The Next Day

A knock on my office door startled me and I looked up to see Coby standing sheepishly, playing with his fingers almost as if he was nervous.

"Hey, Dara, I'm going outside again today and I was just wondering if you'd like to join me. Just for some company you know," his voice was quiet, very different to the Coby I knew.

"Why not one of the guys, they might be better company than me," I was confused why I was the first person Coby had come to, sure we had talked before but we weren't the closest of friends.

Looking behind him, Coby walked into my office and closed the door behind him, slowly he took a deep breath and spoke,"I'm scared of the outside world, I feel like if I ask one of the guys they'll think a coward. Please Dara, I'll feel better if I know someone's there."

In front of me stood a brave man who had the courage to tell me the truth and I knew I couldn't deny him help after he had told me something that I knew was difficult for him to admit. Nodding my head, we walked towards the front door making smalltalk but I could tell that he was nervous to go outside again.

"Why are you so scared of it?" I asked as we came towards the door, and he took a deep breath.

"I'm scared of the silence, there's just something creepy about it that doesn't sit well with me," I would never have guessed that Coby had any fears, let alone the fear of silence. He seemed like such a fearless person, a man made of iron.

The door opened and a cool draft entered the house, the air still smelt stale and the buildings still smouldered however there was something different about the landscape. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Coby walked out and I followed him quickly, not bothering to close the door behind me- we didn't need to, it wasn't like there was anyone who could break in.

Suddenly a faint noise cut through the air, coming from far away but the sound travelled through the air. It was a dog's bark. My heart skipped a beat as my body froze in fear, what was it? I told myself I was being crazy and I rubbed my eyes, telling myself that I was just sleep deprived. But as I looked over at Coby I knew that I wasn't just imagining things, I saw the look of fear in his eyes. A straight, cold fear.

The dog barked again, this time the noise was louder meaning that the animal was coming towards us. Everything was supposed to be dead, everything was supposed to have been burnt to ash.

I saw the animal before it barked again, I saw its small body ran quickly over the dry land. Its long ears were flying out as the wind rushed beneath them and at first I was led to believe it was just a normal dog. I was so wrong.

The dog came towards me at a heightening speed and it was then that I noticed what made this dog abnormal- its skin was transparent. I could see every vein, every organ, the blood that flowed through it, the pulsating heart that beat in its chest. The sight made vomit rise up my throat but I contained my disgust and instead knelt down to pet the dog that was now running round me in circles, its tongue lolling out rather adorably.

"Indigo would like that," Coby said to me and I looked up in confusion, it took me a few minutes to understand what he meant. Everyone knew that Indigo was obbessed with all things strange, especially forms of body mutilation. She found some sick fascination in the subject. Nodding I slowly picked up the dog, unsure of how it would react but to my surprise it simply nestled itself in my arms and looked up at me with large wide eyes. It would have been rather cute if I hadn't seen it's brain and the blood flowing into it.

Walking back inside the house, I heard Coby running after me and I slowed so he could catch up.

"I don't like being out there alone, as you know," he stated simply before walking off to his office while I made my way to Indigo's lab.

Knocking on the door, I waited for the green eyed girl to come and hopefully take the freakishly abnormal dog away from me. Sure enough, she opened the door and gasped when she saw the animal in my hands and immediately took it from me, staring at it intently.

"Where did you find this?" She gushed as if I had given her the greatest present ever.

"It was outside, I thought you'd be interested in it," she nodded excitedly as I spoke, too shocked to speak. I decided to leave her to her work and go back to mine which I had left for Coby.

Sitting in my office I couldn't help the ominous thought at the back of my mind. If that dog had survived- what else was out there?

Ooohhh cliffhanger, next chapter is very exciting btw ;) so this dog, hmmm I wonder where it came from! Lol you'll find out.

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