Arthur was woken up by the noise outside his room. After getting up and looking outside his window he saw something he wouldn’t forget. The beautiful and peaceful city he once knew was replaced by fire and destroyed buildings. The center of the city seemed like it was glowing red which served as a beacon during the night.

He saw people running and screaming outside his house and felt confused and scared as to why his surroundings changed so much in a few hours. Loud footsteps were heard outside Arthur’s room.

The door was slammed open and Arthur’s mother entered his room. “I am so glad you are okay Arthur, we have to leave now.”

Arthur looks at his mother and sees that she is panicking, frantically running around the room trying to look for any important possessions that could be in Arthur’s room. After picking up his favorite toy Arthur’s mother pulled him out of the bed and took him out of the room with the toy.

The toy was an action figure of a hero from the cartoons that Arthur watches and has helped give him courage in the past. Arthur’s mother pulled him close for a hug and put her face close to his.

“I know that you are confused Arthur but we have to leave, it's no longer safe here. Promise me that you will listen to me and your father until we can find safety,” said his mother.

“Ok, as long as we're all together I know that we’ll be ok,” Said Arthur smiling at his mother.

“Sometimes you know just the right things to say to make me feel better, I love you, Arthur. Now let’s hurry and find your father,” said his mother.

After the conversation between Arthur and his mother, they rushed down the stairs only to find Arthur’s father waiting for them at the front door with a bag that seemed to hold some supplies they may need for the journey.

“I have everything that we may need, we have to find a way to exit the city and find a safe place to stay until a rescue team can find us,” explained his father.

“How far do you think we may have to travel and how long would it take?” said Arthur’s mother.

“Why do we have to leave mom, and where are we going?” Arthur said this with fear on his face he has lived here for his whole life and the thought of leaving it all behind scares him. The anxious and scared faces of his parents only made this sudden change more impactful. Arthur’s father went on his knees so he could face Arthur and put his hand on his shoulder.

“We are as confused as you are Arthur, we don’t know why the city turned into this or why. The only thing we can do is continue forward and save ourselves, I know as long as we are together we'll be fine. So stay close and get ready for what we are about to face.” said his father.

“I’ll try my best to not slow us down,” said Arthur.

Arthur held his mother’s hand as they were leaving the house. After leaving the house Arthur was hit with the intense smell of something that smelled like burning eggs and blood. As he looked in the distance he found bright light’s near the center of New York City. Lost in thought he felt something pulling his hand.

“Come on Arthur, we have to leave, try using this napkin to cover your nose as we walk to the car,” said his mother.

Arthur took the napkin and covered his nose. Around him, multiple people were running or driving away from the center of the city. Some people were carrying hurt or injured people while others were begging for protection. Arthur’s mother pulled him closer and shielded him from the horrors that he was seeing. After running to the car, his father started the car and Arthur got into the back. His parents started talking as the car was going down the road.

“We should get moving. We don't have the time or resources to help others as we leave, if they get in the way I'll use the horn to warn them but that’s the best we can do,” said his father.

His mother returned a sad expression and said. “I know, it just feels terrible leaving all these people when they need help the most. What do you think could have caused all this?”

“I don’t know, but I do know whatever caused this isn’t something we want to get close to. As long as we're together I have faith that we can get through this,” said his father.

“Yeah you're right, whatever caused this isn’t something that we should care about right now as long as we can escape and get the help we should be fine,” said his mother.

Nodding his head, his father said. “Aren’t I always, another extra is I finally get to look cool in front of Arthur. It’s something a father always wants!”

Arthur felt happy seeing his father and mother getting along and it made him feel safe. As they went farther from the center of the city the fire became less intense and the smell went away. Arthur and his family felt happy that they were close to escaping the disaster until they found a problem.

“Why are there so many people up ahead?” asked his mother.

“It seems like there is a big roadblock no cars can get through. We are going to have to walk the rest of the way because going back isn’t an option,” said his father.

“We should be able to ask some people there if there is another way around it,” said his mother.

Arthur’s mom turned around and faced him while smiling.

“Come, Arthur, it's time to leave the car, we are going to have to walk the rest of the way there.”

“Yes mom, how long do we have to walk for?” asked Arthur.

