"What are you saying?"

"I'm leaving."

"Don't you dare!"

"This world is cruel."

Dragging myself, having managed to survive, enduring the pain, resisting to reach this freedom.

But, as many say, freedom sometimes hurts.

And this phrase was very true.

"Awah."

The first thing I noticed upon reaching that freedom was losing my balance, along with a cold breeze. Then, I felt myself rolling on the ground, feeling how the rocks and soil pricked and scratched my entire body, damaging my burned back more than any other part of me, until I finally stopped, hearing a sound and feeling something wet.

It was my right hand touching the water, along with some drops wetting my face and abdomen.

There was a puddle, small, and in particular, this one emitted some warmth along with a burnt smell, not much, but enough to make my skin burn, now having to endure the burn, rolling downhill, and now this hot sand.

Looking up at the sky, I noticed it was covered by dense gray, almost black clouds that seemed to approach threateningly. The atmosphere felt heavy and charged, as if a storm was about to break at any moment. This dark and turbulent sky only added to the feeling of danger and despair that already surrounded me.

Having processed the pain and swallowing what was left, I checked my surroundings, noting the characteristics of the hole I had fallen into, and, by the burnt area, I could assume the green fire had done its job here too.

Some kind of projectile?

If so, had a missile burned my back?

Would I have to wait for another missile to hit me?

I immediately began to observe my surroundings, hoping to find some help or a way to get out of here.

Instead, I only found the expected debris being parts of the building, books, metal, and...

What was that?

I moved instinctively, feeling the adrenaline rushing through me again, dragging my body as far as I could, pulling my hand out of that puddle, seeing in shock what was in front of me.

It was the body of a person, or rather, the charred skeleton of what once was someone.

It was split from the hip down, showing only the spine and part of the ribs emerging from the black water, with a white circle in the middle, possibly the skull of the unfortunate person. Such a sight made me move further away from the center of the hole, staying there paralyzed, observing that macabre scene.

For the first time, I felt that death was very close.

I wouldn't lie; I had seen things, things that I definitely shouldn't have seen on the internet and social networks, but seeing it in person...

Seeing it so close and experiencing it was so unreal, not knowing what to do.

I was paralyzed in this place.

"Fuck it!" I heard a shout, feeling my heart almost stop, getting goosebumps, and my mind freezing, quickly turning towards the direction of that voice.

Just to see a person peeking through the hole. At first glance, they wore a helmet with green camouflage. After getting a bit closer, I noticed their clothes were equally camouflaged until I understood that it was a soldier.

His surprised and scared expression looked as if he was seeing some kind of corpse.

Such a look fell on me, full of blood, scratches, cuts, and burns, not to mention how dirty I was. In a way, I could understand the soldier's expression.

"There's one here!" the figure crouched next to me, quickly checking my wounds. "Don't move, I'll get you out of here."

Coughing and trying to clear my throat, I managed to ask, "Who are you?"

"I'm Tim, part of the security group. There's no time for explanations now. We need to get you to safety."

Stolen story; please report.

Sliding into the hole through the dirt, I saw how he put his boot in the black water to stop his momentum.

"Is there a body there?" I said, pointing out that fact with my hand.

"What? God!" he said, pulling his boot out of the water and observing the half-burnt body down to the bones.

He equipped his weapon and, with the rifle barrel, turned it over. Such an action, besides changing the body's position, only splashed more, being useless even with the missing half still under the water.

"Isn't it an animal? A pig maybe?" asked the soldier Tim, putting his weapon behind him, approaching me.

"No," I gasped, dragging myself more towards the edges of the hole, trying pathetically to climb, small pieces of dirt falling on my back, causing more pain.

"No, the human spine is 'S' shaped and has 33 vertebrae," I expressed, denying it, feeling a wave of pain overwhelming me, getting dizzy, while writhing on the burnt ground.

"Hey, don't fall asleep," said the soldier, trying to keep me as conscious as possible.

"Ah, yes. The pig's is straight and longer," I let out a moan of pain, gritting my teeth and closing my eyes tightly, ignoring Tim's movements for now.

"You know a lot, are you a doctor?" I felt his words of doubt while he positioned me to stand up.

"No, I've seen it in videos and forensic cases," I said, being a half-truth, feeling how he took me by the arms, lifting me from the now somewhat warm sand due to the cold air of the place.

