I soon entered the city and pushed my sleeve up, looking at the device around my arm as I tapped the screen with a single finger.

The screen lights up and shows a scan of the entire city with multiple dots between red and dark red, all moving around the city.

Remembering from the dot inside Ulfstead Castle on Sir Norramby, it was green, so these red and dark red dots must be either the vehishifters or the Searchers.

So using this city map, I carefully avoided the roaming Searchers as I used shortcuts around the city.

As I was roaming around the city, I noticed barely any vehicles around, meaning that they must have been transformed into vehishifters judging by the millions of dead mosquitoes around.

Sure enough, there was a vehishifter chowing down on a Searcher with its wires wrapped around and consuming its body.

Luckily it was distracted by eating the Searcher as I evaded the vehishifter and continued going through the city, using the device on my arm to see if any more creatures were roaming.

I was at the edge of the city near the railways and about to walk past when I stopped to look down at my device, seeing three green dots inside one of the rooms.

I perked after seeing the three green dots and tapped the screen, turning it off as I slipped my sleeve over the device around my arm before approaching the door.

Instead of just opening it, I knocked on the door, listening as some shuffling came from inside before someone responded, "Hello? Who's out there?"

"I'm Stephanie Allen," I responded, pushing my glasses into place. "And I'm here to help you get to Ulfstead Castle."

"Oh, thank god," the voice from the other side of the door responded. "Hold on a moment, and I'll unlock the door for you to open."

I nodded and stepped back a little before perking up when I heard a revving noise and glanced around frantically.

I quickly pushed my sleeve up and tapped on my device, seeing a dark red dot moving close to where Luna and I were.

I started to worry as I waited anxiously for the door to open, and I heard it unlock, but I squeezed myself through the door and inside as Luna followed behind quickly.

I closed the door as I listened to the noises, hearing the revving noises from the other side.

I stayed silent, but I could hear my heart skipping beats as my hands started to sweat and my legs began to shake uncontrollably.

The noises continued for an agonizing few minutes before moving away, and I looked at the device around my wrist as the dark red dot moved away from where we were.

I sighed in relief as I removed my hands from the door before looking at the person who opened it and apologizing, "I'm sorry about shoving myself inside."

"It's alright," the person assured me.

He was a short, chubby gentleman with fair skin and hazelnut-brown eyes.

He wears gray trousers, a white shirt, a black tie, a cream waistcoat, a black tailcoat, and a black top hat.

"Who are you, though?" He politely asked.

"I'm Stephanie," I replied, and I mentioned to Luna with a hand. "And this is Luna. We came here to see if there were any survivors."

"It's my wife," the gentleman explained, mentioning a thin woman with two kids hiding behind her. "My grandchildren and my mother."

He mentioned an elderly woman, and I quietly sighed, knowing there were many people to take to Ulfstead Castle.

"Okay," I nodded. "I know a way to get around these vehishifters and Searchers, but stick close to me and don't attract anything's attention."

They nodded, and I turned around, looking at the device on my arm, as there was nothing close to where we were, and I nodded.

I slowly opened the door and peered outside, looking from side to side before stepping fully outside.

"Come on," I softly whispered, making the 'come here' mention with my hand.

The first person was the gentleman, who stepped outside before his wife, the two grandchildren, and his mother.

We walked down the platform before exiting, cautiously looking from side to side before leaving the empty train station.

Luna was alert as she looked around from side to side before continuing to follow me, walking down the sidewalk as the other followed behind me.

We continued sneaking around the place as I looked at the device on my arm, keeping track of what was coming near us, before I saw a red dot appear.

"Quick, alley," I softly whispered, and we all hid in the alley behind one of the trash cans.

A Searcher appeared and was looking around, scanning the place as we all stayed silent, the gentleman's wife holding the kids near her while everyone remained silent.

I observed the Searcher with an eye, as Luna was standing before me but hiding as she gave silent growls.

The Searcher stood there for a minute as it looked around before walking forward, and I looked at the device on my arm, watching the red dot move away from where we were before turning around the corner.

"Okay," I nodded, standing up as the others followed.

We continued through the city, stopping whenever a Searcher appeared and hiding before continuing once it was gone.

There were some bumps in the road, with some arthritis acting up on some trips, but we continued despite the problems.

We then approached what looked like a graveled road, meaning we were almost near Ulfstead Castle, but the bad news was that I was only wearing socks.

But ignoring my thoughts and mostly silent complaints, I stepped onto the gravel as the others followed, and I silently kept myself from wincing in pain as the family followed.

I saw Sir Norramby standing outside the gate with his spear before noticing me with the family, perking and waving his hand toward us.

We started to head towards Sir Norramby, and I looked back at the device on my arm, seeing a dark red dot heading toward where we were.

