"Ugh."

In the hushed aftermath of the horde's departure, I awoke to a world shrouded in silence and ash. The pain was gone, but the memory of it lingered like a phantom in my head.

Am I dreaming?

It was all too real. The coarse particles of ash covering my skin. The air filled with the scent of smoke. The bitter taste of my cracked lips.

As I rose, my dry eyelids opened slightly, a newfound coldness seeping into my thoughts.

"I... am alive."

It wasn't a dream, but perhaps that was not as good as I thought it was.

My dull eyes fell upon the tattered clothes on my body, shredded by the fangs and claws of the mutated beasts. Blood mixed with ash created a grim paste that clung to my skin.

In the darkness of the misty city, eyes seemed to be staring at me.

*Krunch*

A sudden pain on my shoulder made me turn, my expression cold.

"BLAARRGGHH!"

The infected's scream echoed as it tried and failed to bite through my skin. It kept grinding its putrid teeth against my shoulder, but my body had somehow become much tougher.

What's happening to me?

Feeling a surge of strength, I grabbed the infected by the throat, lifting it effortlessly. It attempted to struggle, but its kicks and punches were no different than pebbles against my chest.

Are these the same infected of before? Have they always been this weak?

I clamped down harder, and the creature's mouth gushed with green saliva. I could sense its struggles intensifying as the grim reaper neared.

Without a change of expression, I slowly increased the pressure of my grip, staring at its neck veins bursting due to my strength.

Its body went limp.

*Shiver*

I took a few steps backs and tossed the corpse away from me as quickly as possible.

"What am I doing..." I muttered to myself.

Zoe was somewhere out there, waiting for me. Regardless of what I was, I would protect the last member of my family.

A part of me yearned to call out, to gather a search party, but a deeper, more calculating instinct held me back.

The infected were not the same as before. They were evolving at an alarming rate, whilst humans were stuck with their gifts and curses that would not improve no matter what. This theory was too daunting to voice even to myself.

But maybe...

I clenched my fist, crushing a rock into powder. My eyes shone with a dark light.

I pushed these thoughts aside and moved towards the outskirts of Cologne, being extra careful to make sure no infected heard me. Luckily, it was the middle of the night, when the infected were less active.

I scanned the desolate landscape, searching for any sign of my friends.

It was then I noticed it – a message etched into the dirt that stretched 3 meters long, right outside the urban area of the city. The words were simple but clear: "To Düsseldorf." I'd know my sister's messy handwriting anywhere.

Düsseldorf... that name brought back old memories. I sighed and decided not to focus on these pointless feelings. The Apocalypse was the same everywhere, and thinking about the past would not bring anything back.

With each step out of Cologne, my mind raced with possibilities and fears. The image of my sister and friends out there, possibly in danger, spurred me on.

"I need to find them," I mumbled to myself. "I have to make sure they're safe."

After half an hour of walking, I had left the ash cloud behind. The cold German wind blew across my face, but I barely felt it. It was as if my senses were numbed to everything but my singular purpose.

The path to Düsseldorf was a solitary march through endless brownfields, a stark contrast to the city's looming ruins. The landscape was dotted with small, forgotten villages that were slowly surrendering to the embrace of nature.

Every now and then, I'd encounter an infected roaming the empty fields, but they were no match for me out in the open. It seemed like the infected hadn't evolved in this isolation.

However, this serene countryside was nothing short of a rose full of thorns.

The Cataclysm had contaminated all sources of water and food in the wild with an unknown substance, taking away the future of humans. Cities were the last bastions of dwindling resources.

What happens when that runs out too?

We'd die.

But until then, I will struggle as hard as I can.

I stopped by the villages to rest, but they offered little in terms of food, their abandoned homes standing as silent as sentinels to a life that once thrived.

The absence of human contact was an ever-present specter nibbling at the edges of my sanity. I found myself conversing with the silence, assuring myself of my wellbeing, of a future that seemed increasingly like a mirage.

I began to see faces in the trees, whispering secrets of life and death. Their leaves rustled, not by the wind, but with malicious intent.

