This world had been flipped upside down, the streets were filled with Danger and the blood of some. Families were ripped apart, literally and figuratively. However, it was peaceful at the moment.

        My group was currently located within an apartment building on the outskirts of the Kuzuryu Zone, which was by far one of the safest spots for refugees, other than Chiaki’s village, but that was far away, and for now, we were safe. For now, we were comfortable.

        But alas, peace can never be held in this world, as our supplies were dwindling, and soon enough someone would have to leave the safety of our home and venture out for food and water, maybe even some medicine, though it was hard to find.

        I looked down at the pitiful scene in front of me, Liana, who was this week’s current gatherer, had fallen ill. Her once-tan skin was pale and she was laying on the one bed we had, half asleep.

        At the moment I was playing with her hair, tucking it behind her ear and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. How we’d find Medicine to ease her pain and everyone would stop fighting.

        Whenever any fighting would occur, Liana always would ease things down, often by offering to replace them on their supply run. She hated fighting and constantly told everyone to never fight.

        But now she was sick, and the bickering was getting louder, a screaming match had started in the room next to us, and it was beginning to wake Liana.

        “... I’ll.. be.. Fine.”

        The voice shocked me out of my inner rant, as I looked at Liana.

        “Tell them…. To stop... bickering.” Liana’s voice was weak, and it even sounded sickly. Her eyes were sunken and she was extremely sick, more so than we thought before.

        “I’ll get them to stop fighting, you rest.” My response was soft, almost as if I was trying to shelter those words. She gave me a small nod, then drifted to sleep again.

        A sigh left my lips as I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. This action caused several people in the room to glance over at me, and the fighting even stopped for a moment.

        “What in the hell are you bickering about!” The anger in my voice shocked the arguing party, and finally, the room fell silent.

        Shame graced many people's faces as some gazes even dropped to the floor. I sat there staring at them until someone spoke up.

        “...We were arguing about who is going to go on the supply run, it was supposed to be Liana’s turn…”

        A sigh left my lips, for some reason leaving the house was a very arguable subject for us, even though it was an extremely solvable argument, people just were too selfish to cover for someone else.

        “Fine. I’ll go out since you lot have no heart to do so.” I was met with a few shocked gazes, as I was the designated medic of the group. Truthfully, I was the person in the group who had gone out the least, mostly because others wouldn’t let me. The ability to care for wounded and sick people was valuable to the group, however, oftentimes no one was injured or ill, so that meant that I would just sit around the place.

        “No objections?” My question seemingly knocked them out of their silent state, as arguments began to pop up.

        “You can’t go! You need to care for Liana.”

        “It’s too dangerous, we’ll just choose someone else.”

        I slammed my hand down on the table in front of me, silencing their arguments.

        “Liana told me to go stop the arguing, she said she’d be fine, and even if I’m gone for a day, she’d be fine anyways.” I watched the group slowly accept the fact that I am going, and to stop me they’d have to chain me to the wall.

        “I’ll be taking my leave now, wish me luck.” I grabbed a ragged coat that was hanging next to the door and headed out, leaving the small area and entering the outside world.

        There wasn’t total silence outside, yet it was peaceful. I could hear crickets chirping and wind swaying through the trees around us, though there were few. The ruined cityscape fell around me, and I could see the sun setting beyond a crumpled building. I smiled, I was finally free from the suffocating atmosphere of the home,

        While it was peaceful here, I still was required to head out of the Kuzuryu Zone, mostly because the other camp here was violent and they were extreme;y possessive over the remaining supplies here, so I walked to the wall at the end of the zone and began to climb it, The climb wasn’t as hard as when we got here, yet the climb was still difficult, mainly because the wall was constructed with pure stone, making it increasingly difficult to scale.

        I sat upon the wall, looking out at the dark sky around me. I then took a glance down, checking to make sure that no Nightmares were there, when I saw none, I lept down and ran, trying to get to the next town over.

        There were supplies in the small shops around me, but there were often weaker Nightmares that hunted in these areas. Close enough to a territory to kill humans who run from it, but far enough to not get in trouble with the Ruler of said territory.

