August 4th, 2016.
Clouds devoured the light, broken buildings hiding in its shadows. The air was all but smoke, heat, and particulates — but beneath the torturous environment, was a single man.
He was not standing above the many bodies, nor was he holding their hands. All he did was hide, with his hands covering his face and ears.. all in a futile attempt to rid of the current situation, he muttered many words — all of which to keep him sane — he spoke in a low quivering tone.
"I am no coward.. I just want to survive.."
"I am not selfish, I'm just not selfless.. I.. I am a good person in a bad situation.."
Though to many, those words might sound like one of a hypocrites, it was what kept him sane.
- —
The screams that were heard have started dimming, as the sun set, the shadow casted upon the quivering man had started to move, though not much.. it could be a great denominator of his existence.
If he did not move any sooner, they would find him. They that is the creatures who invaded this earth, the cause of this calamity, their appearance was similar to one of a humans, two arms.. two legs.. but they did not shed the crimson blood of humans.
Those creatures bled toxins that could cause an extinction, their blood which released a gas no human could breath twice. Just the thought of it left the hiding man in fear. Motivated by said fear, he decided to move.
'Curse this all.. how am I supposed to survive this wasteland'
He dragged his feat across the hard pavement floor, his bloodied eyes scanned the narrow alleyway, looking for a place that wasn't melting from toxins or completely bombed to shreds.
The alleyway was long, but barely had a turn.. his back felt open and seen, like it was a target in an archery contest. The alley felt long and scary, he wanted his back to face a wall! But he had to keep going.. he had to keep walking.
"It would be great if I had something.. just anything."
Before he could wish and dream, he pinched his thigh. He could not think of having anything better than what he already has, the most valuable thing.. his life.
But as he thought gratefully of his life, he was met with a monster, one of the few that had atacked this earth, it had six limbs, all of which supporting it's body.
It was huge — a size that would put even a bear to shame.. its flesh was bright and nasty, skin somewhat see through, its hands had fingers spread out evenly through its circle like palm, like a claw machine.. but one that could grab his head and crush it. It laid under the rubble, from what it looks like, injured .. seemingly resting.
The quivering man stepped slowly.. extremely slowly.. he could swear that his feet were basically feathers!! But to his demise, the six legged creature had senses stronger than a bat!
"Well aint it my lucky day."
The words reached just his ears, because when he spoke, he was already running. Far, extremely far. The turns he wished for, so to rid of the long alley came closer than he thought, as the sound of rumbling arised, signaling that the creature was starting its hunt against him, he couldn't help but let out a cry
Though he had a head start, he was no match for the creature, in just a few seconds, it had caught up, and he would bet 5 more seconds it would already be feasting on him. He turned to face the creature, looking around for anything.. that could help him.
As the monster approached, he grabbed a trash can lid and used it as a makeshift sheild. The creature crashed head onto his stomach, he wanted to puke, his body crashed backwards in high force. He yelped in pain, his eyes bloodshot.
In a panic, he pushed the trash lid into the creatures "mouth", or what it seems to be a theory if one.. the creature let out a bloodcurdling shreak, as it jumped backwards, trying to use one of its flesh claws to pull the lid out.
In futile attempt to rid of the claw, it lunged at him out of anger, crashing its body down onto him as it went cold.
"What..? Was it already dying..?"
He let himself breath for a moment, wanting to just rest then and there, but he can't. He has to keep going. He has to find a safe place before he's caught.
'Could I have used this creatures corpse to cover..?'
He looked at the creature, as he saw the blood of the creature sizzling through the air, he thought maybe that wasn't a good idea.. as he finally pushed the creature off him, parts of his clothes burned, along with the skin under it.. he laughed at himself for trying to use that creature as cover
He stood himself up, continuing his search for a safe place, but it proved even harder than before. Now that his body felt crushed into shreds, walking felt like a difficulty, his mind felt like it would explode out his head, his arms weak, and his stomach bruised, it felt as if his internal organs were re arranged
But ofcourse it isn't too bad, considering he had expected the creature to kill him in a single roar.. but he could give the creature some credit, though he really wished it was because of his own abilities that the creature was "defeated", it seemed like it was already dying..
His survival is all that matters, he shouldn't be worrying about how the creature died. The important thing is that it is dead, he pushed himself forward, walking as the pain stabbed his stomach
'Please.. somewhere to rest.. just let me get some form of shut eye..'
As his body shook slightly, his feet shivering every step, sometimes one giving up, forcing his other feet to catch his body. He was met with what seemed to be his new safe place, an open door, and what it seems from his vision a storage room.
His heart beat was loud, loud enough to make him dizzy, a safe place.. he wanted to just lay down and rest. He walked slowly and steadily, opening the door wider.
The creek of the door was undeniably loud, but that wasn't a worry. He stepped inside — and froze. Beneath the flickering light, was a woman. Eyes open unblinking, mouth wide, and bleeding.
But that blood was not crimson.