Chapter 6: |005| – Safety is a Lie.

Elgan opens his eyes. His green pupils reflect the dark above, nighttime already.

Staring blankly at the missing moon, trying to stop his spinning head, the kid lifts himself up from the ground. The touch of soft liquid between his fingers, the soft breeze, and the sound of falling droplets welcome him.

 

'Where..?'

 

If not for the stars and the picturesque sight of the celestial dome he wouldn't be able to see anything. Though that which grabs Elgan's diffuse attention is a powerful glow on the horizon. Not a lighthouse, no. The skyline of a city, millions of lights in union reach his eyes, they flicker in an eerie fashion for short seconds before they are gone.

 

'Wha-t in the-?'

 

The kid tries standing up but it is useless, his whole body feels wrong, just as If he had woken up from a long lethargic dream. He remains unmoving, sitting on the floor as darkness sinks below him.

 

'What the hell happened?'

 

He utters in a weak voice in an attempt to remember the reason he woke up here. Elgan feels like he has something to do, to accomplish, to move maybe. The night is dangerous, he must return...

 

'I must return soon, home.'

 

Gritting his teeth, attempting to ignore the pain he manages to stand up. The world seems to grow blurrier with each movement, and a parasitic sense of exhaustion fills him completely. Yet he somehow advances in lapses, his path lost in memory as the dreamer closes his eyelids to sleep.

 

Both familiar and foreign, his surroundings don't change as he advances through the ethereal plains.

 

Walking in circles, dancing between shards of consciousness, hours pass in a flash. Like waves of the sea, his mind sways. The need to fall back into the cushion of unconsciousness comes and goes.

 

'Ugh?..'

 

Then. Ahh, the stars above him won't change, yet he knows he is in a radically different place, not by anything in particular, but the smell. That smell of iron corrupts the air.

Dripping down from his arms bathed in blood. The dreamer finds himself in a battleground. Wrong, not a battleground, a massacre. Hundreds of irrecognisable corpses rest motionless, their guts and brains brutally splashed to the ground. That peaceful night is gone, just destruction is left behind.

 

'Wha-t the fu-ck happened he-r-e!'

 

Elgan's hand approaches the face, the same face tied to his body, trying to hide the gruesome scene from his eyes. A trace of red wine covers his face, and the stench of blood lingers close to him, soon becoming a part of his essence. Finally, the realization kicks in, what was out of place all along...

 

Like flashes, images of the carnage enter his memory. It was him all along that was out of place. The unmoving pool of crimson below his feet doesn't lie. That which is reflected spells only truth.

 

'What have I become?'

 

Covered in a hood, pale as the lost moon, glaring at the growing sea of human fluids stands a monster. The calamity itself.

A thundering shout echoes below the skies.

 

---

 

Elgan wakes up in a hurry, agitated to the point of shouting his lungs out. The first thing he notices under his palms is the sensation of warm sweat covering the metal floor. He mutters in vain, pleading for an apology, as he reenvisions the dream of havoc.

 

"Calm down Elgan, It's- just a dumb- nightmare."

 

He glances towards the trailer's steel door, it's still closed. He is still safe.

 

Just a nightmare... He had fallen asleep without realizing it and had a bad dream, that was all. Yet it wasn't, something about that which Elgan had seen shook him to the core.

 

Attempting to shake off the foggy surreal illusion, Elgan's hand immediately searched for one of his pockets, the touch of cold brute metal through helps him ease his heart. Having calmed down, the survivor reaches for his rucksack. He didn't know how much time he had lost, but it was better to get on the move as soon as possible. Once he was inside the city, the rubble and buildings should do enough to hide him, at least from the colossus's perception.

 

Elgan starts organizing and preparing his gear, laying the items he found last day on the floor, and checking their functionality. A flashlight, two bars of nutrients, a bottle of water, a bunch of newspapers, a camping lantern, and a handgun. Elgan lights the lantern and places it next to him and opens the newspaper. Since no complex electronic devices seemed to work properly, Elgan's only way to scavenge for information was through physical mediums. Even if it was just minuscule, information about what happened was his ultimate objective, after all.

 

The desire to know.

 

Letting the dust of time clear away from those pages, Elgan opens the magazine, still maintained through the end of times, he begins reading.

 

While flipping those pages, Elgan is reminded of the reason he had always despised reading the news. Political conflicts, celebrity gossip, unimportant events, and cases of corruption. It's the same old flavor of problems each and every day. Instead of reading through all the articles, the kid's gaze jumps from headline to headline, skipping all the useless content, and focussing only on the matter at hand. Something that could relate to the ending of civilization. Someone must had noticed beforehand, right?

