Limitless Evolution Through Conquering Primal Beauties-Chapter 2 - Darkness

Leonard dropped his shopping basket. Instant noodles and a bottle of chili sauce went scattering across the tile floor. Ignoring the cashier robot’s warning beeping behind him, he bolted for the door.

The glass door of the convenience store slid open, and he dashed outside, sprinting, his eyes locked on four filthy figures running off with Lulu.

"STOP! PUT MY DOG DOWN!" he yelled, his voice cutting through the darkening evening.

The four men didn’t look back.

They kept running, carrying Lulu like a sack of potatoes—her head dangling backward, legs thrashing in the air. Lulu barked frantically, her cries choking off as she was jostled upside down.

Leonard chased. His hand dove into his pocket, fishing out his phone. Thumb trembling slightly, he dialed emergency while still running.

The four men ducked into a narrow alley between two old buildings. Leonard followed without hesitation. The moment he entered, he regretted it.

The alley was filthy. Puddles of black water sat in the cracked asphalt. The stench of piss and rotting garbage hit him like a wall, almost making him puke. On both sides, makeshift shelters of blue tarp and cardboard boxes were packed tightly together, forming a vertical shantytown in the narrow corridor. Small fires burned in tin cans, illuminating gaunt faces that stared at him with empty or wary eyes.

Leonard realized: this was their territory. A homeless encampment.

But he didn’t care.

"STOP!" he shouted again, already breathless. "PUT MY DOG DOWN, YOU BASTARDS!"

The kidnappers glanced back but didn’t stop. They actually ran faster, pushing deeper into the alley.

Lulu heard Leonard’s voice. The dog thrashed in her captor’s grip, squirming with all her strength, trying to bite the hand holding her. But one of the men punched her hard in the muzzle, making her whimper.

Leonard’s blood boiled. Blind rage flooded his mind. Without thinking, he bent down, grabbed a broken brick from the edge of the alley, and hurled it with everything he had.

The brick flew straight and smacked one of the men carrying Lulu square in the head. A solid thud rang out, and the guy crumpled, his grip loosening. Lulu fell, but scrambled up immediately. The dog ran full tilt toward Leonard, body trembling, tail tucked between her legs.

Leonard dropped to his knees and hugged Lulu tight. He stroked her head, trying to calm her even though he was shaking himself. "It’s okay, it’s okay, Lu. I’m here. You’re safe."

But he spoke too soon.

One of them—a man with a scraggly beard—stepped forward. His voice was raspy, like someone who hadn’t spoken in a while. "Bro, just give us the dog. We’re hungry. Haven’t eaten in three days."

Another chimed in, his voice higher, almost whining. "You can still buy food at the minimarket, wearing decent clothes, got a place to sleep. Us? What do we got? Please, share a little."

"That dog could be a meal for all of us," another added, his eyes glinting strangely as he stared at Lulu. "At least two days we could survive on that."

Leonard pulled Lulu closer. The dog was shaking violently against his chest, her muzzle buried in his jacket. He could feel her heart pounding as fast as his own.

"No," he said. His voice trembled, but there was a hard edge to it. "This is my dog. The only family I’ve got."

The bearded man raised his hands.

"Bro, relax. Let’s talk this out like reasonable people." He stepped closer, his voice feigning gentleness but his eyes staying cold. "Look at us. How long we been here? How long since we had a decent meal? We’re skin and bones. We need food."

"It’s a dry spell, man," another chimed in. "Soup kitchen’s been closed for a month. Scrounging change only gets us stale rice. We need protein."

The bearded man nodded in agreement.

"Look at us. We’re almost dead, bro. For real. In a week, maybe half of us won’t be here. And you?" He gestured at Leonard from head to toe. "You can still walk into a minimarket. Buy whatever you want, huh? Good food? Meanwhile, us? We eat garbage."

His voice crept up a little, like a desperate man trying to explain himself. "We’re not asking for much, bro. Just one dog. So we can have some meat. You can get another dog."

Leonard was silent for a few seconds.

"Here’s the deal," another cut in, his voice rougher. "You got two choices. One, you leave right now, leave the dog, and we let you go unharmed. Nobody has to know."

He stepped forward, joining the bearded man. "Or two, we take your dog back by force. We fight. But look around you."

Leonard looked. Slowly, from behind the makeshift tents, from behind piles of cardboard, from around the small fires—shadows began to move. One by one, the homeless emerged. Men, women, even a few children with stick-thin bodies. Their eyes were all fixed on him. Or more accurately, on Lulu.

