Inside the highest floor of the ruined apartment, the dim light barely revealed the grotesque figure crouched in a corner.
It was a humanoid creature with skin stretched taut as if it could barely contain the swollen flesh and pulsing muscles beneath it. He was tearing at his meal with slow motions.
On the ground before him lay the remains of a woman. Her once-beautiful face was still visible but pale and drained of all life. Her glassy eyes staring blankly into the void.
She had died hours ago after enduring the torment of being eaten alive. At first, she screamed until her voice broke. But blood loss had finally silenced her.
Now only half of her remained. Her right leg had been devoured up to the thigh and the monster was savoring the left one as if it were a very delicious food.
His jaws worked methodically. His lips pulling and squeezing as his long tongue slithered across her cold skin before his teeth tore into it with wet crunches.
His eyes were half clos, savoring every chew.
"Ahh… Vanessa," he muttered in a hoarse deep voice. "Finally, I can have you for myself."
The sound of his speech would have frozen the blood of anyone unlucky enough to listen to it. It wasn't just monstrous but carried intent, desire, and memory of a living human.
The sight of such a monster who devoured human flesh while speaking with clarity in human voice was beyond comprehension.
It was not a mindless monster but a man who still possessed his consciousness, but he chose to embrace his monstrosity.
That truth alone was enough to carve nightmares into anyone who witnessed it, haunting them for the rest of their lives.
He knew her. Once, long ago before the world had turned like this. He had lived across from her building. Every day he had watched her from his window.
Vanessa was a women with her radiant smile who were always beside her boyfriend.
He had loved her in silence, shackled by his own weakness. His low self-esteem keeping him from ever approaching her.
But when the apocalypse arrived and monsters flooded the city, everything changed. Power surged into him. Strength beyond imagining.
With that strange power came freedom from shame. So he had taken her, ripping her away from her boyfriend.
That coward had fled and leaving her behind! And now, she belonged to him and him only. Ha!
Even if she was gone, even if her beauty was ruined by death, he still devoured her with satisfaction. To him, this was his love that had been fulfilled.
In the cracked mirror at the side of the room, his reflection was horrifying. His jaws was too wide, his flesh bulging unevenly, veins crawling under thin skin.
He smirked at the sight. Ugly? Perhaps he was ugly. But now he was strong. Who dared call him ugly anymore?
His chewing slowed. The room fell silent but for the drip of blood pooling on the floor.
Then, he froze. His head turned toward the broken window. His eyes narrowing.
He felt A presence.
Someone was approaching.
"Hm… "Who is that?" he rumbled.
—
Myles, Victor, Nadine, and Kade crept closer to the ruined apartment complex, their bodies low as they crawled through the overgrown pavement and piles of rubble.
Every shadow made them pause and those broken windows seemed to watch them. Yet strangely, the streets were empty.
No monsters lurked here. It was too quiet.
None of them dared to even whisper, only exchanging wary glances and gestures. But the thought pressed into their minds the same way. The reason it's so silent is because something stronger is here.
The presence of a predator had emptied the surroundings, driving away the lesser creatures.
Instead of heading straight for the monster's lair, they circled to Victor's old apartment building nearby. He had once lived there with his girlfriend before the apocalypse. Now the windows were shattered, the stairwell cracked, and the whole place lay hollow and lifeless.
Only when they reached a spot hidden from the monster's direct line of sight did their tense breaths loosen enough to form words.
"What do you think?" Victor finally whispered, his knife still in his grip though his hand trembled.
Myles tilted his head toward the towering building across the street. His eyes narrowed, scanning the upper floors.
"He's in there. I can feel it. That thing is powerful. Even if we fight together, I doubt we can bring it down," Myles said.
Victor's brow furrowed. "So what's your plan?"
Myles paused, lips tightening as he thought. Then he spoke lowly, each word measured. "We need to see him first and watch him move. Learn his strength before making any move."
Nadine shifted uneasily. "How? He won't just walk out on his own."
Myles swallowed. . "I have an idea."
—
Inside the dim room, the monster's jaws still worked over the woman's mangled leg. Flesh tore with wet snaps, and blood smeared across his lips as his tongue slid lazily over bone.
Then a faint sound pricked at his ears. He heard a distant shuffle and chorus of guttural moans.
His chewing stopped.
He turned his head toward the window. A low growl rumbled from his throat as he rose from his crouch.
He stepped toward the light leaking through the cracks.
From above, he saw them.
Dozens of creatures moved across the street below, mutated humans and animals. They shuffled and crawled, their eyes glowing faintly in the shadows as they gathered at the base of his building.
The monster's lips curled, irritation flickering across his warped face.
"Pathetic scavengers…" he muttered.
With a wet greedy swallow he forced the rest of the leg down his throat in one gulp. The bones cracked audibly as they slid into him.
Then he strode to the window and shoved it wider
He placed one swollen hand on the crumbling balcony rail, leaned forward, and peered down at the horde beneath him.
Without hesitation, he leapt.
The balcony cracked under the force of his departure. He plunged from the top floor like a black mass of fury and landing amidst the horde with a loud crash.
The creatures recoiled at once, snarling and screeching, circling their new predator.
—