The perpetual grey remained unchanged in the Boston skies. Reflective of the repressive, dreary atmosphere that oozed from every pore of the beating heart of Massachusetts.

It was as if all sunshine and warmth evaporated. Leaving an unsettling feeling of heaviness that festered between the rows of gothic colonial-style buildings- only broken by jutting glass pillars that congealed in the city centre.

Shrouded beneath them, hurried pedestrians packed like sardines. Running across the cracked patchwork pavements lining the poorly maintained streets. The streets crisscrossing like capillaries, connecting the city in a tangle- their tarmac roads filled with traffic that ground forward at an agonising pace.

They screeched at the masses of pedestrians, indistinguishable from one another, that barred their path, their sounds echoing across the narrow townhouse lined streets. The streets converging the sounds into a crescendo of noise that blanketed the city in a haze.

Within the frenzy of human activity, stuck in a deadlock listening to the vitriolic cursing and ceaseless honking, a man called Levi Adams sat with weary stillness, tapping the table before him. His idle eyes staring through a bus window lost within his thoughts.

He hadn't called Maggie, he knew she wouldn't be happy that he'd not called her for two days, but she could be understanding. That was one of the things he loved about her. Though he found her an enigma most of the time, he knew deep down she had a rarely seen human kindness. Buried just beneath, bleeding into her fiery personality and playful jabs.

He had just finished a gruelling competition schedule, and she'd understand. Though her tact would only last so long, once he'd recovered, he had no doubt she'd drag it up and use it against him– but then again, she never was a saint.

Beams of sunlight broke his thoughts, his head turning upwards, noticing the parting clouds. The sunshine lit his face revealing his features from the bus's interior.

His visage on its own could be called princely under the midday rays, with lean facial muscles that highlighted his sharp facial contours. He had a prominent, slightly crooked nose, high cheeks, and a defined jawline. And Curly ink-black hair lay untamed on his head with curly whisps resting gently along his nape, strikingly apparent under the illustrious ambery-yellow sun. A stark contrast with his almost glowing electric blue eyes– which narrowed into sharp slits.

Soon he turned from the clouds overhead and towards the deadlocked vehicles and let out a sigh. Placing his head on the table, attempting to block out the noises of frustrated commuters.

However, his ears pricked, and he raised his head when he heard muffled cries and the sharp inhale taken by the driver. Causing Levi to knit his eyebrows for a moment before he rose to his feet.

Arriving at the driver, Levi looked through the windscreen. His calm eyes scanning the scene, noting a police cordon ahead near a car pile-up– with the police diverting traffic from the crash. Eventually, he noticed the flattened body of a woman getting dragged from the crash wreckage, the likely cause of the commotion. But they soon shrouded the woman in cloth, giving her some dignity in death.

His eyes moved towards a nearby unsteady man that grimaced, holding his shoulder. Who was watching with a pained gaze at the covered woman while being attended by paramedics– under the scrutinising eyes of nearby officers.

Not long passed before the man tottered, before losing his balance and hitting the concrete floor without resistance. He lay unconscious limp despite the ministrations of the paramedics, prompting the paramedics to clear the area and begin CPR.

Eliciting gasps from the spectators, who turned slightly pale at the man dying before them.

---

"Shit Daniel, he's completely unresponsive! Get the defib; we need to start his heart again," said the paramedic, mike, doing chest compressions on a man whose signs of life were draining from his face as time ticked on.

"One, two,"

"One, two,"

"One, two,"

"Daniel, where's that defib!" he shouted desperately. He could feel it. The familiar sense of dread he always felt when a patient's life was slipping between his fingers.

"Mike, it's here; attach the pads," said Daniel, handing the small defibrillator to Mike, who snatched the wires and placed the pads around the patient's heart.

"Pads attached. Ready. One, two, three, clear." the distinctive buzz of electricity sounded as the patient arched his back in convulsion before he thumped back onto the concrete again. Yet, still, there were no signs of life.

"Still unresponsive. Resume chest compressions," Mike shouted. "One, two, three."

But the man did not respond to the treatment. And as the minutes continued to tick by, it became evident the man was a lost cause. However, after the latest round of defibrillation, his eyes snapped open.

"Thank the lord. We brought him back," stated Mike in disbelief, after accepting over the last twenty minutes that the man would never breathe again.

"All right. Sir. My colleague is getting a stretcher to take you to the ambulance; we don't want you moving any more than you already have, lest you have another heart attack. So please remain calm and just lay still okay," his relief bleeding into his tone as a happy smile couldn't help but creep onto his face. After all, this is why he joined this job, to save lives and never to let families experience what he had as a child.

However, the patient didn't seem to comprehend a word he said. Instead, he turned his empty, hollow gaze towards him. But the paramedic had seen this before; it was the shock. It occurred in those who'd been dead, especially ones that'd been dead as long as this one had.

