Anomaly

(If things keep going like this, humans will be wiped out, won't they?)

Calmly observing the situation from atop a tree trunk, I concluded that humans would probably last no more than five more minutes, at most. I was being optimistic, it's true. Anyway, I kept thinking about what to do in this situation.

As I analyzed the situation, some humans continued to die. Personally, I wasn’t too worried about it, but there was a reason that inclined me to help: they seemed to know how to get out of the forest. More specifically, one human among them seemed to have that knowledge.

It was a woman, wearing a white lab coat and glasses on her face. Her current look was one of despair, but I remember hearing her say, some time ago, that they needed to get out of the forest. This was before the monsters started appearing behind them.

Hearing what she said, I decided to focus my attention on her rather than on the others. As I mentioned, my senses worked differently. To be honest, focusing on one thing was harder for me than simply perceiving everything around me. Still, I managed to do it.

However, there was something strange about the woman. More specifically, her body was covered in glowing spheres that constantly changed color. There was one on her head, another on her neck, and a third on the left side of her chest.

Of course, I didn’t know exactly what these glowing spots were; to be honest, it was the first time I had seen them. However, observing the glowing spots on the woman, no matter how I looked at them, it seemed clear that they were all vital points.

Curious, I turned my gaze to the monster that had ripped off one of my arms. Just like with the woman, the monster also had a glowing sphere, but unlike her, there was only one, located at a specific point. Based on this, I concluded that these spheres were its weak points. Somehow, it seemed that I could see them clearly.

Even knowing where the monsters' weak points were, I felt a bit hesitant to act. They had ripped off one of my arms, and while it didn’t hurt, the sight was quite frightening. However, to be honest, I didn’t actually feel truly scared or disturbed.

I have no idea how long I was lost in thought about whether or not to help, but when my attention returned to the situation, the number of humans had drastically decreased. There were almost 20 of them before; now, including the woman I mentioned, only three more remained by her side.

Although I was still reluctant about whether to help or not, in the end, my desire to get out of the forest outweighed any fear—which, by the way, I wasn’t even feeling. I decided to fight again, even at the risk of losing another part of my body. With that in mind, I clung to the tree trunk like a koala and began to descend slowly.

***

(POV - Laura Cavendish)

At that very moment, Laura Cavendish felt completely powerless in the face of the situation. Her despair had begun weeks ago when her boss—whom Laura, by the way, loathed—assigned her to a field mission in a forest near the city. This forest, however, was closed to the public due to its anomalous nature.

In summary, those who entered the forest could no longer leave unless they had some sort of material from the forest itself and truly wished to exit. Because of this, many anomalies ended up falling into the forest and getting trapped.

The forest was a fascinating anomaly for study, and the association Laura was affiliated with conducted experiments using the forest and its peculiarities. However, when Laura received a high-level order to investigate the strange behavior of the creatures in the forest, she knew the situation couldn’t end well.

Within the association, Laura was just a rookie researcher. However, this did not diminish the fact that she was extremely promising and important to the team. Instead of simply refusing her boss’s request, Laura’s curiosity drove her to go into the forest. Now, she was bitterly regretting the decision she had made.

“Researcher Laura, we’re running out of ammunition. If we keep this up, they’ll corner us. You need to escape while we hold them off”

Laura quickly snapped out of her daze upon hearing the voice of one of the association’s soldiers who accompanied her. Looking around, she was shocked by what she saw: the scene was a bloodbath. No matter where she looked, there was blood everywhere, and the monsters were voraciously feeding on the corpses of the former soldiers.

Even if Laura tried to escape, what would the final outcome be? She would probably die before reaching the exit, a victim of another anomaly along the way. Laura knew there was no way to escape the forest alive.

However, it was at that moment that something strange happened: the sounds of flesh being devoured and the terrifying screams of the monsters suddenly ceased. Even the three surviving soldiers seemed to be in shock, staring at something unknown.

Laura also directed her gaze in that direction and saw two small glowing spheres in the darkness of the forest, emitting intense reflections of various colors. Her eyes followed the spheres as they slowly approached.

What Laura found seconds later was simply a little girl, who didn’t seem to be more than 10 or 12 years old. Her body was so transparent that it was possible to see what was behind her through her ethereal figure.

When the little girl’s gaze locked onto Laura, an instinctive and irrational fear overcame her, similar to a child’s fear of the dark. Her eyes, undeniably beautiful with their vibrant colors, seemed to penetrate Laura’s soul, as if they could see the thread connecting her life to theirs.

“A... anomaly?”

One of the soldiers exclaimed in complete confusion. Laura noticed that the monsters were also observing the new figure with extreme caution, even stepping away from her. On the other hand, the entity seemed to have a look of bewilderment, as if it didn’t know what to do at that moment. Despite the clearly frightening situation, Laura found it curious and even a bit cute to see how the new anomaly brought her finger close to her mouth, reminiscent of a baby.