        Yet I stopped. My eyes falling on a glowing building, the sign spun merrily, like the world had never ended. I would have paid the soft neon lights no eye, yet it was the words that brought me in.

        Pharmacy

        A place I desperately needed to find and to ransack. Yet it might be a trap.

        “I’ll go in for a few seconds, take as much as I can, then run to the wall..” I thought to myself. It was for Liana, and she needed this medicine.

        I readied myself, Slinking through the shadows as I approached the glowing building. Once I got about 5 feet from the door I ran in, quickly shutting the door behind me.

        A soft chill filled the Pharmacy, it seemed that the medicine was being kept cold. I looked around, then took a step towards the shelf on my right,

        Nothing

        Was it not a trap? Was this place one of the few surviving the fall of humanity? I smiled to myself, Jackpot. I grabbed a small basket and began to fill it with things like painkillers, anti-bacterials, cough syrup, and many more things.

        I felt accomplished, I had gotten so much medicine in less than two hours, yet I had to head back to camp.

        I decided to take the back door out of the building, which lead me into a darkened alley, it was far too risky to leave from the front door anyways. I slowly reached the end of the alley and peered out into the dark street. Dread overwhelmed me when I realized how far I was from the wall, and how I’d have to scale it with a basket in hand, which would likely make a lot of noise, attracting Nightmares and Humans alike.

        Yet It didn’t feel like I was apprehensive over the prospect, it felt like pure fear, and for what I couldn’t tell.

        ‘Turn around, turn around turn around turn around turn around’ My mind was practically screaming for me to do so, and I could feel a chill run down my spine as I heard a footstep.

        I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before turning around to face whatever was behind me.

        “Crap.” Behind me stood a Nightmare, and he was staring at me with wide, hungry eyes. Of course, it was a trap, I knew it was a trap, yet I still fell for it. Cold fear flooded my senses once again as I backed away, turning to run.

        I knew running was futile, Nightmares were faster than humans and some of them took joy in chasing their next meal, but I had to get to the wall. I had to escape into the Kuzuryu Territory, or else I would die.

        I felt a heavy weight press against my back, and I was suddenly thrown forwards, shadows fell over my body as I was sprawled out across the cold floor, I felt a sting in my knees from being scraped across the rocky floor.

        “I’m not feeling too playful today, so you’ll die quickly.” The Nightmare's raspy voice graded against my ears as I squirmed in his grasp, trying Hopelessly to get away. I kicked and yelled, screaming for help and for him to get off of me.

        A searing pain jetted through my body as the Nightmare tore up my shoulder, he laughed at my scream from him biting in, I could feel the blood soaking my clothes and dripping down onto the ground.

        Darkness was filling my sight, pulling me into a deep sleep known as death, yet I continued to fight it off, my senses were overwhelmed by pain and fear, and I felt hazy and tired, I knew that I couldn’t resist the sweet pull of death for much longer, yet I was harshly snapped out of my daze by a commanding voice.

        “Leave this Mortal be, and find other prey you fiend!” The voice held an air of almost regality to it, and I could feel the Nightmare sitting atop me snap his head over at the person speaking.

        The Nightmare growled, he was angry and… Frightened..? Yea, he was frightened by the other presence, he felt threatened by the mere presence of a Higher Nightmare.

        Oh no.

        There were three possibilities, one that The person speaking was a higher-up Nightmare, and wanted to take my kill himself, Two that the Person speaking was Fuyuhiko and he was annoyed by how close to the perimeters of his territory I was being hunted, after all, I was touching the wall. However that possibility was slim, and Fuyuhiko did Not sound like that. The third possibility was that I was about to become a Shadow.

        I stayed silent, at this point I was praying for death, a fate seemingly better than being tethered to a stranger for all eternity, until I died a cold and Lonely life, my friends stripped away from me as I rotted alone, the only person there for my company being the Nightmare who decided I was theirs.

        “Go get your own kill. This One’s Mine.” He growled, digging a hand into my wounded shoulder and making me cry out in pain.

