Ch.2 Monster

'She's not human! He made a girl a monster?! A demon?!'

She released a monstrous screech that shouldn't have come from a young girl and pounced on her terrified mother with sharp black nails bearing a similar resemblance to claws. Oliver froze in utter terror as its disturbingly inhuman and bloodied teeth clamped on the woman's neck and tore a huge chunk out of her neck. She screamed when bit, but it quickly died after the girl ripped the flesh from her throat. Blood starts to flow freely from the gaping hole in her throat, and her body goes limp as the monster that used to be her daughter chews on her flesh. The girl swallowed the flesh and took another bite, this time tearing the woman's left cheek off her face.

"Nooo!"

"Stop!"

"Kaaaa!"

"Someone help her!"

"What the fuck!"

"Kill it!"

"Get out of my way, bitch!"

Several passengers saw the scene up close, and the remaining contents of their stomachs projected onto the floor and seats. Oliver found a little more black sludge left his body, strengthening the putrid smell lingering in his throat.

'I need to get out of here!'

The train was thrown into entirely new levels of panic none of them had ever experienced. Oliver never thought the world tour he worked so hard to save up for would start with a horrifying and apocalyptic event. Oliver had already made it to the country of Gerosia, and this train was supposed to take Oliver to the city of Denor. Denor is one of the top tourist spots, famous for its rich culture, art, and tourist attractions for many years. It was such a clean, colorful, and beautiful city, but now Oliver will never get to finish his dream because if he does survive the day, the City of Denor will be plunged into hell like the rest of the world.

"What are you- stop, stay away! Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" 

 Even though Oliver knew he had to run, his body refused to respond, that is, until the scream gave him a big enough shock. The tall and handsome man who confronted the balding middle-aged man screamed in agony. The balding middle-aged man transformed like the little girl and was on top of him.

The demon was holding down the victim's chest with one hand as its nails pierced deeply into the man's chest, and the other hand was holding the victim's arm toward his face as he ripped out a massive chunk of flesh from his arm. The demon devoured his flesh rapidly, with a tiny bit of flesh hanging out of its mouth. He shares the same monstrous appearance and desire to feed on human flesh and blood.

Oliver could see the man's face covered in tears and mucus, sobbing in pain. His glasses lay on the ground past his head, knocked off his head when he was attacked. Unlike the girl demon who savored the taste of her mother's flesh, this demon is simply devouring the chunk of flesh at an appalling speed. Oliver's newly upgraded senses felt like they were doing more harm than good.

The bile in Oliver's throat was overwhelming; his clothes were drenched in his sweat, and his body stiffened with fear. He watched in terror as the man attempted to retaliate with his free arm, but he had no power behind his attempts and failed to even slow the demon from taking another chunk of flesh.

"Someone help him!"

"Kaaaa!"

"Heaallppp!" The man weakly struggled to be freed as he sobbed and pleaded to others for help, to no avail. Oliver and some passengers wanted to help, but they were too scared to try and help him. The level of terror everyone was experiencing was too much for them. Many passengers have frozen in fear or collapsed and haven't tried running away.

'This is hell. I'm in hell. I need to go. I need to get out.' 

Oliver's mind and body are overwhelmed with the current situation. A few minutes ago, he was still peacefully asleep on the train and is now in hell. 

Oliver regained enough wits and knew he couldn't stay there. It almost didn't feel real as he forced himself to climb over the seats to avoid the demon eating the man. Oliver passed by a couple of unresponsive passengers, limp in their seats, but otherwise, they seemed to be uninjured, their strange condition gone unnoticed amidst the chaos. Oliver noticed their abnormal state, but he had other priorities. Oliver continued to stumble over the seats toward the front of the compartment, ignoring the various contents covering the floor. Oliver finally reached the door and breathed like he was out of breath. Oliver opened the door and entered the space between the compartments, noticing the train's open door. 

Taking a glance into the other room, the situation there was even worse as several demons were feasting on corpses. A couple of demons appear to be fighting each other over one of the corpses, no, fighting each other over their food. Suddenly, one of the demons turned its head, and its eyes met Oliver's through the window. He shivered in fear as the recognition of a beast finding its prey flashed across the monster's face. Its lower face was covered in blood and chunks of flesh from the body it was currently eating.

"Roooooo!!" The demon screeched as it sprinted towards Oliver.

"Shit!" Oliver exclaimed, "Oof!".

Oliver ran out of the train without another moment of hesitation and fell onto the ground, receiving a mouth full of grass. The train door was designed to be opened against a platform, so there was a noticeable gap between the ground and the door that Oliver didn't anticipate. There was a loud bang, the shattering of glass, and the pained cry of the demon. The demon ran straight into the door, smashing the glass window. Oliver scrambled back to his feet and ran as he struggled to breathe.

"Roooo!" A demon screeched, followed by the sound of banging. Oliver could almost imagine a demon bashing against the compartment door and breaking it down.

"Fuck, shit, fuck!" He swore and continued to run into the fog. The fog was present in every direction he looked, obscuring closer details and hiding distant information. The glowing mist was disorienting as it changed colors again to light yellow.

As Oliver looked around, he could see other figures in the distance that had fled the train. Oliver couldn't make out if they were demons or people, so he simply traveled in a different direction, away from all of them. 

"Stop!"

"Noooo!"

"Help! Someone, please help!"

"Please!"

"Do something! Kill it!"

"It hurts!"

Oliver could still hear the screams of terror, the cries of pain, and begging as he ran away even faster. Oliver noticed a couple of other figures that seemed to be survivors, but he was too scared to approach them.

'Even if they are normal people, I don't know if they could still become a demon.'

Oliver kept his distance and sprinted as fast as he could. He was raised as a poor orphan, and exercising and reading at the library were some of his few hobbies. He routinely trained his cardio as part of his workouts, and even as he struggled to catch his breath, he could keep pushing himself to run. However, it may be the cardio training finally paying off, the adrenaline, or something else that drove him farther past his known limits.

'I've never been so happy to do cardio.'

After Oliver sprinted at full speed for several minutes, he finally stopped and started walking instead to recover his breath. 

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!" a distant scream could be heard in the distance, too close to have been from the train. 

'Are they getting closer? I hope they can't track me somehow.'

Oliver only walked for half a minute before he started to jog at a reasonable pace. After making some distance, he calms down, and his thoughts wander.

'This must be happening everywhere like a goddamn zombie movie. If a random part of the population are demons, there must be many of them in the city. The demons are highly violent and deadly. However, they seem to be very simple bloodthirsty carnivores. The cities are hopeless unless the police or military manage to hold their ground and make a safe compound. Military compounds always fall in the movies; even if they don't, their situation worsens over time. Cities and large groups aren't good for long-term stability due to limited supplies, lack of farmable land, fresh water, many enemies, and gangs. No matter what, cities are too much of a gamble.' 

The further Oliver jogged, the more the adrenaline had worn off, and the longer his mind processed his new senses and recent experiences and felt the need to vomit. He stopped and leaned against a tree to vomit, and this time, it only contained a fluid that was slightly black and finished with painful gagging. With his stomach empty, Oliver stumbled to a thicker area of trees and sat against a large rock taller than him when sitting.

Oliver has never felt so exhausted, drained in body, mind, and spirit. His shirt was still soaked in sweat, his legs felt like jelly, and his lungs were aching from his adrenaline-filled sprint for several minutes. The last time Oliver ate was in the early morning before he got on the train many hours before. As Oliver stopped to rest, his vision became darker, and he lost consciousness.