He probably was trying to get some food for his family, but just like his body, the bag of apples that were now rolling down the street was ripped in half. I let go of his hand, knowing all hope was lost for him, as the top half of his body grew motionless. Above his spilled innards knelt a ravenous beast. The hair on its head hanging in front of its bloodied face, clothes ripped to shreds, and fingernails so chipped that they could be used as weapons. It looked up at me, eyes blackened, all of the soul it once had said goodbye once that chip was forced into its neck so long ago. Its feet were bare, and if it had been the soulful version of this being, the glass shards it was stepping in would have hurt once it stood up, not releasing the lock between its eyes and mine. The rusty hacksaw it acquired from the closest tool store it could find dropped from its hands. Suddenly, it bolted, and, subsequently, so did I. I ran out of the alley, so dark that the opening was like a ray of sunshine, and down the street which just revealed more family men, women, and even children. The sidewalk, covered in the insides of many innocents, squished under my feet as I crossed every single one. Martin St. April St. New Lions St. The signs passed like blurs as did the other beasts feasting on their prey, incapable of being helped, saved. Destined to suffer for what possibly felt like an eternity of torture. Mutilated, mangled, devoured, until they breathe the sour air no more.

The buildings were tarnished, feeling more like a cave with monsters crawling inside rather than a former place of living. The signs on the little shops that were stuck in the middle between the apartment buildings were either on the ground or hanging for dear life from the front. One shop though, a deserted, dingy, weed-sprouting shop, was the one that caught my eye. RICARDO’S DELI. I always went to Ricardo’s after school as a kid, and I was even there as a 17-year-old when the veil separated this city from the real world. Ricardo was more of a father than my own, but he was the first I saw devoured, so I try not to think about him too much. I sprinted in and ran straight to the bathroom located in the back of the store, not even noticing the surroundings. My eyes were just locked on the door the whole time. The bathroom stinks like a bathroom does, but not for the reason that this one stinks. In the corner, between the toilet and the wall sat a decaying corpse with his eyes pecked out in an unclean, messy way and his stomach eviscerated with fleshy tubes that were once inside him spread around that corner. No time to worry about that though, so I shut the door and locked it. After a second or two, I saw the shadow of the beast’s feet slide its way into the crack at the bottom of the door. Then the banging came.
BOOM BOOM BOOM

“Let me in you piece of trash I can smell you!”

I went to the corner opposite that of the poor corpse and sat down with my hands covering my ears. The vibrations of the banging went on.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

“Come on, I’ll get you no matter what so just make it easier for me!”

BOOM BOOM

“You loser!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Then, like a car coming to an abrupt stop, nothing. It probably had its eye caught by another wanderer who was about to meet his maker. Thank God. I should probably wait though just in case. What if it just stopped so I would come out? Just waiting for the best moment to grab its prey and kill. The pharmacy is right down the street, I have time. Shoot, what were the pills called again?

“I need the Percocets Daniel, I can’t stand another day without them.”

“I understand I really do, can we just try and wait until night because there are so many out right now, look.” I pointed out the window and, twelve stories below was a bloody battleground, except it was more of a slaughter than a battle. She didn’t even walk toward the window to look.

“I don’t give a crap if there are more than there were on Initiation Day, you need to get me it now.”

“Ok, I understand, I wi-”

“No, I don’t think you understand, if you understood you wouldn’t want to wait and watch me suffer.”
“Rachel, you know I don’t want that.”
“Then please go, for me.” She said, her demeanor changing ever so slightly but still retaining the snarkiness. Her straight brown hair hung down in front of her eyes which pierced into mine. Her lanky body sat there, no fingernails due to her chewing them off, no waist from her lazing on the couch lately, and no fingers on her left hand from a beast she encountered on Initiation day.

“Alright honey, I’ll try to be back in around an hour.”

It was probably gone by now. However, I didn’t leave for another two-ish minutes because an old tattered poster that hung on the inside of the bathroom door caught my eye. It was one of those flyers the skeptics hung up before Initiation Day, “THEY ARE MAKING US INTO ANIMALS IN WILLFED CITY! LEAVE NOW!” Nobody believed them back then. I bet if they were here they would tell us they told us so.

I sat up from the floor with a weird sound that indicated my pants had just become unstuck from the ground and opened the door. I surveyed the darkened hut and the possible corners the beast could pop out of. After I took long enough, I stepped out of the bathroom and headed for the door. I poked my head outside to see if I had an opening. My answer was a beast on its knees ten feet outside the door into the desolate road, munching on another poor, innocent soul. I sat with my back against the wall right beside the door and waited, I still have time.

Twenty minutes later I peeked outside again and the beast was gone, and so were the other beasts within eyeshot. I could see the pharmacy down the street, another store reduced to nothing but a trash heap. Hopefully it still has some Percocets inside.

