There we were in our new temporary and safe home and should feel safe. But somehow the security did not want to set in with us. Again and again we expected that it would start to rattle at the bunker door and that the Demoids would try to get to us in order to take us back into captivity. But even three days later, none of what we feared had happened.

Instead, we had active contact with the other bunkers, only this one we still could not reach. The others said those had problems with some communication devices before and didn't know how long they could keep contact. But, that as long as the red light on the screen was still on, the bunker was still in operation.

We even made contact with the survivors at the waterworks on Day 4. By then we were relatively sure that we could contact them to inform them that there was this safe bunker with all these supplies. The very next evening they arrived at the bunker and told us that they saw no creatures at all and no Demoids.

Suddenly there had been a lot of activity in the bunker. The kitchen was being put into operation by the women. The men were practicing shooting guns and the children were running around the bunker laughing happily and playing. It had gotten louder and with the silence that had given way, our fear that the Demoids would attack us slowly dried up.

One of the men, a computer scientist, dealt with the security system of our bunker and somehow managed to access the surveillance cameras around our bunker, respectively the building above the bunker. Now there are always two men sitting in front of the monitors, watching them day and night.

On day 10 in the bunker, Yibo was getting impatient. Because I had promised him that we would only stay a few days before we left to continue searching for our parents. Somehow, with all the other survivors, a little normalcy seemed to set in, with which I felt so comfortable that I almost forgot what our next destination was.

Then on day 12 we prepared for our onward journey. Haikuan wanted to accompany us and said that he also hoped to meet familiar faces. Because we decided to go from one bunker to the next, rest there and move on until we arrive at the bunker where we think our parents are. Or hope to find them there.

We packed our backpacks with enough supplies, weapons and ammunition, clothes, batteries for the radios and flashlights. Then we had the car keys of a survivor given to us, filled the tank with gasoline and finally on day 14 we set off again. Since we decided to seek shelter in empty houses and apartments during the daytime hours, we decided not to take tents with us. We have only sleeping bags still subsequently packed.

In the middle of the night we had finally made ourselves on the way. Unfortunately it had snowed in the days before again much and thus we came worse and slower ahead than planned. Again and again we were forced to stop when we came across debris that we had not seen before under the thick blanket of snow. We had to move the debris out of the way or find a way around it. This took us a lot more time than we had anticipated.

After not even half of the planned distance we wanted to cover, we had to look for a hiding place for the day, because we assumed that it would be too dangerous to drive during the day. After all, just because we didn't see the creatures didn't mean they weren't there. And at least the flying black devils were definitely there, as we saw for ourselves. We saw some of them sitting on rooftops. Fortunately, they can't see well at night, so they didn't notice us.

Haikuan stopped at a shopping mall that looked safe, at least from the outside. He drove as close as he could to the side entrance, Yibo picked the lock, and we sneaked inside. First we came to the employee locker room, then the management office and the employee restrooms. We also wanted to look around the department store itself, but there was that suspicious smell of death, so we preferred to retreat to the office and not look around any further.

We took turns sleeping, although you can't call it sleeping. It was more like resting. The fear that we could be discovered and attacked was much too great. Because as soon as it had become really bright outside and thus also in the shopping center, we heard again and again noises coming from there. So we were not alone. And we did not assume that there were humans there. Besides, it was so cold that we were still freezing even despite our sleeping bags.

When I was on watch and Yibo and Haikuan were resting, I observed some movements near our car through the small window of the office. I wasn't sure if they were humans or creatures, until a creature jumped on the roof of the car and sniffed the whole car like a dog.

Again and again the creature looked around and also in the direction of the entrance through which we came. Watchful and with a beating heart I kept an eye on this horrible gray hairless thing. I hoped the creature's sense of smell would not lead it directly to us. The demonic creature was alone, but it would certainly not stay that way for long.

When I realized that the creature was standing at the side door and shaking the handle of the door, I grabbed my spear and sneaked out of the office. The lock on the door was broken and now anyone would be able to open the door, including the creature. Realizing this, I knew I had to do something about this nosy demon creature before it could summon its friends for dinner.

I crept quietly to the side door and waited with almost bated breath. I saw the knob of the door move and the door slowly open. I heard the creature sniffing into the hallway, and in my panic that it had noticed me and was about to shriek at its brothers and sisters, I yanked open the door and thrust my spear into the thing's heart.

Gasping and looking confused, the thing sank to my feet. I dragged it by one arm into the hallway, closed the door, and stabbed it a second time with my spear, as the creature did not die immediately. Only then did it gasp one last time and finally its head fell to the side. The thing was dead! And after giving myself half a minute to calm down again, I dragged the dead thing into the staff locker room. The blood that was on the floor I hastily wiped away with some cloths I found. I didn't want any other creature from the outside to smell the blood and then come to us.

I had just finished when I heard something rumbling outside. My heart almost stopped in shock. I stood behind the door again, my spear ready for use in my hand, and listened strained outside. But my breathing was so loud that I could hardly hear anything. Again, panic threatened to break out in me. But then I saw Yibo come out of the office and point his finger at his mouth to tell me to be quiet.

Yibo also had his spear with him and was at my side with quick silent steps. He looked into the staff room and saw the dead creature. Then he whispered, "There are more out there." I nodded.

"The car." I replied as quietly as I could. Since we were still blocking our minds from King Raha, we couldn't talk telepathically.

"The tire tracks and the car." Whispered Yibo. Again I nodded.

We should have suspected it before. No, we should have known! Clearly we led the creatures straight to us after leaving them a direct trail to us in the snow. In addition, the red car was certainly an eye-catcher with this color. Where there was no car before, there was suddenly this bright red car. As if we had a glowing arrow pointed directly at the side entrance.

