Grey Hound

"Talk about the nightmare of a reality to wake up to." Silas muttered, releasing a dry laugh, watching the sight of plain chaos in front of him.

"Someone needs to deal with that guy, and fast," Silas muttered, a wave of unease washing over him. It was the same gnawing discomfort one feels upon hearing that a loose anaconda has been spotted slithering through the neighbourhood.

Humans accustomed to peaceful lives for centuries tend to forget the dangers of life, and the moment they are forced to confront it, it's like a bone stuck to their throats, which won't settle until either the bone is removed or the person dies. 

Silas shook his head, scratching his head again and again, and releasing a big sigh, his attention moved on towards his parents once again, who seemed to be slowly waking up from their sleep as the sun rays were hitting right in the direction of their faces.

"Good morning~ I didn't expect the lovely couple to be sleeping so peacefully in the middle of chaos like this~" Silas chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

His parents said nothing, and standing back up from the ground and fixing the glasses, his father's gaze moved over towards the sight of absolute nightmare in the woods below the cliff that can be seen from the roof of their home.

"... It wasn't a nightmare," he muttered, the expressions on their faces seeming to grow darker as their gazes moved over the entire region with trees uprooted and signs of great chaos across the whole place, a world straight out of an apocalypse. 

"What the hell is going on in this world?" His mother muttered, her knees feeling weak; she leaned over to her husband, who himself was covering his mouth in shock as he witnessed the entire scenery.

Last night was a night without a light; hence they couldn't really grasp what chaos had been going on there. The rain of meteorites was only chaos acknowledged by their eyes...

It was as if the realisation of reality was just now catching up with their consciousness; their faces grew more grim and chaotic as time went by, lost in a daze watching the sight ahead.

'The Ase has characteristics of calming the human mind and suppressing negative emotions like panic and shock; the first time making contact with it and being completely unused to it amplifies the Ase's characteristics. 

Last night, all the emotional chaos going through their minds must have been suppressed too; the moment my parents got in contact with Ase, they were more surprised by the softness in rain than the hell that happened just a few hours ago... It is only now that all the emotional chaos is catching up with their minds; it must be tough for them, just like it's tough for me. Silas frowned while steeling his own resolve for more chaos that has yet to come.

He quietly walked up to his parents and placed his hands over their shoulders, trying to provide a sense of comfort to both. 

As today was the day, humanity lost its balance...

'... Internet? Well, it isn't coming back quickly...' Silas sighed, 'Without internet and communications, our phones are going to be useless until we can somehow get humanity back on its track. For now I should focus on finding out. Just how fucked is humanity right now?'

"GRAAAAAOOOHHHHH!!!"

As if to answer Silas's desires, a loud roar filled the whole neighbourhood; it was a deafening sound and screech unlike anything people had heard.

"... Shit." Silas cussed, his eyes reflexively following the direction of that loud sound. He, along with his parents, immediately rushed over to the other side of the roof, and looking downstairs was the sight of horror.

"Help?! Help me!!!" A man can be seen running through the road in the middle of houses, and behind him was what seemed like a mutated monster that originated from what seemed to be a dog.

"Somebody save me!! Save me!!!" The man pleaded for help, but those who were outside on the streets or in their yards instantly retreated back to their houses, closing their doors and windows with horror in their eyes.

"That's Smith?! It's Smith from house 41!" Silas's father seemed to instantly recognise this man; the mother covered her face in shock and retreated behind her husband, unable to see the gruesome sight ahead.

'So that's the 'evolution' for animals, huh? Humans I saw till now have no physical changes or abnormalities, but I guess it's different for animals...' Silas noticed

'If it's the Smith from house 41... I have seen him walking around with his dog a few times in the morning when I used to go out for milk shopping occasionally. 

His dog was of the Greyhound breed. Well, it used to be obedient; from what I remember last year it wasn't friendly with strangers, though...' Silas remembered the appearance of that dog; it was of normal size, more on the cute side than being fierce.

