I was in a very vivid dream..Well, I was fairly sure it was a dream although the chance of it being a hallucination were as equally high.
Either way, means I’m not dead..which is encouraging….unless this is some kind of afterlife…
...Pfffft! Yeah right..
It was an endless, bizarre expanse, with strange flecks of dark light popping in and out of existence across a kind of very faint, almost cosmic background. It was rather difficult to compare to anything I'd seen in real life, but the closest was to that of the same dark background with sparks and static you see in your dreams or even sometimes your deeper thoughts. Then, most perculiarly, my body felt like it was drifting in a pond made up of impossible black colours gravitating towards a focal point of faint streaks of cyan blue, swirling in a floating maelstrom ahead of me. And, as I got closer, the glowing lines swirled around to form strange circuits and symbols.
It all looked a bit like formulae or maths, partly forming constellations that were constantly changing.
This is...beautiful.
My senses abrutly sharpened and became crystal clear, I felt very much in control as if I was merely awake.
Okay woah, this is bloody spooky.
As I gazed, mesmorized, the climatic urge to touch the maelstrom became stronger and stronger, mainly out of curiosity, but also because there was a simple shape that was so beautiful and perfect. This specific section caught my eye and it was my favourite; a circle with a line in the middle appearing to fracture space itself.
The compulsion was incredible, I couldn’t hold back any longer.
It’s just a dream but..I need it.
Reaching the maelstrom, I touched the surface in my section where the constellations made up the imperfect yet perfected circle with a splintered line pierced through it vertically. I was overwhelmed with a sense of awe and a hyper sense of self awareness. It felt like those moments where you stared up at the night sky, alone, realising how small and insignificant your life is, yet how amazingly wonderful, and, how impossibly-impossible it is you are living in that very moment, against all the billion years of reality.
Nothing happened for a moment..Until my favourite swirled away, leaving me only with my quiet thoughts-no, wait...I felt changed, something had changed. I felt like I was an alien in my own body.
What..am I?
As I waited a few moments, thinking what I should do next, the maelstrom became much more active and started to shift and change into new symbols and objects.
Wait. WAIT. This..almost looks like-
The whole thing finished moving and formed into 4 bars with letters and numbers, and 4 symbols with letters and numbers and some text at the top of it all.
STRY.KYR - MAGN.1.375
[==1/10HP==]-
[==1/10MP==]
[==2%EP==]++
[==0%XX==]xx
Okay...What is this?
Below that were 4 symbols engravd into invidual tablet like buttons.
The first was a sword.
The second was a shield.
The third was a feather.
And the fourth was a circle glyph with tiny unknown symbols inside.
My mind and soul sobered up as I groaned in annoyance.
For fuck sake. I have better things to do then to indulge in fever fucking dreams with stupid puzzles and sodding symbols that look like it came out of an RPG.…
I stared at the symbols blankly, unimpressed and quite frankly, disgruntled.
Then, something hurt. Alot.
Ow-OWWWW!..Argh what the fuck? That is odd, I don’t believe I’ve ever felt ACTUAL pain in a dream before..maybe I’m waking up-
A painful cramp in my side and chest flared up, making me double over in pain and then as if in response, a new symbol appeared that looked like a…potatoe?....With a computer chip inside that contained tiny hexagons, donuts and crosses of various sizes; they all gravitated towards the center of the…potatoe..
...
Great. Just Great. I’m probably dying of some goddam bloody poison and this is how my subconciousness comforts me? I really didn’t have time for this shit…fucking potatoe what do you want from me!?
I looked at the potatoe and it looked back at me. I felt a compulsion to touch the potatoe...Maybe it also wanted to touch me.
So I did it. I touched the potatoe...And I instantly regretted my decision.
yyyOOOOWW! HOly CRAP! What IS this pain!?-ARGH!
