speak. "Who are you?" She slowly moved her hand to the dagger's handle, ready to take it out at any time.

She felt stupid for actually calling out to him, but it was decided that it was better than just standing and staring at each other. Again, the male figure was unresponsive. He just continued to stare at her. What was he doing? Making her uncomfortable? Because it was starting to work.

The male tensed up and slowly looked over Alexia's right shoulder and tilted his head. Alexia was confused as to what he was staring at as she followed his direction and saw that there was a Dreadful coming out from the forest right behind her.

"Shit!" She released her dagger as the Dreadful quickly grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. Alexia was surprised as it didn't make that much of a noise as she noticed that its jaw was completely torn off as well as its vocal cords were torn out of its neck. But that didn't mean that it wasn't as dangerous, just a scratch from the nails could turn people. The smell of this specific Dreadful was starting to become overwhelming and it could take a toll if Alexia couldn't think of something quick.

She started to hold her breath as the scent of sewage, feces, and decay surrounded her. Trying her best not to gag, Alexia quickly put her hands up to its shoulders and with a powerful kick to its stomach and pushing her arms up, she flipped the Dreadful on its back right in front of the male, who just continued to stand there. Putting on the mask, now being able to breathe, Alexia quickly jumped on top of the Dreadful before it could get back up and stabbed it in the head making it a lifeless corpse...as it should be.

Alexia rolled off of it and looked up at the male. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She pulled her dagger out of its head and wiped the blood on the ground. "You could've at least warned me sooner!"

The male looked down and pulled out a pocket watch. He slowly opened it with his leather gloved hand and shook his head.

His voice was deep and smooth, even when it was covered behind the mask. "Such a pity."

"What is?" Putting the watch back in his jeans pocket, he turned around and started to walk away. On the back of his leather jacket were three ripped marks that looked like he got into some sort of trouble with some Dreadfuls'. But they didn't look freshly ripped. "HEY!" She shouted to him.

He stopped, to her surprise, and looked back. The only emotion that she could tell that he was giving was annoyance. She would've thought that was the other way around considering the situation.

"You were following my teammate and I, weren't you? From earlier?"

If looks could kill, that would be sad news for this guy. He didn't say anything as the only response that she got was a shrug of his shoulders. "That's for you to decide. As for now, I'm just a guy that found you in the forest."

With that he walked off into the shadows of the forest where everything and anything awaited people to discover.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Alexia whispered under her mask. "Asshole..."

She looked down at the Dreadful that she just got and when that smell was all cleared out, she removed her mask and looked down at it. There were no marks on its neck, meaning that it lost all of its humanity and there was no turning back. There was probably nothing in the world that would make this Dreadful get back to normal. Yet again, once you turn, how could you go back to being normal? She repeated the male's words. "Such a pity."

The boy was now completely gone from the sight and that made Alexia feel, well, a bit more uncomfortable. This was the first time that she actually met a Dreadful outside the city. And they usually don't go beyond their spot. Unless a Normal just happened to turn into a Dreadful at a really bad time. But that was impossible as it did reek of sewage. So it had to come from the city, there was no other way to explain the smell. Unless...

Alexia thought of aplan. She had to go out to the city. And this time, she wasn't going alone.