But now that same thing has evolved into a 7-foot gigantic beast. Its mouth was endlessly drooling with saliva, and razor-like teeth peeked out of the mouth. Fur over its body has increased by a lot, along with its claws and mad look in its eyes.

"We should help..." Silas's father muttered, and gathering up courage, he picked up an earthen pot with a flower planted inside, and as he was about to throw that pot towards the beast, Silas stopped him by snatching the pot away. 

"You can't?!" Silas's loud tone seemed to have stunned his parents, but Silas instantly stepped in and pointed towards the beast. "That creature is in a frenzy! The small pot will do nothing but attract its attention towards us."

Silas's father, coming out of a state of shock, immediately gritted his teeth, and grabbing Silas's shirt, he screamed, "Then what do we do?! Are you telling me to let the man die right in front of my eyes?!"

"Then are you willing to let me and mum die just to act like a hero for a moment in someone else's eyes?" Silas retorted coldly; it was unlike anything before. His father seemed to snap out of his daze, stepping back and grabbing his forehead in confusion and shock. 

Silas's eyes also softened with a guilty look in his eyes, but before he could process much, a sharp slap landed right over his face.

*Stunnnn!*

His ears were a buzz for a moment as he stepped back in a daze; his eyes slowly moved towards the mother standing in front of him with a complicated frown and a rage in her eyes.

"You can't talk to your father like that..." she said as she turned back towards his father, giving him a soft hug while Silas was just left there alone with a shocked look on his face.

"I was just trying to hel... Help..." he said, but the sadness was clear in his eyes, the guilt was also touching the back of his mind, but before his mind could process all that, a loud, gruesome scream filled the entire neighbourhood.

"Aaaaahhh! Ah! Uwaah?! Weaaaahh! Help! Help!!! Aaaaaahhhh!"

The moment Silas's eyes turned back, he noticed the same Mr. Smith on the road, being ripped apart by the beast; his legs had been chopped off and swallowed by the beast, and now, with his arms grabbed under the beast's claw, it was slowly eating his chest and inner organs.

The screams vanished shortly with just the loud sound of human meat being grind inside the jaws of that beast.

"Oh God!" his mother exclaimed while instantly vomiting everything on the floor with a grey face; his father also seemed just as sick, but he instead just helped out his wife, rubbing her back. 

And as the silence was settling, another wave of screams covered the neighbourhood.

"Aaahhh! Run!!"

"Fuck! What the hell..."

"Run!"

"Get in that house!"

Silas's eyes immediately rushed over the end point of that road, which was a viewpoint beside the cliff. A bunch of people had gathered early in the morning to see the sight of chaos in the woods, over the other side of the cliff, which was a straight slope and showed the huge view across the region.

"Fucking hell..." Silas muttered as his gaze fell over about a dozen people gathered over that viewpoint, including the children running in chaos with their gaze over the gruesome sight of that beast in front of them.

And as if it was an invitation to hell, the beast's eyes were also locked in towards the bunch of prey gathered right in front of it, leaving the dead corpse it was eating, the beast immediately rushed in towards them.

"I can't win..." Silas muttered with all the data about that beast right in his mind...

'Species - Greyhound

Grade - Yellow

Height: 7 feet

Length: 12 feet

State: Frenzy, Hungry, Rage

Strength: Sharp jaws, extremely agile, can recover its wound by devouring blood of others

Weakness: Weak Eyesight, Low Intelligence 

Speciality: Known for its cruel hunting means, immobilising its prey before devouring them in the living state.'

"It's strong..." Silas muttering, seemingly trying to comfort his own self, but as he was walking backwards in denial, his eyes fell over one little girl collapsed on the ground with her legs shaking in overwhelming fear, just a few dozen meters in front of that beast.

"Help me..."

The little plea, barely audible, still somehow reached Silas's ears, spreading a current-like shock throughout his entire body; his pupils suddenly lit up in a bright sapphire glow. 

"Fuck it!!!" he screamed, gritting his teeth, as he jumped straight out of the roof with his eyes locked in over the back of the beast right beneath him.