Defensive Gardening (7)

Alexei first glanced at Matthew and his family before pointing upwards.

"Go back up for now."

"But…"

"If you make me say it twice, someone's head will fly off." It was a cold warning.

"No fighting…. inside. Otherwise, lake snake." Cyril's slurred voice sounded out, and all the muttering stopped at the clear threat.

"Don't worry, I'll make the heads fly off outside. Just lay back and gather your strength." Alexei arranged a cold towel on the burning hot forehead before pushing Cyril to lie down.

"Kayyyy."

At the response, Mathew paled and immediately led his family back up the steps.

With one obstruction gone, Alexei turned to the second group, ignoring the dark-haired man who had shouted earlier and turning to Clock, the homeless person Cyril had been communicating with.

"Why aren't you leaving? Wasn't that the deal?"

The older man had the decency to look embarrassed as he coughed into his longer hand before responding.

"It's foggy and difficult to see outside. We've been hearing explosions all night; there are monsters out there, and people are nervous."

"So?"

Alexei's response was curt as he glanced at the group before releasing the chains from his wrist.

"Alexei, it feels like something is stinging me….I don't feel good."

Hearing Cyril groaning again, Alexei narrowed his eyes.

"You have 5 seconds. Get out."

"Who the hell in their right mind would go out there? Oney said she saw some rat things scurrying about and some walls that popped up? Why don't we defend this place together? All you gotta do is give us a little more food and drink, a more comfortable place to sta-"

"If you want to play defense, play defense outside. Squeeze them out, Cyril."

"…ughhh Squeezing."

Clap.

With the sound of a faint clap, the long hall began to narrow as a door to the outside opened.

Soon, the hallway narrowed from the width of three people to the width of one, and the frightened people began running out the front door.

Those who refused to move were picked up by Alexei's chain and thrown out into the fog.

The moment the hall was clear, Alexei followed the panicked people out.

To his eyes, he could see a couple of meters ahead as if it were daytime, but almost everyone else was panicking, screaming in place or running into the fence Cyril had put up to line the path out because of the thick fog.

The only exceptions were a few older folks who stood surrounding a bald woman with one eye.

When she caught Alexei staring at her, a grin filled her face, and she tugged Clock's hand.

"Apologies, district attorney, for the disrespect our group showed after we were taken in." Clock bowed his head in the direction Oney turned it to while Alexei snorted.

"You're apologizing to the wrong person."

"I'd like to apologize to him later as well. In the meantime, we'd like to help. That was our intention in coming in the first place; we just got a bit distracted while enjoying food and safety last night." Clock coughed embarrassedly once more as he recalled the party they had thrown with the liquor that had not been handed over.

Although it didn't really get them drunk, it was the atmosphere that made the party.

"I assure you, we may be old, but we're quite useful."

"Is that right?"

"Of course. Gassy, show the district attorney what we can do."

A large, rotund, balding man with a snaggle tooth burped before holding out two meaty hands.

"Humphhhhhh. pttttz"

With a large grunt, and a small fart, a large gust of wind began blowing.

Whoooooshhhhh.

The strength of the wind slowly increased, and then slowly, the fog began to clear, exposing Cyril's work.

A house on a hill surrounded by bright red flowers.

Large walls made of packed dirt with different-colored flowers growing from them, spiky purple-tipped grass, deep trenches, and more.

It was completely different from the plain surroundings everyone had seen as they rushed here in the red rain.

As the fog cleared, people stopped rushing around and screaming, reading signs that said DANGER in large letters.

From the grass to the earth walls down the hill, large DANGER signs were everywhere. The only clear path was the winding one lined by a simple wooden fence.

In the sudden silence.

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

The sound of animals chittering sounded out, and as Alexei watched, a grey rat-like creature the size of a medium-sized dog appeared.

It had beady black eyes and red saliva dripping from its mouth as it scurried along the sectioned-off path as if it were on a walk.

