The creature crawled forward, and then stood up on two legs.
The best way to describe it would be an almost humanoid figure. But for some insane reason, its skull didn't seem to be made of bone, and the most disturbing part of it was that it had no skin. Absolutely none at all.
It had a strange jaw, and its teeth were bloody, with what, Josh didn't want to know. It was missing one of its arms, and Josh noticed a continuous gush of blood spurting from the crass wound at its stump.
*What the hell is that thing!?!?*
Only one thought entered Josh's mind as he stared at the horror show. This creature should not exist, and if it should, it needed to be wiped off the face of the earth. Something like that shouldn't be allowed existence.
Josh immediately guessed that the entirety of the destruction of the city was because of this thing. No. Maybe there was more? He was lucky to have not encountered any on his way here. He still didn't know why the fires were lit, but he harbored a guess as to why he had been unable to find any bodies.
He just prayed he was wrong.
The hellish creature lurched toward the screaming girl and picked her up. Its hands were strangely nimble and agile, despite their large appearance. So it easily grabbed her by the back of her shirt.
"Help me!!! Do something!!! Save me please!!!"
Josh stood frozen in his tracks. A monstrosity the size of a small building, and a woman screaming for him to save her. But what could he do? Try to be a hero? What was a hero? Was he a hero? A good person? Were those two one and the same?
*Someone who helps or saves others simply because it's what should or must be done? Because it's the right thing to do? Haven't I heard that from somewhere? Would Ash or Audrey help her? I... I...*
"I...I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
A pitiful apology escaped from his throat.
He couldn't do it.
He wouldn't do it.
Putting his own life in danger when there was virtually no chance at success was a stupid thing to do. It was an act of suicide. He had a feeling Ash and Audrey would've helped her, even if it killed them. But Ash and Audrey were good people. But maybe people who were naturally kind were also stupid.
Choosing to be kind, acknowledgement of the fact that there's always another way and it's okay to take it... wasn't that being a good person as well? Is inherent goodness what makes you good? Or was choosing to be kind better? Maybe he was really just a selfish kid who valued himself too much. Either way, he would not help this woman. Not if it meant he had to die.
"Please don't leave me here to—!"
The woman's words were cut off when the creature put it's disgusting, disfigured jaws around her head, and slowly squeezed until her skull burst. Blood dripped down her body, the creature's mouth, and the creature's hand. One of her eyes had popped out, and Josh would've seen it hit the ground if he had been looking at all.
He heard the squishing and cracking noises of organs and bones being crushed, but he didn't see it.
Josh was running away as fast as he could.
*Shit! Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit!!!*
The one thing he could do for that woman was to survive. It was a childish way to look at it, considering she wouldn't have wanted him to survive anyway, and would've traded his life for hers, but he needed a form of reassurance no matter how childish it could be.
*I can not die.*
As he ran, he passed several different buildings, and looking closer, he could see large puddles of blood and burnt, dismembered limbs.
*Did they ALL die?! Is the entire town dead!? How the hell am I supposed to survive?! I don't want to die here!!!*
After five minutes of running he found an alleyway shielded by brick walls to rest at. Dying here would be aggravating, and also painful. Josh reached into his pocket and rubbed the stone he had picked up earlier.
How would he get out of this? How could he get out of this? Was it possible to run out of the city? If so, who's to say there was another one close by? Maybe he'd just be stuck wandering around till that thing found him. Or maybe... something worse. And where the hell was he?
That thing had been incredibly fast, so running away from it wouldn't be an option. His only opportunity to survive would be if he avoided getting spotted, and if there were more, then he was ultimately screwed.
This whole journey so far had been way too fast paced for him. He needed some way to slow it down and think of a way out, but alas, humans weren't granted the ability to slow things down or even obtain a second chance.
He needed to think of a solution, and he needed to think of it soon.
*That thing was already bleeding, so it's possible that if I sit here and wait for about a day, it'll die from blood loss.*
*I also can book it. After all, if there's no town close by, I'm wasting my time. Dying from starvation or thirst would be such a stupid way to go out if I really did wait for it to bleed out.*
*It's really not safe to assume that there aren't more of that thing, but the fact that I didn't encounter any on the way there is definitely a good thing.*
*Out of the two options I have...which one sounds the best?*
*I need to—*
SCREECH
In the midst of Josh's strategic session, an ear piercing call barraged his ears from above.
*Agh!!! There's no way...from earlier? Were those things actually—?*
The blotches of darkness that had been covering the sky earlier? The ones he had dismissed as nonsense and hallucinations? Were those well and truly eldritch horrors as well?
Bang!
Slamming into the ground in front of him, crowded by the surrounding walls, was a large bird, about six feet tall.
The creature had glowing green eyes, with a purple center in each. Its wings weren't made of flesh at least, but its feathers looked as sharp as knives.
It had talons at least the size of his shoes, and the beak looked like it could smash something like a blunt object and simultaneously pierce something like a sharp one as well.
As soon as the creature showed up, Josh wasted no time in picking himself up and dashing out onto the dirt. He knew better than to stick around and wait for it to do something.
It seemed that that was the correct choice as well, since the beast attempted to spread its wings at him in a threatening manner.
They crashed into the brick walls, and the creature flinched a bit, but only a bit. The wings smashed the bricks it connected with and then pulled back in. The bird shook its head and ruffled its feathers before giving chase to the scurrying prey.
Josh ran through the streets and booked it towards the town square. It might've sounded stupid to someone else, but his train of thought was that the bird would certainly catch him, so if he led it to the skinless giant, it may stir a conflict and give him a chance to escape.
As he hit the second to last turn, Josh stopped in his tracks. The skinless giant was standing a max of twenty feet in front of him and staring directly at him.