The End Of Life

Mark was the first to wake up when he heard the knocking sound from the door. Getting up, he slowly made his way out of the room and towards the door. Everyone else was still asleep, taking a rest. He took out his gun and was alert. 

He peeked through the hole and noticed it was the same soldier who escorted them to the room earlier that day. Slightly relaxing, he kept the gun back and opened the door. 

"Hope you guys had a good rest. They will serve dinner in an hour. Be sure to be there on time." And left before Mark could even reply. 

Closing the door, Mark noticed the time was already 6 in the evening. The flat only had 4 working lights. One in each room and two in the living room. Turning on the lights, he went back into the room he slept and said while turning on the light, "David, Kevin, wake up." 

All three of them slept in a single room, which was enough. David woke up as he heard Mark's voice, but Kevin groaned and turned around before replying, "Let me sleep. Wake me up when it's time for dinner." 

Mark didn't reply but instead, calmly walked towards him and kicked him right on his butt, throwing him off the bed. Kevin groaned louder as he looked up and said, "Come on." Before standing up. 

Mark left the room before knocking on the other room and woke up Suzie. All four of them sat in the living room. 

"Now, I want to talk about the strange things which happened with Suzie here. Not only her, but there are also changes in my body too. I noticed mine when we were on our way to Loshin." 

All three of them nodded hearing him but we're also shocked when they heard that Mark also had changed in his body. 

"Will there be any problems for both of you?" Asked Kevin. 

Mark could only shake his head. He also didn't know the complete story about the changes in their body. He could only hope that there are no negative effects with this extra power he received. As he thought about powers, he remembered the two very real like dreams he had in the past. One was with a being that looked like an angel, while the other was with a devil. 

Both of the dreams were very similar as both the parties sent something very strange into his body. He couldn't feel any of those changes. He thought he would get superpowers like in the books and games he read and played, but nothing really changed except his heightened senses. 

"Then, will these changes occur to everyone?" 

He looked at David and replied while shrugging, "I don't know honestly. We can only wait and see if there would be any future changes in your bodies or not." making both Kevin and David nod. 

"Suzie, I didn't get to ask you properly last time. So, how is your body right now." turning towards Suzie.

"It was never better. I feel really powerful right now. I could probably break that wall if I wanted to." looking at the wall to the side. 

Looking at Suzie, he nodded and thought, 'She desperately needs a weapon. She doesn't know how to use guns like us, and it would be a waste of this new power she gained if she does use them. She needs something like a hammer or axe to go with her strength. If she fights with her hands, things can get ugly.' and made a mental note of the situation. 

Mark rubbed his forehead thinking about all these problems which continue to sprout, one after another. He sighed, thinking about how far things came from that fated day. He was about to take his own life in a couple of minutes. The call he received from Kevin stopped him and thought he was only delaying it.

But things took a turn for the worse when the monsters he saw in movies and played in books were right in front of his eyes. The thrill and fear he felt at that moment changed his suicidal thought to survival. For a man who wanted to die, this was something like a vacation. He could be himself as society drastically changed around him. 

Thinking all this, he leaned back on the chair and looked up. The rest were also in their own thoughts. Every one of them had reasons to survive. For David it was his daughter, for Suzie it was her dad and Kevin it was the promise he made to his grandfather on his deathbed, the only person he respects and cares for in the entire world. 

Remembering something, Mark looked at Kevin, making eye contact with him and beckoning him over to the side. Kevin simply nodded as they both went inside a room. The rest just watched them go, remaining silent. Kevin closed the door after Mark entered and turned towards him. 

"What happened?"

Kevin quietly took out a photo he kept in his pocket and showed it to him before saying, "Do you recognize the man? Like in any pictures in your old man's house? I feel like they both should be knowing each other." 

Showing him the picture he found in Mona's house, he asked if he noticed the middle-aged man in his grandfather's house. He only had a hunch, as both of them were swordsmen. The thought of her grandfather suddenly forcing Mona to take the sword on the day is too much of a coincidence to believe. 

After looking at the photo for a few more seconds, he shook his head and said, "No man. I don't think this man is in any of the pictures the old man has. But we could be wrong. But what is this about?" 

Mark took back the picture and shared everything he noticed about Mona and her strangely having a sword on that particular day. 

"Now that is indeed a very strange coincidence. But your guess might not be wrong, as the old man often said many stories about fighting with others in his younger generation. So if this man is good with his sword, the old man might know something about him."