[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]

Sorry this one took a while longer to come out, y'all.

I had gotten a bit busy with life, and trying to survive in this God-forsaken country, so it took me a bit to figure out what exactly I would do, and what would be my plans for this chapter. That said, everything else is figured out at this point, so fingers crossed I can keep my motivation to finish Season 1 before May. By then, after I hopefully wrap this up, I want to continue my OPM/Harry Potter story, and re-do Violet Evergarden.

[==========================]

-> [ARTISTS / SERIES USED]
- lilredbeany.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

SLAM!

Y/N smashed his back against the door, and with the help of Aiden and Ben, stopping it from moving wasn't a hard task, even if that terrifying creature still pushed it. With his finger away from the trigger, and the barrel of the gun aimed down, Y/N shot Ashlyn a quick glance — If anything, she was the one disturbed the most. Narrowing her eyes at those strange red waves which came with the sound of the creature.

Y/N's annoyance did not diminish in the slightest once he turned to face Aiden and his ever-present, massive grin. The creature continued to slam and scratch away at the door, relentlessly trying to break through, but Y/N and Ben just kept on pushing it back. Everyone else retreated from the door, breathing out heavily while not taking their eyes away from it, but, at this point, none were as panicked as poor Logan.

Logan: ["Wha-Wha-What was that thing?!"]

Aiden: ["According to Tyler, that would be the "prank" from earlier today"]

Aiden had a large smile on his face as he turned to look at Tyler, who just shot him a rather-angry glare. Y/N just made a mental note to cuss them out on his mind later down the line when they were out of the woods. Thankfully, even as the door began to budge a little, Ashlyn came to aid on his other side, pushing her back towards it, just like Y/N was doing — All turned to face Taylor when the girl spoke out with worry.

Taylor: ["Sarah and Emma are still there!"]

Ashlyn: ["No... They would've come out of their room, or at the very least yelled"] The girl pushed her feet against the railing to keep herself steady ["Especially after a gunshot!"]

Aiden: ["Actually, now that Ash mentions it, it's kinda weird that no one at all has come outside after the screaming and banging"] Y/N felt something tug his shirt, and without a second thought, brought out his switchblade with his other hand, and stabbed it, feeling the hand of the creature retreat after ["Oop- that could've been bad, hahah!"]

Tyler: ["Could've?! Stop this as a joke!"] He stepped forward and snatching everyone's attention, throwing his arm to the side ["The sky is fucking red for crying out loud!"]

Aiden: ["Whining about it isn't gonna do anything"]

Tyler: ["Oh, and laughing about it will do anything?!"]

Y/N: ["Get a room you two — Especially this closed one so you'll be quiet forever"]

Taylor: ["Guys..."]

Now taking everyone's attention again, Taylor's entire shivering body spoke volumes as she slowly backed off from the railing that led to the street down below. Y/N could not peek thanks to holding the door shut, but gave Ashlyn a "go ahead" nod when she faced him — Silently, he hoped he would keep this thing shut without wasting any more shots. And so, everyone that wasn't holding the door took a single look down.

AT THEIR WHITE EYES

Without wasting another instant, they charged right towards the complex. They could not see many of them, but, aside from the stabbing and the slamming — Which went momentarily quiet every time Y/N decided to stab through the door — they also heard the sound of dozens of footsteps rapidly-approaching. Ashlyn looked around, biting her lip through her desperate thoughts, trying to come up with something to help.

Ashlyn: ["How far away is your room...?"]

Aiden: ["About five or six doors down?"]

Ashlyn: ["Did I not hear them because the one behind us is making so much noise...?"] The girl felt her heart beating nearly out of her chest, and desperately looked around ["Think, think! How do we get away without the one behind the door mauling us all?!"]

She continued to look around the place, from person to person — Even if the only one who looked back was Y/N since he didn't seem that worried — as if trying to fit them in her schemes. It took her a few seconds, frankly more than enough for the creatures to have approached even more, almost to the floor they were on, but her emerald eyes sparkled. Facing Aiden, to herself, and then lastly to Y/N, the girl gave them a nod.