        Footsteps, that’s what I heard. And then suddenly, I was freed from the weight pressing onto my back, keeping me tethered to the floor. A loud thud was heard afterward as the Nightmare who previously sat atop me presumably crashed into a wall.

        I slowly attempted to get up, being sure to not put pressure on my shoulder. I looked around, the midnight sky around me was starless, almost reflecting my situation back to me. I could feel the gaze of the p̶e̶r̶s̶o̶n̶ Nightmare who saved me as I stood up.

        I turned to look at my attacker, who had been slammed into the wall a few feet away. His body was crumpled and there were clearly a few bones protruding from his skin.

        I winced at the sight of the bloody mess as I bent down to collect my medical supplies, the only sound being the soft rattle of the pill bottles and a few crickets, it’s like the entire world went silent after my screams. It felt lonely, the silence, yet also peaceful.

        With the last of the supplies I had gathered being nestled back into my basket, I began to climb the wall, not sparing a glance at the Nightmare staring at my wound. Hopefully, I could make it over before he did anything, then I would be safe.

        “Halt.” The Nightmare commanded, it sent panic shooting up my spine, clouding my thoughts and rendering me useless for a second or two. I didn’t turn to look at him, however I did respond.

        “... What is it.?” Terror was flooding through my veins, I could feel my heartbest pounding in my ears, drowning out any of the peaceful sounds around me. All I could hear was.

        Thump

        Thump

        Thump.

        We sat there for a moment, no one daring to move or disrupt the fragile silence around us, I mentally prepared myself to hurridly swing myself over the wall, and bolt back home. Yet before I could, I felt a fuzzy creature launch itself onto my shoulder, startling me.

        I heard the Nightmare laugh triumphantly before he spoke, “It seems as if Jum-P likes you!” I felt him move closer, before lightly spinning me around to meet his gaze.

        The Nightmare that stood before me had Dual colored eyes, one a greyish color and the other a vibrant red. He had a noticeable scar on his Right eye. His entire appearance was Dramatic, yet it all worked well together.

        “I-... I have. to. Go.” The Nightmare looked directly into my eyes, he wasn’t standing extremely close, yet it was just close enough to swiftly grab my arm if needed.

        If I ran away.

        I took a step back, my back hitting the wall. I had one shot at this, one shot to get away. I took a breath and shifted my hand to the top of the wall.

        One Shot

        I could feel my hands trembling, as I watched the Nightmare, he looked slightly alarmed, and I could tell that he was preparing for me to make my move.

        One Chance.

        Even though fear was pulsing through my veins, My head felt clear, I could almost see how my movements would go, the one thing I forgot however, was that Jum-P sat on my shoulder currently, nuzzling into my hair.

        I heard a squeak as I swung myself up onto the wall, catching me off guard and distracting myself from the objective of getting on the wall. My foot missed the ledge just slightly as I tumbled downwards.

        Falling

        Falling.

        THUD

        At least that’s the sound I expected to hear, what I hadn’t expected was for the Nightmare to catch me. I could feel his cold arms pressing against my back, we sat there for a few moments, his face reddened as we sat there, and I swear I could feel him slightly pull me closer, that was before his hands darted to pull up the silky scarf that sat upon his shoulder, dropping me in the process.

        Thud

        It took a mere second for me to hit the floor, as I was already pretty close to it when I was caught, yet I could still tell that my butt was going to be bruised.

        “Well,” I gave a small, fake, chuckle as I stood up, the Hamster that previously sat on my shoulder bolted over to the Nightmare, a proud squeak coming from its mouth. ‘Did they plan that?’ “Thanks for saving me twice now, but I have to get back to my group.” I thanked the Nightmare, hoping that he’d let me leave now, it was an awkward encounter so far, and fortunately, The Nightmare didn’t seem to be possessive, which was a good sign that I was free to go.

        Yet when I started moving away a heard a growl. And it was an angry growl. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at the Nightmare. He looked angry over the mere prospect of me leaving, which was not good.
       
 "Well shit."