I instantly looked over, and a vehishifter appeared, staring towards us with its blood-stained jaws and tentacle-like limbs.

And it was the same one that nearly attacked me, as it had bits and pieces of the fence on its front but like a collar around its hood and stuck on one of the back wheels, and as it soon saw us, it gave a revving-like roar.

"Run!" I shouted, turning to the family as they instantly started running towards Sir Norramby.

Sir Norramby helped the family into the castle as I followed behind, feeling pain in my feet from the gravel before I saw a Searcher appear and give a shriek.

I instantly covered my ears in pain as Luna gave whines of pain; the others did the same as they covered their ears.

"Keep running!" I shouted among the shrieks as the vehishifter turned its attention towards the Searcher.

It jumped towards the Searcher and tackled it to the ground, making it stop shrieking as it started to bite it, tearing it into pieces as I started running towards the castle.

But the Searcher was tossed towards me from the vehishifter and landed almost inches away, causing me to shriek.

The vehishifter charged towards me at blinding speed as Luna barked, causing me to freeze as I watched it start to head towards me.

Visions of the past of a car speeding towards me flashed before my eyes, and I was frozen at where I was, unable to move as everything seemed to go silent.

But something larger landed on top of the vehishifter, causing me to snap out of fear as I looked up, seeing a male humanoid wrestling with the vehishifter.

The male humanoid has poofy fuchsia hair with sideburns, fair skin, and an X-shaped scar on the chin.

He wears a royal purple open vest, a Maya blue button-up shirt with a collar and rolled-up sleeves, a brown belt with two holsters on each side, and charcoal purple pants with boots with stars on the sides.

He was fighting with the bus vehishifter as it was growling and revving simultaneously like a wild animal, and its wire tentacles were moving around, wrapping around his arms and legs as it was snapping.

I stared in shock at what I had discovered as the giant struggled with the vehishifter in his hands, and he stepped back with it in his arms before being toppled back as it managed to flip onto his wheels, pinning him as it snapped towards his face.

The giant pushed against the vehishifter's front wheels as it was lifted slightly, but the wires were all wrapped around his upper body and snapping at its face.

He struggled a little as the wires were tightening around his limbs before tossing it away from his body to the side, landing on its side before standing back up and heading towards him.

In a blink of an eye, the giant took out one of the pistols from his holster and fired, hitting directly on the hood as it went through, causing it to shriek before collapsing on its front, bleeding out oil from the gunshot wound before stopping.

A moment of silence fell after the fight before the giant sighed and put his gun away, wincing a little as he looked at his wrists and noticed the slight bruises.

But I noticed he had invisible lines around his fingers, wrists, and the bottom of his neck, watching them move as he flexed his wrist.

…And then we made eye contact as I stared at him the entire time without him noticing.

He perked up after seeing me, just as my entire body jumped, not wanting to stand around and see what he did.

I instantly froze after we made eye contact, but instead of running towards the castle as I saw it was closed, I ran towards one of the buildings and opened the door, stepping through it as Luna followed before hiding.

I sat down on the ground as I started to hyperventilate, causing Luna to perk up and gently nuzzle my face with her snout, giving little whines of confusion.

My heart was beating loudly against my chest as I lay down on my side, my breathing becoming raspy as Luna lay down with me, gently licking my face and lying near me.

I was almost run over by a vehishifter!

I curled into a ball on the ground as Luna stayed near me, listening to my breathing as I was still hyperventilating and trying to calm myself down from my fear.

I stood there looking confused at what I had discovered, feeling millions and millions of questions running through my mind.

Did I see a human?

Weren't all the humans around here gone or even captured by those Spiders roaming around?

Then, how come some humans were roaming around?

And why does the person I saw have blue hair?

Could it be dyed?

I looked over at the castle the other humans had run into, seeing some light in the windows, but the gate was closed.

Is the blue-haired human looking for others and taking them to that castle for safety?

I looked over at where the blue-haired human ran to and was about to approach to ask if she was alright when I heard, "Colt?"

After hearing my name called, I perked up and turned toward where the voice came from, responding, "What?"

"Did you find some metal?" Oops, I forgot that I was searching for metal.

I looked around from where I was to see if there was anything metal but noticed the destroyed remains of that octopus-like bus, so I picked it up from the ground in my hand, wincing a little at how disgusting it looked before responding, "Yeah! I found some!"

"Good!" the voice responded. "We collected plenty, so head back over to the forest!"

"Okay!" I responded before looking back at where the blue-haired human ran, having a lingering feeling that something did not feel right.

But I ignored the thought and started heading towards the forest, carrying the remains of the octopus-like bus in my hand.

Maybe this would be good for Eve to look at and take samples of-

I winced a little when my wrist started to become sore, deciding to also see Pam for some healing for those bruises.