Ashlyn: ["Aiden, give me the string of your shorts. Y/N, give me your belt"]

Aiden: ["... Kay? ... Why?"]

Ashlyn: ["I have an idea"]

YN: ["What a good thing these pants were custom-made under measurement"]

Ashlyn and Aiden untied their shorts, while Y/N held his gun by using his teeth, chomping down hard to keep it steady, while using both hands to unbuckle his belt. Passing it onto Ashlyn, the girl stepped to the side of Ben, who — With his hands still against the door to keep it neatly-shut — stepped over to the side, allowing the girl access to a small piping system that seemed to go around, and then into the room.

Tyler: ["Two weak strings, a belt, and a pole? Like that's gonna keep it closed!"]

Ashlyn: ["Maybe not, but it'll stay shut long enough for me, Ben, and Y/N to make a run for it. You guys go!"] Everyone remained statue-still, even as the Phantoms began to jump over the railing- ["I SAID GO!"]

Until Ashlyn screamed. Tyler just clicked his tongue in sheer annoyance, holding onto the hand of his sister and dragging her along while Logan made a dash for it by their side. Y/N, now with his hands free, went back to holding the gun in his hand — Just like before, he kept it aimed down at the ground, and fingers off of the trigger. While everyone else worked, he busied himself with keeping that creature shut inside.

Ashlyn: ["Ben, you tie this to the door handle!"]

Aiden: ["I'll tie this end. You tie the other one to the pole"]

Y/N reached for his pant's pocket, taking the switchblade out and grabbing it with his right hand, and holding the gun on the left — The latter was kept over the former, with the blade pointing ahead, and the gun above it. Ashlyn held back on asking where he learned how to do such a thing, even if normally it would've been used with a flashlight instead of a knife, and rapidly got to work with the help of Ben and Aiden.

Ashlyn: ["Alright... RUN!"]

The girl made a mad dash for it alongside the other two boys. Y/N silently cursed at himself while he remained behind just a moment longer to help them create more space before he too, began to run. Two slams of the Phantom was enough to open the door, but the biggest concern was by far the massive horde approaching from all sides — Or one would think, had the previously-locked Phantom not wanted revenge.

Ashlyn: ["Shit... We gotta do something!"]

Y/N run a bit further behind since he had stayed to let the other three make distance. Already cursing himself for this decision, he looked onwards towards Ashlyn. It was obvious to see the panic on the girl's face, and he didn't even need to turn around to know that the Phantoms were catching up to him — His eyes, still indifferent, just moved to the side. Following his gaze, Ashlyn's own irises widened at what she saw.

Ashlyn: ["AIDEN! BEN! MOVE!!"]

The girl's hands clutched the cleaning cart ahead in the corridor. Using her speed and the cart's weight to swing herself around and behind it, Ashlyn didn't waste a second running towards Y/N with it in her hands. Aiden and Ben both joined in, and with their strength, a single push was enough to send the thing at rather-high speeds towards Y/N — Big shocker, he remained unphased, and waited until it got closer and closer.

At the last second, just barely feeling the Phantom's claws graze his nape, Y/N jumped. Both feet landing on top of the cart, he leaped once again, just a lot more forward than upwards. Rather than falling on his feet, Y/N allowed his back to turn towards everyone, and crash into the ground. Now laying down, and using his other arm with the knife as a support, Y/N aimed his gun towards the nearest Phantom.

Though he was struck by the cleaning cart, he wasted no moments in tossing it aside with rather ease. But the moment it dashed forward, it stopped when another gunshot echoed out of Y/N's weapon. Everyone else did, including the Phantoms way behind who hesitated for a moment. Ashlyn, raising her hands to her ears, shut her eyes as hard as she could to try and distract her from the terrible noises she was hearing.

But as much as it intrigued Y/N, he did not waste a second with kicking himself up to his feet. The Phantom stumbled back for a moment, one hand reaching up, and the other clutching hard against its eye — There was no blood, and there was no sound. It mimicked screaming, as if a person had felt the pain of having her vocal chords ripped off, but, thanks to now-lacking them, could not produce a sound.