"Enough!"

I grabbed my head with both hands, attempting to stop the voices. The faces of my neighbours and friends haunted my every step, crying pleas for salvation.

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Aiden...

"Stop it!"

My fist collided with a tree, the force leaving a deep gash in its trunk.

Aiden, why are you still alive?

"I don't know! I don't know, damn it! Please shut up!

Why did you not save us?

I ran away in a random direction amidst the trees' mocking laughter.

Sometimes, I found myself performing rituals of purification in the light of the full moon, convinced that God held the key to my salvation.

With dark bags under my eyes and unkempt hair, I danced wildly in the moonlight. My shadow twisted alongside me, a partner in my descent.

It greeted me, and I, lost in my delirium, greeted it in return.

"I am human," I whispered to the moon, to the trees, to the shadows.

There was hope in the Apocalypse.

After all, I was alive. Zoe was alive. So, I would keep removing every obstacle that stood in our way.

I burst out laughing, enjoying the experience of not being dead.

In my indifference to danger, I dared to drink the water I found in a stagnant well, hoping my body could bear the brunt of any infection.

What's the worst that can happen? Death?

"Haha, that was funny, Erwin!" I chuckled at his words.

Eh? Where did Erwin go?

I guess the brat didn't want to get caught in one of my playful headlocks.

Suddenly, I felt weak and dropped to my knees. My body was acting like a furnace, attempting to purge the poison I had recklessly ingested.

I found myself wracked with violent bouts of vomiting for days, which slowed down my trip a lot. That experience was a bitter lesson; even in my altered state, some aspects of human vulnerability remained.

From then on, I approached every sip of water with caution.

Yet, as time wore on, I noticed a gradual change within myself. The pangs of hunger and thirst began to fade, as if my body was slowly relinquishing its basic needs.

But it's okay, because I am human.

Yes, I am still human.

The nights were a never-ending cycle of nightmares. An abomination with eyes void of pupils tormented me relentlessly, bearing a twisted resemblance to me. It dismembered me over and over, waiting for my limbs to regenerate each time.

Then it would whisper my name with its lips chillingly close.

Aiden, what are you...

In this dream, the world around me suddenly softened, and my parents emerged from the swirling mists.

Their appearance was as I remembered - my father was tall and sturdy, with strict eyes that gave me a sense of safety; my mother had long hair like woven silver moonlight, and her hazelnut eyes were warm and inviting.

My heart thumped wildly as a wave of relief surged through me. I rushed into their open arms with tears blurring my vision, and they enveloped me in an embrace filled with longing and sorrow.

Within this embrace, I allowed myself to forget. Their bodies were warm and safe, a feeling I hadn't known for a long time.

But then, a coldness crept into our hug. A drop, then another - black blood began to rain upon me, thick and chilling.

"Mom? Dad?"

I slowly tilted my head upwards, my tears mingling with the black ichor.

"Are you oka-"

My body froze. My words dried before they left my mouth.

Dark, empty sockets gazed down upon me. My parents' mouths, wide and gaping, formed silent screams for help.

I stumbled away with goosebumps crawling all over my skin. I tried to flee, but their figures reached out with twisted limbs, their inhuman screeches piercing the veil of the dream.

AIDEEEENNN!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

I woke up gasping for air, the terror of those dreams clinging to me like a second skin.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? AM I EVEN HUMAN ANYMORE?" I screamed towards the crimson dawn.

The reply was a pack of ten infected that were drawn to my voice. I dispatched them easily and continued on my journey with a faceless face that revealed nothing of the storm within.

However, each day I would consume contaminated water, only to throw it up soon after.

I would repeat to myself, "I am human."

The image of my sister propelled me forward through the vast, open fields.

With each village I passed, each field I crossed, Düsseldorf drew closer, its distant skyline reminding me of Cologne in several ways. And with every step forward, the thought of reuniting with Zoe brought more of my sanity back.

Her phantom guided me through this endless nothingness that scrolled for miles, carving a path with no beginning or end.

The thought that I had resurrected... never even crossed my mind, as if a thread of my sanity hid it within the darkest corners of my brain.

