Itsuki ran through the corpse-filled streets of Tokyo. His heart beated so fast Itsuki was sure it was trying to break free of his chest in a vain attempt to escape. But escape to where? The dying screams of people all around him as they were devoured, crushed underfoot, and shredded. No matter where he escaped too, his own screams would join them. All he could do was just run.
Still, his brain went into overdrive trying to figure a way out of this mess. Itsuki couldn't run forever. Already his legs seized up from the burning hurt of his fear-fuelled scramble. But what way was there? Wait for the military to show up? The police tried shooting a robe-clad thing with a cross nailed to its face. It shrugged off the bullets like it was made of iron before it chanted and… what chance did the military have against something like that?
Maybe he could hide in an alleyway or cafe and wait till the monsters move on? Those fiery hounds melted their way through concrete and gorged themselves on whoever was inside that Mcdonalds. And those things could probably smell him from a kilometer away!
Fuck, he didn't believe in a higher power, but he'd follow whatever if it meant he got out of this alive and well. It didn't matter if it was evil incarnate, Itsuki just wanted to live through the New Year! All he could do was hop-
Howls tore through the air.
Itsuki's heart slammed against his chest, beating harder and harder as hungry panting drew ever closer. His frenzied instincts overrode all else, even his own mind. Itsuki spurred into a mad dash through the streets. He jumped and leaped over crashed vehicles, stumbled over corpses half-eaten or crushed into bloodied pulps, and blinded himself to incapacitated survivors reaching out to him for help. Itsuki never spared a glance to see the fate of such survivors. Their screams and the tearing of flesh were enough to tell him their end. But it brought him a few precious meters. He will survive this, he'll live no matter what!
Survival of self, above all else!
Karma disagreed.
Itsuki's foot caught on a piece of rubble. His own momentum sent him spiraling onto the asphalt. The pain ripped through him and knocked out his instincts. Itsuki laid dazed and stunned. He squeezed his eyes as they throbbed and his head felt like it was about to split open. His thoughts were scrambled from the pain. Not even the pitter-patter of paws drew him out of his stupor. Not until teeth dug into his legs and searing heat boiled his calves like hot water on flesh.
Instincts once more took control. He twisted and turned and thrashed to try and dislodge his legs from the biting grip of the hounds. His legs were shredded by the teeth. Strands of muscle and flesh plopped onto the ground, but any pain Itsuki felt was dulled by the rush of adrenaline through him. Itsuki continued to twist and turn and trash until his legs ripped themselves free from the hounds.
Itsuki tried to crawl away. Only to be stopped when a large, canine-like beast jumped in front of him. The asphalt sizzled underneath its paws and left prints in the street as it whirled around. Its hellish eyes glared down upon him, as to strike down any hope. The chest of the hound glowed a dark red with each deep breath it took, illuminating the blackened bones under its flayed skin. Its lips curled upward in a mockery of a smile. Blood-tinged saliva drooled down wicked fangs and its tongue licked its mouth clean in preparation of its next meal. All the while Itsuki could only face it with tears in his eyes.
So this was how he was going to die. Getting eaten by a pack of twisted dogs on the New Year's eve of all days. He closed his eyes and imagined himself in a place of peace before the end.
Yet the awaited death never came. Instead, a normal bark reached his ears. Not that deep, reverberating parody of a bark these hounds screamed upon sighting prey, but an actual bark from a real dog. Itsuki opened his eyes to see the beast in front of him was backpedaling away from an Australian Shepherd. The hounds behind him growled yet whimpered between each growl as if they were trying to muster the courage to face a creature greater than them.
B-but it was a normal Aussie. Yeah, the dog was sitting with a wide smile like nothing was wrong, but what did the hounds have to fear? The beasts could withstand bullets, shrug off hits from clubs and swords, and laughed at any attempts to set them on fire. So what made this dog frightening?
The Australian Shepard lifted a paw and took a swipe at the beast in front of Itsuki. And its head fell onto the ground. It took a moment for the beast's body to crumble down. The dog cocked its head to a side, still smiling. Then, it spoke with one word that commanded fear and respect.
"Bark."
Such a word sent the surviving hounds running.
Itsuki opened and shut his mouth several times. He tried to process what just happened. What appears to be a normal dog had just sliced off the head of a seemingly unkillable beast and sent the other hounds running. How? What was this thing? Was the dog another one of these beasts looking for an easy meal? Fuck, to die like this. At least he could take solace in the fact the hounds were killable.
The dog lifted itself off the ground and Itsuki was about to shut his eyes once more when it… plopped itself down before him. The Aussie looked at him with its big, adorable eyes as if begging for petting and attention. Once more, Itsuki was so utterly baffled and confused, he forgot about his burning ache in his legs. Itsuki and the dog looked at each other while the screams of the dying began to die down and the light of the morning broke through the dark skies.
It took a while for Itsuki to break himself out of his confusion and remembered the pain he was in earlier. The sheer heat must've burnt his nerves in his legs. The Aussie wasn't giving any signs of aggression so Itsuki gambled that it wouldn't do anything else while he rolled himself over to see how damaged his legs truly were. And the sight made him sick to his stomach.
They couldn't even be called legs anymore. Muscles were either torn into shreds, fused together, or both. His bones were cracked and splintered. Blood dripped and pooled around his thighs while only dark stains remained around the calves. Itsuki was supposed to be dead, he'd seen such injuries as a surgeon. People don't survive this for long given the blood loss. Was some higher power torturing him for fun or setting him up for a punchline?
"Bark." Barked the dog as it trotted over to his legs. It looked over the mess that was Itsuki's legs and his chest began to convulse. The dog's head went up and down as if it was trying to make itself throw up… no, wait, it seriously wasn't about to do that, right?!
The Aussie then proceeded to vomit on Itsuki's legs.
Itsuki's eyes twitched as he watched that damned dog plop itself back down on its stomach and gave him a smug look. It wasn't enough for monsters to appear and begin slaughtering people on New Year's eve, it wasn't enough that his legs were chewed up, but he had to be vomited upon by a dog. Just why.
Then Itsuki's legs began healing themselves as the supposed vomit evaporated till they looked as good as new.
Itsuki gave a chuckle. He chuckled before it devolved into a maddened laugh at the sheer absurdity of what was happening. The Aussie whined for attention and Itsuki scratched it behind the ear to which the dog happily smiled. Because frankly, what else was there for him to do? This whole thing was absurd as might as well do the logical thing and pet the Australian Shepherd.
So the dog was put down. It was agreed upon by the family that it was better to spare him the pain since his condition wasn't getting better. Whole situation is absurd given how empty the house feels without him. And, well, this story is my way of putting emotion on paper. I suppose I'll be writing more often now.
So goodbye you glorious bastard, may you chew on the bones of the Grim Reaper.