And raised his arm, grasping the patient's shoulder with a disarming smile, saying, "It's gonna be alright. You're gonna be alright. Just sit tight, and everything will be okay."

At this gesture, the man seemed to comprehend something in his cloudy blue eyes. And latched his hands onto the arm of the now confused smiling paramedic. Releasing a throaty snarl as he launched his head forward, his teeth tearing into Mike's shoulder.

The bite caused an audible crack as crimson liquid squirted from the wound. Blood pouring out in obscene amounts, painting Mike's uniform a dull red as he stared at the man biting his shoulder. Uncomprehending only until the pain hit him all in one go, causing him to release an ungodly howl.

"AAHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he thrashed against the patient, who seemed to grab onto him like a metal vice. Its incredible grip tearing flesh from his arm as it forced him onto his back, as it continued to tear flesh from his shoulder.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! GET HIM OFF ME!" Mike screamed, tears swelling in his eyes as he felt the unbearable sensation of flesh tearing from his body. Making his whole body feel as if doused in scalding water, his nerves screaming to him in agony as grimy yellow teeth continued to tear into his flesh.

As the teeth tore into his body, more blood continued to pour from Mike's body. A numbing feeling of weakness encompassing his body, as his broken knuckles that thrashed in desperation became heavier until Mike struggled even to lift his arms at all. His body held down without effort, his skin scratching against the concrete as his struggle started to become subdued.

Daniel heard Mike's screams, and when he turned to see, he became stunned still. His brain failed to comprehend the scene before his eyes.

However, his body was reacting, maybe on some instinctual level. The cold air bit into his face as he launched towards Mike. His leg reared forward, preparing to launch a kick towards the feral patient, who was attacking Mike with frantic aggression.

When the kick crashed into the patient, he careened onto the floor like a broken kite—hitting the road with a dull thud. Its jaws holding a torn piece of Mike's shoulder it had taken as its prize.

Daniel's action did not go unnoticed by the animalistic patient, who turned its bloody maw, hanging with human flesh, towards its aggressor. Its eyes conveyed an undisguised hostility as it unleashed a feral roar, which sprayed a mist of blood and flesh which splattered slightly across Daniel's face.

Causing him to recoil in a mixture of fear and disgust as the patient began to charge at him, completely ignoring Mike, who took pained breaths as his hand failed to stem the flow of blood.

The sheer speed caught Daniel off guard as he attempted to scramble away only to stumble and get clattered to the floor by the patient. His foot getting grabbed as he, disorientated, tried to recover from the impact. Allowing the patient to gain purchase on his leg and drive its teeth into his calf.

The recognisable, sickening sound of breaking bones resounded as the patient bit into Daniel's leg- causing him to release a shriek of agony. That soon turned into seething guttural roars of rage as he began slamming his foot, with all the power his blinding rage of self-preservation could muster, into the patients head.

His visage twisted into a mask of some manic demonic entity, his throat turning hoarse as he screamed with such wrathful intensity that his throat began flaying under the strain. As he ignored the sensation of contorting facial contours writhing beneath his merciless strikes.

Sickly dark blood slathering his boots, ejected from the patient whose face began to stop resembling anything remotely human, almost black, blood marring its visage. Oozing in a gelatinous manner from the fresh wounds caused by sharp fragments of bone penetrating its flesh. Its facial structures, completely disfigured under the rage infused percussion of kicks.

Yet its jaws remained relentlessly clamped onto the taut flesh of Daniel's calf, its eyes filled with an animalistic desire to devour, its intensity to continue ripping flesh almost equal to the rage Daniel felt himself. Allowing the deranged patient to weather further strikes to its head before the crack of teeth and piercing cries of agony could be heard.

The monster-like patient finally unlatched from Daniel's leg, allowing him to scamper away, dragging his leg. A gaping hole ripped through his calf, torn through his navy blue pant leg, where blood gushed profusely from the egregious wound—staining the slightly damp concrete of the road, causing the sickly sweet smell of copper to perforate the highway.

Daniels whimpered as he dragged himself away from the source of his pain, which lay chewing a globule of human flesh, between its jaw filled with jagged broken teeth that stabbed through its mouth. Before it turned and began to lap up the small amounts of blood on the concrete, as though oblivious to the ruinous state of its face and the pain that such wounds entailed.

But soon, its gaze was drawn back to Daniel. Its jaw hung menacingly open as a deep snarl emanated from its chest as it clambered onto its feet and began charging towards him. Daniels previous bravado gone as he saw the figure closing towards him once more.

"No. No. No. Please no! NOOOOOOO!" he screamed. Before he stopped for a moment hearing a voice that filled him with hope.

"Get on the floor now! If you don't comply, we'll open fire!" a police officer shouted towards the twisted visage soaked in blood that ran towards Daniel, who was half-stumbling, half-dragging himself away from its crazed grasp.

At the shout, the man stopped running, turning its haunting gaze away from the scampering paramedic. It drilled its airy eyes towards the officer, who shivered under its penetrating stare.

