Sachiko couldn’t believe her eyes. Her mind struggled to process what she was witnessing—it couldn’t be real, she reasoned. This had to be some kind of nightmare from which she would soon awaken, she told herself.
Because how else could a grown man, in the prime of his life, be so effortlessly tossed aside like a limp ragdoll? How was such a thing even possible? And the monster that had emerged from a pool of blood and guts...it was beyond words. The very sight of it was nauseating.
Another member of the group, in an attempt to defend themselves, opened fire at the monster.
The gunshots rang out in the darkness, echoing through the night. The bullets connected, but the impact was minimal, not even penetrating the demon’s skin. Leaving it seemingly unharmed.
The shooting abruptly ceased. And one of her teammates disappeared. Amidst the chaos, something came hurtling towards Sachiko, whatever it was, it was heavy. She instinctively looked down to her lap, only to find a nightmarish sight. The scream that fled her lips was primal, filled with pure horror — the severed head of one of her team-mates and friend, the empty eyes staring back at her. She frantically threw it away.
Sachiko looked down at her trembling hands, once clean, were now stained a deep crimson by her fallen comrade’s blood. She desperately tried to wipe the blood off, her trembling fingers scrubbing furiously against her clothes. But the blood smeared.
Meanwhile, Kazu. His mind, clouded with fear and confusion, held him back from making any further rational decisions. “Run! Run, everyone!” he bellowed and shouted.
Without a moment’s hesitation, In the face of overwhelming terror, their instinct to survive kicked in. They scattered like frightened rabbits, some abandoning their weapons in their haste to flee. A few managed to get off a few desperate shots at the monster before sprinting away into the darkness.
Kazu looked around to see if anyone was still there, he spotted Sachiko still frozen in terror. Kazu rushed over to Sachiko, grabbing her hand without hesitation and bolted forward, pulling her along with him.
“We’re running, we’re running. We have to get away from that thing,” he said urgently. He had no concrete plan or direction, but all he cared about was getting as far away from the monster as possible. As they ran, Sachiko yelled, her voice tinged with panic, “Where are we going?!”
Kazu, running for his life, shouted back, “I don’t know, we just have to keep running!”
They ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
Kazu stole a glance over his shoulder, breathless, his lungs burning as he continued to run. The creature did not follow them, which offered some small measure of relief.
However, the momentary relief was quickly shattered by the distant cries piercing the silence, echoing through the chilled air.
It made his heart ache.
His teammates, his friends, were in grave danger, probably being attacked by the monster,
Kazu’s face contorted in anger. He couldn’t see much in the darkness, fog, and snow, making it nearly impossible to know what was happening to his comrades.
All he could do was hope that his remaining teammates would survive this nightmare.
As the two fled for their lives, Sachiko, gripping Kazu’s hand tightly, shouted through pants and grunts, “Kazu! What...what is that...thing?”
Kazu grit his teeth, his grip on her hand tightening in fear, yet he managed to respond, his voice trembling. “How the fuck should i know? It’s definitely not a normal animal or anything like that!”
On the horizon, a collection of crumbling, derelict buildings came into view. Kazu and Sachiko, with the last of their strength, pushed themselves to run the remaining distance. “Just a bit further,” he thought, “and we’ll find somewhere to hide.”
As they dashed through the dark, the pair found themselves before an old grocery store, tattered and crumbling. The door creaked open as Kazu and Sachiko rushed inside, slamming it shut behind them. The grocery store was dark and dusty, shelves still filled with rotting merchandise covered in a thin layer of cobwebs. The paint on the walls was peeling off, and the windows were covered in layers of grime and dust, making it impossible to see inside or outside. The air was musty with the smell of decay, dust and cobwebs covering every corner. The wooden floor creaked with every step, each sound echoing through the building.
Kazu, his body aching from the grueling run, shoved a wooden display shelf towards the door, barricading it. The contents on top of the shelf crashed to the ground. Exhausted, he collapsed to the floor, panting heavily.
Sachiko, equally breathless, stood nearby, her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. “They’re all... dead... aren’t they?” Sachiko asked Kazu, her eyes glistening with the tears that threatened to fall.
Kazu, his chest rising and falling with each labored breath, met her gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, instead offering a solemn nod, confirming her fears.
Kazu, called out via his neurochip to his remaining teammates, hoping against hope that someone would answer. But the silence that greeted him was heartbreaking.
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None of them responded.
Kazu sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. This mission started as a simple assignment, a routine task for his team – eliminate a few troublesome norms and get paid handsomely. But now, everything had taken a nightmarish turn. It was a massacre. And their team, which was supposed to be a tightly-knit group of professionals, had been torn apart. Their lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye by a monster from the realms of nightmares.
Now it was a miracle that he and Sachiko were still alive as possibly the only survivors.
As if that wasn’t enough, the man with them, an employee from the megacorp, had been replaced by whatever it was.
Sachiko, concerned, walked over and sat beside Kazu. She noticed a strong scent of ammonia coming from him, making her furrow her brow in confusion.
“What’s that smell? Is that...” She sniffed the air again, her nose wrinkling slightly.
“Wait,” she said, leaning closer to him, “Did you...did you wet yourself?”
“Yeah, I did,” he admitted, his voice tinged with embarrassment. “I was face to face with a monster, cut me some slack, would you?”
