Encounter at night-N

I woke up on top of a large sheet. When i looked to my right i saw Touji sleeping with his eyes wide open and Haruto imitating a dying starfish and when i looked to my left i found Sophia sleeping with a disturbed expression while hugging me tightly so i hugged her back. I must say that even after days of being here she smells really good.

"It has been three days, I think..."

Since we arrived here we haven't done much other than try to survive. Haruto, Touji and I regularly take on the zombies that wander too close to our house while Sophia remains vigilant on the roof. When the night falls we barricade the door and sleep. I also go out to search the nearby buildings, thats how we got the sheet and some worn out pillows.

Ever since we first encountered the horde of zombies we haven't seen big gatherings of those things, instead there are a lot of lone zombies and some small groups of maximum four. However, it is not the same for those eye monsters, we see them regularly in the distance and they look at us back but don't attack us. This is not particularly troublesome for me but the rest seem to be really bothered by them, so I usually kill them every time they come close, as a result we got plenty of those red gems. After seeing their effect i was happy to collect as much of them as i could but sadly not all of the monsters have one inside them so i dont have as many as i would like, only about eight.

There were some other findings. Touji found a pair of old rusty swords abandoned in the basement of a particularly large building. They were old but at least they didn't seem brittle so we decided to take them so i returned Haruto his bat and Touji gave Sophia his knife. We tried the swords and they weren't really able to cut but they were enough to deal with the zombies.

"I can still feel the sword in my hand even when it isn't there"

The moment i swinged that weapon i was a little surprised, as the feeling of cutting through the zombies flesh was mildly satisfying even if it didnt really cut much. If i knew it was like this i would have practiced kendo. However thats something for another moment, right now ill just enjoy snuggling with Sophia -Oh, but first i have to close Touji's eyes.

"There you go."

After doing that, I just snuggled up with Sophia and closed my eyes again to sleep but...

"It looks like I still have too much energy."

I'm a fairly active person so I usually need to tire myself out before sleeping, but there wasn't much to do today so I'm not tired enough. I slowly slide out of Sophia's embrace and pick my sword before going out.

I went out and started searching for some zombies to kill. I know I need to tire myself out, but I don't feel any emotion towards the zombies. The first time they scared me a lot but as time went by I got accostumed to them. I swing my sword at them, but it's not making deep cuts. Instead, I can only manage to crack their skulls and necks with my sword. I'm no master swordsman and my lack of skill shows.

I swing my sword at the zombies again and again, but I can only make shallow cuts. I'm not sure if it's because of the rusty sword or because of my lack of skill, or maybe both, but it's still satisfying to see the zombie's heads crack open. I keep swinging my sword, feeling a bit more exhausted with each swing.

I kept going, swinging my sword and breaking bones. I'm not sure how long I've been going for, but I'm starting to feel more tired so take a few deep breaths and lean against a wall, now that i notice i ended up pretty far away from the house

"Now that I think about it, I still have these things..."

After putting my hand inside my pocket, I took out a small metal box. I found it in the studio located on the house second floor so I took it with me. It contained four large cigars. Thankfully, I had put the matches that were in my bag inside my pocket so I had a way to light them.

"I know I shouldn't but I'm a little curious about their taste."

Using the sword, I cut one of the cigars and lit it with a match before putting it in my mouth. My throat tingled as I took a puff and let the smoke fill my lungs before exhaling to let it out. The taste of good cigars is unknown to me but I know how to recognize when something has gone bad. The cigars had a strong, almost acrid taste that was unpleasant and made me want to cough. There was also a bitter aftertaste that lingered, making it even more unpleasant. Even though they were awful, I still took another puff.

"The taste is horrible, but it is weirdly calming."

I stayed there for a while until i finished the cigar, in the end i felt lightheaded but it wasnt a bad feeling, i could definitely get used to this.

"Well, is time to go back. I'm tired as hell so I just want to cuddle with those three"

I grabbed my sword and headed back to the house. The city is already creepy enough in the day but at night it is just horrible. The cracked streets and the fallen houses aren't all that bad, but the blood stains and flesh remains that are flooding the place are almost unbearable, and at night I have the constant feeling that something is watching from deep within the darkness.

SCREECHHH!*

I stopped immediately the moment I heard that horrid sound. It was definitely the cries of a zombie but right after it...I started hearing tearing and clawing. It is a disturbing sound so I should probably get as far away as I could from it.

"Yeah, I'll just go- Oh god..."

The moment I turned around to walk away I saw a giant hand coming out of an alleyway and grabbing the corner of a building before revealing its full body.

I felt my soul slip away from my body and cold sweat pour out of my skin as I stood in front of a beast I couldn't imagine even in my worst nightmares and our eyes met. It was a quadruped monster larger than an elephant with decaying skin and pitch black fur. From the multiple open wounds, I could see bright red muscle tissue and bones protruding from inside like blades. Its face was elongated and monstrous but eerily humanoid even though it was covered in fur with big and bulging human eyes that lacked eyelids and a human-like nose that looked as if the front had been cut off. The mouth of that thing went beyond the head and extended all the way to its neck from which were pouring blood and decayed flesh. Its insides had a first row of sharp fangs and a second one of human teeth.

That thing's body was long but also muscular, with veins visibly bulging on the exposed muscles.. Its back legs were similar to that of a wolf with the exception of an extra claw on the rear but the front legs were creepily long and hunched with hands shaped like human hands with large claws instead of nails. Lastly, its tail was longer than its body and it was just as muscular. The tip had a large bone shaped like a sword that was dripping with blood.

I wanted to run but my legs didn't move, they only shook in place. I tried to lift my sword but instead I dropped it to the ground causing a loud sound that resonated through the empty streets and alleways. I was utterly terrified but that thing only looked at me directly in the eyes without doing anything other than breathing heavily as if it was inspecting me, then its gaze shifted from my eyes to my body, I could feel it staring at my chest, arms and legs before snapping back into my eyes causing me to flinch, and then it started to walk towards me.

The monster was walking slowly, almost gently but every time its claws touched the ground they cut through it like butter even when it didn't apply any strength or weight...I need to run away for fucks sake, move god damned body, move!

I tried to run away but it was futile. My body didn't answer me and then I saw it right in front of me, with its claw slowly approaching my face and then...I heard a growl and both of our eyes switched to the source of the sound.

"A zombie...?"

There was a lone zombie in an alleyway slowly walking towards me. I looked back at the giant monster and suddenly its arm snapped in the direction of the zombie faster than my eyes could follow and then a loud bang resonated through the entire place. Of the zombie only its blood remained, splattered all around the alleyway. A building that apparently got struck by the monster's hand went down and the nearby buildings were covered in large cracks as a result of the shockwave.

It was an impressive and terrifying demonstration of strength that brought nothing but despair to me. I thought that its eyes and then its claws would snap right at me but instead it kept staring at the darkness beyond the alleyway and moments later a horde of zombies appeared, running towards us.

The monster started walking again, now in the direction of the zombies, far away from me. In that moment, I felt to my knees while breathing heavily and grabbing my chest. I'm not suicidal but I never thought I was so attached to my own life that I could feel such a fear of losing it.

While i was trying to calm down i heard a loud bang and when i lifted my eyes to see, the alleyway was flooded with blood and flesh. The monster was standing in the middle of the puddle of blood while looking directly into the darkness from where more growls and cries could be heard, and then...

It spoke.

"Eat...Must... Eat"

I felt a shiver down my spine as I heard it say that. Then it was lost in the darkness, hopefully never to be seen again.

"We need to get out of here...fast"