交换:年轻夫妇

Caitlyn caught Leon less than five feet before he hit the ground.

However, the sudden weight shift caused her to fall forward, resulting in them both crashing and rolling.

After five rotations, they crashed into a nearby wall, and her body fell limp, releasing him from her arms.

"C-Caitlyn!?" Leon stuttered with wide eyes.

He got off the ground in a state of perplexity and rushed to her side.

Her body's impact had broken a few dozen red bricks, and she was imprinted in the crater.

Luckily, her wings had broken her fall before they disappeared; otherwise, she'd likely have died.

"Caitlyn…." Leon whispered in shock as he took her pulse.

She held him close to her body to his disbelief, ensuring he wouldn't get hurt. That was after she sacrificed her body mid-flight to protect him.

So while she was potentially dying, he was perfectly fine. It was perplexing.

"Guhhhhh." Caitlyn whimpered.

"Oh thank God she's safe!" Leon sighed in relief, "She saved my life, and it'd be a shame if she died because of it. It's not every day that potential harem applicants fall from the sky!"

He assessed her condition. He concluded that the chances of her dying from her wounds weren't likely. Probably.

"Thank God it's the apocalypse. Otherwise, I'd be balls deep in legal paperwork." Leon chuckled bitterly.

He was holding her panties, her top was ripped open, and he was hovering over her unconscious body.

"GOOOOOOOORN!"

BOOOOM!

An explosion went off in the distance as a chalky white giant smashed into a building.

"No time for frivolous thoughts!" Leon chided.

He quickly slipped her panties onto her legs and pulled them up without looking.

Then he ripped off her remaining shirt and used it as bandages for her wounds.

Lastly, he pulled off his white v-neck, long sleeve t-shirt and threw it over her body. It was awkward because of the sleeves but surprisingly easy because he wore baggy clothes.

Leon didn't find covering up her chest [necessary], but he wouldn't be able to think if someone saw him lugging a battered, half-naked woman over his shoulder like a sex-crazed caveman.

He heaved Caitlyn over his shoulder before accessing his surroundings.

When he did, his eyes widened in shock.

"I'm so fucked." Leon chuckled with madness swirling in his eyes.

In the sky, a dark red vortex spewed out black dots. Statistically speaking, those [dots] were monsters. That's what he concluded, anyway.

There was a red glow over the horizon as well.

The scene in front of him was worse. Three dead bodies were in his field of vision alone, and blood was splattered all over the walls across the street.

"Superpowers?" Leon chuckled bitterly, "He should have offered us one last wish before we died. Hell, I would've taken a t-bone steak cooked medium rare;"

"Keeeee! Kekeke. Keke. Keeee!"

A sharp cackling came from an alleyway a few streets away.

Leon quickly hid by the dumpsters, hoping to mask their scent.

Then he quickly covered Caitlyn's mouth and waited.

"Kekeke. Keeee!"

The cackling got louder. Leon's heart started beating faster.

"Keeee! Kekeke. Kee! Kee!"

A dark blue, humanoid-type creature crawled into Leon's line of vision.

It had arms and legs, but they appeared deformed and broken.

It crawled on its hands and knees, giving it a grotesque appearance.

"Keeee… ke."

It stopped crawling when it was perfectly aligned with the fence encasing the dumpsters.

Leon watched closely.

"Kek! Kek! Kek!"

The demon clicked its tongue, and its ears twitched.

'Echolocation. It's hearing focused.' Leon noted.

He slowly aligned his hand with his pocket and waited for his chance.

'Please bring me something loud and distracting….' He prayed to the recently confirmed gods.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! Help me!"

A college student dangling by her leg came into view.

'Thank sweet baby Jesus, it's the apocalypse.' He thought bitterly.

The student was thirty feet in the air, and a large bird-like creature had her calf in her beak.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

'Now!' Leon thought as he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a pen.

A sickening crunch filled the red-tinted skies and her body fell toward the earth.

"Gahhhhhhhhh!"

Leon threw the pen down an alleyway with a high arc.

Boom!

The college student's body hit a nearby rail, snapping their spine.

'Be careful what you wish for.'

Ting!

The pen touched down in the alleyway a split-second later.

"KEEEEEE!"

The beast flew in the direction of the alleyway with lightning speed.

The sight made Leon sweat because he learned he couldn't outrun it if he were alone, let alone with Caitlyn on his shoulder.

Despite its attention being distracted, Leon waited.

"SCREEEEEECH!"

The bird-like creature swooped from the skies to reclaim its meal.

'Now!'

Leon grabbed a few pieces of trash and booked it from his position.

Light steps were impossible; luckily, subterfuge was.

Clang!

Leon threw a piece of trash down an alleyway and threw a larger piece farther in the same location.

"Keeeee!"

