Claws in the Dark | ✔

XXIV (Part II)

Note: The words in both italics and bold are are a translation from Spanish.

Also, Happy Halloween!

✫✫✫✫✫

"Aargh!"

Enrico growled. He drove through the streets of Grandville in search of his only son. There were no signs of life, although that was the idea the remaining survivors, whoever and wherever they were, had in mind.

"Where the hell are you, mi hijo? Please still be alive." His eyes searched the streets, all the alleys and other possible hiding places. But all the man saw were Clawdens feeding on the decaying corpses, some of them putting their feasting on hold to chase after Enrico's car. Some he managed to run over; others, he tried to shoot them, which was a wrong move because the noise attracted more of the fierce creatures.

It was the darkest hour of the early morning. Enrico's eyes were bloodshot and his agitation was showing in the way in brows creased on his forehead; however, he pushed on.

He pulled up to a street that had been littered with abandoned vehicles, and in the distance, further down the street, he could see Grandville PD's precinct where Antonio worked. Enrico surveyed the street and the surrounding environment of his vehicle. It looked like an easy feat from the car to the precinct, so he grabbed the shotgun in the back seat and slowly opened the truck door.

Enrico stepped out, eyes glancing everywhere, his breathing calm although he looked on edge. He closed in the door and proceeded to the sidewalk on his right. He remained low in the shadows and looked everywhere as he moved, just in case there were survivors or a stalking Clawden.

He'd reached halfway when something caught his eyes. There was a glint coming from the window of a building across the street. Enrico paused in his movements and examined it for a while from behind one of the abandoned cars. He smiled when he realized that there was someone standing there, smoking cigarette. There seemed to be someone else standing next to the person with the cigarette, so that meant there were survivors in the building.

Down below the window was an alleyway filled with restless Clawdens, growling at each other, grunting ferociously and scraping their claws against the walls of the buildings separated by the alley.

Enrico looked for something he could use to get the persons' attention without alerting the monsters in the alley. He saw a piece of shattered glass next to the car he was hiding behind and picked it up. The moon was still shining fully in all its glory, so he used that to his advantage. He held it at an angle that aimed at the two persons, ensuring that the light reflected from it. When he saw that light shone on the two persons and they glanced his way, it was an indication that his plan worked.

However, it worked all too well. There was a snarl that came from behind him, and turning around, he saw two of the beasts slowly approaching, their sharp, yellow teeth ready to sink into Enrico's skin, and their eyes like a void of nothingness and darkness. The man fired one shot, dropping one of the Clawdens right there, but the other still advanced towards him. He paled and turned to run away, just as a shout from across the street.