 

Elgan thought as he skipped yet another barrage of hollow news. He returns at the first page in deception, not having found anything of importance... The irony of reading the news every day, not to be informed that everything is about to crumble, isn't it ridiculous?

 

His eyes flip to the big title over the reverse of the first page, observing carefully a particular piece of information. Seems he did find another piece of the puzzle...

 

Is It Over?

It was a little over a week ago, exactly 23/12/2069, at approximately 1:30 hours, that the last communications received from several countries in Southeast Asia took place. From internet networks to landlines every signal of life fell in a span of fewer than four hours. No answers, no communications, no witnesses. At first glance, satellite images confirm the integrity of most parts of the affected countries' infrastructure, or at least that had been stated by Pentagon personnel on that same day.

However, as people investigate further into the issue, we are finding a discrepancy. Almost 1000 several viral twwets have spread all over the internet in the last week as independent researchers investigate the latest satellite images, these choking discoveries reveal the inexplicable apparition of several anomalies in the affected area's terrain, with epicenters near big cities and nuclei of population. Although the white house has yet to utter any official statement regarding this outstanding issue, it has been known for a few days that authorities all over the world have already had several meetings regarding this unprecedented phenomenon.

Surrounding all this havoc, it has also been ordered by authorities to stay at home under all circumstances, almost all European countries have already f0rced a lockdown to their cltlzens, and s3veral stat3s are already pr3paring to follow for3ign t3ndency...

 

...

Elgan didn't continue reading any further. He was unable to bring himself to do so.

 

"How is it even possible?"

 

If the mysterious disappearance of those countries has something to do with these monsters, and the rampart destruction then there was no reason to believe it was only this city. If dozens of countries had fallen overnight if whatever had caused it could propagate... Then the entire world could already be in shambles.

 

Though terribly incomplete, it seemed the whole image of affairs became a little more complete now. The reason no one had acted, the reason this place was abandoned to this point. It's because the world had collapsed.

The reason he had turned around, was he hadn't fled this city. Rather, the consequences that decision would have had on his life were now clear. Elgan would have died anyways. Outside, inside, perhaps there wasn't a difference between them. It couldn't be rationally explained, but the notion within him that Elgan was the only one able to save himself had always been correct. If he had made it out of this place, he wouldn't have been able to find anyone.

 

...

In some remote corner of his mind, Elgan had thought that perhaps there would be something further beyond. A miracle would happen, he would survive the crusade against the devil and escape hell to find a lost paradise beyond. Live on without regrets. For much he tried to convince himself of his eventual death, that flare had always shined within him. Now that the possibility of survival beyond had absolutely been erased, Elgan came to remember this was true hell after all.

 

['It doesn't matter.']

 

...

Frowning, Elgan talked for himself.

 

"How doesn't it matter?.. Don't you realize the whole world is over, the amount of death, and suffering? There is no--"

 

['Rain or shine. Our goal remains firm.']

 

That was true, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Thoughts of loneliness and defeat threatened to enjail the struggler from a clear view, of his true aim. What if there is no one out there anymore? What if humanity had lost? Once more, Elgan reminded himself he would die in this place. He wouldn't live enough to care about those questions.

 

...

After reflecting a little bit in silence, Elgan stood up.

 

"I should get going."

 

['Brace.']

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...

'Brace... Brace for what?'

 

Elgan couldn't understand those thoughts. He shook his head and started packing everything essential. Tightly grasping the handgun in his pocket, Elgan opened the container's door. As obscure as always, the scenery had not changed at all from the last day. Or had it?

 

['Safety is a lie.']

 

The kid couldn't help but notice there was something just slightly different, although he couldn't get his hands on exactly what. Was it the atmosphere? The ever-burning fire? Or... Before he could put it on his back, the rucksack falls off his hands.

 

"SHIT!"

 

With the same wicked smile and a new set of eyes gazing down at him, the spheric skyscraper felt closer than ever before.

 

A simple glance directed toward the horizon was enough to understand his situation, dozens upon dozens of murderous, bent mandibles hidden in the shadows, between the rubble, under the earth. Elgan gives up on counting past the double digits. The colossus stealthily prepares to command its titans, air flows inwards, then explodes backward in a deafening shout.

