Poison City [PAUSED]

Chapter 1

It was a cold night for mid March. It seemed to Fumiko that as soon as the metro entered the San'ja district, now known as the "Poison City", not only did the smell of cherry blossoms disappeared, but the temperature seemed to drop with every passing minute. The overground metro was approaching the stop that Fumiko absolutely hated and feared. Her parents would always tell her how that stop was always a bit spooky, even before the big pandemic, and that even though it was closer for her to get home from that station, she should wait and leave on the next one.

Only one dimmed street lamp was working close to the stop, but the darkness under the overpass where the stop really was, was pitch black. The wood patch of dead trees that was surrounding the train tracks and the overpass was making the whole scene look even scarier. Fumiko felt the chills run down her spine, as she could sense the wild eyes looking at her from the dead trees. Everyone knew that the stray dogs, who were infected by the pandemic, lived there and yet there were still some people who were risking it and would leave the train on that stop. Sometimes nothing would happen to them, but there were a few occasions when Fumiko witnessed dogs attacking and without failure killing people who decided to leave on the stop "Under the Overpass", which was known as the "Ghost Stop" by the locals.

This was the first time that Fumiko was this late and completely alone on the train at this stop. The metro drivers were computers, so she was truly the only person there. The metro stopped and the doors opened. Light from the metro illuminated the stop, and now it was clear that the predatory eyes of the dogs were scanning the train window. Fumiko tried to stay calm and kept telling herself that the metro will leave soon and there will be nothing to worry about. However, the soft buzzing of the train stopped and the safety lights turned on. The street lamp in the distance went off. The power was gone and the doors were stuck open. The now terrified girl slowly walked toward the once drivers cabin in an attempt to hide in there until the power came back on and the doors closed. She tried opening the door of the cabin, but it was locked, and the little display on the door said "please step back from the driver". The trains that went to the Poison City were the older ones and the safety door for the drivers were still working, as if there was still a person inside that had to be protected in case the passengers started acting violent.

The panic kicked in and Fumiko's heart started pumping harder and louder. She was afraid even more that the dogs will sense her fear and decided to come in and attack her, and that would surely be the end of her. With slow, yet deft movements, the dogs came closer to the train. Five of them entered the cart and started growling and walking towards her. She felt her legs give up under her and she slid down to the ground as the alfa dog came close to her face. Fumiko realized only then that they looked more like starved wolves with some of them having patches of fur missing. Their eyes were completely red and bewildered. They looked more like tortured demon beasts than dogs. When the alfa opened his jaws and the smell of blood, poison and death hit Fumiko, she closed her eyes and started to scream in hopes of someone saving her.

Suddenly a loud thud came, followed by dogs squealing. Then swift sounds of blade moving through the air and cutting through flesh and bone, and finally the sound of blood splattering everywhere and the bodies dropping on the floor.

"You can open your eyes now", came a soothing deep female voice, muffed by something, "or don't, if you have hemophobia."

Fumiko's eyes went wide open to a scene of a massacre. The beast-like dogs were beheaded, blood was splattered everywhere and a tall, clearly feminine, figure with a hood and a kitsune mask on was holding a katana. Fumiko looked down and saw blood on her school uniform and on the back of her hands, which were covering her face until then. Suddenly she felt nauseous from the whole scene and the smell of death and blood.