"I'll find them," I whispered into the wind, my voice a blend of resolve and hidden fear. "But then what?

❆ ❆ ❆

When I entered Düsseldorf, the stark contrast between the tranquil fields and the city's ravaged appearance struck me with force. The Altstadt district had long been known as the "longest bar in the world", but it now stood as a hollowed shell, its history lost in the annals of chaos.

My eyes shone with a flicker of intrigue when I noticed signs of human activity amidst the decay.

There were dozens of traps scattered throughout the streets, crudely constructed yet cunningly devised to annihilate mindless groups of infected.

Bones, some charred, others fresh, lay near the traps. I surveyed them with a cautious eye, aware that the creators of these snares might still be lurking nearby.

At its core, the apocalypse was always a game of chance. Humans were almost always as dangerous, if not more, than the infected.

Desperation breeds not only ingenuity but also a ruthless will to survive.

I continued walking across the city, alert to any signs of movement. The traps, though empty, served as a reminder that trust was a luxury few could afford.

"Oh-OH!"

I calmly turned my head and stared at a massive, mutated black swan bursting from an office building to my right. Its talons, hideously elongated and razor-sharp, swiped at me with a speed uncommon for an infected.

Slow.

I sidestepped without looking at it, allowing the swan to make a gash on my arm. Pain flared, but it was fleeting, my healing already kicking in.

The beast glared at me with intelligent eyes, most likely perplexed as to how a small, weak human could avoid its deadly ambush.

What followed was a rush of something dark and unfamiliar, a primal urge that I hadn't known before.

The look of contempt in the beast's eyes... it annoyed me.

With a ferocity that startled even myself, I charged at the mutated black swan. It responded with a defiant screech and met my charge head-on, its curved beak aiming for my heart.

I nimbly dodged to the right at the last second, grabbing hold of its neck with one hand and its wing with the other. The raw strength in my grasp was exhilarating.

I twisted, forcing the swan to stagger. It fought back fiercely, its other wing flapping in a desperate attempt to unbalance me.

I lost my foothold and the swan managed to free its wing, slashing at me with renewed fury. I felt a cut on my cheek, warm blood trickling down.

Light wounds don't work on me.

With a powerful heave, I threw the beast off balance and onto the ground. It tried to rise, but I was already upon it, my hands finding its neck again.

Let's see if you can escape now.

I squeezed, feeling the pulse of its frantic heartbeat against my palms.

But the swan wasn't done yet.

It twisted with a surprising burst of energy, its beak catching my arm and drawing another line of fire across my skin.

"You are going down!"

I gritted my teeth against the pain, tightening my grip on its neck.

The swan vomited a mouthful of blood, and its struggle became weaker. I did not let go of this opportunity.

Using its momentary weakness, I pinned it down with my knee and my hands moved to its wings. I screamed and pulled hard, feeling some resistance before the sickening give of joints and sinew.

The only sounds in my head were the swan's cries as its wings came free in a horrific display of strength. The creature's desperate flutters and angry hisses became a background chorus to my ears.

As its cries faded into whimpers, I looked into its eyes.

There was fear, pain, and a glimmer of something else – awareness, perhaps. I gazed at it with curiosity. The concept of an infected having intelligence was unnatural by itself.

Whatever.

Any infected was just that – an infected.

As the life ebbed from the swan and its body convulsed in my grasp, a sense of dominance overwhelmed me. The power to shape my own fate with sheer strength was exhilarating.

The swan finally lay still, not breathing.

I released my hold and watched as the lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

I had no traces of the encounter on my skin, but the echo of what I had just done, the intensity of the violence, lingered in my mind.

"Survival at any cost," I whispered, the words a mantra in this forsaken world.

This was what I had become, what I needed to be to survive. But there was no time for reflection, not when my sister and friends could be somewhere in this city, their safety uncertain.

I cast a last glance at the fallen swan before venturing further into Düsseldorf, a place lurking with unknown dangers.

I hadn't noticed it, but a solitary tear embarked on its own march across my cheek.