It was immediately clear to me what Yibo would say later. Namely that it would be better to move on without the car. Fortunately, Haikuan immediately reminded him that even when we walk, we leave tracks in the snow. But first we had to get rid of the creatures.

Since Haikuan also woke up and joined us, we stood crowded behind the door and listened outside. We heard the creatures tampering with our car. They were hitting it, jumping on it, and their snuffling sounds had been more than audible.

Yibo and I held the spears ready for use, while Haikuan held a fire axe in his hands. We had taken all these firearms with us, but we refused to use them. Because we knew they were too loud and would attract many more creatures. But if there were going to be more creatures outside, we would have no choice but to use the firearms, we knew that too.

When the door had been opened again by a creature, Haikuan struck with the axe and the creature's head rolled past us. It left ugly little red dots wherever it rolled. The creature's body lay wedged between the door and a pool of blood spread there. Yibo angrily poked Haikuan in the side and shook his head. "Damn idiot!" Growled Yibo.

"Sorry. That was a reflex." Replied Haikuan with an apologetic look.

"Shut up! Both of you!" I hissed and pointed at the now open door.

The next moment the door flew open and a black wing blocked our view. I inhaled sharply. Yibo pushed me behind him and jumped forward. He swung his spear and thrust it at the black creature. The black creature, however, dodged his attack and pushed him aside. But Yibo immediately followed up and hit the creature's wing. It shrieked in pain.

The screech was so loud and sharp that it hurt the ears. Yibo ignored it and immediately struck again with his spear. But the creature was faster, dodged him, and knocked him aside with its healthy wing. Yibo crashed against the opposite wall, gasping. He held his aching shoulder while trying to stand up again immediately.

Haikuan took advantage of the creature's moment of inattention and struck at it with his axe. His axe tore a long cut in the creature's wing. It cried out again and even louder. Beside it, the hairless gray creatures advanced and tried to pounce on Yibo, Haikuan, and me. I dodged and thrust with my spear and repeated this, again and again, while Yibo got back to his feet and continued to attack the flying creature.

We were driven further and further into the passage by the creatures. There seemed to be no end to them and now from behind the shopping mall some were coming. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yibo and the black creature continue to fight. It grabbed Yibo, dragged him out the door, and they continued to fight in front of the door while Haikuan and I fought the other creatures.

We somehow managed to push them further forward, even getting out of the building and into more open space. Yibo and the black creature were no longer visible. Panicked and worried about Yibo, I punched, kicked and slashed at the creatures. I killed one and two new ones came in its place. Again and again, and by now stained with the blood of the creatures, we pushed them back. But there were more and more.

Since our firearms were still in the office and we couldn't get to them, we were left only with our spears and the axe. I heard a scream from Yibo, pushed a creature away from me and ran forward a bit. I saw Yibo again. He was by now in a fight with two black creatures. One kept flapping its wings at him, trying to grab him with its clawed paws. The other snapped at him with its sharp teeth.

I was careless when I looked at Yibo and one of the gray creatures hurt me with its claws on my upper arm. The pain was terrible. Blood ran from the wound. I screamed out and thrust my spear at the creature's skull. But because all the slimy blood was on my spear, my hand slipped and I didn't get enough power in my blow. I only slightly wounded the creature.

So instead of killing it, the creature knocked me to the ground. It immediately jumped on me and snapped at my neck with its teeth. I ran out of strength and thought, now it's over. Now the thing will kill me and I will die. But then I felt a strong draft of air and in the next moment the creature flew away in a high arc.

I slowly got back up and came face to face with one of the other flying creatures working with King Bac. It was light brown and had three white dots above its nose. I only looked at it for a brief moment, though, before immediately turning my attention back to Yibo. He was still in the fight!

"Yibo!" I shouted, running towards him with heavy arms and legs. The creature that saved me swung back up into the air and, spinning around itself, swooped down headlong on one of the black creatures Yibo was fighting so desperately.

Blood, sweat and tears obscured my vision as I dragged myself with my last strength to Yibo. I saw that Yibo also had no strength left. I remember thinking, I can't die, because Yibo and I can't be separated yet. And with that thought, I lunged at the creature, jammed my damn spear into its chest, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

When I woke up again, I was lying with my head on Yibo's lap. He was holding me asleep. We were in the car and Haikuan was driving. "What happened?" I asked in a hoarse voice as I tried to sit up. Everything hurt me, especially my arm where the creature hurt me.

"Don't get up Zhan. I treated your wounds, Yibo's wounds, and my wounds as best I could. But your wound was pretty deep and I had to stitch it. It could tear open again if you're not careful." Replied Haikuan barely less hoarsely.

"How did we make it?"

"Those other flying creatures came and helped us. You and Yibo were lying unconscious under one of the dead black creatures. They pulled you guys out from under it and left again. I pulled you into the car, treated your wounds and got our stuff from the office. Now we're on the road again."

"We need to go somewhere to rest. You're hurt and tired, too."

"Yeah I know. We're about to go to a place where we can hopefully rest for a few hours. It's a multi-level parking garage. It's the best I can think of right now."

"That's okay I guess. There's no snow in the parking garage and so they can't follow us to the car."

"Yes, that's what I thought too and that's why I decided to do it. Get some rest now and we'll see later."

"Mn." I replied and fell asleep again.

The next time I woke up was when I felt Yibo caressing and kissing my face. He looked at me smiling tiredly, kissed me and told me he was glad and grateful that I was okay. I replied the same in respect to him. Haikuan was sleeping soundly and even snoring softly. Fortunately, I must say, he is by our side. Who knows how it would have turned out without him.