The two men slowly crept out onto the sidewalk. It was dark out now and the skies were clear. Periodically, a stiff breeze would whip down the street. Gone were the pedestrians standing sentinel in the street looking at their phones. In their place were turned over cars, broken shop windows, scorch marks from something that blew up, and blood stains. CJ couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Hours ago, this was just a normal street. People commuting back and forth to work like any other day. Looking up was the worst decision he could have made. There was a billboard on the roof of a building diagonally across the street. It was an advertisement for vape pen flavors with a smiling blond woman holding one to her lips. Only where her head used to be, was now a large six foot wide bite mark.
“Wha the hell happened to her?” asked CJ.
“Shh. Where is your place? There aren’t any streetlights on, and I don’t know where I’m going,” said Tommy as he hunched down next to a car with its windows blown out.
“Across the street under the parking structures walkway. It’s eight zero three state street. Damn it. Just realized I’ve left Monty inside all day. I need to go feed him,” commented CJ.
“You have a dog? I got bad news for you dude. The wah wah has done strange things to wildlife. I really wish I’d taken the deal,” replied Tommy as he looked both ways before crossing the street.
“That’s the second time you mentioned that. What deal?” asked CJ as he skulked after him.
CJ wouldn’t be getting that answer because no sooner than they made it to the midpoint of the asphalt, than sharp yipping sounds could be heard. Tommy immediately broke into a sprint. He slid between an SUV with four flat tires and box truck laying on its side. Three balls of fluff about a foot and a half tall, started scampering down the street toward CJ.
They looked like a pack of feral dogs if they had been genetically bred to be smaller than their wolf cousins over generations. CJ’s brain finally kicked in as Tommy gestured him toward one of the old steel green mailboxes. Climbing up, he felt a tug on his right pant leg. One of the puff balls had reached him. Its face was covered in scars and there was blood around its maw. The teeth were what really concerned CJ. The canines were at least six inches long. He didn’t know how the damn thing could move its head around with how much they must weigh. One of them had punctured right through is pant leg. The small creature was hauling back with all its might to pull CJ down. All he could do was kick at it. Then he remembered he was wearing his flint kit. CJ flourished his right hand out toward the little fucker before scraping his finger against the flint and fluid contraption mounted on his wrist. A small puff of flame washed over the furball. It instantly caught the puffy hair on fire. The fierce creature yelped and ran around in circles as the fire grew steadily hotter. Within the next minute it was lying on its side twitching.
CJ felt awful for burning the little menace. He didn’t have much time to fret over what he’d just done because Tommy was screaming his fool head off. CJ hoped from on top of the mailbox to a nearby car trying to make his way over to where Tommy was. There was another puff ball bleeding out on the sidewalk next to the tire iron he’d given Tommy. A few feet away from that Tommy had the third beastie hanging from his forearm. The tips of both elongated teeth poking out of the underside of his arm.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I’m here hang on,” said CJ as he picked the tire iron off the ground.
“Get it off me!” cried Tommy before he rammed the furball into the concrete wall of a nearby building.
The jaw of the creature went slack, and Tommy flung it off his arm high into the air. CJ took his best batters stance waiting for the monster to come back down as gravity exerted its hold on it. A stiff breeze began to blow as refuse littered around the sidewalk whipped up and past the two men. CJ paid it no mind as he tensed his shoulders ready to swing. As the creature hit its flight’s zenith it was snatched up by a huge snakehead the size of a seventy inch flat screen. Its mouth split open in four different sections as it gobbled the fluffy dog right out of the air. Then the rest of its red and green scaly body curved back up. Both CJ and Tommy screamed like little girls as white feathery wings could be seen on its back.
CJ pushed Tommy into a nearby doorway. Tommy fell to the ground in the foyer holding his arm while CJ slammed the door shut behind them. He then put his back to the door before sliding down it onto his ass. They both stay there painting and out of breath for five straight minutes.
“What the fuck was that?” asked CJ.
“I… don’t know. I’ve been trying to tell you it’s the end of the world,” replied Tommy, his jeans now soiled with blood stains.
“Fine. I believe you. Holy shit, do I believe you. We need to stop that bleeding. Luckily, this is actually my building. My place is just upstairs. I’ve got a first aid kit and I’m well adept at treating small wounds. Let’s go,” said CJ whilst grabbing Tommy under his left shoulder to haul him up.
They proceeded through the building and up the stairs. Tommy began to look woozy, so CJ decided to pick up the pace. At the top of the landing lay two dead bodies. Both looked like they had been shot. Their blood was oozing down the stairs in tiny crimson waterfalls. The décor in the hallway was nothing special. White painted drywall with white crown molding. Each of the apartment doorways had brown faux-wood frames with a wooden door. Each door had peep hole and a metal number on it. All the doors were either open or hanging off the hinges.
“How much could have possibly happened while I was unconscious?” CJ asked as they stepped around the two bodies.
“It has been one hell of a day,” replied Tommy cradling his left arm to his chest.
They reached the end of the hallway to find CJ’s apartment door mostly intact. It had several scuff marks on it and the doorframe was slightly dented into his apartment. He took out his keys to open the door before he heard a scoff from Tommy. Tommy put his hand on the wooden door, and it repaired itself before the lock popped. Then the door swung open.
“Carpenter,” was all Tommy said before stepping into the apartment.
CJ’s apartment was relatively unchanged. The only difference was the cage that typically held Monty was knocked over on its side with the door smashed off. To CJ’s surprise, Monty was up on the kitchen counter head buried in a box of cereal. His bushy cotton tail swayed left and right as the sounds of munching came from the box.
“Monty is your pet rabbit?” asked Tommy.
“We’ll get back to Monty in a minute. Monty, get out of that cereal box. Did you just magic my door open?” questioned CJ.
“Yes. My class gives me certain abilities when it comes to wood. General repair is cheap. Now about your rabbit…” Tommy trailed off as the black furred rabbit pulled its head out of the cereal box.
CJ remembered the day he picked up Monty. He was at the pet shop looking for a new rabbit to perform an old classic trick in his act. The pet shop guy had Monty separated from the other bunnies. When CJ asked why, the pet shop guy picked up Monty and placed him in with the other rabbits. Monty immediately snorted before barraging the rest of the rabbits with drop kicks. The little critter just hopped into the air and fully extended both feet until colliding with his target. This went on continuously for a few minutes before the shop guy picked Monty back up and separated them again. CJ bought him on the spot.
“Monty’s always been… special,” CJ said right before his jaw dropped to the floor.
“You got any real food around here you pig fucker?” asked Monty.