“Just a little more sweetie, then we can take a break,” replied his mother.

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After getting out of the car Arthur and walking down the street, Arthur saw the roadblock his parents were talking about. Multiple buildings seem to have collapsed on the road and around the direction where they were going. The buildings in the area were heavily damaged, some buildings completely collapsed while others had little damage on the outside of the buildings but he could see that the inside of the buildings was destroyed. What made Arthur even more uncomfortable was the dark red spots on some of the buildings and the street.

“This is weird, the other buildings farther up the street weren’t as bad as these. It seems like this area was hit first,” said his father.

“Why would people destroy here but then not continue down the street or areas around it, does the fire at the center of the city have to do with this?” asked his mother.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we shouldn’t have come here. After talking to some other survivors we may be able to find some answers,” replied his father.

Arthur’s mother bent down to face Arthur, the hand she was using to hold his was shaking. She tried her best to keep a calm smile on her face when talking to Arthur. “We may just have to walk a little bit farther Arthur. I know you must be worried but together we will get through this, ok?”

“I may be a little scared but as long as we are together I’ll try my best,” replied Arthur.

Arthur’s mother then hugged him. “I couldn’t be more proud of you Arthur.”

After Arthur’s mother hugged him and his father patted his head, they all walked to the roadblock and the group of people around it.

“Remember to stay close, we don’t know who these people are and what they are capable of. Especially Arthur, don't leave me or your mother.” said his father.

Arthur began to speak. “Right, I will-”

As Arthur was about to answer, a bright red light glowed from under Arthur forcing him to close his eyes. After opening them he found weird symbols that he has never seen before under his feet. Looking around he found that he wasn’t the only one. These symbols spread across the whole area.

“What is this?” asked Arthur.

“Arthur and Marry stay close to me,” said his father.

Arthur moved closer to his mother while his father went behind them. A few seconds after the red light started it stopped. Strange noises started to form around Arthur’s family and the other people that were close to them. As the noise grew louder the sounds became more clear, Arthur could hear growling like a dog but it was much more intense than he has ever heard in his life. Arthur’s father and mother looked at each other then looked at him.

“Get ready to run Arthur, I don’t know what those are but I know that they aren’t coming to help us. When everyone else starts to move we will move too. Marry, drop all the extra supplies that we have because there isn’t any other way to escape with them,” explained his father.

Arthur's mother began to drop anything extra she had then turned to Arthur. “Right, Just stay next to me Arthur and we will be fine.”

After reaching a certain distance the noises stopped. Arthur couldn’t find what was making those noises no matter how hard he looked. Loud footsteps started to appear in the same direction that growling noises originated from. In the darkness, bright red eyes glowed showing the silhouette of a creature. It had a tall figure and sharp nails longer than Arthur’s fingers, with an object moving around behind it. After looking at the group of people it gave a long grin showing its large teeth. This sent shivers down Arthur’s spine and he wasn’t the only one. As Arthur looked around he found people trembling or lying on the floor ready to accept their fate.

Seeing the result of its effort the creature spoke. “There are so many of you here, I didn’t think there would be this many with the will left to continue after seeing what has already happened in this city. This is one of my favorite parts of humanity, your ability to fight against the inevitable and try regardless of the outcome. With this many people, we can have a great hunt, I wish you all the best of luck.”

After its speech, the creature clapped its hands and smiled. No one moved at first until there was a scream. Half a woman's body fell on the floor along with her other half being dragged into the darkness. Crunching and biting sounds were heard and people starred in horror at the woman’s body along with the trail of blood leading in the shadow.

“Now’s your chance to run, I want to watch something fun or you’ll end up like her,” said the creature.

As if everyone was waiting for the creature to finish talking, they started to run. Arthur’s father carried him on his back as they ran towards the end of the roadblock to try and get around it. The loud howling started after they started to run and the monsters revealed themselves. When Arthur looked back he saw dog-like creatures. They had long tails with sharp points on them, massive jaws which seemed capable of tearing through bone and flesh, glowing yellow eyes, and thick muscles covered by brown skin on their legs and body. Every Time someone fell behind Arthur would hear a whip-like sound and a scream after, sometimes the person would die instantly stopping a few dogs as they ran or struggled to only be swallowed by the group. Arthur’s group managed to lose through the sacrifice of many people.