He was surrounded. Maybe twenty people. Maybe more.

’Shit,’ Leonard thought, his heart hammering. ’I’m cooked.’

But his mouth moved before his brain caught up.

"I already called the cops," he said, forcing his voice to stay steady despite his racing heart. "They’ll be here any minute. You’re the ones who need to run."

Silence. The homeless exchanged glances.

Then someone laughed. One, two, then a few joined in. Hoarse laughs, like people who hadn’t had a reason to laugh in a long time.

"Cops?" The bearded man grinned wide. "Bro, you think we’re scared of cops? We’re used to getting rounded up by police bots. Worst case, they haul us to a shelter, we’re out by tomorrow. We live here, we die here. Cops are just a minor inconvenience."

He stepped forward again. Now they were only three meters apart.

"Last offer. Leave now. You still got your whole life ahead of you. Don’t die over a dog."

Leonard looked into his eyes. In that man’s eyes, he saw something that made the hair on his neck stand up: not hatred, not anger, but emptiness. The emptiness of someone with nothing left to lose.

He clenched his fist. His taser was still in his pocket. But against twenty people while protecting Lulu?

Screw it.

"I’m not leaving her," he said quietly. "She’s all I’ve got."

The bearded man sighed. Shook his head. Then his eyes changed.

"Get him."

Suddenly, they moved.

Leonard managed to pull the taser from his pocket. One shot—a man in front dropped, convulsing. But before he could aim at a second target, something slammed into his back.

He fell to his knees. Lulu barked frantically, but her cries were drowned out by shouting and footsteps. Leonard tried to get up, but a fist smashed into his jaw. His head hit the asphalt. Warm blood trickled from his temple.

"LULU—"

A kick to his ribs. He curled up in pain. Through blurred vision he saw Lulu break free, running toward him, but someone kicked her back.

"NO!" he screamed, but it came out as a whisper.

The blows kept raining down. All he could do was curl up, protect his head, feel his body bruising from every angle. Lulu barked hysterically. The homeless laughed.

And in the middle of it all, Leonard thought: So this is what dying feels like?

Then—

BRZZZZT!

Something white shot through the end of the alley. Someone—no, something—flew through the air, and a small dart embedded itself in the bearded man’s neck.

The man jerked. His body went rigid. His eyes bulged. Then he collapsed sideways, body convulsing violently, foam bubbling from his mouth.

BRZZZT! BRZZZT!

Two more. Two homeless dropped, bodies seizing.

Police bots.

Five humanoid units with blue and white paint glided into the alley. They didn’t walk, but hovered a few inches off the ground on magnetic propulsion. In their hands, stun guns swiveled, acquiring targets.

"RUUUUN!" someone screamed.

The homeless who had been beating Leonard scattered like roaches. They fled in every direction, slipping behind cardboard, crawling into drains. The bots gave chase at speeds impossible for any human.

Three bots zoomed past, pursuing the fleeing crowd. Two stopped near Leonard.

BRZZZT!

One homeless straggler dropped mid-sprint.

The chaos slowly faded into silence. Only the hum of the bots and the groans of the homeless sprawled on the asphalt remained.

Leonard lay in a puddle of filthy water. He tried to move, but his body refused to cooperate. Every inch of him hurt. His ribs were probably cracked. His jaw was numb. Blood continued seeping from his head, mixing with the alley sludge.

From somewhere, he heard a snuffle. Then a warm lick on his cheek.

Lulu.

The dog was beside him, licking his face anxiously. Her eyes were wet. She whimpered softly.

Leonard wanted to raise his hand, stroke Lulu’s head, tell her everything was okay. But his arm wouldn’t move. His vision started to blur. His ears rang. The sound of a police bot reporting something seemed to come from underwater.

"Unit 7-2 reporting situation contained. One injured civilian, human. Five suspects secured. Requesting ambulance to location."

Leonard heard that. But the voice was faint, distant.

He looked at Lulu, still licking him, her wet eyes staring at him with worry. Through the narrow gap above the alley, he could see a sliver of the darkening evening sky. Orange. Then purple. Then black.

Was this how it ended?

The question floated through his mind. Two years unemployed. Then, just when a glimmer of hope appeared—a job, maybe a better future—he dies in a filthy alley, beaten to death by starving homeless people.

Ironic.

Kind of funny, really.

He wanted to laugh, but his mouth wouldn’t work.

Lulu kept licking him.

The hum of the bots. The smell of blood and garbage. The pain slowly fading into numbness. And then, everything went dark.