If you thought that apocalypse would be bad, you were wrong.
It was terrible, very, very terrible. The ground is shaking, although it’s funny to say it since we’re actually underground. Screaming is everywhere, people are panicking and running without actually know where to go. Chaos is inevitable.
And that was before shit starts to get real.
Oxygen goes down, people are suffocating.
Well, shit.
I’m in a panic too. I start to wander around before the choke strikes me down. My vision started to get blurred. I thought only the surface got destroyed, no one predicts that it’s going downhill in the underground too. The scientists were wrong, we have no chance of survival, even if we’re down here in the vault.
Kkhhhh...
It’s funny to think about the last moment before all of this happens. We were so naïve. So arrogant and so naïve, to watch the countdown before “The Blast” hits the surface, before celebrating and partying like we’re watching the first rocket to ever blast off to space.
“The Blast” Funny.
As I’m trying to recall those last moments, I’m already on the ground. My chest feels like it’s burning. It’s so distressing. My legs wriggling around like it was trying to get out of a shackle. My last thought was “am I dying?” before the blurry vision passed me, and the darkness comes.
I’m dead.
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What’s this..?
Where am I..?
Is this the afterlife..?
I don’t know where I am. No matter how hard my eyes are trying to see, there is only darkness. I start to take a walk through the darkness, trying to find some sort of life. Perhaps, there is a way out of this, some sort of gate before I proceed to the afterlife.
Minutes passed since I wander off aimlessly. Honestly, I’m not even sure how long have I been walking. It could be minutes, or hours, or even days. I don’t feel tired, and there’s no time indicator here, so I’m not really sure.
Then, I saw It.
A sparkle of light from a distance. That’s it. That must be the way out of here. I began to run, rushing over to catch that light.
As I get closer to the source of that sparkle, things start to become clear. It was never an exit. What lies before me catch me in a daze. It was a big screen showing what happens before “The Blast” before the world comes to an end before I died.
It was like a playback of my memories. As the screen changes the picture that represents each and every fragment of my memories, I started to remember how it all started.
It began with a “Blight”. Or so I called, lol. Funny how I use the term “Blight” from the “Dragon Age” series to refer to the pandemics. I indeed know, we’re cursed. Even before “The Blast”, comes the “Blight”, where an unknown virus outbreak hits the world. Thousands of people are dying. The virus infection was spreading fast like a stream of a waterfall. The number of infected people escalated each day. Those who weren’t lucky enough to have good physical resistance were fallen to the illness before they soon meet their demise.
I was one of the survivors.
I was infected. Fortunately for me, I still had a good physical resistance back then, despite my relatively unhealthy way of life.
I joined a gym, more precisely, a class, an MMA class. Yet, the moment the outbreak hit my country, that’s when people start locking down themselves. Businesses were down, and the city became dead. The various building had gone quiet. The hustle in the capital city that never sleeps finally settled down. Stores are closed. Only a few that were still open, supply stores were one of them.
How ‘bout the gym? Don’t bother to ask.
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So then began my cycle of an unhealthy lifestyle. Eating, working, gaming, sleeping, and repeat. All done in the small apartment that I lived in. It was bad before, but it got worse since then I had no workout to keep the balance of my calories.
I don’t know exactly how I got infected. Perhaps it happened when I got out of my hole to stock up supplies from the store. No one can really sure whether those they met were sterile from the virus since the symptoms show up a few days after. What I remember was that I started to have a fever, so I contacted the hospital and they asked me to explain what I feel. I was then called to the hospital for a test, and bingo, I was infected. I didn’t remember much after that, aside from the fact that I suddenly pass out, only to find myself awake in a hospital room. I was in a coma for days, then they just said that the storm has passed, and I survived the “Blight”.
The good thing about the outbreak was that once you got infected, and you’re lucky enough to survive, not only you can’t get infected by the same virus, but also your physical resistance suddenly rises up high. You will get a super immunity.
The pandemic lasts for almost a year, enough to make the economy collapsed. Many companies had gone bankrupt. Poor us, not long after that the scientists of the world announce that there will be another disaster massive enough to wipe out the entire humanity.
