Day 8 - White Ashes

The atmosphere was solemn. Or at least, Cain has subconsciously blocked out every chaotic sound.

The only thing that could be heard was the frantic heaving of breath coming from him as he laid on the cold roof floor.

He questioned himself, 'Did I just kill someone? Yet again?'

He wondered if his parents had given him his name knowing his innate trait of killing. After all, he was a man with six body counts already.

Two years ago, he was the direct cause of the fire that burnt down five close friends. Two years later, he was the person behind the gun that killed the woman trying to help him.

'No! It was self-defence. She has become a monster out of nowhere. It was either me or her,' Cain struggled with himself.

His trail of thoughts was cut short when he felt his skin come in contact with something cold.

He looked up to see white ashes literally falling down. They resembled the seasonal snowflakes. The only distinction was that they didn't melt when they touched his skin.

"What is this? A new red sign," Cain tried to make sense of the abnormality.

It was then he became aware of the chaos in his surroundings. It was like a lock had been broken and he could now hear the terrifying screams going in the background.

He inched forward the rooftop's edges and spied on the chaos below.

"What the….."

He could see monsters, with a similar appearance to the dead lady, tearing apart anything in their similar both humans and items.

Only destruction and carnage remained on the streets, beautified by white ashes that fell like an angel's feather….gracefully.

'Is this it?' he thought to himself.

The end of all things. The foreseen judgement day. The day of death. The apocalypse!!

'Damn, what do I do? I was only lucky to have shot that monster. She didn't seem weird when she approached me. Will I turn too?'

Influenced by the scenes he saw, Cain's thoughts became chaotic.

He tripped and fell to his back as he hugged his body.

He entered a state of silence. His brain had short-circuited due to the massive number of questions he imposed on himself.

Five minutes later, he picked up his body and left the rooftop, heading to his apartment. He had decided to seclude himself there for as long as he could.

...

A week later…..

A young man was gazing from the window of his apartment. In his sight was a couple running carefully on the street.

They hid behind a car as they spotted a towering monster of more than seven feet(7ft) roam down the opposite side of the street.

A car dashed away, trying to get out of the crazy-filled town but to the driver's dismay, he alerted the monster.

As the driver kept trying to swerve from it's sight, another monster popped in front of them and smashed the bonnet of the car.

It and the other monster moved to throw the car around like it was a toy.

Meanwhile, the hiding couple used the opportunity to run away from the location.

However, they weren't successful. The female was wearing high heels which made the worst of noises.

In no time, a monster lunged at her and swatted her with enough force to break all her bones. She hit a traffic sign and bled to her death.

On the other end, the male abandoned all his worries and ran the fastest he could muster. He could not worry about making loud noises.

He screamed in despair as he heard the monsters chase him like prey. They were gaining in on him.

In less than a minute, one of the monsters threw the previously mentioned car, which bashed the head of the male.

The couple, dead!

.....

From his apartment, Reve sucked in a cold wisp of air.

This was not his first time seeing situations like this. Various people had tried to escape this street but it was to no avail.

The number of monsters was simply too much for them to overcome. Yet, many people still embarked on this perilous journey.

It was not that they were stupid. Quite contrary, they were smart and desperate.

The apocalypse had lasted one week now. Food supplies were thinning out. In another week, people would start dying from starvation.

Moreover, they could not hide all their lives in their home. If there was one thing that Cain knew, it was that no one was safe.

Anyone could become a monster and the deciding factor was still undefined.

Old...young….man...woman...adult...child…. He had seen all types of humans become the monster that terrorized the hearts of people.

On one occasion, a group of people were almost successful in escaping the streets. Before they could release a victorious smile, one of them turned into a monster and killed them all.

Watching this, Cain became more scared of himself. Luckily, he was all alone and wouldn't endanger anyone if he was to become a monster…..probably, certainly...ok maybe not.

He chuckled as he opened his fridge, "It seems I have no other option."

His fridge was almost empty. He only had enough food supplies for a day. How ironic?

His only option was to go outside and search for supplies. He shivered as he realized this.

He didn't have to be a genius to know that his probability of success was below fifty percent(50%).

Cain took a seat in his favourite chair as he brought a familiar book to his lap. Ever since the apocalypse had begun, he took a habit of jotting down details he observed about the apocalypse in general.

Cain flipped to his 'Monster' section.

[Monster(?????)]

He tagged it with questions marks as he had no idea what the monsters were.

[1. Those sh*t ain't zombies.]

This was one of the details that gave him hope yet still terrified him.

Up till now, he had not seen any monster with the ability of infection. To compensate for that, regular humans seemed to turn into them without any obvious signs.

Cain laughed as he bet most people had prepared for a zombie apocalypse.

[2. They have superhuman strength and condition]

To be able to smash a car, this feat was needed. Not only were they equipped with strength the world has not seen before, but they also had traits like superhuman speed, healing, immunity.

Cain found himself lucky to have made a headshot at the monster lady he met a week ago.

This proved the fact that they were still humans. They could be killed like humans.

[3. Hidden signs were notable before they transformed.]

Looking at this detail, Cain thought of the words the lady monster said to him, "I don't feel good."

This was before she spewed her innards in front of him.

Cain was not a doctor so he couldn't decipher other signs but basically, humans would display specific ailments before they turned.

[4. They are incarnates of destruction. They are very sensitive.]

If zombies' goal were to infect, these monsters only served one purpose; that is to spread carnage.

They were so hungry for destruction that they became sensitive to any possible target. The moment they heard a sound, they moved.

The moment they smelled a scent, they moved.

...

Cain closed his books as he tried to take a quick nap. He could only do that by listening to the records of sermons he took at the sketchy church; Church of Stars.

Even if he knew what the preacher spoke were always gibberish, they were soothing to a broken mind like his.

He had saved the records in his pocket mp3 and used earplugs to immerse himself in the words of the preacher.

In no time, he closed his eyes and slept.

When he woke up, it was morning.

He brushed his teeth and took a bath.

"The water and power is this working," sighed Cain.

Two minutes after, he left his bathroom and dressed in comfortable clothes.

"Pistol, check."

"Large knife, check."

"Bag, check."

"Matchbox, check."

He made sure not to carry heavy items. He was heading to the nearby mall.

Also, it would hinder his movement if he was too heavy.

"With that said, I need a plan. I can't just walk down the street," sighed Cain.