Days That Once Shined

Cold Dread

(Disclaimer these chapters are meant to be short but give characters you wouldn't have even thought of a story)

Feburary 11th 2039 Alton Bay State Forest

A police cruiser drives through the busy road as two police officers talk to one another before they stop at the parking lot for the Alton Bay State Forest.

Officer:"Hey John, what do you plan to do when you're off duty tomorrow? I plan on staying home, kicking my legs up, and relaxing while sipping on a cold drink and watching TV."

John:"Well Bailiff I plan to go fishing with my kid, spend time with my wife, maybe go swimming, and overall just enjoy my life with my family."

Bailiff:"Man, I envy you for having a family while I've got nothing to go off of, but at least I have plenty of free time to myself. I still remember seeing you with the most baggy eyes possible when you first had your kid."

John:"Okay, sure, it was bad at the start I could barely get any sleep with the whining, but that feeling of being a proud father and seeing your child grow up never goes away. Hey, you may not have a lover or a family, but you've got me and the rest of the force as your friends."

Bailif:"I guess you aren't wrong about that anyway. The deal with why we're here is because we've gotten multiple cases of people missing, so they closed this place down. I don't know why, but it feels unsettling seeing the place like this."

John:"Tell me about it. I came here a few times with my kid it's nice during the summer, but let's get this over it's the middle of the night and it's still freezing from the winter."

They both began to walk through the forest, flashlights raised as the snow crunched underneath their boots. They looked around with their flashlights as they moved deeper into the forest until a long howl echoed through the air, which caused them to stop.

Bailif:"A howl could mean one of the missing people is nearby. Come on, John!"

John:"Hold on, Bailif, don't you think something's off? A howl while we're in the middle of the forest at night? When the place has been off limits and you think a missing person would only start to howl now?"

Bailif:"Maybe they were unconscious. Come on, let's go already!"

John:"Bailif, wait and think, damn it!"

Bailif started to run towards the source of the howl, with John chasing after him and slowly losing him through all the snow and fog as he started to slowly tire out from all the running.

John:"Bailif! Bailif where the fuck are you!"

The once silent air in the forest was disrupted with a scream of terror and gunshots, along with yelling, before screams of agony were heard as John drew out his pistol and ran towards the screams. with adrenaline flowing through his body and his thoughts going rampant as he gets closer and closer to the screaming before the noise gets cut off and John comes across what remains of Bailiff as an unknown anthro began to feast on his friend's corpse. He immediately aimed and mag dumped the creature, with its howls of pain echoing throughout the forest as it turned around to John before he reloaded and shot more rounds into its chest before it fell, and he ran over to the now deceased Bailiff with his chest violently torn open and an arm ripped off.

"Bailif I'm so sorry..."

He crouched down next to his dead friend and pulled out his radio. He radioed back to the Department.

John [R]:"I've got a 10-34 on Alton Bay State Forest! Requesting more officers immediately. The suspect has been killed, but officer Bailif is dead. The crazy fucker tore open his chest and began to eat him!"

ASPD:"10-5 Sending additional units to your location standby."

John [R]:"Copy that I'll be waiting here."

His heart rate started to slowly go down as he took a deep breath and looked around before reloading his Glock. He heard multiple howls as his eyes widened with dread.

John:"No fuck! There can't be more of these guys! I need to get back to the car. I'm sorry, Bailif. I hope you can forgive me up there!"

He stood up, and he could feel his adrenaline skyrocketing as he followed his previous footsteps through the snow, running as fast as he could towards his patrol car. As he could see outside of the forest, he suddenly got tackled into a tree. Feeling the sharp pain, he groans and drops his pistol before he gets pinned down to the snowy ground. He looks up only to be met with an Anthro," their mouth and body stained with blood. As they tried to bite down on John, he used his legs to kick it off before grabbing his pistol and starting to unload on the creature until one bullet hit its head, causing it to collapse onto the snow, slowly turning it red as blood escapes its body before he slowly stood up, a sharp pain in his back as he yelled in agony. Before looking down in shock and seeing a blade impaled in his chest, he felt colder and felt himself getting weaker. The blade was pulling out of his chest, and he collapsed to the ground, soaking the snow with his blood as he used whatever strength he had to use his hands to pull himself up from the ground before he felt himself get lifted up to meet with the crimson eyes of one of those "Anthros" before it grabbed his neck as he gasped, struggling for air with his fleeting strength before his throat was violently torn out before he was dropped back onto the ground, looking up at the sky as he placed his hands at his throat in a final desperate attempt to stay alive. gurgling and choking on his own blood before he bled out. The last thing he could see was the moon, and the last thing he could think of was his family as tears flowed down his cheeks before he lost all sensation in his body as his eyes slowly went lifeless starting the chain reaction for the others.