The small town she lived in was used to quiet nights. In such a small community in the countryside, there were no tall buildings nor late night clubs. Everyone went about their day at their own pace without the hustle and bustle of the city, you could hardly find a store open after 10. At least that was how it normally was. This night had proven to be anything but normal.
Lights flickered on in everybody, screams echoed through the night, and the scent of iron hung heavy in the air.
The broken hoomans ran away from their once former fellows rushing out of their homes in pajamas or their underwears. Panic-stricken people ran for their cars and others hideaway. Few stood to fight, most that did simply became bigger targets for the hungry monsters.
In the chaos, a golden blur dashed through the streets, quick as an arrow. Bella took a sharp turn right into an alleyway as the main roads were becoming crowded with people. Her haste gave her tunnel vision which allowed her to move in the shortest path possible, but what she had gained in time she lost in caution. From a cardboard box came a hand. Even when she saw it coming she couldn't avoid it as her momentum was far too great. A startled yelp escaped her mouth as the hand grabbed onto her right leg with a vice grip.
The sudden shift in movement had sent her and her unfortunate passenger flying into the wall with a heavy thud. Slamming into a wall at over 36 mph was not a fun experience. Thankfully the extra weight and ensuring tumble had bleed off enough of her speed that she didn't end up breaking anything.
Still, Bella found herself gasping for her breath in pain. Her vision was filled with black spots and her legs felt tired and weary. A low groan and the shuffle of clothes caught her attention, her ears twitching in response. An old man with yellowed eyes and teeth met her gaze. His feet were bare and he had on a thick brown jacket and torn jeans. No, not a man she realizes. She didn't notice it before with all the garbage around, but this one was like the others. He might even be worse. His legs were mostly strands of flesh and she had no idea how he was even walking, yet it didn't matter if she understood or not as he was surely walking towards her.
She tried to get up, but a sharp pain in her leg had her crumpling to the ground once more. A constant buzzing filled her ears as she watched him approach. She was sleepy. So, so, sooo very sleepy. Maybe a quick nap would do? She had been running as hard as she could this entire time, surely she deserved a bit of rest? Her eyelids felt heavy. The walking dead drew ever closer to her still form.
She tried her best.
Yet as she laid there and waited she hear an all too familiar pearl of laughter.
"Cmon Bella, it's not bed time yet!"
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"Watch over Sir Hops-A-Lot for me will ya? I'll see you soon, I promise!"
"I love you Rosy"
"Roll over, roll over Bella! Good girl!"
Good girl...
Yes, she was a good girl. As the creatures claws were moments away from grabbing her by the neck, Bella rolled over on her side and away from its grasp. The murky look in her eyes disappeared as the fog was wiped clear away from her gaze, replaced with a wave of clear and fiery anger. How Dare this stinking walking corpse try to get in her way of reaching Sarah? To tear them apart. No, the only thing getting torn apart this night was him!
Rage and adrenaline were a hell of a concoction as pain and exhaustion were burnt away by its intensity.
She crouched low in a position ready to pounce at the slightest of movement. As soon as it turned to face her direction, she charged and knocked it down. Unfortunately, unlike the first one she had met, this one wasn't so easily dispatched. She went at it in a frenzy but was met with equal fervor. It was hard to tell which of them was the wild animal as both bit and clawed at each other. And it was clear who had the upper hand. With the thick jacket covering most of its torso and long arms keeping her away from the neck, she wasn't having an easy time.
A flailing arm clawed into the side of her face, tearing at the skin and having blood trail down her right eye. The distraction was all it needed as it had managed to toss her from on top of it. It had cost the thing the bones in its left arm, but it hardly seemed to be fazed.
Never had she faced such an opponent, from the most stubborn of mailmen to the most fierce dogs at the park or occasional wild animals. Nothing could shrug off her sharp fangs before. None had ignored slicing claws. None had absolutely no self-preservation instincts. It ignored the gravest of wounds, did not flinch even when she gorged out an eye with satisfaction, it only aimed to attack. Bite, claw, punch, forward, forward, forward!
She didn't know how to handle such a bizarre manner of fighting! Her second wind was still going strong, but the things never seemed to tire. She couldn't make this a battle of attrition. She had to end it in one decisive blow.
She backed off a bit and watched it carefully. It slowly got up on its feet and marched towards her. Its movement clumsy and awkard and when she moved to the side it took a moment to readjust to her new position. She tested it. Moving back and forth, up and down, she came to a realization that had her maw in a wide and dark grin.
This thing. It was stupid. Worse yet, it was slow. A fatal flaw she had every intention of taking. She darted around it in circles and like clockwork it turned slowly trying to keep up with her. Finally having its timing down she struck like a viper. Ramming herself into its back she leveraged her weight to pin it upper body down before hacking away at the base of its skull where the jacket wouldn't protect it and its arms couldn't reach her.
She tore away at the flesh until she saw something pale white. She dug in deeper and with a harsh crunch and a wet sqlouch she pulled out part of its spinal collum, strands of nerves and veins snapped like floss as blood pooled around them both.
She was panting hard from exertion, but her guard was never dropped. She was ready to continue if it so much as twitched. A few moments passed and she used her paw to smack at its head like a soccer ball. No movement. She couldn't be sure with these unnatural things though so she continued to prod at it for a few more minutes until she was satisifed it was finally dead.