Chaos.
It is what occurs when a single emotion overshadows the rest—taking complete control over the body and causing one to enter a state of confusion.
And in this case? That emotion was—
Dread.
Terrified screams erupted from throughout the church, mixed in with the sound of gunshots and curses. People ran around in a frenzy, stumbling over their own feet. Some hid in dark corners. But one thing was certain.
If things continued like this.
No one would survive.
Pace stood frozen. His limbs jerked with each yank of the chain as panicked convicts pulled in all directions, like frightened animals in a burning cage. Around him, officers screamed, cursed, and fired blindly into the shadows, their bullets ricocheting off walls or disappearing into the black void outside. Most didn't hit their target and those that did, seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
A howl split the night.
Pace jolted, coming back to his senses—only to see a large wooden pew flying toward the convicts.
Pace blinked half confused before jumping off to the side. Unfortunately, Bushy wasn't that lucky and was hit square in his jaw, the force of the pew sent him flying pulling the chain and the rest of the convicts with him.
SLAM!
Dust rose in the abandoned church as the convicts groaned in pain. Pace was one of the few to quickly get back on his feet. He felt the chain tightening around his wrist. Looking to his left, his eyes widened.
Bushy—or what was left of his mangled corpse—was pinned under the pew, and along with him was the chain.
'That ain't good now, is it?'
Calm and collected Pace, slowed his breathing down and gazed back up, taking a calculated step back. In the next moment another pew struck the ground near his feet, exploding into a thousand splinters.
The others weren't that quick. As wood and debris hailed down from the sky, many were injured and knocked away in different directions. Agonizing wails filled the air.
As the dust settled, heaving, Pace felt the chains to his left grow even tighter, turning he felt the urge to empty his stomach right then and there.
Fox lay on the ground, a large rock lodged between his eyes as greyish matter spilled out of his face. His chest periodically raised a mere inch before falling back down. Blood gushed out of his mouth, each time he attempted to speak.
'Ugh—you don't see this kinda stuff everyday.'
Pace tried to move himself but was too frail to shift with two bodies weighing him down.
'Seriously?' Pace groaned with a disgusted expression before bending back down. He picked up a nearby rock and for a second just looked at Fox's mangled face.
'You're not real… you're not real…' Pace recited in his mind as he raised the stone high up before slamming it straight into Fox's wrist.
Once. Twice. Fox groaned in pain till he couldn't.
Standing back up, Pace wiped off the blood on his face, swinging the now free chain that had been binding his left hand.
Tugging his right hand, he peeked at bushy before looking back at the bloodied rock in his hands.
'Now for the other side.'
But before he could bend down—he heard a strange clicking voice behind him. Tracing its source, Pace looked toward the main gate of the church and for a second his blood ran cold.
"Ah for fuck's sake." Pace groaned, gripping the rock tighter.
In front of him stood a similar shadowy creature that had attacked the church. The only difference was that this one had three sharp, metallic claws for hands.
The beast looked at Pace, tilting its head before lunging forth, shortening the gap between them with a singe leap.
Pace didn't waste much time, having had a cool mind drilled into him, he shifted his weight to the left before propelling himself toward Bushy's corpse effectively dodging the incoming attack.
The creature unprepared lost to its own momentum slamming into the altar a few feet behind Pace.
Looking back, Pace narrowed his eyes trying to peak through the storm of dust and wood that had surrounded the alter. For a moment there was no sound, no movement.
But before he could even think about relaxing, he heard the clicking noise again.
A shadow appeared through the dust cloud. A moment later the creature lunged forward again, its claws glistening under the moonlight.
Pace side stepped the creature on instinct, wrapping the free end of the chain into a make shift morningstar.
The creature took a few steps away balancing itself before turning back. It stared at Pace for a second, tilting its head as if observing him and leapt forward.
It slashed at Pace twice, who tactically dodged both the attacks, each step driven by years of experience and spun the morningstar, its weight whistling through the air before slamming it straight into the creature's skull
The monster in its dazed state, took a few unsteady steps back and let out a guttural screech before pouncing back.
"You sure smell terrible." Pace shouted, jamming the morning star into the creatures face for a second time. Then a third. A forth. Pace continued his hits relentlessly not stopping until the creature was flat on the ground showing no signs of movement.
Finally calming down Pace heaved, his feet wobbly as he wiped off a bit of the creature's blood from his face, before falling back down with exhaustion.
"Ugh—this body sure is weak."
Letting out a sigh, Pace looked back down, the church was in shambles. Red and black blood was everywhere. The air carried the harsh smell of metal and gun powder. And yet the battle still raged on. The number of officers was dwindling at an alarming rate meanwhile the shadowy monsters showed no sign of slowing.
'Ahh—I wonder where poet is… pretty sure he wasn't in the building before this started. I still need to find Elvia. Is she even alive? As for the convicts…' Pace thought titling his head back. 'All dead? Even if anyone is alive they are probably too injured to be of use.'
"Ugh—I need to break this chain and find a lighter weapon. A gun sure would be helpful." Pace whispered, as he stood back on his feet, letting go off the rolled up chain on his left hand.
But just as he was about to take a step back toward Bushy's corpse, he heard something.
Something familiar—
The damned clicking noise.