Chapter 2

A pair of bright-blue eyes blinked open, slowly taking in the scenery before the figure. A small black nose sniffed the air, causing a large whiff of dust to drift into the nostrils of the nose's owner. A short white muzzle puffed out the same whiff of dust, causing the figure – a young blue-furred Akita puppy – to sneeze. A collar wrapped around his neck, revealing the young dog's name – Weed #9.

"What is going on?" he muttered to himself, looking at the broken metallic equipment. The large chicken-wired cages were split open, like a banana peel in three different sections. The tiled metallic floor – which was once clean – was now stained with long-dried blood. Pawprints trailed and littered the floor, as Weed saw that the trail of bloodied pawprints lead out an already broken window.

"I'll just have to investigate this," Weed announced to himself, leaping from the floor of the lab and towards the window. His tiny paws barely reached the window sill, but finally with the right spring of his hind legs, he hurled himself out of the broken-in lab and easily landed on all four of his paws.

Exhaling, Weed's eyes turned around from the window and glanced upwards, only to come to a horrific sight. Every building that once had been a lovely and beautiful home was now a splintered piece of wood. The grass that had once littered everywhere on the ground had all but turned to ashes. The wonderfully blue sky had faded from its wonderful hue towards a disgusting grey color, making no help in seeing where he was going.

"Hello!" Weed howled impulsively, wanting nothing more than to hear another's voice – dog or human. Even a warning growl would've been like music to his ears in this dead silence.

As if his prayers have been answered, a low growl came from his far right. "Hey, you!" Weed turned around to see a red Kai-Ken, whose eyes were filled with angry curiosity. "Would you please shut up? Do you want that monster to hear us?"

"Monster?" Weed asked, rather curiously. "Is he the one who did–" He looked around at the ruins that surrounded him "–all of this?"

"Yes," the Kai-Ken snarled, "and killed our human friend." His features eventually calmed down as the Kai-Ken realized he was talking to a puppy. "I'm Akatora #2." He sat down on his haunches and allowed Weed to see the Kai-Ken's name embedded into the collar. He finally saw Weed's own collar and smiled slightly, "Weed #9, huh? I guess you're one of us then."

"One of us?" Weed asked, forgetting to keep his voice down. "You mean there's more of you?"

"Shut it," Akatora snapped, looking around him and the Akita-puppy. His brown eyes shone with calmness and friendliness as he whispered, "If you want to survive, you're going to have to follow me, alright? And keep your head low."

"Alright," Weed agreed, finally doing as the Kai-Ken instructed. His body was crouched so low that he could've been invisible to anything below him, as he was literally smaller than any ruined building, street sign, or even broken down traffic light.

For a few minutes, the Akita puppy was doing well, having not made a single sound. There was no wind, so their scent wouldn't have been able to drift in any direction. Not a single bird was around, warning every living thing with a chirping sound that would've given away their position. It would seem like all was according to plan.

However, as Weed came across a bit of broken glass, his right front paw carefully stepped over the flat surface, but then slipped. A tiny shard broke off of the flat edge and easily splintered his small paw, causing him to whimper with pain. "Ouch!" he yelped, causing Akatora to spin his head around with anger.

"What did I say, you fool?" Akatora hissed, glaring down at the Akita's paw. "Lift your paw now!" However, as soon as Weed had done such a thing, Akatora felt the scruff of his neck get picked up by two enormous black-lipped jaws. Lifting Akatora off of the ground with ease was the monstrosity Kaibutsu!

The genetically mutated German Shepherd was more than twelve feet long and eighteen-feet in height. He had the black lips, eye markings, and back of a German Shepherd, but also gained some odd yet menacing additional features. His entire neck was covered in thick and extremely long mane, like a lion's. His entire left front leg and left side of his chest were literally skinless, revealing every single vein, artery, and muscle strand in his exposed skin. Chains protruded from the monster's hips, adding onto his frightening appearance.

Weed, having never seen anything like this before, shivered absolute horror. Being new to this already dying world was more than spine-tingling enough. But this monster gave him a brand-new sense of utter terror, as he was literally frozen in place.

"Weed!" Akatora shouted. "Run! Get out of here!" When Weed didn't respond, Akatora snarled to himself and – using all of his muscles – twisted his body so that his belly was in Kaibutsu's mouth.

"What?" Kaibutsu mocked. "You want your belly ripped open? I can do that for you, you idiot Kai-dog!"

"Not likely," Akatora snarled, aiming a mouthful of fangs at the monster's own snout. As soon as he bit down hard, Kaibutsu released the Kai-dog in pain, causing him to fall to the ground. Having staggered to his feet, Akatora barked to Weed, "Run, you fool! Do you want to die too?"

Weed's mind instantly burned with recovery and his instantly used his legs to flee from all sight. Finally found a place where he could witness the fight, he watched in helpless horror as Akatora dueled with the monstrosity viciously biting into his exposed skin and flesh. However, he was exposed as Kaibutsu grabbed the Kai-dog in his jaws and easily ripped him right off of his chest, causing Akatora to shred a large chunk of flesh out of Kaibutsu.

The genetically mutated German Shepherd howled in great agony and eventually staggered, allowing Akatora to yell at Weed. "Go, Weed! Find the others! They'll avenge me! You must get to the remaining dog resistance at once! Go! NOW!"

"Your friend might be able to find resistance," Kaibutsu licked his fangs, "but you – and you alone – are no match for my extreme power!" He sneered, his jaws still bearing grasp on Akatora. "Go ahead. Allow your friend to escape. Let him bring his friends. You will all fall before my might." Without another word, the monstrous Shepherd bounded away with Akatora held captive in his massive mouth.

Weed, having seen more than enough, gaped in utter shock by what he'd witnessed with his own eyes. A Kai-Ken, whom he'd barely met, sacrificed his own life in order to save the young Akita. A dog with extreme bravery, completely unmatched by any other dog he'd seen. However, the utter bewilderment left Weed dazed and confused as he finally collapsed to the ground, unaware of the new shadow creeping above him.

What do you think so far? Kicking off already, right? Should I continue?