Ethan led the group out of the lecture hall, the night air hitting him like a damp slap, heavy with the scent of wet earth and smoke. Mia stayed at his right, axe in hand, while Cal flanked his left, pole tapping the ground like a nervous tic. Tara and Ben trailed behind, their footsteps uneven—her bat dragging, his wrench clutched too tight. The gym loomed ahead, a blocky silhouette against the crimson-streaked sky, its roofline jagged where something had torn through. A quarter-mile, maybe less, but the campus felt like a maze of unseen jaws.
[Predator Sense] buzzed, faint but persistent—claws north, a slither south, nothing close yet. Ethan's hammer hung at his side, its weight a comfort, though his ribs ached with every step. The centipede swarm had rattled them all, but Cal's grudging nod back in the hall meant they were in this together—for now.
"Library's next," Mia said, voice low, pointing west. "Gym's just past it. We can cut through the plaza."
Cal grunted. "Plaza's exposed. Anything could be waiting."
"Longer if we circle," Ethan countered, scanning the path. The library's glass facade glinted ahead, half its walls caved in, books spilling onto the lawn like a gutted beast. "We move fast, stay low. Agreed?"
Tara smirked, bat resting on her shoulder. "Bossy for a mechanic."
"Alive's what matters," Ethan said, meeting her gaze. She shrugged, and they pressed on.
The plaza opened up as they approached—a wide stretch of cracked stone tiles, once dotted with benches and food carts, now littered with debris and dark stains. A flagpole leaned at an angle, its ropes clinking in the breeze. [Perception] caught the details: claw marks gouged into a kiosk, a backpack torn open, its contents scattered—pens, a laptop, useless now. The library's entrance gaped fifty yards ahead, promising cover.
They crossed in a tight line, footsteps muffled on the tiles. Halfway there, the ground shuddered—a deep, rolling quake that sent pebbles skittering. Ethan grabbed Mia's arm, steadying her as the others stumbled. [Predator Sense] flared—something big, below, shifting fast. "Not again," he muttered.
The tiles buckled, a crack splitting the plaza like lightning. A roar erupted, not from a throat but from the earth itself, as the library's foundation gave way. The building tilted, glass shattering in a deafening cascade, its west wing collapsing into a sinkhole that yawned beneath it. Dust billowed, choking the air, and Ethan yanked Mia back as the edge of the hole raced toward them.
"Run!" Cal shouted, pole forgotten as he bolted east. Tara and Ben followed, scrambling over debris, but the sinkhole widened, swallowing the plaza's center.
Ethan pulled Mia toward a fallen bench, its metal frame bent but solid. "Hold on!" he yelled, shoving her behind it. The ground dropped out beneath his feet, and he leapt, [Agility] pushing him just far enough to grab the bench's edge. His hammer clattered into the pit, lost in the dark.
Mia clung to the frame, axe hooked on her belt, her eyes wide. The sinkhole stabilized, its rim ten feet from them, a jagged maw of dirt and rebar. Below, something moved—scales glinting, a massive tail thrashing, too deep to see clearly. Ethan's stomach lurched. Not a fight he could win, not now.
Cal's voice cut through the dust. "Over here!" He waved from the plaza's east side, Tara and Ben panting beside him. The sinkhole had cut them off from the library, but a maintenance shed stood nearby, its door ajar.
Ethan hauled himself up, helping Mia to her feet. "You hurt?" he asked, brushing dirt from her face.
"No," she said, voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. "You?"
"Lost the hammer," he said, flexing his empty fists. "I'll manage."
They sprinted to the shed, joining the others. Inside, it was cramped—rakes, a shovel, a coil of rope on a shelf. Ethan grabbed the shovel, its blade dull but sturdy, testing its weight. Better than nothing. [Predator Sense] settled—no immediate threats, though the thing in the sinkhole still churned below.
"What was that?" Ben asked, wrench trembling in his grip.
"Something's pissed off," Tara said, leaning against the wall, bat propped beside her. "Or whatever's doing this."
Cal peered out the door, pole back in hand. "Gym's that way," he said, nodding west past the sinkhole's edge. "Gotta go around now."
Ethan glanced at Mia, her jaw set, then at the group. "We stick together," he said. "No splitting up."
"Fine by me," Cal said, stepping out. "Let's move before that hole gets hungry again."
They slipped into the night, skirting the sinkhole's rim, the gym's silhouette tauntingly close. Ethan gripped the shovel, its wooden handle rough against his palm, and kept Mia at his side. Mia's eyes widened as she glanced back at the sinkhole, but she kept pace, axe ready.
[Objective completed: Survive environmental hazard]
[Attributes Gained: +1 Perception]
[Rewards Gained: None]
His senses sharpened, the night's edges clearer, but he pushed it aside. Focus. Survive. He kept moving.