The cramps were very quickly forgotten, replaced with something new and improved. Searing. White hot. Wrong on a fundamental level. Chemical and sterile. Goosepumps of agony. It instantly brought up a distant memory of when I’d taken a teeny bite out of a 7 Million Scoville unit chocolate bar at work once for a joke, but all over my body.
Arghhhh! Am I seriously writhing in pain and sweating? In a dream?! Give me a fucking break!
I’d had fever dreams before but I don’t actually remember ever feeling sweat in my dreams..I collapsed onto the floor, seizing up in pain, gritting my teeth and basically having no choice but to weather the storm…Until, eventually, after what felt like hours, the pain subsided and a wave of blissful 'not-pain' washed over me. Gulping down imaginary air, I ever so carefully got up, taking my sweet time as to not provoke any gods of pain. and, once I was standing, I gave myself plenty of seconds as I started looking around.
This is all too weird and realistic..Maybe I actually DID die and this is some flipping afterlife...Or...
...
Oh bloody hell, please don't tell me reincarnation to alternate magical realities are an actual thing!
Shivering, I stared at the maelstrom, which now had floating text in it, the same look as if printed on a screen. I was confused…VERY confused at the content.
New Skill evolved:
Regeneration - Rate of [H]emostasis & [P]latelet efficiency drastically increased.
HP +? per ? minutes on top of base HP +? per ?! hours.
Recycles damaged, infected and mutated cells.
Attribute points available [1].
Please assign attribute points in the next [??].
What.
THE.
F-
All lights went out and I stopped all thoughts.
....
...
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
I jolted awake and immediately bolted upright with a whispered gasp. It was dark.
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Ughhhh...Piss it. I groaned and rubbed my aching face. All the horrible graphic memories surfaced, reminding me that, yes, those things happened..I've..killed..
It was not too dark however, thankfully the moonlight was coming through the open blinds, bathing the delivery room and I could hear a soft voice humming with some mewling and baby snuffling noises.
“M-marri” I croaked, my throat felt like sandpaper. I heard her gasp quietly at my voice.
“Godu!” she whispered. "How are you feeling? Ohhh it’s so good to hear your voice sweety..” she sniffed and I could tell she was holding back tears by the way her voice quivered.
“Hey Honey, I’m feeling…uh…feeling really..good..actually? Huh...Weird..A-are you ok? Is Lone OK?”
This felt way too calm considering what my last memories were-wait, crap, my priorities were all over the place.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry, have you had some rest? I’m so sorry, you must be so tired I need to get up and-”
“Noooo hush now you big tit and go grab some water.” She giggled. “I'm fine..But you know, I think we have gotten really lucky with this little cutie-pa-tootie, he’s been such a good little chick. All I’ve had to do for the past couple of days is boob him to sleep and then keep him close and he stays all cosy and dozy no problem at all! Isn't that 'wight' my 'widdle' potatoe.” She gently pecked a kiss on his head, the sight made me smile-
Wait!?.. a couple of days?! How! Were we still safe? What supplies do we need?
And why is Marri so cheery and calm? In fact actually, how come I'm not a dribbling mess right now?
“Marri, I….I’m really confused. A couple of days?? And what happened before..It..Well the last thing I remember was a fucked up fight with some really fucked up creatures. What happened?" I searched her face, waiting for an answer.
Truthfully, I wanted her to say that nothing of the sort happened and it was all some fever dream or maybe I passed out during birth.
But the memories were too real. And graphic...She took a deep breath before responding.
“Yes, well that did happen…but..we are all ok, so I've tried not to think about it much." She gave me a soft smile, eyes glinting in the light. “And I really don't know what's going on, but after you collapsed, I managed to get you cleaned up and I disinfected your wounds and bandaged you up. So there shouldn’t be any infection."
Oh shit, yeah, I can confirm.
I’d had my top changed into a new shirt and I could feel some bandages wrapped tightly around my torso and I had a bunch of plasters on my face and arms. I felt surprisingly healthy, all things considered.
