乇卩|乙ㄖ́

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 ㄒ山乇ㄥᐯ乇

We finally reached the road after a long while. It seemed like we were approaching another city now.

There were wilty signs all around that were overtaken by mother nature. They were barely readable, but I could make out some of them with time

"Philadelphia"

We hopped over the guardrail, walking down to the city.

"I'm sure that it's abandoned. It was the last time me and Aino were here," Griff spoke, looking around as we reached sidewalk.

The buildings were really tall, and I was surprised there was a city like this in such a rural state.

Some of the buildings were destroyed, and there were a lot of vines everywhere. The sidewalks were cracked and stuck up from the tree roots. The trees grew crooked, and the branches were as long as the base.

"If anything, it looks worse."

We continued to walk through the city, Griff occasionally telling me fun facts.

He actually seemed almost saddened by the sight. It really made me wonder how different all this was when there were actual signs of life here.

"This place seems totally abandoned. I doubt anyone could live here even if they tried," I sighed, placing my hand on the bark of a tree.

I must have jinxed it cause a loud crackling caused my soul to jump out of my body.

I heard Griff's second mouth growl, quickly going to attack mode.

"I actually hope that's a monster," I sighed, finding humans scarier than zombified gush.

Griff sighed as well, carefully stepping towards the noise.

I watched him walk, staying on guard as well.

"Who's there?" he called, starting quietly at first.

There was a loud screeching in response, causing my eardrums to bang like band drums.

The screeching noise took over my senses at first, but it didn't cover the sound of a gun well enough.

Just as the gun cocked, I dashed to the side.

I slide behind a car, hearing the bullet hit the tire.

"My wishes can never come true, of course it has to be people," I groaned, glancing over the car to see them.

There stood a big dude in a tank top and jeans. He looked like Sweepy Jim from back home if he was alive.

He aimed once again, urging me to jump high above.

"It's one of those, Erliks!" I heard him yell, like he was calling to more people.

I heard a gunshot come from my side, very obviously not coming from the Sweepy Jim knockoff.

I grabbed onto a vine on the building, using it to lift me up higher.

I saw the bullet go right past me, barely touching my boots.

I landed on a thick vine that could hold me up well enough, breathing heavily from having to move quickly.

When I glanced back, Griff was already intent on biting knockoff Sweepy Jim's head off.

I'll call him Sweepy Joe instead.

While they fought, many more middle-aged men came from the shadows. They were all carrying a variety of weapons, practically ready to kill us.

"Erliks aren't welcome in this town." I heard one of them yell, as if they wanted me to hear it too.

"What the fuck is that?" I yelled back, really confused as to why they were calling us that.