#aerinchay

PERF

For the past few nights, he had deprived himself of sleep, not necessarily due to any personal experiences, or from the company of unwanted thoughts, but because there had been something peculiar about the city when night fell. Something was different. It was quieter, impossibly quieter. And the usual lights from offices that stayed awake for the night hours, had mostly shut off, leaving the buildings to melt into the rest of the darkness, aside from the few that were still completing their tasks. So he decided to step out during the evenings since this occurrence. But the first aspect he noted were the people wandering along the streets. What had soaked his interest wasn't where they were headed, but more upon how they were getting there.

Their frames were all folded awkwardly with their shoulders hunched over and their legs barely walking correctly in coordination. But their appearances portrayed human qualities, and other than their stances, their complexions appeared human enough. L.Joe remained situated at the corner of a convenient store, glancing out only briefly to study the figures. There was no evidence that stated they were anything else. 

At that moment, he noticed someone else among them. A woman, who he had seen before. At least once or twice. If he had to guess, he assumed she had the same instinct as him, and was curious about the outbreak of these "people" as well. Before he could continue to ponder on the thought, there was an eruption that occurred not too far from where he perched. The skeleton of a building towering a few acres down from the convenient store flexed as the remains of it came plunging into the ground. Flames surged from the cracks, and smoke began to devour the sky. L.Joe took the opportunity to advance towards the destruction site, masking his nose with his scarf to keep out the rancid fumes. After a few steps, a body had become visible past the flames. Two, to be exact. Adjusting his eyes a bit more to focus on the subjects, it became clear that they were far from normal. At least, the one that hinted signs of survival from the incident. From the back, he appeared to be a man, but L.Joe could not make out much more of a description than that due to the lack of light on the area, however, he could clearly see the man hovering over another body. And blood. Blood everywhere, slathered across the pavement, and painted all over the surviving man's shirt. 

L.Joe moved a bit to obtain a better view on the victims, but he immediately halted after one step. From there he had discovered exactly what had taken place. With the strange male's head turning to cast his hungry eyes on him, there was evidently spills of crimson trickling down the sides of his mouth, and the figure on the ground was missing much more than just blood, but his flesh as well.

Cannibalism.

The mere thought of the word processing through his head caused his body to stir a bit, but he immediately corrected himself. It couldn't be cannibalism.