Sachiko chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood.
“Well, at least you survived,” she teased, nudging him playfully. “Though I can’t say I’m surprised. I mean, who wouldn’t pee their pants facing that...that thing..what even was it..”
Kazu shrugged, trying to act nonchalant even though the memory of the monster sent a shiver down his spine. “How should I know,” he muttered. “If I had to guess, it’s some kind of genetically modified, cybernetically enhanced abomination...or something.”
Kazu, interrupted Sachiko before she could speak. He quickly placed his handgun and a small pocket knife on the floor. In this moment, they had little else to rely on for self-defense.Sachiko followed suit, placing her own knife on the floor. Kazu only had one magazine which was currently in his hand-gun containing 20 bullets.
“God... we’re so screwed...”
Sachiko observed the meager assortment of weapons on the floor. “This?” she questioned. “This is what we have to work with? A handgun with one magazine and two knives?”
Kazu let out a weary sigh, agreeing with her sentiment. The odds were not in their favor, but they had no choice but to make do with what they had.
Sachiko spoke once again, her eyes fixed on the pitiful stash of weapons. “Do you think bullets even work on that thing? That monster didn’t react when Kaito and Takeshi shot at it,” she pointed out.
Kazu couldn’t help but frown in frustration. The bullets had indeed been ineffective, and he could only imagine what would happen if they ran out of firepower. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “We don’t exactly have a lot of options here.” He picked up the handgun, inspecting it as if trying to find some hidden potential. “We have to assume that these bullets won’t work and also we really don’t have any other option. It’s either that or we try to fight it bare-handed which in of itself is a death sentence...I just hope that we don’t have to find out,” he muttered under his breath, his eyes darting around the room, as if expecting the creature to burst through the door and attack at any moment.
Kazu glanced at Sachiko and said, “If I don’t make it...everything I own is yours..The megacorp won’t be kind to you, and you’ll likely be facing repercussions for the loss of the employee..But you’ll have access to my bank account, my property and everything else I own — just...sell it all. Get out of Japan, start a new life somewhere safe.”
Sachiko stared at Kazu, her eyes widening slightly at his declaration.
“Kazu, you can’t be serious,” she protested.
“I am serious, Sachiko,” he said firmly. “In case things go south, I want you to sell everything and get out.”
Sachiko’s eyes widened slightly at Kazu’s solemn pledge.
“You better make it,” she murmured, her voice a whisper. Kazu didn’t respond, instead offering a small, sad smile.
———————————————————
A flower of death.
There were no better words to describe what had happened to his friend.
Asahi, ran for his life through the pitch-black night. His feet carried him desperately in a random direction, hoping to escape the gruesome fate befalling his team. Their team leader had lost control, ordering them to scatter for their lives, and he complied without hesitation, bolting in a random direction alongside Tanashi. For a brief moment, he thought he was safe, that the monster hadn’t followed in his direction. But then, the sound of screams echoed in the distance, tearing through the night air and the noises were gone as suddenly as they had started. Asahi had felt a knot form in his stomach, knowing that the silence could only mean one thing – everyone else was dead, and he and Tanashi were the sole survivors.
After which, just a few seconds later he saw it. The monster. Its body was a nightmarish sight, covered head-to-toe in the bloody remains of his fallen team. It loomed over them, preparing to slash his head off with its long fingers.
In a panic, a desperate act of sheer cowardice, a desperate move to save himself.
It was a decision which would haunt him for the rest of his life, if he even survived this.
With a swift and sickening motion, he thrust Tanashi into the path of the monster, using his friend’s body as a shield between himself and the impending doom.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, the words an empty, hollow apology.
Asahi ran, his heart racing, guilt clawing at his heart. The sound of Tanashi’s screams echoing through the air, piercing his heart like nails.
“YOU FICKING BASTARD! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HEL--” Tanashi’s last words were a desperate cry, a final curse spat at Asahi’s retreating figure and before he could finish his sentence, he was cut short.
The monster stared down at Tanashi, its blank and emotionless face somehow conveying a sinister glee. It extended one of its boney fingers and began to cut open Tanashi’s protective suit. Its bone-like finger sliced through the material. The fabric tore open easily, as if it were mere paper against the monster’s touch. Tanashi’s exposed stomach was vulnerable, the chilling air biting against his skin. In that moment, Tanashi felt like a mere insect, exposed to the whims of a predator.
No words were spoken, but Tanashi couldn’t shake the feeling that the monster was mocking him, savoring the moment before it struck and then what happened even Tanashi couldn’t believe it.
The monster, which had ruthlessly killed his teammates, now held him in its grasp, its fingers surprisingly gentle around him and raising him off the ground.
The unexpected gentleness took him aback. He expected violence, pain, or even death, but the creature held him almost delicately. It turned and started walking, not chasing after Asahi but taking Tanashi in a different direction. Tanashi was left confused.
He couldn’t fathom why it had spared him, why it was carrying him like this. He tried to muster some fight, to squirm or make any attempt to break free, but the creature’s grip held fast.
As the creature carried him further, Tanashi’s eyes fixed on distant sight. It was a rusted support beam, once used for structures, standing tall amidst rubble. The sight filled him with a sense of impending dread, as if the universe were toying with him.
He could just imagine the gruesome fate that might be waiting ahead.