“And honestly, after childbirth I don’t think much else can faze me right now. Not even killing some kind of nightmare with my bare hands, or watching you do the same...Maybe it’s my maternal instinct, because all I care about is making sure that this little one is safe and sound…with us. And you should be proud Godu. You are a brave, kind man, the kind of guy I know you are. You didn't hesitate jumping into battle to protect us both!” She let out a soft laugh even though she was joking, her words hit me like a truck.
“And you’re not that bad looking either.” She winked at me, causing me to snicker. “But seriously, I love you. I don't know what's going to happen now but no matter what, remember that."
A shy awkward chuckle dribbled out of me and I looked down and rubbed my neck..her words..I was so truly appreciative of them that, considering the circumstances. They left me feeling elated and actually a tiny bit proud of myself for actually acting the way I had, even though the images, flashbacks and the physical sensations of all that grim violence made me feel uneasy that I was even capable of such acts.
The thoughts all came with a sweeping wave of cold dread as realisation struck in.
Shit. I've actually killed someone…or was it a justifiable self-defence against..something?..Obviously yes..And truthfully, I'd fucking doing it again if I needed to.
I brushed the dread aside.
“Thanks..I love you so damned much, Marri. And yeah, I’m with you 100%. We gotta make sure this strapping young man stays safe and healthy, no matter what it takes. He’s got all my good looks to live up to, right?” I nodded with a huge smile, a little bit of shyness crept up when I realised I was being incredibly cringe worthy. Ah, the dad persona is already starting to kick in..not long to go until the "hi hungry I'm dad" jokes come.
“Ahem, anyhow, you definitely saved my life too. You're truly incredible..kicking ass after giving birth? Heh, it's honestly a little shocking we are both able to talk about this calmly..." It really was pretty weird that we were mentally stable right now, but I figured there was no point in looking a gift horse in the mouth.
And to be fair, I've been close to mental breakdowns..but that was before I realised Lone was in imminent danger.
“Ah well, you know what they said about new moms in the NCT classes. ‘Never come between a mom and her baby, else you’ll get Tiger mom mode!’ ” She grinned and I grinned back.
There was a comfortable silence where our thoughts drifted back to normal times…preparing for our first child, doing all the classes and buying the books but never reading them.
Who EVER reads those books anyway? Probably the best Fathers, that's who...Hmm..
On that note, I got up, determined to be a helpful husband slash new parent, but it came out in a bit of a mess.
“Okaaay - so! How safe do you think we are and have you heard anything more? I’m just going to grab a drink and check what we’ve got but..do you think, anyone, staff or patients are around? And also are you sure you are okay? Do you need me to do anything? Change a nappy? Orr..”
She raised her eyebrows at my barrage of questions then answered with a slight frown, glancing at the door and window.
“Well Hun, nothing has come near the door that I’ve heard-”
I got up and went over to the bin I’d filled with supplies. It was empty. I looked around the area puzzled.
“-but I’ve heard noises outside the window…that really scared me.”
I stopped and turned to face her and she gestured with a nod to another desk where the food and drink was all neatly arranged.
Tut. I'm blind. Wow so tidy.
Nodding a thanks I continued to listen.
“There have been plenty of distant..screams and shouting..it's been pretty awful I won't lie..I was scared and I’m not 100%, but there’s been some kind of explosions? of some sort..it doesn’t sound like a war is happening but there’s definitely something terrible and very weird going on. I also heard crowds and distant riots for a while but it’s been quiet-ish since I woke up a few hours ago.”
She looked out the window briefly before looking down at Lone.
“And regarding Lone…well, like I said, he’s only needed a few nappy changes and feeding, but I really do feel fine. In fact I feel overly healthy…speaking of which, do you feel any sickness or dizziness? You really scared me when you passed out! You started having convulsions and fever, but after some time, you settled down and slept mostly peacefully.”
