Jenny raced out of the store without thinking to catch her breath. She could hear the bear man charging after her like a bull.

She sprinted to the left turn into an alleyway across the empty parking lot near the grocery store. In the alley, she approached a dumpster. Dirt and mold were inside the dumpster, but it might be the only spot she could hide from the bear man.

When she opened the dumpster, a strong smell of dirt and dung hit her face. It smelled terrible, but she has no other choice. Either she gets into the dumpster, or she runs till the bear man gets her.

While holding her breath, she climbed into the dumpster and closed the lid. It was dark inside, but Jenny cracked open the lid to peek.

The big black bear man stopped in front of her and sniffed around. She covered her mouth with her eyes widened. If the bear man could smell her, he will find her inside the dumpster quickly. She can only pray the raw smell in the dumpster could shield her scent.

Another bear man approached him. He almost looked the same, except his fur was brown. He has three animal skull heads on his necklace, and a mohawk on his chubby head.

“Why are you sniffing around?” the brown bear asked.

They can talk?

Jenny wasn’t sure if they were mutated creatures or evolved animals after the impact. If they were animals, how did they learn to speak English? They sounded like humans with growling accents. So incredible and frightening at the same time.

The black bear man sniffed the ground. “I spotted a human! A female one in strange clothing! She ran through here!”

“Are you serious? We got to find her! Humans are rare in these parts!”

“Then help me look for her. I heard the female ones taste better. She shouldn’t be far.”

The brown bear man laughed. “I never let a good meal escape.”

After the bear men dashed off to the left end of the alley, Jenny slowly opened the lid and peeked around.

“What are they?” Jenny's question could wait later. She must get out of the alley before those bears find her.

She climbed out of the dumpster and dashed back to the street. She looked back to make sure those bears didn’t find her trail until she bumped into something soft and warm. Her face was close to a wall of brown colors with blonde stripes. It smelled like a wet, dirty dog who played in mud too long.

She looked up and gasped with her mouth wide open.

Standing before her was a tall grizzly bear man with dirty fur all over his chubby body. He wore a short black loincloth beneath his bulging stomach, and his necklace has beams instead of bones and skulls. He smiled at her with satisfaction and licked his chops. “My my my. What do we have here?”

Before his large hands reached for her, she dashed off like a rabbit. She won’t let any of those bears touch her.

She squeezed through two rows of cars, sucking her gut in.

“Hey boys!” the grizzly shouted from behind her. “I found a human girl! She is running over here!”

She stopped in the middle of the street to let herself catch her breath. When she looked back, the three bear men charged her.

She dashed without looking back. “Gotta run! Gotta run! Gotta run!”

A giant tree stood in front of her, but she sprinted into another alley. Through the alley, she kept running, until she stopped in front of a tall brick wall.

“Oh, no!” Jenny placed her hands on the wall and looked around.

Her heart stopped, noticing there was no other way out of the alley.

She was trapped!

From behind her, she heard laughter coming upon her. She gulped and turned around, facing the three approaching bears.

“You thought you could get away from us, human?” the grizzly bear man asked with a chuckle. “Your luck has run out.”

The black bear man chuckled next. “We will skin you alive and roast your body over a fire.”

The brown bear man licked his chops. “I can’t wait to taste your flesh.”

All three of the bear men laughed as they walked up toward her.

Jenny stood her back against the wall, shaking in fear. “I am so dead!”

The three bear men reached upon her until they heard a roar above them. They stopped and looked up.

Standing on top of the wall above Jenny was a lion man, wearing a loincloth. Both of his wrists have golden gauntlets, which matches the color of his bronze fur on his masculine muscles. He also has a necklace with fangs on it, and the wind blew through his bladed brown mane hair.

He pulled out a golden broadsword and jumped down. The lion then landed on the grizzly bear man and stabbed the bear’s chest.

The other two bears watched their companion fall dead to the ground, and they dashed away to retreat. But when they reached the end, two other beast people blocked them.

One of them was a tall, chubby rhino man with two muscular arms and he wore a short loincloth. The other was a young zebra woman in a light brown two-piece loincloth dress. Her white smooth body seemed to be very athletic while covered in black stripes. Her bladed hair has the same texture of her skin, and she carried a battle staff in her left hand.

“Going somewhere?” The zebra girl asked while she pointed her staff at the bears.

The bear men growled and charged. The rhino man punched his two big fists together and punched the second bear in his face.

The zebra girl leaped into the air, avoiding the other bear man’s charging attack. She landed on the bear and wrapped her long legs around his neck.

The black bear man reached for her legs and tried to pull them off while she choked. The zebra girl giggled and knocked the bear out by her staff. She jumped off him before his body hit the ground.

Jenny shook as the rhino man pounded the brown bear into the ground very hard. She closed her eyes and squatted with her hands on her face. “This is just a dream! This is just a dream! This is just a-”

“Um-hum! Are you alright?” a voice asked in a tone that sounded like Old English.

Jenny opened her eyes and looked up. The three beast warriors stood in front of her. So close to her, her head went dizzy.

“I can’t take this anymore...” Jenny closed her eyes and fell to the ground.