Showing surprise agility, he tossed his knife the moment he landed on his soles. It stabbed right through the thin, muscle-less shoulder of the Phantom, who's scream only seemed to increase, just like Ashlyn's pain. Aiden noted this, and had to hold onto her with both of his arms around her to keep the girl from dropping to her knees — The other Phantoms began to run after them again, but Y/N did not retreat at all.

Instead, passing by another one of those piping systems that they had tied their strings and belt to, he just yanked a single one out, also demonstrating surprising strength — He went straight for the knees. Smashing the pipe against the Phantom to bring it down, and holding onto his knife, kept it steady. Forcing the creature to look up, he took the pipe he had just acquired, and stabbed it into the monster's other eye.

At this point it's when Ashlyn cried out, a painful scream of both surprise and agony, like someone had just turned their volume at 100% with earphones without expecting to. Y/N, breaking out of his seemingly-dazed state of emotionless violence, shared a look with both Ashlyn, and the approaching horde of Phantoms — He just huffed. Pulling out his knife from the Phantom's shoulder, he kicked it down and ran.

Once again with a feat of surprising physical prowess, he snatched Ashlyn from Aiden's arms as he ran by, pulling the girl onto his shoulder with a firm grip — Sure, Ashlyn could feel that it hurt her a bit, but it was more than worth it than the option of being left to the Phantoms. Everyone ran as fast as they could, with Y/N falling a bit behind with him having to carry Ashlyn, and be careful not to shoot or stab her.

Logan: ["Ah, I see them!"]

Logan peeked out the room with Taylor and Tyler's head comically stacked like a cartoon, but the three retreated when Aiden and Ben came through, and then lastly Y/N, who pushed Ashlyn inside first and into Ben's arms, before he himself stumbled through the door. Hearing it shut behind him was a relief, and allowed everyone to breathe out in relief, and then back in at rapid speeds thanks to the exhaustion.

However, their instincts flared up once again the moment the banging and scratching against the door started. Y/N was the first one to react, rapidly turning around and aiming his gun and knife in that same "one over the other" position as before. Everyone else distanced themselves a bit, making way for a shot that was never needed. Seeing how the door looked like it would handle for a bit, Ashlyn sighed.

Ashlyn: ["We should... Put the sofa against the door..."]

Y/N: ["And a closet on top of the sofa for good measure"]

Y/N didn't waste a second with putting his gun away and getting to it, rolling up his sleeves and pushing the couch with the help of Ben who pulled it. Everyone else slumped against the wall and fell in silence to compose their thoughts and adjust their breathing, while Y/N still worked by picking up the small table in the living room and putting it atop the sofa — For good measure, he went to get a closet too.

Ashlyn, though still resting against the wall, turned her eyes to look at a bag, the same one she recalled Y/N bringing with him for this trip. Curiosity got the better of her, especially with all that Y/N's been doing for them, but still clearly keeping a distance — Not to mention he just had a gun out of nowhere, too. Seeing him and Ben enter a room, she just rummaged through until her hands touched something familiar.

While she heard the two boys bringing up the closet to put atop the table that's on top of the sofa, the feeling of a gun in her palms was nothing new. She was not experienced enough to tell exactly what it was, but through the chips, dents and dust, she could easily identify it as a handgun — To be precise, a pistol. When Y/N and Ben came out of the room with the closet in their arms, she pulled back from the bag.

As they put the closet on the sofa, Y/N just walked back towards his bag, and kneeled near it to pick it up. He exchanged a glance with Ashlyn, his indigo eyes carefully shooting a cold look right at her emerald ones — But he did not asy anything. Instead, picking up his bag, he moved to another corner to sit by himself, while Taylor and Tyler were side-by-side, with Logan not too far off, just like Ben, Aiden and Ashlyn.