However, just as quickly as it stopped, it raced back into motion. A predatory snarl flashing towards the officer, who took a step backwards, who stopped when he heard the comforting sound of gunfire and joined the orchestra of gunshots.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!-" bullets rained down upon the patient. His sprinting body stopped mid-stride under the collision of forces before regathering his balance and moving forward, albeit slower, towards the paling officers.

"Fuck! Fuck! He ain't going down!" someone screamed, nobody knew who, but everyone felt the same. It was unnatural, and several officers had begun backing away from the infallible man who seemed impervious.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!-" bullets continued raining down. Most riddling into its chest, yet, the man continued moving forward undaunted. An almost taunting snarl on its mangled face as if savouring the palpable fear emanating from the terrified police officers.

"It's the devil run!" shouted one officer as he began to sprint away in panic. Eliciting a domino effect as several officers abandoned their comrades, as they saw the man continue to shamble forward through the hail fire of bullets, their weapons ineffective.

"Settle down. It ain't no devil. Keep firing!" Shouted a senior officer with authority as he stepped forward towards the man in a show of defiance. Reinvigorating the collapsing morale of the officers who settled somewhat under his lead and continued to fire on the shambling incarnation of the devil.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!-" yet every shot seemed to do nothing besides slow it down. The holes in its chest and limbs undeterred the creature as it continued to drag its damaged limbs. Unflinchingly, taking each shot, its warped expression of hunger never faltering.

It moved towards the firing line, pushing the officers back two steps for every step; it inched closer. Eventually, herding the officers back against the hoods of gridlocked vehicles, each step sounding like thunder in the officers' ears. Each step an omen of death as they felt their bodies press against the cold vehicular frames. Their composure crumbling, as they heard the onlookers panic behind them.

And the confidence that had inspired them and the morals that guided them thawed like snow in the morning sun. As it suddenly became each man for themselves. They were no longer officers of the law; they became just a group of people, each tapping into their instinct to survive.

Some broke down hopeless, praying to whatever god they could conceive, begging for salvation. Others sought comfort in their weapons as they continued firing their guns at the monster that shambled ever closer. And some just ran. Clambering between the cars, casting people aside as they struggled to get as far away as they could.

It was carnage; besides the two paramedics that were nursing injuries, the crazed man hadn't injured anyone else. Yet more and more injuries were racking up by the second.

People trampled underfoot in the frenzied dash to flee, caught in brawls that broke out spontaneously in the panic, hit by drivers that tried to force their vehicles away from between the deadlock. There was something incredibly human about it all.

Gone was the shallow facade of basic decency and humanity that united every colour and creed. Instead, all that remained were individuals, driven by a single-minded sense of self-preservation.

In the pandemonium and confusion, where the sound of gunshots and screams was everpresent, another victim finally fell to the jaws of death. His throat ripped out as he crumpled to the floor, his hands trying to stem the flow of blood that poured out in the gallons.

Immediately after, the creature's attention moved to another armed officer, once again on the hunt– content to let the man bleed out. By the time the next officer had fallen, those officers who remained to fight had begun to run, the hope in their eyes extinguished.

The last remaining officer, the one who'd rallied his men to continue the fight, fell to his knees as he heard the click of an empty chamber. He saw the monster dragging its bullet-riddled legs towards him and looked down in fearful resignation; he hadn't thought his death would be like this. He'd thought perhaps it might've been at the hands of some unscrupulous criminal, or maybe due to the inevitability of old age in the loving company of his wife and children, but like this...

"It really was the devil..." he whispered as he looked at his hands, the cacophony grating his ears; the cries of fear, the blaring sirens, the slow drag of feet, the methodical sound of walking and the sound of slicing flesh.

However, the death he expected never came. Instead, he saw the upper torso of the monster drop before him with a thud, its bisected upper half struggling despite lacking its lower half. Before a beautiful sword sliced the monsters head from its torso, making its torso also go limp-- its head continued to snap. Until finally, the blade plunged into its eye, causing the creature to stop moving altogether.

The officer looked up to see his saviour, only to see a boy barely older than his son. Who stared impassively at the corpse on the floor. His face contained a cold edge as he unlodged his gleaning red katana from the body of the still body of the monster.

The man flicked the blade, causing the blood on the weapon to spray in his direction, causing a splatter of blood to land on his face, making him flinch. His hand touching the splatter across his cheek, causing him to see dark red as he brought it back into view.

Looking up, he met the placid, unblinking, blue eyes of his saviour, who was now looking in his direction.

"Beautiful day for it, eh. Officer..." he spoke as he extended a hand towards him. Making him reach out to grab his calloused hands, which felt like sandpaper, as he robotically interrupted him.

"Officer Buchanon," getting a smile in response from the young man who hauled him to his feet before finishing.

"Officer Buchanon?" a distinctive southern twang in his voice as he placed his katana back within his sheath. "Names Levi."