Chapter 6 -  Getting Rid of the Creatures in Front of the Store.

Alexander hesitated in front of the car, considering the implications. He was sure that once the car was started, whatever was in the area would rush out. He was sure that they wouldn't be humans. Alexander hesitated, before searching the street carefully. He spotted four more creatures, separated, similar to the ones that were killed previously, hidden in the yards, and moved to kill them, dispatching each with one strike of his katana.

Roughly five minutes later, he stood in front of the silver car, staring at the keys in his hand. He steeled himself, started trying each key on the key ring into the car, door, and ignition. Eventually, he inserted a key into the ignition, and looked at Bob, holding his unsheathed katana in his other hand.

"Get ready to run. Once the key starts, we need to sprint back to the house we were in previously."

Bob gave a low bark. Alexander tensed, steeling himself, then turned the ignition. Once the roar of the car rang out from the car, breaking the silence of the street, Alexander let go of the keys, and started bolting away from it, Bob hot on his heels.

As they ran down the street, some screeching could be heard on the coming from different directions in the near deserted area, echoing out, joining the engine of the car in breaking the previous silence that smothered the area along with the black smog. Alexander's eyes as he started to ran, trying to stay clear of the screeching sounds, and thuds of footsteps that were sounding.

Approaching an intersection, Alexander could hear footsteps from straight ahead and to his right. As he sprinted towards the intersection, Alexander's mind kicked into overdrive, the adrenaline flooding his system from the situation helping him make a speedy decision. After reaching the intersection, he turned left, towards two low thuds of footprints, avoiding the singular, heavy thud of the footsteps straight ahead.

As he ran down the street, two creatures drew into sight. They let out a loud snarl as he and Bob closed in on them. Alexander closed in on them, without hesitation. He needed to get as far away from the car as possible. He slowed down slightly, as he stopped swinging his hands in tune to his footsteps, holding his katana in a two handed grip. Bob drew level besides him, and they closed in on the two small, blue, gaunt creatures, in tacit understanding that they would kill one each.

As Alexander continued slowing down, and Bob sped up, and leaped at one of the pale skin creatures as their black eyes could be seen, knocking it to the ground, and tearing at it's throat. The other continued to rush at Alexander and as it closed in, and as it lashed it's small arms in front of it, exposing it's sharp, curved claws were it's hands should be, Alexander leaped to the side, swiping diagonally downward at his former position. The sword cleaved straight through the body, and it crumpled to the ground.

Alexander turned to look at Bob, who was tearing at the corpse in front of it, and he said out loud to the dog just as he heard a loud yowl coming from somewhere behind him, joining the din of noises.

"Run! We have no time to pick up the item."

They continued to sprint away from the silver car, and eventually, they closed in on the house, they had made their base at. Alexander's heart lightened as they drew closer, and they started to slow down.

Eventually, Alexander started walking. He had done it. He had set the decoy, and all he needed to do now was to check....

A hissing sound interrupted his musings, and a gaunt humanoid with grey skin leaped out at him from the lawn, hidden from sight in the trees until it revealed itself.

Alexander instinctively leaped backwards slashing out with his katana as he did so, towards the sound of the noise. The creature jumped into the blade, bisecting itself. Alexander stood still, rattled, as Bob started digging into his gruesome meal.

That thing had almost killed him. If his reaction had just been a bit slower, he would be dead. Shuddering, he tried to put the thought out of his mind, and focused, paying attention to his surroundings, and started walking towards the house, just as Bob dug out and swallowed the black item.

After entering into the house with Bob, Alexander closed the doors, and cautiously inspected the house. Finding nothing inside but them, Alexander heaved a sigh of relief, and opened the white window shutters, and looked through the windows at with the black binoculars, at the store. What he saw had his heart sink.

Two creature large, thin, humanoid figures with massive eyes remained outside the store. Only one had gone. Alexander cursed. All that effort, all that danger, for nothing.

Just as he was about to put down the binoculars, he saw movement from inside the store, and focused on the door. The wooden barricade was moving, and the tall, gaunt creatures outside the door were shifting, focusing on the movement outside, and gradually growing agitated. Eventually, the barricade around the door was stripped away, and two men stepped outside, armed with guns. As soon as they exited, they aimed, and started firing off their pistols, the sounds ringing in the air.

The creatures, as they were rushing forwards, started to stagger, as they were hit. Alexander could barely make out one of the men yelling "Hit the head."