Tim lifted me with surprising strength for his size, supporting me against his shoulder, and with some care and patience, we managed to slowly climb out of the hole, being difficult as I felt my legs tremble, barely able to support me.

With some effort, we got out of the hole, which was more like a crater, and from what it seemed in the distance, it wasn't the only one here.

When I finally could look up, I was momentarily astonished by how the library had ended up.

The old library, what it once was, lay in ruins before my eyes, melted or ripped metal columns scattered on the ground like gigantic fallen sticks. Shelves, or what I assumed they were, were charred in a completely burnt place.

There were scorched books and blackened papers, even here, I could see some parts of pages falling from the sky, falling slowly with the snow.

Wait, was it really snow?

No, the air, though somewhat cold, was actually filled with ashes, along with a burnt smell reaching my nose.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," murmured Tim, pulling me out of my reverie and quickening his pace to leave, passing through the burnt debris and parts of the building in poor condition.

"Ah?—"

It was then that we heard it. A wet, squeaky sound, like bones rubbing against each other, echoed throughout the place, along with a gurgling accompanied by a barking, which was the minimum we needed, turning in unison towards the hole we had just climbed out of.

Pure horror invaded me as I saw that what we thought was just a corpse emerged.

The spine rose like a snake. The skull, now partially covered in muscle, turned towards us with a sickening snap.

"What the fuck!" Tim shouted, pushing me away from him, supporting myself using the burnt shelves, keeping my eyes on that thing.

Accessing his weapon, aiming at the creature, he only managed to fire a few shots before being stopped by the creature itself, cutting Tim's fingers and hand along with the weapon, split in half, then piercing Tim's neck as if it were butter.

A stifled scream escaped my lips in terror, seeing Tim start to choke on his own blood, trying to stop the cut on his throat with his missing fingers and hands, witnessing how the soldier who wanted to rescue me, fell to the ground as a pool of blood formed beneath him.

Seeing how the soldier's life faded away, staring as he vomited blood and writhed on the ground.

In contrast, the creature withdrew from Tim's agonizing body. Climbing onto a pile of debris, I saw how that thing jumped into the air, and in the process, the sharp end of its spine tried to do the same to me as it did to Tim.

Shaken by terror and fear, I tried to block its imminent attack as best I could.

But due to the desperation and fear, I could only act, using the first thing I had at hand.

I had to use my arm as a shield, which only made it pierce through my left arm from side to side, bleeding profusely from the wound and a part of flesh detaching from it. Nonetheless, although immensely painful, I managed to stop the creature, getting it stuck between the bones of my arm, starting to move like a worm or insect, screeching and roaring like a beast.

Moving my arm in terror, I managed to shake the creature off my arm, throwing it far from me, but causing tremendous damage to my arm. In contrast, the creature fell onto some metal beams, making a shrill noise, not far from Tim's body.

I fell to the ground, the pain clouding my vision, trying to cover the wound with my free hand, blood dripping warmly from my fingers, feeling the fear and death a step away from me, trying to keep my eyes on that demon-like thing.

To my horror, the creature crawled towards Tim's lifeless body. With a fluid and unnatural movement, it pounced on the corpse. I watched, paralyzed by terror, as the beast violently expelled Tim's spine and skull, tossing them aside like useless waste. Then, with macabre precision, the creature slid into the empty body, twisting and fitting itself as if it were a poorly fitted suit.

Tim's body, which moments before lay still, began to shake. These were no longer the involuntary were no longer the involuntary spasms of a recent corpse, but deliberate and increasingly coordinated movements. Before my incredulous eyes, the body of my deceased savior took on a new and terrifying life, now possessed by that indescribable entity.

It took very little time for the unthinkable to become a reality.

Seeing how its hands and legs supported themselves on the burnt earth, I saw how the creature had taken Tim's body and replaced it to make it work, starting to notice the regeneration and growth of his hand and fingers along with the healing of his neck, leaving only the bloodstains on his uniform as evidence of the crime.

It didn't take long for the body of the dying soldier to come back to life, the only difference being that this soldier was now a monster in disguise, finishing the regeneration process with a smile using Tim's face for such a macabre and ruthless grin.

The ash was falling more intensely now, mixing with Tim's blood and mine over the ruins of what was once the library.

And as the creature approached, I understood that my struggle for survival was already over.