The Prey and the Hunter

I'm used to traveling at night. It's actually not as dangerous as it looks. A good light source, a little bit of knowledge about the area, and of course a good observation ability, and then you're good to go.

It's crucial to know the nests around the area. If you face large number of Infecteds, no light source would have save you. These monsters are hungry, and finding food is not really easy for them. So they'll go after their prey, since light is not an absolute protection against them. There's only one big nest around Dimspire, and it's most likely my destination. I don't expect to see much of a threat, but it's actually really bad for me. Roads will indeed be more clear, but since they're getting prepared for a hunt, that means most of them are waiting in their nest right now. I wasn't planning to go in there without hiding my scent anyway, but their number will be a big problem for me.

It simply increases my chances of being detected by them. But that's the only way for us to get in there. We also use gas masks to avoid spores in the air. That disease does still exist, and we have to be careful not to get infected as well. Spores are usually a threat to people such as mercenaries, though. Because normal people do not intend to go to such a place. But it's also known that some camps still suffered a lot because of the disease, even after years. We assume that Infecteds are responsible for it.

As expected, I had a quite comfortable journey until I reached their nest. The number of Infecteds that I saw wasn't much, but all I needed was one of them to hide my scent. After that, I just turned my light source off and went inside. After giving my eyes a little bit of time to get accustomed to the dark, I started walking downward through the old escalator. As soon as I stepped outside of the escalator, I already started to feel their eyes all on me. They seemed to be a little confused, yet they didn't trust me completely. Since their bodies have deteriorated, changing my walk a bit helped me hide my identity better. I was already half infected, and with all the other precautions, I really felt safe as I walked past them. Still, being cautious is always the key to surviving in such conditions. If they find me, that little imposter among them, then it means my life comes to an end.

Stalking has never come to an end. They kept watching me as I kept walking. They were silent and as cautious as me. They couldn't find a logical explanation for what they were seeing at that moment. They were keeping their distance from me, but they were also ready to take action as soon as they sensed a threat. My vision was bad, and I was hoping to avoid hitting them by mistake. I wasn't sure where they hid their prey; I thought I could see a sign such as a scream. I wasn't sure what to expect either, because it was my first time sneaking into such a place.

I have lost my sense of time. I just kept walking and walking. I could feel those monsters getting more and more irritated by my existence. I indeed smell like them, but they seemed suspicious of a foreigner, an intruder. Of course, I know they are not as stupid as other people think. Maybe the reason behind it is the fact that they were all humans before. I wish there was a cure to turn them back to normal.

Suddenly, one of those Infecteds came right in front of me. It started smelling me closely. I was ready to turn my light on and start running, but I chose to wait as much as I could. Because once I do that, there won't be turning back. They gonna go crazy because of the light; they will scream, and the whole nest gonna turn into chaos. It's basically triggering a swarm upon you, and that's why light is gonna be my last choice to use. All mercenaries use flashlights, pretty strong ones. Gladio mercenaries also have another light source on their helmets to light up their surroundings a bit. It's usually enough to keep Infecteds at a distance. Yet we don't use them as much as possible because it's hard to keep them fully charged.

As that Infected in front of me stepped aside, I slowly exhaled. I didn't realize that I had been holding my breath for a long time. I was stressed, and I could feel the goosebumps. But it seemed like I was free to go now, so I decided not to waste any more time.

I was wrong, though.

That Infected, that smelled me just right now, started growling. Then a scream followed it. That was the moment I knew that I was in big trouble. I turned my light on and started running, as there's no tomorrow. My flashlight was lighting up the whole way, and I could see Infecteds going crazy and panicking around. That moment of chaos was the only moment that I had time to think. My choices weren't many. The first choice was to run towards the exit, which seems to be not very far away. But that way, the whole thing would have lost its meaning. And the second choice is, well, keep running around and hopefully finding the little girl that I was looking for. Apparently, it seems like I had only one choice.

I was hearing them running behind me, and there was still no sign of any survivors inside. I started to lose my hope, but I couldn't bear the fact that I was risking my life for nothing. And then, I heard someone crying. I heard people crying! I started to follow the voice as much as I could, since the swarm kept screaming behind me. My head was about to explode.

Fighting was not a choice. But only if I could save those people...