Everywhere the rat creature dripped its red saliva, it began releasing white smoke that tried to coalesce before being blown away by the strongly blowing wind.

Clang!

A single black chain rushed forward, wrapping around the rat and squeezing it until it burst.

Splat!

The body of the rat liquefied into a tar-like sludge that rested on top of the ground, darkening the area around it.

Then….

Squirm-

A rat-sized red cockroach-like creature emerged from the red sludge-like tar, shaking its antenna before dashing toward the nearest person.

Chomp!

Large mandibles sank into the ankle of the older man.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Fuck! Ice spear!"

An icicle appeared in his hand before being launched at the creature, skewering it like a kebab, causing a small crystal to appear from the body.

"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh"

As the roach creature was ripped off, it let out a horrible shriek before dying, the red liquid inside of it sizzling and turning into smoke.

Blood began gushing from the man's leg. As he fell while groaning….

"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!"

A frightening response was heard in the distance. Then.

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

The sounds of the creatures began echoing, and a pair of the grey rat creatures appeared, red saliva dripping from their mouths and turning into white smoke as they sniffed the air before stopping.

They were focused entirely on the location of their dead comrade.

"Kree-"

SPLAT-

SPLAT-

Before anybody moved, black chains quickly wrapped and crushed the two creatures, and Alexei applied his mana nullification through the chains, trying to prevent the transformation.

But….

The body liquefied into red sludge, slowly slipping out of the chains before turning into roach-like creatures.

Quickly ripping the heads off and crushing the body with his chains before absorbing the two small crystals that appeared, Alexei yelled at the stunned group of people.

"Move!"

Then, another two of the creatures appeared.

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

SPLAT-

SPLAT

His chains moved without rest.

"If you're going to help, start by killing those things when they come; if you're not, then leave. Everything not on the path is rigged to kill, so you've been warned. Gassy…please keep the wind up for a moment."

After giving his PSA, Alexei quickly climbed to the roof, releasing his chains to extend as far as possible and scouting the area while the fog was clear.

Rats.

It was an unending swarm of grey rats barely visible if not for the wind that was blowing the fog away.

A few continued to move along the wall Cyril had built, but many freely moved along the path Cyril had created for people to leave.

The ones that hadn't been skewered by the grass or perished by other means left the trademark red sludge and cockroach bodies that darkened the ground around them, almost like they were soaking the earth in their blood.

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

Chhh chhh chhhh!

The annoying chittering that hadn't been heard earlier continued increasing in volume as the fog continued to disappear and more and more rats came onto the path.

"Gassy, turn the wind 90 degrees to the right!"

As the wind shifted directions, clearing the fog, Alexei could only curse.

"Shit.

The area around the lake was covered in rats trying to enter the water, and there was nothing else around.

Not plants, not buildings, just ground covered in grey bodies that constantly created white smoke as they drooled.

The farthest wall Cyril had created was also surrounded by rats, who constantly split left to right and devoured anything in their way as they moved toward this building.

Still…just to make sure.

"Turn the wind 90 degrees to the right again."

"And again."

He checked all four directions to make sure from the farthest wall of earth and flowers that Cyril had made; they were completely surrounded by rats.

It was the worst possible matchup for Alexei, who specialized in medium—to large-sized creatures that were strong and agile, not a mass of weak things like this.

He stared at the people fighting off the small amount of rats while screaming before knocking on the roof and speaking.

"Cyri. Walkie talkie. And deliver one to Mathew. We need floodlights all around so people can see and a way to set things on fire. Got it?"

A piece of shingle knocked back at him before a small portal opened in the air, dropping a single charged walkie-talkie in his hands.

Crrrrrkkk.

The walkie-talkie crackled as it was changed to the correct channel.

"This is Mathew over. What's the situation outside? Over."

"My recommendation is to come do your best to become a human flame thrower. We're currently surrounded by rats. Over."

Alexei began sending his chains out, dealing with the rats closest to him while shouting orders.