Upon reentering what appeared to be the waiting area of the store, Lilly gave Noah a look that was an eccentric mixture of sorrow and fury. She continued to treat Rylan, Rosary patient at his side, the hostility in her glare profound; a few others stood ready by the doors, the snowstorm carefully setting in, their sights narrow as the silhouettes made their approach, among them were Miles, Poet, and Bear, the frightened boy Noah had managed to talk some sense into after Parker's suicide. The image of it still haunted him. Made it hard to believe that all of that only took place just yesterday morning.

Noah snapped himself from his stupor and quickly rushed to join them.

The first guy arrived a lot faster than the others, sporting camouflaged gear that made him stick out like a sore thumb amidst the blizzard, his weapon the same multi-barreled gun North called a mini-gun─his eyes narrow and his physique built─he took aim of the store and tried his hand at shooting up the place. A bullet fired from somewhere up above, Nikki's doing perhaps. They watched as it pierced the man's neck, sending blood spattering onto his clothes, his eyes wide and his body violently convulsing as he collapsed onto the undergrowth of the pavement.

A few other figures took up arms─their weapons much sleeker and agile─darting in zig-zag patterns as they stormed the place with gunfire, making it hard to shoot. A multitude of them succeeded in getting inside, although Miles reaction speed was a lot swifter than theirs. He grabbed the first two people that came his way and slugged them, then mercilessly bashed their heads against the walls, their bodies convulsing in pools of their own blood.

Poet unloaded a few rounds into the other figures, some shots piercing their limbs, others their legs; they screamed out in pain for mercy, squealed for it but were shown none. Bear quickly covered her six, disabling all the guys from beyond her shadow. It was painfully clear that no one was taking hostages.

Noah dealt with the final group that managed to slip inside, the simmering red glow of his knives effortlessly cutting down many. One collapsed onto her knees, holding a hand over her mouth as she muffled a scream; a boy came to her rescue, took the stab for her and grinned as he bled out. Tears filled the girl's eyes. She began to mutter something with a half-smile─Noah decided to make her death quick and painless, watching as the two corpses lifelessly held onto one another's hand.

"We have to get out of here. Now!" Nikki's voice resonated from behind them, sniper in hand. "There's more of them coming. Lots more. They outnumber us."

Poet turned an eye to the blizzard, then onto Rylan, then Nikki. "We can't leave with him in that condition. He won't survive."

"We won't survive if we don't get a move on," she responded almost instantly.

"And where do you propose we go?" Poet questioned.

"Anywhere but here. Someplace bigger. More space and corners to duke it out in."

"Someplace like that actually might work," Miles added, feeling the gravity of the situation.

"Whatever we do, we need to do it now. We've wasted enough time as it stands."

They all flashed an expectant eye at Noah. He nodded. "Nikki's right. Miles you take Hugo and Rylan and stay close. We'll use the buildings for cover, go through each and every one if we have to. We won't stop moving until we've found a place big enough to ambush them in. We'll make up the rest as we go." Everyone nodded.

Noah burst out the side door of the building and continued pressing forward without stopping. The buildings all looked the same, corroded and drowned immensely by undergrowth; he decided to take a narrow alleyway that bridged to a much larger path, a set of pillars shifting the path upwards where a lane divided it into two halves, each masked by rusted vehicles of some sort which did very little to stop them. Somehow, memories began to surface at such a sight─he felt as if he'd been there before, along a path a lot similar to that one, with people he cared deeply for. It made his chest ache a bit.

More important things arose to the surface, such as the blizzard that had impaired his vision significantly, or the fact that he had no idea where he was going. The path seemed to stretch out forever, his body tensing, occasionally locking up. They needed to find a place and soon.

He began to make out a large silhouette in the near distance, a building that stood tall amidst the many infrastructures that lay dormant and collapsed. It was covered heavily in undergrowth, contained many windows, and at the very top Noah began to make out the word 'Hospital'. He had no idea what it meant, but it was clear that building would be their only salvation.

"Just a little further," He shouted over the roaring wind. "We can do this."

A few grunted in reply, their voices low─others said nothing, too overcome by the chattering of their teeth; they were nearly frozen to death by the time they reached the building and forced their way inside, collapsing in disheaveled piles as they stuck close to one another for warmth and comfort. Unlike the mansion, the hospital did little to help in that regard. In fact, it might've been safer to say they had actually grown colder. The temperature inside was freezing.

For a moment Noah sat in stilled silence, blowing his breath in order to get warm, then a flurry of vibrations took everyone by surprise. The next order had come. Noah withdrew his phone to read over its contents.

As requested by Noah; North and Karen have
now joined your ranks.
But your numbers now stand at 19,
One more than what you originally
started this contest with.

One of you must die, but only one.
Come morning, if neither
or more than the
allotted number has been killed,
all of you will be punished.

As the gasps continued to flood the room, Noah's eyes widened upon reading the second message he received; it grew harder for him to breathe. He felt his gut twist and pull.

The uses of a wish are restricted
this round.
If the victim dies
by anyone else's hand but yours
─ everyone will be punished...