The Pales

It’s about noon and Zane is walking down a highway littered with decaying cars. As he approached a nearby city, most of the cars had cracked or broken windshields. Sometimes he saw the odd humvee or a tank, they made great shelters for nighttime. 

This is the western apocalypse and it has been hell. He is about 5 '7 with long blonde hair blowing in the wind, a sturdy build, blue eyes with a narrow face, He wears a trench coat to stay warm and has a backpack of limited supplies. He travels alone mostly, at the start he traveled in groups of survivors of twenty to thirty people but they all succumbed to becoming food of the Pales.  

Eight years ago, western society as we knew it collapsed due to the sudden appearance of the Pales. These terrifying creatures stood at a height of eight feet and were equipped with claws capable of tearing their prey apart. They initially swarmed cities in large numbers, feeding and causing destruction wherever they went.

As time passed, the Pales separated into packs and spread across the country. They were vulnerable to UV light, so survivors adapted by living in high places or behind walls with UV lights to protect them at night. Alternatively, they traveled during the day to avoid the Pales' nocturnal hunting habits.

The Pales were not agile and their hind legs, similar to those of wolves, made them slow and cumbersome. However, their pale skin was thin but durable, and they bred and formed packs like wolves, with females leading groups of up to forty individuals. Their eyes were narrow but large, allowing them to see well in the darkness of night.

The Pales' sudden appearance caused panic as people went missing and missing person posters dotted the streets. No one could have predicted that these creatures would appear and devastate cities and towns, but that is exactly what happened. They arrived in armies and began to ravage neighborhoods at night, moving from house to house and feeding on entire neighborhoods in a single evening.

The military initially struggled to combat the Pales, but eventually joined forces with civilians to fight against the monsters. Unfortunately, the military was also decimated by the Pales, who saw them as a food source. Before the military collapsed, they were able to evacuate as many civilians as possible out of cities and towns. However, many people still died of starvation as food became scarce and grocery stores, which the Pales used as dens, were no longer accessible.

Even though those who initially survived the onslaught of these creatures tried to hunt and farm, they were competing with the pales for meat. Their farms would get trampled by pales and end up in ruin, or overrun. This led to many dying of starvation.

Zane was filthy from his travels covered in dirt and grime from years of being alone in a world where society and civilization had disappeared. He would naturally have a scent the Pales could smell but he negated that by brushing dirt on himself.

He’s walking into a city to scavenge food. He has to be quick and find it before nightfall. The Pales’ city packs could get to be thirty to forty large, to his knowledge at least. Upon entering the city he walked past the towering skyscrapers of former business and apartments. 

The Pales often slept in the sewer systems so he couldn’t enter those areas. But the odd pack would sleep in an abandoned building that was dark enough. He found one, it was between a corner store and a Starbucks and, with the lack of Tim Hortons, it meant he must be somewhere in America. He reached around his backpack and got his torch. This building was a Costco. 

Zane flicked the torch on and entered the Costco, stopping at the entrance to listen. It was dark inside. He listened for a few moments for heavy breathing or snarling. Nothing. So he felt it was safe to go inside the abandoned building. He was surprised it wasn’t picked clean. He began searching for food and batteries as well as water. He always needed more water. 

He came up to an aisle and found beans and peaches on the shelves. He took his backpack and dropped in 4 cans of each. Then he made his way to the electronics aisle. Once there he found the batteries he needed, double A, he found four packs. He packed them up, and made his way towards the refrigerator aisles hoping to find water. 

On his way there he heard something, he froze and Listened. Then he was sure. It was heavy breathing. The Pales were frightening, the biggest stood eight feet tall and were a formidable entity. They had claws to tear their prey apart like a lioness tearing into a meal. A Pale’s arms hung very long and their legs were lengthy as well. 

Fuck, he thought to himself, If only this was that easy. Knowing he was gonna have to kill them, hopefully silently, he put his backpack on the ground next to a rack. He pulled his combat blade out and turned to the aisle. He shone the torch down the aisle, there were four of them sleeping about a meter apart from each other. 

They were on the small side about 4 feet tall so they were inexperienced, probably just pups as he called them. He crept over to the nearest one, bent over it and jammed his blade into its throat near its vocal cords, so it wouldn’t make a sound. Its eyes shot open and it gurgled, he held it down, it struggled for a moment and went limp.

His heart  raced as he looked over at the other three, still asleep, he breathed quietly as possible to slow his racing heartbeat down, he approached the next closest one. He jammed his blade in the same spot as the first one. It gurgled as well and he held it down, then his heart froze. The heavy breathing had stopped. He heard a faint snarl from one of the two remaining, and they both awoke. Their big narrow heads swung around, teeth jutting out of their sneering mouths, 3 inches long and clearly visible.

Fuck, fuck, fuck  He thought. he sheathed his blade and pulled out his katana, it came out with a Schwing! The two remaining pups got up. He readied himself, they snarled and one lashed out at him with their claws, he dodged and took a swing and took the beasts’ hand clean off.  It shrieked, then he shoved his blade into its chest, the other one started moving towards him and he removed the blade from the first pup’s chest as it crumpled to the ground.

The second pup took a lunge at him, it tackled him to the ground and he held up his katana into its mouth blade forward sideways. It was snarling as it struggled to reach him with its teeth. He moved his right hand into the center of the blade and reached for his dagger. The blade cut into his fingers and made them bleed. 

The pup struggled and raised an arm, its hand and claws high ready to come bearing down on him. He grasped the dagger and shoved it into the side of its head, the dagger entering the brain. Its arm went motionless and it’s body collapsed on top of him. 

Struggling, he pushed it off. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowed his heartbeat. Zane shook the blood off his weapons and sheathed the blades and looked around. He then saw two bottles of water on the shelf. He grabbed the bottles, packed them and hastily made his exit.

Knowing that shriek would have been heard by the other members of its pack, It  wouldn’t be safe in an apartment tonight so Zane fled the city and by nightfall made it to the tank he saw on the highway. He turned his flashlight on and entered the tank and shut the hatch just in time as he heard Shrieks and howls ringing out in the city behind him.

Zane is pretty sure Pales are smart enough to feel complex emotions but not one-hundred percent, It seemed that way. He settled down in the tank and there was a thermal blanket inside, turning off the flashlight he inserted it into the pocket in his trench coat. As Zane laid down and shut his eyes, he pulled the thermal blanket over and settled to sleep.