Y/N: ["... I didn't leave the spare gun on top of my clothes"]

Y/N just silently shot a suspicious look towards Ashlyn, who avoided his gaze. All but confirmed his suspicions at this point, Y/N just looked down towards his bag, and groaned. Pulling out a piece of cloth that he used to wipe his switchblade, as well as his pistol. Speaking of which, he also replaced the two shots he had fired earlier, catching everyone's attention thanks to the sounds he was carelessly making.

Tyler: ["... I really should ask, but why the hell do you have a gun?"]

Y/N: ["..."] He didn't even look at him ["Why don't you?"]

Tyler: ["Because I'm not registered for it, and also a minor?"]

Y/N: ["Do you see that stopping me, fuckface? It's the U.S. Everyone has a gun. In fact..."] Y/N reached down into the bag, putting his .500 down by his side ["I have two of 'em"]

Everyone watched as he pulled yet another weapon from the bag, the same handgun that Ashlyn had grabbed earlier — A Brixia 1911. It was old, scarred and beaten, clearly barely functional by the looks of the strength it required for Y/N to cock the gun after loading it with a magazine. Though a bit nervous since they didn't know what he'd do with it, everyone eased up when Y/N put it back down by his side.

Ashlyn: ["... Why didn't you take that with you, too?"]

Y/N: ["It's old. Didn't wanna run the risk of it jamming or exploding on me — I only brought it cause it's what I had on hand"] Y/N looked at it up and down for a second before presenting the grip to the girl ["Your parents are ex-military, right? You know how to use one of these?"]

Ashlyn: ["... Kinda..."] She carefully picked it from his hands ["Still, doesn't answer-"]

Tyler: ["Why do you have those?"]

Y/N, as uncaring and as lacking a visible reaction as ever, just turned to give Tyler a quick look. He did not bother doing much other than humming as if searching for an answer — Which technically he was, even if said answer wouldn't be truthful — while rummaging through his bag. Pulling out his pack of cigarettes and lighter to light himself one, he took a drag, and exhaled the smoke before finally responding.

Y/N: ["My brother was worried, so he gave his gun for me to use if I needed to"]

Tyler: ["... And why the cigarettes?"]

Y/N: ["Cause it's the only thing that triggers my serotonin in this sad life? Here's a question for you — Why don'tcha shut the fuck up?"] Y/N groaned in his own thoughts for a second before exhaling the smoke away from everyone ["They help me relax in moments like these"]

Everyone decided in a mutual, wordless agreement to fall down in silence to rest. Y/N just laid against the wall, and it wasn't until he felt something dripping on his hand that he remembered the cut on his cheek, and used the same piece of cloth to wipe it clean. Deciding not to risk that creature having some sort of disease, he also went on to take some basic medical stuff from his bag, namely saline and some gauze.

However, before he put it against his cheek, his eyes landed against Ashlyn and her still-scratched arm. The girl, feeling his gaze on her, turned to face Y/N, who just motioned with his head for her to come closer, which she did. Sitting by his side, she allowed Y/N to gently get a gold of her hand, and clean her wounds. A nod and a firm grip on his own hand by her was all he needed to start wiping the girl's arm clean.

Ashlyn: ["... Thanks"] She said through gritted teeth ["You sure you don't-"]

Y/N: ["It's alright. I'm doing this so you'll just say thanks and then don't talk to me!"]

Y/N put his cigarette out, and away from the girl, flickering it back inside his bag to keep it as far from the wound as possible. He then soaked a gauze pad in the saline, and began to gently wipe at the cuts. Ashlyn gritted her teeth at the feeling, squeezing Y/N's palm that she had on her own rather hard. Thankfully, the laceration wasn't as deep as it was lengthy, which is what took Y/N some time to get it all cleaned.

Ashlyn: ["... First two guns and then this. You carry a lot in that bag, huh?"]

Y/N: ["Well... A lot of people want to see me hurt. Damnit, stop talking to me!"]

Ashlyn: ["Really? Why is that? You seem pretty cool, though. Paid our stuff 'n all"]

Y/N: ["Long story. I paid for it all exactly so y'all would say thanks and nothing else!"]