I looked left and right and left again, just as I did with my mom as a kid when crossing the street, and bolted. I knew there was nothing around right now, but I didn’t waste time crossing the road and sprinting into the doorless doorway. Now all I needed to do was look for Percocets. I quickly scanned the floor and the aisles behind the counter that had pills stacked up and down them. Up and down. Up and Down. Nothing. No Perc’s, no pain pills of any kind. Just some anxiety meds and anti-depressants. Then, before giving up, I searched through drawers of desks scattered in the back of the store. One drawer after another with bags containing pills that did not really pertain to pain but, finally, a bag labeled ‘PERCOCETS 12 MAX DAILY 5 mg/325 mg.’ Perfect.

The street had gotten a little darker than before I had entered the pharmacy, with no signs of life or death roaming around, so I decided to relax and catch my breath, which I hadn’t been able to do since I left the apartment. I breathed in the tartness of the air, however, I was unable to let it out. Now, standing in front of me, was a dog. Not like a normal dog. It wasn’t even a dog. It used to be a dog, but now it was an animal. An animal that was out for blood, more blood than what was already dripping from its teeth. There aren’t too many animals always roaming, usually it is the beasts that are in the streets, but here it stood, not breathing, just staring. Its spiked hair warned me that I should run, but I didn’t. Eyes blackened, like the beasts, and body large. Hopefully, that meant it wasn’t too fast. It must have not wanted to continue our staring contest, because it darted after me, and I darted the opposite way, the fresh blood on the sidewalk like syrup almost tripping me up. Hopefully it didn’t have much energy left in it because I don’t think I have enough energy to run out a full functioning dog.

New Lions St.

April St.

Martin St. 

The animal was gaining and so was I, but did I want to? The two doors were so close, but did I want to rediscover what was inside? There was a beast, but that didn’t mean it was inside the dog. The dog had no fault in the matter, it was a victim, but was I as well? Let it get me, let it rip me apart, let me breathe my final breath before going back to that room. The beast was waiting up there for me, so the safest choice would be to remain out here, right? I slowed my sprint, getting so close to the door that I could reach out for it, but I didn’t know if I wanted to. What is the point of surviving if I have to live with that every single moment of every single day? My mind altered its choice abruptly as I felt the breath of the animal reach my lower back. With a sudden jolt of speed, I slammed into the double doors, tumbling onto the ground of the corridor that led to another pair of doors which finally led into the building. Quickly, I shot up and looked back to see the animal so close to the door that its breath was fogging up the glass. We stood and stared at each other for a while, as if we could sense the only barrier between us could be easily broken. However, due to the strict protocol that was forced upon it, the animal could not enter a place of living. Right before leaving, it tilted its head to the right, as if observing something, and I did too for a reason I am unsure of. It straightened back up, seeming content as it turned and trotted away, as did I.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel entered the building through the corridor and started up the stairs. His apartment was two flights up the withered complex and he felt sour for it. His exhaustion was about to beat him. He was in great shape, but running from that animal had worked him dry. He climbed the creaky wooden boards the stairs had rotted into and decided that he was going to sleep when he got back. No food, no nothing. He walked past walls that were covered in graffiti, just more conspiracy stuff they thought was just nonsense a while ago. He reached the second floor and trotted down the hallway to his room, which was once designated room 231, but one of the letters had faded away so now it just looked like 2 1. He opened the unhinged door and found Rachel, still on the couch, writhing in pain.

“Oh thank you, Daniel, thank you so so much.”

He threw the bottle on the ground in front of her, causing her to reach off the couch and grab the pills herself. She writhed even more.

“I almost died,” he said as he kept on stomping toward his room, not stopping to look at her. “Make your own dinner, I’m tired.” Rachel sat there, pain in her eyes, and not just from the leg. She had a fleeting plan, but that plan wouldn’t work. As much as the plan would save her from so much pain, she needed somebody at the moment. She was nowhere near full health and was in no shape whatsoever to execute said plan. But the plan left her brain, swirling out of her head, out the window, and into the street that roared with the screams of people and the hunger of the beasts. The door of Daniel’s room slammed and he was gone for the night.

“Daniel, I’m so sorry, I just can’t feel like this anymore. My leg is hurting so bad right now, I don’t know if it is healing. I’m pretty sure it’s not just a fracture,” Rachel said with tears of pain rolling down her rosy red cheeks.

“Ok, but how do you expect me to get it right now, there are too many of those things and other people down there that will just slow me down.”

“Well then we can wait until night or even tomorrow, I just know that I will need them soon. I’m so so sorry.”

“No, you are not,” Daniel exclaimed exhaustedly. “Stop making yourself feel better by playing the victim.”

“I’m not trying to pl-”

“YES, YOU ARE! YOU PUT ON THIS FACADE AND MAKE ME FEEL BAD ABOUT WHO I AM AND YOU MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IT’S MY FAULT WE ARE IN THIS MESS JUST BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE! YOU ARE NOT THE VICTIM! NOT AT ALL!” Daniel finally reached his boiling point. His rosy face turned a sudden red and his curly brown hair plastered to his forehead from the sweat dripping down it that he developed in his rage. He took a deep breath and stood silent for a second. “Screw it, have what you want.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, weak as ever, her black eye shining from the teardrops cascading over the bruise.

Daniel ignored her apology, “I’ll be back in an hour.”