“The Blast”.
That’s what they called it. They said that they had predicted this coming since a few years back and had already prepared safe bunkers called “The Vault” all over the world to prepare us for the underground migration. They purposely did not tell us before to prevent spreading panic.
So, then began our migration for “The Blast”. Animals from the remaining species and seeds of various plants were taken. People march down to the nearest vault in their respective area, except in this case it was all people, not only those with money or power. It didn’t have to take long before the surface has gone completely empty.
As I keep watching the screen rolls back my memories, suddenly my body feels light. It’s so light that I literally begin to fly. The screen started to look smaller and smaller until it becomes a tiny sparkle of light again.
As I keep flying, another spark of light started to show up above me. Unless this time, it gets bigger and bigger, until It finally envelops my vision. It is so bright that I couldn’t help but close my eyes.
Perhaps I’m in heaven..?
Then I feel my body shaking like someone is shaking me. Not long after that comes the electrocuted like sensation. The excruciating pain that feels like your body was struck down by a thousand needles, over and over again, made me crazy. It’s so painful that I couldn’t help but scream. Back on earth, they said that heaven would be pleasant, I never thought It would be this terrible.
Am I being tortured by something?
Am I actually in hell?
Questions arise, but when I try to open my eyes to confirm the situation, I couldn’t. The torture lasts for quite a long time. Screaming in agony, I try to move my body, but unfortunately, it won’t even budge.
Oh God, what have I ever done to deserve this?
I know that I’m not religious, but I still believe in God. Funny that only in this kind of moment I finally remember Him. Even though I’m not a bad person, I guess. So instead of a prayer, I guess my calling to God was more like a curiosity. I always question Him. If He’s so good, why did He let so many bad things happen in the world?
Then It suddenly stops. I feel no more pain. I can move my body again. Then I try to open my eyes.
I don’t understand what happened, but ….
I think I’m alive.
I come back to life.
“Oh, you already woke up.” A woman dressed in a lab coat approaches me.
“What happened? I thought I was dead. I got the torturing like I’m in hell, except..” I wake up from the bed I was in. Clad in a patient robe, with white-blue vertical stripes all over it, and a tight boxer I try to stand up.
“Don’t worry, we all did.” She interrupts me with a smile. She’s so cute, with an oval face, slightly pointed lip, round eyes with a pair of glasses, pointy nose, long wavy blonde hair resting on one shoulder. Her body looks slender and wavy, a typical woman type, so perfect. I feel like I fall stoned for a while looking at her.
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“Well, It’s a long story, but do you notice something different?”
“Something different.. What the..!?” Perhaps due to a surprise, I didn’t notice the floating HUD in front of my vision. It’s always there, following me no matter where I look.
HP 80/80
SP 40/40
MP 70/70
Exp 0/330
Encumbrance 0/60
“What the fuck is this..? Is this some kind of game..?”
“It’s a status window resulting from an implant we injected into your brain”
“Implant? What are you talking about?! Am I some kinda lab rat to you? Where am I?” I aggressively approaching her.
“Easy, easy, calm down. You’re not the only one, all of us have it. We need it so we can have a bigger chance of survival in this new world. Trust me, you’re not the only one flabbergasted with this. I have the same reaction as you do when I first awake.” She points out her palms in order to calm me down as I approach and try to grab her.
“Easy buddy” A bulky man with a beard and a Wolverine-like hair steps in. He has a muscular body, like those you see in a comic book, totally like Wolverine. Except that I feel this friendly aura coming from him. He looks friendly, yet terrifying at the same time. His square head, big nose, wide mouth, and sharp eyes emphasize his fierce aura. You can see a fang on his teeth when he smiles.
“I will explain the situation, but you gotta calm down buddy.”
“Who are you?”
“Oh, let us introduce ourselves, the name’s Enggar, and this girl right here is Sofia. You there, what’s your name?”
“Rama”
“Well then, Rama, welcome to Terra-Jannah, our home in this new world.”