Ashlyn: ["Did you ever train, by the way? The way you held the gun and knife..."]

Y/N: ["... My brother taught me. Well, I'm not lying on this one. Not the truth either"]

Y/N reached down into the bag, and pulled out from it a roller bandage, using his switchblade to cut off part of it where the ashes of his cigarette had landed. He kept the rolled part above the injury, and the unrolled below, and looked at Ashlyn. The girl just gave him a "go ahead" nod, which he replied with one of his own before getting to work. To hold the end in place, he began by wrapping around the girl's arm twice.

Ashlyn: ["He taught all that stuff and he's got guns, too? Is he from the military?"]

Y/N: ["I shouldn't talk about Elio like this, even if he isn't my brother, but... Yeah, he was"]

Ashlyn: ["Oh, that explains it all. Did you know that 3 out of 10 U.S. veterans smoke?"]

Y/N: ["1. No. 2. I don't care. 3. That's not why I have cigarettes. Oh, really? Cool"]

Ashlyn: ["But you're not really from the U.S, are you? My dad said you're Irish"]

Y/N: ["... Nothing gets past this girl, does it? ... Nothing gets past you, does it?"]

Ashlyn just gave him a smile, paired with a gentle shake of her head. She continued to watch in silence as Y/N winded the bandage in a spiraling turn to be sure that each layer would cover 2/3's of the previous. And finally, he finished by wrapping the bandage around once more, and securing the end, using his switchblade to cut. Ashlyn retracted her arm, and moved it around to test how secure the bandage was.

Y/N: ["... He was part of the Navy for a while. Trade offer: I talk some more, you shut up"]

Ashlyn: ["Really? Well, that explains why you seem to fight rather well, too"]

Y/N: ["I suppose he taught me some good tricks. Did I show or talk too much? No..."]

Ashlyn: ["My parents are ex-military too, just like you said. It's why I wear so much green"]

Y/N: ["That also explains why you seem so calm. My brother is the textbook definition of a richie fuckboy, and do you see me wearing a white suit or gold rings?"] YN silently asked himself for a moment before he went on to clean his own wounds ["If the wound re-opens let me know. There's a proper, full medkit on the bathroom we can use"]

Ashlyn: ["Alright, will do. This should do the trick well, though... Thank you. He's kinda hard to talk to, but"] Ashlyn shot Y/N a side glance, now noting his treating to the small cut on his cheek without paying attention to her ["He's pretty nice..."] She tilted her head, staring at him up and down for a second ["And is also really kinda cute too?"]

Y/N decided not to question it out loud as to avoid attention when he picked up his phone to check if there was anything he could do on it, and saw the clock frozen, and not even a single second ticking by. Time moved and didn't care if the troubled group bothered themselves with it or not — Still, no one had said one more word. What felt like hours passed by, but only minutes would've ticked on the clock if it moved.

And then, Aiden broke the silence with a chuckle.

Tyler: ["What is so funny this time?"]

Aiden: ["It's like we're in one of those zombie movies"]

Tyler: ["... And that's supposed to be funny or something?"]

Aiden: ["Yeah!"]

Tyler: ["Is this guy insane?"]

Aiden turned to the side, chirping up with interest and curiosity at the sight of Ashlyn, who just raised an eyebrow to quietly ask if she could help him with something. He also noted how Y/N just hung back — A few feet further away from Ashlyn than the last time he looked at them — but focused mainly on the girl and not the blank-faced boy who laid his head against his bag, with a lit cigarette placed between his lips.

Aiden: ["Your arm's still scratched up? I thought that creature didn't even touch you?"]

Ashlyn: ["It didn't even come close to. Y/N bandaged it up-"] Y/N turned to face the wall ["Yeah, but I think that this is back with me all the way from the Sorrel Weed House"]

Tyler: ["You mean you knew it was real and didn't think to mention it to any of us?!"]