The creature flew in the direction of the sounds.

By contrast, Leon stood dead still and held his breath, praying Caitlyn wouldn't groan or shift around.

"Kekeke. Keke. Kekeke keeeee!"

The creature searched through the alleyway for the source of the sound.

'Please keep moving.' Leon pleaded.

Unfortunately, it headed in their direction slowly.

It was 20 feet away, and then ten, five… Leon could hear its steps as it neared the corner.

Their position would be exposed in less than a second, and the two would be within a few feet of the creature.

"Kekeke. Kek! Kek! Kek!"

Cold sweat dripped down Leon's back.

He prayed his beating heart wouldn't give them away.

"Anna! This way! We need to hurry!" A male college student yelled.

"Coming!" A woman yelled behind him.

"Keeeeee!"

The creature screeched before abruptly turning and running back into the alley.

Leon sighed in relief.

'Thank… god… it's the apocalypse.'

"What the fuck is that!?" The male college student yelled.

"What's going—"

"Gaaaaaahhhhhh!"

The man started screaming before blood in his throat prevented it.

A blood-curdling scream came from the woman, and the sound of her running followed.

'Now!' Leon yelled internally.

He ran as fast as he could toward his chosen location.

The disparity between himself and the creatures taking over the area was far too vast.

If the creature relied upon smell and not hearing, or the sounds of chaos weren't filling the area, it would have killed them.

His best option was to listen and try avoiding creatures while tricking their senses.

"Help me!" A college student yelled in the distance.

There was a canine without fur chasing after him.

Realizing he wouldn't make it, he took action.

"Invisibility!" He yelled.

The student turned invisible at the drop of a dime.

However, the dog wasn't relying upon eyesight from the start.

Blood exploded from thin air, giving the scene a surreal sight.

Leon only got a glimpse as he immediately ran across the road toward the river that cut through Calvin University campus.

'Shouldn't have chosen a skill meant for humans and peeping. Pervert.' Leon thought bluntly.

The irony of his statement was lost on him. He found his power purely logical, after all.

"Grrrrr GHAT! GHAT!"

"Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!" Leon cried as he heard the canine following his trail.

"I get he was oily, but do perverts taste that bad!? At least swallow your food!"

He couldn't believe the canine was greedy and decided to give up its tasty snack for a second kill!

"GgRrRrRrR GgHhAaTt"

"Fuck that, fuck that, fuck that!" Leon yelled while increasing his speed.

"There's multiple!"

"GHAT—ARF!"

The set of feet he heard coming in his direction increased!

"The river's in sight! Let's go! Auuuuuugh!" Leon took a huge breath.

When he saw the river, he instantly took a huge breath and jumped into it.

"GHAT! … Grrrrr…. Grrrr…."

Less than three seconds later, the sound of barking filled the area.

The hellhounds were surprised to find no one there and started sniffing around.

Bubbles shot from Leon's mouth in a fury.

He had Caitlyn's nose pinched closed, and he was pulling her down the river under the water.

Thankfully, the two were already a hundred feet downstream by the time they surfaced, moving faster than before.

Leon was floating Caitlyn's face up and held her lower back to ensure she wouldn't submerge.

The canines picked up their sounds but were diverted by people closer in the distance, so they ran in the opposite direction.

"Thank god… oh, come on!" Leon cried in exasperation.

Countless mutant rats gathered at the river's edge, snarling at the two with saliva dripping from their mouths.

By the grace of the recently confirmed gods, they couldn't swim.

It seemed that most creatures avoided water like the plague.

"Only a little further." Leon reassured himself while gritting his teeth.

He was thankful his destination was a portable classroom 100 feet from the river.

It would be a mad break, but their lack of scent would help if he could cause a diversion.

The two floated downstream for another few minutes until the series of portables came into sight.

"Tch. They're still following me." He sighed.

Thirty mutant rats were standing between him and the portable within his reach.

Leon looked around, hoping to find anything he could use to his advantage.

Everything in the area was either dead or death itself.

However, if Leon didn't get to shelter, they'd die.

He anchored himself in the river and sent a wry smile toward the sky.

'Why? Why don't I feel bad about this in the slightest?' Leon asked the recently confirmed gods.

Unfortunately, the confirmed gods weren't much different on the answering front.

'At least tell me why I care about how it looks?' He pleaded.

Dead silence.

'Well, it's not like an answer would change my decision.' He sighed.

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

"THE MILITARY IS HERE!" Leon yelled at the top of his lungs.

"THEY'RE GATHERING AT THE CLARK BUILDING!"

The mutant rats devolved into a bloodthirsty frenzy, and howls and screeches bellowed in the distance.

His voice aroused everything in sight.

Leon closed his eyes with a bitter smile and waited for his gamble to bear fruit or take his life.