I step out of the front door into the morning sunlight. My new backpack is securely strapped over my shoulders. It is time to start my adventure. I stop at the edge of the street to look both ways. Witch way should I go? To my right is the end of the cul-de-sac. I can see rows upon rows of houses in the distance. I look to the left and see more houses, but off in the distance I see taller buildings. Most of the buildings are on fire or have large holes in their sides. I'm sure there are more of the stores in that direction. That should be where the humans kept all there newest toys and entertaining things.

I step into the street and start off toward the burning buildings in the distance. I carefully step over and around the corpses laying everywhere. It is deathly silent. No birds sing. No dogs bark. Not a single bug can be heard buzzing nor scurrying along the roadway. Nothing has come to feast on the dead.

Among the human bodies, there are other dead spread about as well. There are corpses of dogs, cats, birds, bats, and bugs. Nothing was spared during the night. I wonder how many like the smiling old man there were? How many would it take to kill all these creatures? How many in these streets had been killed by my own hand?

I observe the dead as I walk, trying my best not to step on even a single fly. They had all been torn apart in one way or another. Many are missing limbs, heads, and other body parts. I can see that most had been killed as they were running away. I wonder why they were killed? I wonder why the smiling old man didn't kill me?

As I continue walking the bodies become fewer and fewer. They begin showing signs of being torn into and eaten. There are bloody drag marks leading off the road into alleys and buildings. However it is still silent. I continue forward.

I turn a corner and stop. In front of me is yet again a scene of death, but it has a distinct difference. The street I had started on had been strewn with dead of all sorts, but the buildings, yards and every other non living thing had been left virtually untouched. Even the plants had been left alone. But here. It was utter chaos. There were huge holes in the walls ad roofs of every building. All the streetlights, fences, signs, and electrical poles had been broken, bent or torn from the ground. The cars are scattered about. One is folded in half. The back of another sticks out from the roof of a nearby building. I look at some of the bodies. Or rather what's left of the bodies. They have been smashed to unrecognizable states. The only way I can tell they were once human is the few scraps of colored cloth that have not been died red from blood.

It is still silent.

“...*cough*”

Good. I can still hear.

Why is it so quite? Where are the creatures that caused this chaos? I look back and forth at the broken buildings. The sound of falling rubble catches my attention. I walk toward the collapsed building making the noise. The wet grass and mud slosh beneath my feet. As I step closer to the rubble, I start to hear the sound of shallow breathing. The toppled walls and roof move up and down ever so slightly. I sneak closer. Trying my best to make as little noise as possible.

I can not see what is making the breathing noise, so I move my way around the broken building. The fence to the side of the building is broken and bent, blocking my path. I decide to climb over. Being careful of where I step, I make my way over to the back yard. Then I see it. A giant gray body sticking halfway out of the rubble. Bloody holes riddle its protruding belly. Its chest moves up and down shakily. Although it has a humanoid appearance, there are no ears on the sides of its head, large tusks jut out in odd directions from both bottom and top jaws, and its gray body has no hair.

What a strange creature. I feel a bit excited. This is the first living thing I have come across since last night. It doesn't look very alive though. I want a closer look. I go to jump from the broken fence onto the grass. My foot slips.

“ooof!”

I fall face first into the muddy grass. I slowly sit up and spit the mud from my mouth. Then I spit again. I use my hand to wipe my tongue, but my hands are muddy too. I wipe my hands on my shirt but since it is also muddy it doesn't help. I sit in the mud for a moment, looking down at my muddy hands and clothes. A strange sensation tickles my throat. My face strains until I can't hold it back anymore. A strange noise escapes my lips. My body shakes uncontrollably and tears start streaming down my muddy cheeks. I laugh. I laugh so hard my sides begin to hurt. I laugh so loud, it makes the gray creature grunt and scrunch its face. I laugh and roll my self on the ground getting even muddier.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I lie in the mud until the laughter subsides. Then I stand up and take a deep breath. I wipe the mud from my hands and clothes the bet I can. Then I look over to the gray creature. It is moving more then before. Its face is scrunched into a snarl and twitching wildly. I walk up close to its head to get a closer look.

The creatures is lying on its back facing the sky. The tip of it's squashed nose is as high as my shoulders. Its meaty fingers are as big around as my thighs. As I lean over to look closely at its face, its eyes suddenly snap open. They are pitch black. The creature lets out a shattering screech, and bolts straight up, knocking me back. I find my self in the mud once again. However, this time my hands are clasped tightly around my ears and there is a pained grimace on my face.

The gray monster continues screeching as it desperately tares at the wrecked house holding its legs. It manages to free itself, and quickly gets to its feet. Without a second thought it sprints away, barreling through the buildings and fences in its way as if they are nothing but cardboard.

What... was that? Why did it suddenly wake up and run off? This entire situation is strange. I get up and look toward the direction the gray creature ran off to. Maybe it needed to do something important and remembered just now... No...I'm not sure why, but I'm certain that's not what it was. Well, nothing I can do about it now. The creature is heading in a different direction then me.

Leaving thoughts of the screaming gray monster behind, I continue on my adventure.

I pass more deathly quiet streets. Occasionally there will be a variation to the way the people were killed and the way the buildings and streets are broken. It is all too quiet and boring. The buildings I pass by shift from being mostly residences, to small businesses and apartment buildings. The streets become more congested with abandoned vehicles. I sigh. So boring.

Sudden inspiration hits me. If I can't hear anything, I simply need to improve my hearing. I smile and shake my head. I should of thought of this earlier. I jump to the top of a nearby car and focus on my hearing. At first there is nothing. Then I begin to hear it. Off in the distance in all directions, what sounds like creatures of all sizes moving farther and farther away. I focus harder. Not everything is moving away. There are small creatures scurrying around a few blocks away in every direction. There are sounds of something sniffing and whimpering in a nearby apartment building. I wonder what... A loud sound far away catches my attention. It's coming from my behind me and to the right, the opposite direction of my goal. I jump down from the car. It sounds interesting. A little detour won't hurt.

As I walk, I think about how odd it is that everything is moving away from where I am. Does it have something to do with my presence? Or is there something here to be afraid of? I can't think of any logical explanations, so I leave off thinking about it until later. I have something else to do right now.

The noise I heard earlier is moving. There is a screeching noise and a humming-rattling noise. There also quieter noises that sound like voices. Is that the sound of a moving vehicle? Then those voices, are they humans? There is another noise coming from slightly farther back as well. It is a scraping and huffing noise. Occasionally there is what sounds like a roar.

I think something big is chasing some humans in a vehicle. The only way to know for sure is to go have a look myself.

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Author's note: I will post a chapter every week, but I do not have a set day. I may sometimes decide to post more then one chapter per week. It all depends on the feedback I get. The more people who reply, the more motivation I will have to write more. Thanks for reading my work! :)