Ashlyn: ["... You're the one who left before I even had the chance to say anything"] From facing the wall, now suddenly interested in Tyler raising his voice and standing up, Y/N turned around ["I didn't tell anyone because I didn't think it was real, and right now isn't exactly a good time to talk about it. We should be coming up with a plan or something like-"]

Tyler: ["Why should we be listening to you? This is probably your fault in the first place!"]

Ashlyn: ["... Alright, fine. I get where you're coming from — Maybe I should've said something..."] Y/N just watched on like everyone else: In silence, as Ashlyn stood up and walked ["And if blaming me helps you deal with the situation better, than so be it..."]

Tyler: ["Hey, what are you-?!"]

Ashlyn: ["But if you aren't gonna make yourself useful, make yourself scarce!"] She grabbed Tyler by the collar of his shirt, pulling him down to face her eye-to-eye ["Playing the blame game and figuring out what's going on can come after we are safe enough to talk it out — The facts are those creatures can, and will kill us at any moment"] Everyone listened on with some very clear disbelief — Big shocker: Except for Y/N ["Instead of arguing, our time is better-spent coming up with a plan.So unless you're going to help me do that..."] She released Tyler's shit from her grasp right before turning her back on him still with a fierce glare ["Keep your trap shut and don't cause me trouble"]

If the silence was dead-still before, now it looked like everyone had just been shot on the head and left there — It was DEAD quiet. Y/N just shrugged off the annoyance of having them fighting amongst themselves in a situation like this, and tapped the ash of the cigarette back inside of his bag. Everyone else remained silent for a few moments longer until, just like before, the one to break the silence outloud was Aiden.

Aiden: ["Phew~♪ That was unexpected. Go off, queen!"]

Ashlyn: ["And you need to stop talking this so lightly!"]

Aiden: ["Aye aye!"]

Y/N: ["And once again, not bothering to involve myself pays well"]

He gave her a dismissive wave to reassure the girl, even if it did little to calm her down. He reached for the cigarette on his mouth and pulled it away, exhaling the smoke and holding the thing between his index and middle finger for a while longer. Eyes open as he stared at the ceiling while the dumbfounded Tyler slumped back at the side of his sister, Y//N just shrugged off and went on to lose himself in thought.

Ashlyn sighed while looking around the room, juggling her thoughts between all that she just said being right or wrong, as well as the exhaustion she felt with the situation as a whole. As the room was quiet, she could clearly see the red waves scratching and slamming at the door still trying to make its way inside — Thankfully, it looked like everything was still going to hold on, no matter how much the things tried.

Ashlyn: ["Let's have a look around and see if there's anything we can use as weapons. Y/N said-"] And the indigo-eyed gremlin turned to face the wall one more time ["There was a full medkit on the bathroom still, yeah? We should definitely grab that in case we get hurt"]

Y/N: ["... Don't smash any bottles you see — Fill it with the alcohol instead. Medkit or not, it's better if we increase the chances of not being hurt at all, than increasing our chances to survive if we do-"] Y/N went quiet as all eyes were now on him — Silently cursing himself so much that, if he voiced it, everyone would've gone death, he spoke up ["Just a thing I've learned from browsing the internet with no supervision, y'know?"]

Everyone thought the same thing — "Definitely, I do not know".

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 07/03/24]
[Word Count - 4.800]

This chapter is considerably shorter than the last, I know.

In my defense, it took me so long to get this out because I was busy reading a lot of stuff. From Manga like Soloist in a Cage — Which is where my current-day PFP comes from — Gachiakuta, Dandadan, Worst and Mashle just to name a few. That, and a comic by the name of "I Hate Fairyland". Your typical adult humor with a lot of blood (seriously, LOTS of it), sexual innuendos, cursing, and that sort of stuff. It's fun!

In any case, I hope you've enjoyed. I will be pushing myself to deliver more chapters more consistently since, again, my plans are to finishSeason 1 before May. Afterwards it's back to our regular programming, where I'll be pumping out those lengthier chapters I am more commonly known for, as opposed to these shorter ones. Regardless, thank you for reading, and let me know your thoughts so far!