 

| HshRiEKk!!! |

 

Elgan's breath vanishes for a few seconds as the stampede commenced, like a storm, the nightmarish settled in the distant shout in barbaric extasis, running in his direction. The orchestra of piercing concrete, collapsing buildings, and explosions commence.

 

'Is this it? Is it going to end like this?'

 

No.

 

'I can still escape'

 

There are no vehicles to escape with near his position, the only few near here are all derailed, unfunctional pieces of scrap. What to do now? He asks despite already having the answer. Running on his own two feet until he finds something is the only option available. Elgan's feet start moving.

 

| Plop |

 

Something falls to the floor, the kid refuses to glance back but it isn't necessary. A warm river descends down the side of his head. The survivor doesn't need to check what it is, he already knows. Fresh blood. His ears are bleeding. Everything he learned so far seems to become a little more compact as he realizes the nature of his condition. The same symptoms, bleeding through the nose or ears and a slow death matched the profile of each one of the carcasses he had seen so far.

It seemed like it was now his turn.

 

| Clack |

 

Elgan's eyes bulge and redden, his teeth clench in agony. The end is drawing nearer, its steps make the ground tremble.

 

"I CAN'T AFFORD TO DIE HERE!"

 

Scratches, bruising, worn-out articulations, or weakened muscles. It doesn't matter, he sprints in the opposite direction of the incoming storm with all his might.

 

'Those things are intelligent, it's my fault that I thought about them as mindless balls of flesh.'

 

Now he could only make up for his error with blood.

 

| Clack |

 

Limits break as he leps faster than he ever thought possible, fast speed, focused breathing, stable mind. Only that matters to him, and for a moment those are the only thing he is able to hear. The rumbling comes to a halt, the persecution seems to have stopped. Not stupid, Elgan refuses to stop in his tracks to check the reason behind that sudden change. Still, his eyes cock to his vanguard. In the distance, those tall abominations form a semicircle all around him, encasing the kid from approaching the city any further.

 

They are intelligent...

 

What do they want to achieve by stopping? The silence in the distance was muted by something closer. Danger, danger, danger, his mind screams. Tingles descend down the teen's veins, his eyes move faster than ever. Searching for the imminent danger ahead.

 

['No one will make decisions for you.']

 

"Act."

 

As if completing those words, a diminutive flame of confidence sparks inside him. Elgan's hand automatically drifts towards his pants, grabbing an M-9 handgun from his left pocket, Each second counts. His eyes won't lie this time, the gloomy shadow of death approaches from above. Hidden behind a dead angle, opposing the direction of his fellow's blockade stands a towering calamity, just a couple hundred meters before me.

 

|Bump Bump|

 

|Bump Bump Bump Bump|

 

|Bump Bump Bump Bump Bump Bump|

 

The struggler's emotions stir up in a devastating tornado, he feels himself losing control but it doesn't matter. Security lock disabled, he presses the trigger ruthlessly.

 

| SCRHEEETCH!! |

 

A burst of bullets lands in the monster's eyes preventing him from seeing anything. For now at least. The enemy has an advantage in numbers, strength, and quite possibly strategic superiority. Still, none of it matters if Elgan makes it out alive, does it?

 

He passes under the blind monster's crustacean legs as he continues running with small traces of tiredness down his sweat-drenched face. Elgan missed it before when walking down the road, a semi-closed passage towards the sewers just a couple of hundred meters ahead of his position, if he could reach it in time, their own size would render them powerless. He can make it.

He can...

 

"Ugh-gh"

 

In an instant, his body becomes paralyzed. The speed driving him forwards forces him to fall to the asphalt bruising his hands heavily in the process. He can feel his eyes, ears, and nostrils bleeding, the pressure inside his skull grows exponentially.

 

"HARDER!!"

 

Elgan grasps the rough terrain with his mangled fingers as he continues advancing like a slug. He can manage to see the other creatures in the distance, still only their smirks visible in his blurry vision. Fear, fear to look up is what he felt then, his persecutor's eye had found a replacement in a matter of seconds.

 

| HeghHeghk!! You shooould haavee fleed whileee youu couuld. |

 

How?

The colossus disfigured features shifted yet again, and its sharp lips reopened. Another incoherent sound thundered behind him.

 

| CHECKMATEEE |

 

A river of crimson escapes his mouth as Elgan bites his tongue in order to remain conscious. In a last-ditch effort, his ruined hands press the trigger against the approaching minion. Useless.

 

"FUCK Y--!"

 

...

Between cries of desperation, a lonely shot echoes in the distance. One last battle for survival. Yet another silent death.

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