The Vision

Chaos. Violence. Destruction. Pain. That’s what the world would become. Sadly, I didn’t know it yet. My name is Knight. I’m a three year old black German shepherd. This is the story of what happened to me and my brother, December.

Bang. Bang. My eyes flung open to the sound of something loud and unclear in the distance. “Stay back!” I heard someone shout from close by. I look around me, taking in my surroundings. I was home, December awake by my side. I got up and stretched my legs from a night of sleeping. I was in my owner’s bedroom, but she was nowhere to be seen. Looking out the window I could see the day was just breaking. Bang. Bang. I heard the noise again. 

“December, what’s going on?” I asked in a confused tone. 

“I’m not sure, but we better go check it out.” December was on his feet, slowly pushing open the door that led to the hallway. I was right behind him, my nose in the air trying to get a scent as to what was going on. I couldn’t detect anything unusual, except maybe the faint scent of something rotten. 

December and I continued down the hallway, passing the bathroom and the second bedroom. Slowly, and with caution, we started down the stairs. Once we hit the first floor I looked over to my right. 

“December,” I whispered, “the back door is open.” 

“Knight, that’s not our only problem,” he whispered back. I turned to look in his direction and saw blood. Covering the white front door were bloody hand prints, some whole and some smeared. I let out a low whine of fear. “Be careful,” December told me in a hushed tone. 

Slowly, ears down, my brother crept forward toward the living room. I glanced back at the sliding door that led to the rear of the house. Movement. Something was moving in the backyard, but just as soon as it had entered my vision it was gone. 

“December, I saw something out back.” I whimpered. But, as I turned around again to look at my brother, I noticed he had his eyes on something. As quiet as I could, staying low to the ground, I sneaked over to where he was. That’s when I saw it. Horror consumed me as I watched another human hunch over my owner and start to devour her insides. 

“Knight,” December said in a firm, yet quiet voice, “back away, slowly.” One paw behind the other I started to move back. That’s when I felt the cold, dead, rotten fingers grip my spine. I let out a frightened yelp and quickly spun around. Standing before me was a man. His jaw was ripped off of one side of his face, his clothes were shredded, and his intestines hung out of a hole from his stomach. His skin had turned gray and his eyes were an empty void. There was no life in what used to be a human. 

My ears pricked at the sound of footsteps from the other room. “December, we have to go!” I barked. From the corner of my vision I saw the same person who was eating my owner enter the kitchen that we were standing in. “Follow me!” I yapped. I thrust forward in a run, dodging the swinging arm of the undead human in front of me. Slipping behind him, I ran out the back door onto the deck. Swiftly I jumped down the short staircase into the backyard. There lay a dead rabbit with its stomach ripped out. 

“We have to jump the fence,” I hear December grunt. Good, he’s still with me. I thought to myself. I searched for the lowest spot on the chain link fence to jump. Behind me I heard a growl from the thing that stood with me in the kitchen. I glanced back to see it standing on the deck, hobbling its way down the stairs. Next thing I heard was December’s claws and the rattle of the fencing. 

Focus, Knight. I told myself. I ran to where December had jumped and I did the same. Leaping up, my front paws smacked the top of the fence and I boosted myself over with my hind legs. December and I now stood between our house and the one behind it. “Where do we go now?” I asked, my voice quivering. 

December paused for a moment, collecting himself. After a deep breath he said, “There has to be an explanation for this. Let’s go check the road.” I knew he was just as scared as I was, but he did a much better job at hiding it. With a quick, yet cautious pace we walked along the side of the house towards the main street. I stopped and glanced back to look at that vile creature. It watched us from the middle of the yard. Then, it burst forward in a sprint and slammed itself against the chain link. The fence rattled. Not the most intelligent. I thought. It didn’t try to get over, just kept trying to push through. 

“Knight! Get over here.” December said with a soft growl. I look back over at him and trot up next to where he stood. “Get down,” he snapped. Quickly I dropped into a prone position just as he was doing. On the asphalt road several people were walking around. They looked lost and distant. Bang. Bang. There was that sound. I looked to my left down the street. A grown man stood on his front porch holding some sort of black boomstick. 

“Get back! Get away from me, please!” he cried out.  “Please! I don’t want to hurt you!” Two humans were walking up his driveway. “If you come any closer I will shoot you!” he screamed. But they didn’t seem to acknowledge it. Bang. Bang. He fired the boomstick two more times. One human fell to the ground, but it got right back up. The other took a shot to the shoulder but kept on walking. 

