A Strange New World (Saiouma Post-Apocalyptic AU)

2

Shuichi let out a sound that resembled the hideous offspring of a banshee and a pelican getting strangled to death as it reached him in what seemed like seconds, knocking him to the ground effortlessly. For it's malnourished state, it was stronger than he was, driven by the desire to feed.

He scrambled backwards, staring up at it as it towered over him. A pure, gripping, primal fear raced through him, every inch of his body consumed with the feeling of terror. His only instinct was to keep going backwards. However, that particular plan didn't work out for long, as he soon felt his back hit a shelf.

It approached him rapidly, letting out a shrieking growl as it fell to all fours and scrambled towards him, wild and crazed.

He wanted to run, wanted to hide, wanted to do anything at all, but it was so close already. Trying to run might just result in it reaching it's arm out and grabbing him by the ankle. He didn't know exactly how intelligent it was, and he didn't want to find out. All he could do was try his best to fight back while it was this close, or at least delay its approach of him for long enough to get the hell out of that store.

He kicked it, as hard as he could, right in the torso. He supposed it must have been more forceful than he gave himself credit for, as a disgusting cracking noise echoed through the halls and it screamed and fell backwards. It didn't take a genius to understand that he had broken its ribs, most likely a good few of them.

That should do something, right...? He stumbled to his feet as fast as he could, watching the heaving pile of skin and bones on the ground as it whimpered and gasped pitifully. He almost felt sorry for what he had done, but he reminded himself that what he was looking at wasn't human. Not anymore, at least.

And that's when it stood up, disregarding any pain that came from its damaged ribcage, and started staggering towards him once more.

It walked with a slight limp indicating that he had hurt it. Other than that, the agression was there still, if not increased now. 

What in god's name? Terrified beyond belief, he took his chance and ran, bolting leftwards. He had no idea where he was going, as long as it was away. He wasn't sure he would be able to stomach doing more to cripple or even kill it. He was just a scared kid. He hadn't ended the life of anything for as long as he had lived, except some plants and a few bugs he had stepped on, and when he was younger even squishing ants under his toes made him feel bad. 

He assumed he had done enough so that it couldn't run very fast, and he could find cover far, far away from it and be done with the encounter. Although he didn't have his bag, he could figure something out, right?

Well, he was wrong.

Shuichi could hear it's rapid footsteps behind him and the regular shrieks it emmited as it gave chase. He knew there wasn't time to stop and look so he pumped his legs as fast as he could, trying to breathe to prolong his stamina that he knew wouldn't outlast that thing. After all, he had broke it's fucking ribs, but it still came for him full speed ahead. If that didn't say it'd pursue him for just as long as it pleased, he didn't know what did.

Out of impulse, he reached for an object on the ground, the closest thing he could find. It happened to be a can of corn, with a large dent on it's surface. That'll do. 

He spared a second to turn around and tried not to let the sight of that thing bolting towards him distract him, and swung his arm back and chucked it at it's face.

There was another cracking noise, this time conbined with that of a can thunking against a solid surface. It bounced off of it's face, revealing that it had caved in the entire front of it's head and left a can-shaped dent. It was effectively stopped, screaming in agony once again.