“I can’t believe we survived, what is happening with this city?” Asked a stranger in the group.

“Who cares, we are almost around the roadblock just a little bit more, then we can leave this hell behind,” replied another.

Everyone started to feel excited with the last shred of hope being restored. Certain people started to cry as they walked for the friends and family that they lost along the way. Arthur’s father put him down and his mother started to hold his hand as they walked.

“I must have been cool right Arthur, I bet you didn’t think that your dad could carry you for so long,” said his father.

“Yea, you were a great dad,” answered Arthur.

Arthur returned a small smile as he started to cry. His mother quickly hugged him and started to comfort him. “It’s okay Arthur you're safe now, once we leave you can finally get the rest that you deserve to”

Howling and growling interrupted Arthur’s mother as they were heard in the distance. With little energy, Arthur left and looked at his father and mother trembling from the fear those monsters brought.

“How could they find us so fast? Were the other’s lives not enough to feed them?” exclaimed a stranger.

“What the hell should we do?” asked another.

Arthur’s father quickly hugged him and looked at his mother while other people chose to panic, hide and run.

“We don’t have enough energy to outrun these monsters anymore; the best we can do is hide and pray. Marry, take Arthur and find a building to hide in that’s farther along the roadblock. I’ll stay here and wait for them to get close while leading them somewhere else.” said his father.

“Isn’t there another way John, why can't we all stay together? This shouldn’t be happening, there are still so many things that I wanted to do with you.” said his mother.

Arthur’s father hugged his crying wife with a smile on his face. “I know but this doesn't have to be goodbye just see you later until this mess is done.”

Arthur's mother returned the hug and said. “Fine but keep your promise like you always have because we're not done here.”

Arthur’s mother quickly went away from her husband's embrace and grabbed Arthur’s hand. As Arthur and his mother were running he looked back to see the back of his father that was no longer there.

“Will dad be okay?” asked Arthur.

“He looks tougher than he looks, I am sure that he will be fine Arthur.” Arthur’s mother said this while wiping the tears off her face.

When Arthur’s mother felt like they were far enough and could not run any longer they found a fast-food shop that wasn’t destroyed.

“Remember to stay close to me Arthur and don’t make any noise, we don’t know what's it there,” said his mother.

Hiding behind his mother Arthur slowly took steps behind her trying to make as little noise as he could. As they entered the restaurant a whip-like noise was heard, Arthur’s mother quickly wrapped her body around Arthur and pushed him to the side. After opening his eyes Arthur found his mother with a tail through her chest.

Arthur’s mother grabbed the tail and screamed at him with blood running down her mouth. “Run Arthur, I’ll try my best to hold it off.”

The monster couldn’t free its tail, stopping it from getting any closer.

“I can't. I don’t want to leave you, mom, not if you would end up like dad,” said Arthur.

Growling noises could be heard outside the door and getting louder with each passing second. Arthur’s mother gritted her teeth as the monster got closer to her and Arthur, she grabbed a large piece of glass and stabbed it in the eye forcing it to retrieve its tail and back away.

With the tail gone, blood flowed from the hole in his mother's stomach. “I…. am sorry I couldn’t stay with you... Arthur, but this is as... far as I can go.”

“Wait, mom! Please stay with me!” said Arthur.

As the monster was about to attack Arthur as he was crying, a white light expanded from the center of the city. The brightness caused Arthur to close his eyes, just as fast as it started the light quickly ended. When Arthur looked around he couldn’t find any more monsters around him, only his dead mother with a smile on her face. This image reminded him of all the events that have happened to him causing Arthur to cry.

“I shouldn't have listened to dad, I should have pulled you with me when we were being attacked so you wouldn’t have to end up like this. Please stay with me, I don’t know what to do without you,” said Arthur.

Dark purple light filled the center of the city spreading to the edges of the city. A dark purple pulse spread throughout the city, after passing through Arthur he felt his body feeling sleepy and his eyes feeling heavy. As Arthur tried his best to resist the drowsiness he was forced to fall asleep.

He heard a voice talk to him right before he went to sleep. “Hear me, humans, you have proven yourselves worthy. Now follow your pure desires towards your destruction, as all paths lead back to me."