I watched with terror as the humans approached the man, ripping into him like some sort of treat. My ears lay back and I cringed as his screams of agony ring out through the neighborhood. This place had so quickly turned to chaos. 

“We have to get out of here.” December said, fear in his voice. 

“Where do we go?” I asked, my mind began to panic. “We’ve never gone anywhere without our owner.” 

“I’m not sure, but we can’t stay here. I don’t know what’s going on but we have to move,” his voice turned firm. “Now.” He stood and  started sneaking along the front of our house. All the humans walking along the street seemed to be slowly making their way over to where the man had gone down. Once the last one passed, we broke into a run down the road. 

Ahead of us the path split. December slowed, debating which way to go. Vroom. My ears pricked up to the sound of a car engine. Coming at us at full speed was a large vehicle. With a blaring noise it started honking, telling us to get out of the way. December and I jump back as it went roaring past. December looked behind us. “They’re coming” he barked. Taking off at full speed December started chasing after the car. I looked back to see what he meant. The humans were running at us, the intent to kill written all over their faces. I sprinted forward following my brother. 

Those things aren’t human. Not anymore. I told myself. They are foul, and wicked. Evil and unnatural creatures. As we ran down the street, passing house after house, it was getting harder to breathe. My paw pads were getting sore from the harsh asphalt and from both sides of the road more of those foul beings were closing in on us. 

With my sides heaving, I had to slow down and stop. “December,” I wheezed, “I can’t keep going.” My brother slowed down, his tongue hanging out and panting. He turned and came back toward me. 

“You can’t stop,” he said winded. I could tell he wouldn’t be able to go much further either. Growling and screaming a person came running off their porch and down to the street with us. Their loud noise attracting others. 

My ears laid flat and I let out a snarl of defense. My tail tucked between my legs as I noticed all the other humans coming at us. I felt December’s fur brush against mine as he growled at something behind me. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. My adrenaline was through the roof. Fifteen humans had gathered around us. Elders, children, and everything in between. 

I take a deep breath and let out another growl. This is it. This is the end. I told myself. The human that stood before me roared and launched itself in my direction. I leapt to the side with a yelp. I’d never attacked a human before. I’d never attacked anything before. I was petrified, and my legs were locking up. 

December growled as one came close to him. I watched as he jumped on the human, grabbing its arm between his teeth and shaking. I felt another grab me from behind. It had a hold on my leg and sunk its teeth in deep. I let out a pained cry and spun around to bite back. I bit its arm just as December had done and started to shake my head back and forth. It released its hold on my hind paw and started clawing at my eyes. 

I let go and quickly stepped back only to bump into another that leaped on top of me. With a yelp and a whine I tried to get out from under it. But it was too late. It sunk its teeth into my shoulder blade, as a second one grappled another leg. I shook and wiggled trying desperately to get them off. 

I heard the screaming of my brother as he whined in pain. I looked at him and he was suffering the same fate as I was. With two on top of him and one at his throat, he could do nothing. I desperately attempted to shake them off again. The one on my back fell off with a grunt and with a quick nip to the face the other let go of my leg. I got to my feet which put pressure on my wounded leg and was immediately in searing pain. 

I watched as December’s head made a thud on the hard road. His eyes were glazed and lifeless. My heart stopped for a moment as I realized what just happened. Without a second thought I quickly made a run for it. Limping on my wounded leg and panting from exhaustion. 

I didn’t get far though. In a matter of moments they were back on me and this time I was too weak to struggle through it. Sinking their teeth into my flesh and ripping at my throat, I knew my time was over. I closed my eyes for the last time. 

“Knight. Knight, wake up!”

 I jump to my paws with a growl. Staring at me is my brother, December. 

“Woah, calm down,” he says in a gentle tone. 

I look around and I’m home again. It was all just a bad dream. 

“Are you alright?” he asks me. 

With a deep sigh of relief, I calmly tell him it was only a nightmare. 

He nuzzles my chin to comfort me.

 Bang. Bang. My ears prick. That can’t be the same sound. “December, what’s going on?” I ask in a confused tone. 

“I’m not sure,” he responds. He looks to the ground with his ears flat. “But we better go check it out.” 

That’s when it hit me. It wasn’t a dream. It was a vision.