One eventually collapsed under the gunfire, but the other creature managed to get close enough, stabbing out with it's arm at one of the humans chest. It's pointed nails penetrated the body, followed by half the arm. The human stilled, as the other one took the opportunity to blow the creatures brains out. The human and the final creature both collapsed to the ground.

The last human bent down by the side of the human lying on the pavement with a hole in his chest. A moment later, he stood up, carrying a second pistol, and started reloading both guns. He holstered one, and gestured towards the shop. People eventually started exiting the shop, carting trolleys packed with food, making rattling noises, trying to making their way down the street swiftly, towards the end of the street Alexander was at. Alexander felt giddy with anticipation at the sight. Finally, he could interact with other humans for the first time in forever. And he could get more food. Alexander started to stand up, about to make his way over to the group, before a loud hiss sounded in the air. Alexander focused on the sound, and drew in a breath as he saw a tall, gaunt, humanoid figure rushing towards the group.

Alexander could faintly make out shouting, and panicking as the people abandoned their trolleys and rushed towards the store, with the man with two pistols in his hands pointed the guns at the approaching creature, covering the retreat of the other people.

The sound of gunshots once again rang in the air as the creature approached, trying to close in on the man with the guns. Hissing sounds rang in the air as some of the gunshots connected, slowing it down. The man with the guns started to retreat towards the door, while continuing to fire.

A clicking sound eventually rang in the air, as the guns ran out of bullets. The ma turned around, and tried to sprint towards the door, and the creature, emboldened, put on a burst of energy and stabbed out with it's arm, piecing the mans body. Screams rang out from the shop, as the man collapsed on the concrete, and the large humanoid creature with it. The creature crawled it's way over to the human, and started feasting on the fallen human.

Alexander put down the binoculars, feeling a twisting feeling in his gut. He had watched a snipped of the occasional scene of a human being eaten from peeking through the blinds in his home, but bile filled his throat at the sight still. He closed his eyes, and covered his throat, resisting the urge to puke. When he recovered, he closed his eyes, thinking.

The creature was wounded. Badly. It had to drag it's body the final distance towards it's.....meal. Deadly as it was, he could kill it. His desire to help the people, to see and interact with more humans and get more food, warred with his inherent fear of the creature. Eventually, his desire to kill the creature won. He picked up his katana, and started making his way towards the door, calling Bob. Taking a deep breath, he drew his katana, getting Bob to store his sheath, and made his way outside, with Bob following him.

He made his way towards the creature, angling his approach so he was walking towards it from behind steadily. Inside, his heart was pounding with fear, as he held his katana in a two handed grip,and his palms started to sweat as he approach.

As he drew closer, the stench of the corpse filled his nostrils, and he could hear the odd crunching sound as it bit into the body. The people inside the shop, having grown silent, started rattling the windows, and hurling insults at the creature as he approached it.

Eventually, as he was within two meters, the creature stiffened, then started to get up, twisting it's body as it did so. Bob pounced, landing on it's back, and dug into it, holding on tightly, biting into it, as it turned around to face Alexander, hissing and reaching one hand behind it's back to attack the dog, shaking it's body as it did so.

Alexander's heart pounded, as he swung his katana in a diagonal downwards cut, aiming for the tall creatures left leg. The blade lodged into the creatures leg, an inch deep, and it hissed, and reached for Alexander with it's right arm. Alexander's eyes widened in fright, and he quickly pulled the katana back as he stepped to his right, entering into a Kasumi no Kamae stance, then stabbing forward into the creatures right hand.

The creature screeched, and pulled it's arms back, trying to twist the hand with the katana lodged into it as it did. Alexander dug his feet into the ground, pulling his blade back, then stabbed once again, pointing the tip up, and thrusting towards it's throat. The blade penetrated an inch, before Alexander pulled the blade back.

The creature hissed in pain, rearing back, and Alexander took a step forwards, switching into the Jodan no Kamae stance, raising his blade high, then swinging down the blade on a slight angle, hitting the cut in it's left leg, cracking the bone, before pulling back the blade, dragging it against the creatures bone.

The creature hissed, then tried to leap at Alexander. Alexander quickly moved to the side, lower and twisting the blade, to avoid having the creature fall on it with it's body pressed behind the blow, barely avoiding the creatures body, and outstretched hand as it did so.

As it crashed to the ground, Alexander held his katana in reverse grip, stepping forward, then slammed his katana as hard as he could into the back of the creatures skull, slamming his foot down into the closest arm as he did. Bob bit fiercely at the back of the creatures neck as he did this. The creature put up a light struggle, before eventually stiffening beneath the blade.