"Is this enough?" I asked in a shaky voice. Showing the leader all of the rations that I've collected, I hoped that he would say yes since I didn't want to stay in this cursed place any longer than needed.

Looking at the things that I've laid out, he sighed and nodded his head.

"It's not enough but that's fine. Take some of mine to reach the required amount and head back." He smiled and handed me some of his rations.

Every time we finish a supply run, we would have our harvest checked to see if it meets the minimum requirements since those that don't work aren't allowed to eat. But those that don't eat won't be able to perform to their best so getting rations becomes harder. If we're discovered to keep our rations, we would be killed in the most painful way.

We don't know who will snitch so eating in the base was very dangerous.

But despite all of this, the leader was actually giving me more rations so that I could meet the minimum requirements.

"If you get more, eat them since you won't be able to eat it back at the base. The bastards will take it away from you." He patted my head and ventured deeper into the store so that he could reach the minimum requirements.

Biting my lip, I hesitated for a while before choosing to chase after him. Even though I didn't want to die, I can't leave someone like the leader to die. Kindness like his was rare and watching it disappear into the jaws of a ghost wasn't what I wanted.

Running after him, I was confused as to why he was ignoring some of the better rations that were laid out. It wasn't hard to miss so I picked it up for him. Maybe the miasma was getting to him.

But the more I followed him, the more confused I got. Eventually, I started to tail him rather than try to catch up. I didn't know why I haven't called out to him yet but something in my heart tells me that I probably shouldn't do that.

My worries were proven when I saw the bags upon bags of rations that he had stashed away under some rubble. I recognised some of them to belonged to bait that was eaten by the ghosts so it was a question of why he had them in this area.

*Ksssssss

Hearing a low hiss behind me, my entire body tensed up as my face paled. While I was focused on following the leader, I didn't realise that a ghost had actually snuck up on me. I didn't want to look back but I could already feel the touch of a cold elongated finger brushing the back of my neck.

Holding back my scream, I jumped out of cover and rolled under its grasp.

Ignoring the cries behind me, I ran towards the leader to snapped his head towards me in shock.

"Sh*t! Shouldn't you be running to the base now!" He cried out in shock while hiding the rations once more.

Wanting to follow him, I was kicked in the chest as some of my ribs were broken from the kick. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, I watched the face of the leader twist in anger.

"Don't follow me trash! I was going to get your rations after the ghosts ate you but I'll have to use my own stash now. F*cking useless c*nt!" He cursed while gripping what seemed to be a jewel of sorts. I recognised that jewel since it was something that one of the exorcists would carry with them and it helped you evade a ghost's notice as long as you're not seen by them.

'Ah… so his kindness was fake and it was just another way to get bait huh?' I thought to myself as I was picked off the ground slowly by the ghost.

As I was being raised into the air, I saw a long shadow appear around the corner in front of the leader as two claws punctured his stomach. The arms of the claws started to pulsate as if pumping something and the leader's body started to bloat. His cries were cut off as he soon exploded into a mass of iridescent worms that was eating away at a translucent figure of the leader.

Once they finished consuming him, the worms would return to the shadow which faded away.

With just me and the ghost behind me left in the area, I gritted my teeth and looked back at my attacker. Its body was shrivelled up with bones ripping apart its skin, bridge blood could be seen around the joint areas as maggots swarmed the torso along with the neck. Its head was connected to a long neck and it was that of a beautiful woman. Despite the beauty, there was a creepiness to it that I couldn't pin down but it gave me the chills.

Watching her elongated fingers bring me closer to her face, I could see the face split apart into four sections as a mouth filled with teeth was revealed.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I curled up into a ball, hoping that the pain would be over in an instant.

However, the pain that I received was a little different.

"Urg!"

Falling to the ground, I clutched my ribs in pain since they were broken by the leader.

Glancing up, I could see a man with a gas mask and golden fire flickering on his arms.

Ripping the female ghost in half, he looked towards me before tapping something on his ear.

"I managed to get one but he's injured and the other one is dead." The man said.

It seems to be a phone of sorts and he was talking to someone but I couldn't help but wonder if he was friendly or not. With what the leader had done, I wasn't sure if I could judge people properly anymore.

"Got it. Come on, I'm going to take you somewhere safe." The man glanced down at me.

Picking me up without waiting for my reply, he jumped into the air and used the building as platforms.

Any ghosts that appeared would be killed by him with ease as I wondered if he was an exorcist or not. But even the exorcists would have some difficulty slaying these ghosts but he made it seem so easy.

After a few moments, I could see a group of people standing in a store with a white haired woman giving instructions with a map in front of her.

"Take him to the side, I'll ask him some questions in a second." The woman said as she didn't even glance towards us. Snapping her finger, a green flame appeared on her fingertips as I flinched, remembering what the man's fire did. However, when the flame touched me, I only felt soothed and my injuries started to disappear.

Placing me down by the side, the man ran out of the store after the woman told him more information about where we are.

Seeing the other runners in this place as well, I understood that we were probably being saved.

###

'Goodness, where the hell are they even coming from. Next thing I knew I could sense the souls of survivors out of nowhere.' Shiro frowned since they could have walked past a base without even noticing anything.

{Well they'll need to hide themselves to survive so I guess it's no different when it comes to other humans.} Nimue shrugged.

'True but still. I'm just annoyed that it made rescue a whole lot more annoying. But at least we've managed to save quite a few. If we can find out where their base is, we might be able to get all of the survivors out in a single day.' Shiro scratched her head as she glanced at all of the people that they've managed to recover. Unfortunately, for the ones that died, their souls were consumed by the ghosts so there was nothing she could do. She can't revive someone if there is nothing to revive.

Checking the map, she couldn't find any more people as this was all of the souls that she could sense so she walked up to one of the survivors that looked like they could give her some information.

Most of them were unconscious so Shiro decided to talk to the one that Mordrak had just brought in.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she crouched down in front of the kid.

"I'm feeling ok. Are you helping us?" He asked as Shiro nodded her head.

"Mn, we'll be helping you escape this city. Are there any more people like you lot?"

"There is but they're not good people." The kid replied with a serious face.

Hearing this, Shiro frowned but shook her head. That was probably to be expected but she still wanted to see the situation for herself.

"Do you have a name?" Shiro asked since she might be using this kid that looked around 16 to help her find their base.

"Arak." The boy replied.

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