"They are beginning to come closer" a lookout said to another. "I'm sure I saw one over there yesterday. One of those bigger lizard things" he said pointing toward the distance.
"We still don't know why they can't get into this place and that's becoming a real problem" his companion said uneasy.
"Huh? How?" the lookout asked.
"Because maybe we can control it but we can't since we don't know what it is. What if it just disappeared one day? We'll all be wiped out"
"That's...true" the observer said, looking uneasy as well.
They both stood on a watchtower at the perimeter of the city where they had built fences. From there, they observed the activities of the spawns outside.
"And if that happens, we'll be the first to go, Ben" his companion said jokingly.
"Hmph. That's if I'll still be here. How many people do you think will listen to the mayor?" Ben said, then scoffed a bit.
"His efforts to unite everyone when nothing is certain yet makes it feel like I'm doing something dumb right now, knowing no one really appreciates it there. This is one situation where those kinds of politics don't work well in"
His companion, Damien laughed.
"Well, we just have to see it through with him. I really agree with his efforts and I think he's the right man to follow"
"Hmph. You bet" Ben said then suddenly squinted his eyes as he saw something moving in the distance.
"What's that?" Damien asked, looking in the same direction immediately.
Coming from the ruins before them, he spotted a creature. He could make out something large and furry.
"What is that? I've never seen that one" Ben muttered.
The creature came forward, much closer than the previous spawn Ben had spotted earlier.
Fear began crawling up their bodies.
"Hey, we should go warn them something's coming" Damien suggested, tugging Ben.
"But it's just one. Is it really going to come here?" Ben said, eyes fixed on it.
It kept approaching, quietly, getting too close for comfort. About 20 meters away.
"Hey. Nothing's gotten so close, Ben" Damien said, fear lacing his voice. "I'm gonna tell the rest"
"Wait!" Ben said, holding Damien. "It's stopped"
Both of them looked at it, stopping not too far from the fences.
While they looked at it, it stood up on its hind legs, taller and larger than before.
"Is that...a bear? No. It's like a wolf. A werewolf? How..." Damien said, tone trembling.
It simply stood there silently, facing their direction as if it was watching them in particular with glowing, bloodshot eyes and a quiet growl.
They could feel its very eerie presence and tell that it was different. It was much stronger and more terrifying.
Damien left first, leaving Ben who stayed behind.
"Damn it" he muttered.
---
More time had passed and yet, the Celestial Events hadn't begun.
'It's already been 11 days. Are my memories that foggy?' Icard thought to himself.
He had expected the Events to begin a week after the plague. Perhaps his timing was wrong.
But still, he could feel it creeping nearer each second. He just had to be ready at all times.
That time, they all, apart from Eric who was still unresponsive, sat in the living room, discussing. Icard sat quietly by a corner, listening.
"Jack and I took a stroll today to a different area and I noticed they're kind of, getting together" Matt said.
"Getting together?" Reya asked.
"Yes. The mayor's out there rallying people, trying to unite everyone and move them to the center of the city" Jack added.
Alia blinked. "He's still around? I figured he'd bailed after the plague."
Matt snorted. "Same. But nope, he's all in on this 'community' thing."
"Hmm. I guess it's to be expected. People tend to stand a higher chance of survival when in numbers" Reya said.
"Maybe those things are going to attack soon" Alia said. "And Eric hasn't woken up yet"
"How's he doing?" Icard asked.
"He's still in a deep sleep and his fever is still up" Alia said. "He won't die, right?"
Icard exhaled deeply.
"He won't. I'm sure he'll wake up soon"
Alia stood up then.
"I'll go check him out" she said before leaving them.
"Well, it's not a bad idea if they're trying to unify the city. It might take some time but, his intentions are to make the best out of all this" Icard said, continuing their discussion.
"Hmm" Reya folded her hands. "But does he have what it takes to run such a community. I mean, does he have a sure means of defending everyone if those things come again"
"He needs soldiers, resources, a functional management and to effectively assign roles to everyone in the society he's building" she completed.
"True. Maybe he'll find a way" Icard said.
"So...what are we going to do?" Matt asked.
Reya thought for a while.
"If those spawns are gonna attack again, we'll have a better chance with the others" she said.
Icard thought about it too. In his past life, things began like this. The mayor would try to unite the city around this time.
But then, it was also around that time the Celestial Events began and changed the way the mayor had intended the city to be.
Icard could remember Reya making that decision. She had brought them here because she had seen people move in groups just after the plague, going around and gathering food and resources.
And so, she wasted no time leading them to get theirs and take this apartment.
But on hearing this, she began rethinking her earlier decision.
"Let's just... wait for sometime. Observe them a bit" Icard suggested.
'The community that we got involved with was after the start of the event and the appearance of the Gates. That's the kind of city active awakened people like us can fit in' Icard thought to himself.
"Why? We'll have a better chance there than by ourselves" Matt said.
"Yeah. But if we join them now, we'll have to depend on the mayor's government when we should be getting stronger" Icard replied.
Reya exhaled in thought.
"That's a good point. We can't really depend on them. We have to build up our own strength" Reya added.
Icard reclined then.
'I've been waiting so much that I'm beginning to get sorely bored' he thought. 'When does it start?'
They discussed a little longer, talking about how far they had gone with their exercises and how strong they thought themselves to be.
However, Icard sat there quietly.
'One way to know for sure is when the gates appear' he thought then something occurred to him.
'But we haven't seen the Maire yet. By now, his energy should be depleting. If that happens, his territory would reduce as well. Meaning the spawns out there would be able to close in'
Icard then looked at his hands then and clenched his fists quietly.
'The only way to prevent that is to begin the event. It's already time'
Since he had expected it much earlier than it happened in his previous life, Icard began longing for it, each passing moment.
And it was that afternoon that his wait finally came to an end.
First, there came a loud rumble from the sky and wind that poured in just like earlier.
Everyone could feel it.
Reya was the first to come outside, followed by the rest of the group.
Icard came out last looking up to the sky where a yellow circle formed, overhead the city.
'A yellow one?' Icard thought. 'That's not...'
Then, from there, another humanoid appeared, dressed in brown elegant robes.
His skin was a darker shade of brown with a black circle around his left eye which glowed yellow.
"Humans of Earth!" He called out, grabbing the attention of every single person in the city.
"The Celestial Event shall now begin!"