Monster

As they moved forward in the city there was no doubt where to go. The area was a disaster and it became even worse. The streets were mixed with corpses, debris and destroyed vehicles. Most of the buildings were burning. Sometimes there were quiet whispers. Some people were still alive and hiding. They both thought about asking them what happened and what they saw, but they also knew that they might stop and turn around if they knew what was waiting for them.

Surprisingly, on the streets most of the corpses were soldiers. They surely did their job and saved as many civilians as possible, even if they only bought some time for them to flee.

There were no explosions anymore, no more shots in the air and no screams.

"Why is it so quiet?", Anastasia asked.

Surely she already knew the answer but didn't want to hear it so Laura just ignored her. Everyone was dead and the fight was lost. Las Vegas, one of the most populated and loud cities in the US, was like a ghost town. A surreal atmosphere. No more people partying like it was supposed to be. Only grumbling and burning left.

"Wait" Laura suddenly stopped and widened her eyes, "Do you think they left? Maybe in the opposite direction?" She turned around as she thought that Peter was heading that way.

"No. I thought about this as well, but if, whatever is expecting us, is still in the city, then the soldiers wouldn't have run in that direction. They must know what is happening here. Who… What did this do? It's heading back to the city."

While they were standing in the ring and before they left the arena these things must have been outside, but now, there was nothing. Both had no idea what was going on but they had to move forward.

Only after a few meters Anastasia stopped again. "The blue wall… aren't we going in the direction where the blue wall is?"

Laura nodded as they looked at each other. She totally forgot about it, the whole day she had other, more important, things in mind. At least she thought so. But it was possible that there is a connection. No, there had to be a connection.

"Just, what the fuck is happening here?" Laura didn't like swearing, but now it felt like the perfect time.

"I guess we will find out very soon."

They arrived at the barricade that the national guard built soon after the blue wall appeared.

To the destroyed cars and buses something new came in view. Tanks. And they were ripped apart. There were claw marks in the hard metal of the tanks. Metal that was supposed to protect the people inside from shots and explosions. Now something just ripped them apart.

One thing was for sure, that wasn't something any technology was capable of.

As they were staring at the surreal sight they finally saw what was responsible for the destruction.

There was something on a tank right in front of them.

"Is that… a wolf?" Laura stuttered.

No, not a wolf. But something with a doglike figure the size of a car was standing there. And it had scales. Emerald green scales were reflecting the still burning buildings. It almost looked like a reptile in a wolf form. It was something that they couldn't describe with words. And as the figure and the size of the beast wasn't enough, it also razorsharp bloodmarked fangs.

They were both completely stunned.

"What the hell" Anastasia said, unable to grab a clear thought.

Just as she said it the beast turned around and they made eye contact.

They both froze as they saw the shining crimson eyes. Violent eyes that were looking for prey. It felt surreal, like they were in a monster movie. But it wasn't a movie. The monster that was staring at them was real.

And the monster wouldn't let them time to think about it anymore. Without any hesitation and fletched fangs it jumped at them. It must have been about 50 meters away but passed the distance in seconds. It chose Anastasia as his first prey.

Anastasia somehow dodged the fangs by reflex but she still got rammed by the wolf's shoulder. Like in the fight before she felt like time was slowing down as the adrenaline was rushing through her veins. Only because of that she was still alive. But the shoulder of the wolf hit her hard in the chest. It felt like a truck at full speed rammed her directly and she got pushed back a few meters.

But she managed to stay on her feet. The air in her lungs was pressed out and her knees were trembling but she didn't go down.

Surprisingly Laura didn't lose her focus. She was still able to grasp the full situation and her surroundings. Her seconds before frozen mind was clear again. And one thing was for sure, if she didn't fight now they would surely die here.

And what she saw was an opening on the side of the beast, in a boxing match it was unlikely to have ever this much time. The wolf was still fully focused on Anastasia. It looked surprised about Anastasia's fast reaction and out of instinct it knew that this wasn't an easy prey like he had many times today. As it was about to jump forward to attack Anastasia again who was able to avoid any fatal damage Laura used the seconds she won.

She took a deep breath and bent her fist with all her might.

Then she threw a punch in the side of the beast.

Boom!

She felt the scales crushing under her fist and penetrating the body of the monster.

The wolf flew away and crashed head on into a stone wall. A crater formed in the wall by the massive impact. However, that wasn't enough to kill the beast. It didn't even go down and was still standing. But the hit did do damage. The wolf had a painful expression and fletched his fangs now facing Laura as her new target. It now realized that this wasn't just hunting down a helpless prey but a fight for survival. Whatever they do, only one of them will leave this place alive.

It jumped again but this time it slightly trembled as it moved forward to Laura charging head on.

Laura used the second she won as the beast was trembling and bent her fist again. This time even harder than before. Every muscle in her arm strained to the extreme.

Her fist flew forward with bulletspeed.

Boom!

The impact was devastating. Even harder than the hit before as it crushed the skull of the beast. She not only felt it but also heard the cracking noises.

The now unlively body flew back and crushed the wall again. However, this time completely destroying it.

She knew that even a monster like this wouldn't be able to survive the blow and the crushed skull.

Laura looked at Anastasia. Her eyes were still locked on the beast. Her eyes didn't look afraid but fascinated as she watched the aftermath of what just happened.

Even with its destroyed skull the beast was still able to let out a mourn before it dropped dead with open, hateful eyes.

Blood was running from Laura's fist.

"There must be more of them.", she said as she looked in the direction the monster was coming from." Otherwise there was no explanation for the chaos in the whole city. Sure, that thing was strong, even to an extent that modern weaponry would be meaningless against it but only one of them couldn't do that much destruction to a city in that short amount of time.

Only then Anastasia was able to avert her gaze from the beast.

"Do you think we can do it?"

"That thing was easier to defeat than you", Laura didn't intend to make a joke but both of them had to laugh as they realized what she just said.

But the laughing stopped and turned to a serious expression again as they looked around. There was no time for laughter.

As they moved forward to the barricade there were only soldier bodies left. But not a single one was alive. Every single corpse had missing limbs and most of them didn't have a head. It looked even worse than in a horror movie. Empty shells lay all over the floor. Whatever happened here wasn't a fight; it was a one sided massacre as they couldnt see a single monster corpse.

Now at the barricade and the tank they first saw the monster as weapons were all around the ground. Laura was about to pick up a rifle. She knew how to use it as she had some training in the german military but still wasn't very familiar with weapons. She disliked the idea of weapons only created for killing people.

"I don't think that will work", Anastasia guessed Laura's thought.

And she was right. Laura thought about the beast and one last look at the dead body made it clear. Bullets can't hurt that thing. No matter how many they use.

Only after a deep breath did they both jump on the top of the tank. The jump wasn't something humans should be capable of. But now, more familiar with their new power, it already felt like it was natural. Like they were born with the power they now had.

What they saw now, made them stop breathing. Something that they could have never imagined. It was the ring of hell.