She paused and her eyes glazed a little.
“I really was very scared that you weren’t going to make it at first, but for some reason every time I stared at you, you gave me this feeling ‘he’s okay, he’s got life still’. Very weird but it was very comforting. Are you sure you still feel okay? You must be starving! I only managed to get you to take sips of water.."
Stopping my stocktaking of the supplies, I did another mental sweep of myself.
No sickness, dizziness..there is some hunger…barely any fatigue…..hmm.
“Huh. I really feel perfectly fine actually, I still feel healthy..only a bit peckish. Weird.” Shaking my head I finished counting what we had. “We’ve got 14 slices of bread, a large pack of cheese puffs, cashew nuts, 3 bars of chocolate, 10 pack of fruit’n’nut protein chew bars, 4 cans of cola and 6 bottles of water.”
“Ooooo erm, we did have a chocolate orange but…” Marri sucked air through her teeth, knowing that I loved orange chocolate.
“Ha - honestly gal, you’ve earned at least ten hundrd thousand chocolate oranges.” Chuckling, I grabbed a couple of waters, a coke, 1 choccy bar, 4 chew bars and brought our little feast over to her bed.
“Well, let's have a little midnight feast.” I strode over as Marri yawned, nodding to my proposal.
“Yaaaaaaawwwwwn-hoo. Yesh, sounds good and mayyyybe you would be okay just watching over me and Lone for a bit whilst I napped? I’ve been co sleeping fine, but I'd definitely sleep a lot better if I knew you were watching over me!” she looked at me with hopeful eyes.
“Of course! Of course! No need to even ask! Definitely..let’s eat up and then you get as much rest as you need. I’ve done more than enough sleeping, that’s for sure.” I happily agreed, feeling relieved that I could take at least some sliver of burden off of her.
We continued talking for a bit about some things Lone had been doing when I was unconscious, mainly some amusing farting and pooping and other adorable baby noises, and when we had finished our snacks I checked the broken window - which had a trolley curtain propped against it now - and the locked door, which had long since had its barricades returned, and by the time I was finished, she had fallen deep asleep.
Everything felt much more secure than the previous time. Marri's rundown hadn't filled me with much confidence that things were under control or that the danger was gone, but she had mentioned she’d not heard any noises since the fight so I was feeling a bit more relaxed. Although make no mistake, I wasn’t under an illusion that we were completely safe..and I hadn’t forgotten the clacking noises that most likely came from some other horrific creature, but above all the lack of any emergency services painted a very grim picture of what was in store outside.
How far does this go. Is it just local to us? The area? The country? The world??
When I held my breath and listened very closely to the outside, I could also make out deeply unsettling noises in the distance, noises that weren’t our concern right now but were still concerning nonetheless..But I figured we’d probably be OK to stay one more day, just to collect ourselves and plan our next moves since we needed to think about supplies but more importantly, we needed to get home or somewhere safe.
We would need to try and make it to the car and then probably back to the house.
That would probably be our best bet, but we’d need to be careful and I’d need to be 100% sure we were safe to leave this room first.
A solid start to a plan, but definitely something to try during day time.
I sat down and started running through scenarios in my head, planning the routes I could recall in my memory and if I could think of any detail that would help, such as emergency exits or potential shortcuts or even things I needed to avoid.
Electric magnetic doors most likely would be automatically unlocked, standard behaviour for fire, health and safety reasons…you’d hope.
Stairs are 100% the only way, preferably fire exit paths, since those always lead outside the quickest and usually to the car park's assembly points...
Avoid that bloody nightmare corridor.
Do a test run of the route first?
...
Fuck. What a scary thought. Gives me the shivers just thinking about going out there alone..but...
I couldn’t risk bringing Marri and Lone straight from the get-go, since I didn’t know who or what was out there and also if the way was even clear or accessible.
I’ll have to do that alone..
….
Fuck my life.
…
..
.