25 Hour Watch

David lowered his gun slightly, bringing his fist to his abdomen. He spat blood and propped a hand against the white painted brick wall. He panted, fueled by fear. He turned again to the far end of the hall. The creature met his gaze with its now yellow eyes, turned and left. Several others called to it in the distance.

The animal with a chain now around it’s neck began to call. It’s cry echoing around the room, bouncing from locker to locker. The two in the cage began to echo their brother’s cry, static fur clinging to the metal bars of their now emptier cage.

It was a smell, a feeling, that alerted Frank. Something was off. The smell of blood and decay, a tinge of saliva and feces. The fog shifted forward, revealing bones. Most were gnawed clean, some broken for the marrow. There were piles, Frank guessed just under a hundred, mostly animals. Most, but not all.

David turned, processing the sentence sitting in the front seat with them. He stared at the open window of the Gibbson’s house. “Lovely.”