HATE TRAILS
1248 Words
I woke up before the mad scientist.
He was curled up like a cold street dog, his arms wrapped tight around himself. Even though I was still pissed at him, I sighed and tossed another blanket over him. He twitched, grabbed it, and covered himself without even waking up.
I smirked.
One thing about this guy—he was confusing. I couldn’t tell if he was middle-aged or older, if he was serious or insane, if he was the villain or the victim.
None of that mattered right now.
I carefully slipped out of the storeroom, making sure my movements were silent. The last thing I needed was for something—or someone—to be lurking in the pet shop with us.
I moved down the dark aisle, stepping over scattered pet food bags and broken glass. The place smelled like dust and stale air.
Then I saw it.
A huge shadow moved past the aisle ahead of me.
I froze.
That wasn’t a hunter tac.
This… was something new.
My breath caught.
One thing about these creatures—they kept evolving. And the worst part? We hadn’t even seen what was waiting for us on the other side of this war yet.
I backed up too fast.
I tripped.
Fell hard.
My palms scraped against the rough floor as my heart slammed in my chest.
And then I saw it clearly.
The thing stepped into the dim moonlight, revealing its grotesque form.
It was massive, bigger than any human—walking on all fours like a beast, but its front arms were long and thick with muscle.
It had spiky, red, thorn-like protrusions sticking out of its back. Its skin was dark and leathery, as if someone had sewn human flesh together in a lab experiment gone horribly wrong.
But its face—
Its face was something straight out of a nightmare.
It looked like an elephant’s skull—stripped of flesh, hollow and dead, with empty sockets where eyes should have been.
Except it wasn’t dead.
Because inside those sockets, two red pupils burned.
I knew for a fact this thing was made in a lab.
Hunter tacs couldn’t evolve like this.
This was something… worse.
I slowly crept toward the glass window, trying to study it from a safe distance.
Then it did something that made me blink.
It scratched its butt.
What a sight.
A huge, terrifying murder creature—scratching its ass like some random dog in the street.
I almost laughed.
Then it turned.
Right toward me.
Before I could even react, a hand grabbed my collar and yanked me backward.
I spun around, about to fight, but it was him.
The mad scientist.
He had a tight grip on me, his expression stiff.
“You scared me!” he hissed.
I glared. “You scared me!”
Then he scrunched his nose.
“Gosh,” he muttered. “Your morning breath is awful.”
I scowled. “What makes you think yours is any better?”
He smirked and pulled something from his pocket.
Mints.
I snatched them. “Thanks.”
We both turned back to the window—
And there it was.
Its elephant skull face was staring directly at us.
I held my breath.
Its red pupils locked onto mine, unblinking.
Then…
It moved.
Backwards.
Slowly.
Almost calculating.
I gulped.
“Okay,” I whispered. “This is the part where we…”
The creature charged.
The glass window shattered as it bashed through, sending shards flying toward us.
We ran.
But the shockwave from the impact sent us crashing onto the floor.
I hit my back hard.
Glass sliced my arm.
I groaned, scrambling to get up.
The creature wasn’t after both of us.
It was after me.
It lunged, its massive form crashing toward me like a living wrecking ball.
I barely dodged, rolling to the side. Its clawed hand slammed into the floor where I had been a second ago, leaving a deep crack in the tiles.
I stumbled backward, panting.
It came at me again.
I twisted, using the shelves to block its swings, but it was too fast.
Too strong.
It nearly sliced my shoulder open, missing by an inch.
I grabbed a rusty metal pipe from the ground and swung it at its skull-like face—
No effect.
It didn’t even flinch.
This thing was built for war.
I was dead.
Then—
A crackling sound.
The beast screamed.
Its muscles spasmed violently, its body jerking like it was being electrocuted.
I turned and saw the mad scientist standing behind it—
Taser in hand.
The beast fell to its knees, panting heavily, its red pupils twitching.
The scientist grabbed my arm and pulled me up.
“That was a close one,” he muttered.
I yanked my arm back, breathing hard.
I stared at the beast as it struggled to recover.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded. “What did you do?”
“I tased it,” he said.
“No,” I growled. “What did you do to create it?”
He paused.
“When are you ever going to see my efforts?” he asked, his voice quiet but firm.
I clenched my fists.
“So, you did create it.”
He looked away.
Anger boiled in my chest.
“All this time, after you destroyed our world, you’re still making monsters?” I yelled.
The creature growled.
The scientist’s jaw tightened.
“I am trying to create something that can stop the hunter tacs,” he said, his voice heavy. “I am trying.”
My hands shook.
“This whole thing of yours is killing me,” he admitted, his voice breaking. “I regret what I did every single day. I am trying to fix things.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Well, your regrets are s**t. Because people died.” My voice rose. “Kids died. People out there are killing each other! And now you expect me to believe you’re trying to fix things?”
The creature growled again.
The scientist exhaled shakily.
“His name is Isaac,” he said.
I flinched.
“What?”
“He can stop the hunter tacs. He has the potential. Can you please just give him a chance?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“I met you hours ago,” I spat. “I don’t know you. For all I know, you could be planning to turn me into one of those hunter tacs. Or worse—into that Moses creature of yours.”
“Isaac. His name is Isaac,” he repeated softly.
I shook my head.
“Oh well,” I muttered, stepping back. “I’m gone.”
He flinched.
I turned away.
“It was nice meeting you,” I said bitterly. “I can survive on my own anyway.”
I wiped my eyes before the tears could fall.
I looked back at him one last time.
“I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
He looked… shattered.
But he didn’t say anything.
Didn’t stop me.
So I walked away.
Then, at the last second, I spun around—
And punched him in the stomach.
He stumbled backward, gasping.
Isaac started charging at me, but I threw a hand up.
“Sit back.”
Isaac stopped.
Watched me.
The scientist clutched his stomach, coughing.
I gave him one last look.
He blinked.
I turned and walked away.
- Writer
