The sky shook as multiple layers of atmosphere instantly evaporated, ripped away into nothing as the thirty five mile wide meteorite rocketed straight through solid crust.

Within a second, a billion tons of rock and debris catapulted into space, a tsunami of rubble and magma. The celestial destroyer continued, barreling through the planet as a shockwave of unfettered annihilation advanced across the planet's surface. Nothing withstood its purpose of extinction.

A spider web of destruction crawled, possessed by a molten fury until, finally, the fissures coalesced. A moment of peace betrayed the devastation occurring within the shattered core. Without its internal stability, the planet cataclysmically exploded outwards in all directions, cast into the void.

And with that, an infinitesimal blip in the timeline of the universe, humanity’s home was simply, but utterly, gone.

* * * * *

5…4…3…2—

A bright flash smacked his eyelids—

…1…

—But, when he turned to look, a wall stared back at him; not a wall of paint, or concrete, or even one adorned with a tapestry. It was a wall of darkness. Cedric whipped around, spinning on his heels, but everywhere he looked…nothing. Even as his eyes adjusted, not even an outline made itself known.

What happened to the meteor? Wait…am I dead? Is this the afterlife? He hadn’t been much of the religious type. He and Ms. Judie would go to church on the holidays, but he had never really paid much attention; just enough to know when the communion bread was being passed around. But, from what he read in the bible, this certainly didn’t seem like heaven. There weren’t any shiny golden gates, or trumpets playing a whimsical entrance, or...well, anything.

A blur flashed above him, and he snapped his eyes up, but nothing stood out against the blackness. Without realizing, he crouched down slightly, the void looming over his neck, its invisible hands snaking towards his throat. His hands climbed up his arms, where he cradled them. The darkness was cold. Soul suckingly, unnervingly cold.

He took a deep breath, and cupped his palms around his mouth. Ms. Judie, he yelled, but it didn't work. He cocked his head to the side and yelled again, but like before, no sound erupted, no vibrations twisting through the air. Cedric froze, sweat sliding down the back of his neck.

After a few ragged, silent breaths, he screamed; screamed until his throat stung and he was red in the face. Wha— I just— why… What the hell is happening?! Cedric took a step backwards. Something touched his hand. He screamed again, jumping away only to ram his shoulder into something on the other side. Stop! Stop it! Is that…? What is that!? He fell to a crouch, his knees to his chest. He hugged them, shaking. Slamming his eyes closed, he breathed. In. Out. In. Ou—

Suddenly, a bright flash of red smacked the front of his eyelids. A warm, golden glow fell across the skin of his arms and hair.

Warm. That was his first thought. The rest of his thoughts came as follows: outside? sun? meteor? and finally, after that fraction of a second, he opened his eyes.

There were many things he could have imagined. His backyard. Maybe a hole blown out of his roof by a piece of rock. That one ‘date’ he went on with Mallow at the local park. But, no. What met his eyes was a forest; a lush, green forest, towering impossibly tall. Cedric ran his hand down his face, pausing momentarily over his eyes. The forest was still there after he moved it. What about Ms. Judie? He was alone as far as he could tell. They had been in the same room together not even ten minutes ago. Five? It was hard to tell.

It was also now that he realized an opaque, translucent membrane surrounded him, like a cylindrical bubble. It felt slimy to the touch and he gagged, rubbing his finger on his jeans. Does any of this make sense? He knew it didn't, but he just wanted to ask.

Something to look at other than darkness was nice, but the dearth of sound continued and it was starting to make his brain itch. Cedric punched the membrane, but it simply jounced in place, taunting him.

A sky burned orange, wispy clouds slithering across it, peered through the thick canopy. The color looked like it could have come straight out of a tropical island postcard. The trees themselves looked like they were indigenous to South America; long wide trunks with no branches near the bottom or middle, and then spreading out like a hand at the top. Cedric could see small animals skittering around on the ground and in the air. None of them looked familiar.

Directly above by a few meters, a group of butterflies fluttered. They looked like what you would imagine the result of dipping a butterfly in tye-dye might look like. On a nearby tree, a small rodent skittered. Cedric squinted at it, but it moved to the opposite side of the tree. Did it have three tails? Below him, in the dirt, he saw some insects, like an ant and a bee had a baby. Just imagine an inch long ant with a stinger. Now, that is not something you'd want in your shoe. He looked around again, scratching his head.

Where am I? Or rather: How did I get here? A simulation? No, that didn't make any sense. A dream, maybe? It was too real for that. He could feel the sun on his arms and face. Is this even Earth? That final question set everything in motion. In his head, he realized it couldn't be. Earth was gone, or, at the very least uninhabitable, which meant this had to be somewhere else. He didn't know how that possibly made sense, but it did. Simultaneously, a small flash of light blinded him as the membrane around him dissolved in an instant.

Immediately, he flinched, throwing his hands over his face. His ears rang, swallowed by chirping birds and chittering insects; the eerie creak of trees swaying in the waning light, and his own breathing, pounding in his head like a drum. And then, his nose. The cathartic relief of smelling wet grass, moisture hanging in the air, and the array of multicolored flowers dotting the ground. Again, none of them looked particularly familiar, but he wasn't the most knowledgeable person about flowers. He shrugged for now, basking in the sights, smells, and sounds.

A few questions hovered at the back of his mind, tickling his mind. They grew louder by the second. Where am I? What kind of predators might be nearby? How much daylight was left? Are these trees climbable? Where's the closest water source?

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Cedric felt exhausted already.

A mountain would be nice, that way a lay of the land could be gathered, but he couldn't make anything out through the ocean of trunk. He bit his inner gum. There was no slant to the ground, so the cheat he read about finding water by reaching low-lying areas wasn't usable. Cedric felt naked, standing in a forest with no backpack, no emergency supplies. For God's sake, he was wearing jeans…

The membrane had melted, creating a pool of what looked like mucus around him. He gingerly stepped over it and made his way to the nearest tree. The bark felt rough, sturdy, like sandpaper on his skin. It felt just like what a tree would feel like. He shook his head. His mind swirled with questions and the best thing he could do was hmm and haa over a tree. To answer his previous question, the tree was in no way climbable. The trunk was thickest at the bottom with very few deviations in the wood. Not to mention that there'd be nothing to climb to. The only branches were at the top, and they were too thin to support any weight, save for some small mammals or birds maybe.

Cedric sighed, shooting glances at the surrounding area. He would just have to hope he could escape from any would-be predators on foot. For now, he needed to get a move on. Some kind of shelter would be nice, but food and water were his priority. With a deep breath and a stern expression, he trudged forward between a couple of the larger trees at random, seeing as there was no particular advantage between one way or another. Cedric eyed his surroundings closely as he continued. Based on the moist dirt and wet leaves dotting the ground, it had rained recently, which could save him if he couldn't find a better source of water.

Hell…did he even need food and water anymore? If this was heaven, or hell, did he need it? What about sleep? His questions continued, fading into the forest.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that he stopped. Finally, he thought as the ground started to tilt downwards. There was hope yet. He looked at the sky again, the red turning purple, and tsked. He needed more time. If worse came to worst, he could at least get through tonight without water. Looking forward again, he felt deja vu.

Suddenly, a series of images flashed through his mind. His father. Camping. Marshmallows. They had done something very similar to this years ago. Eight years ago, now? When Cedric was nine, they had gone camping in the deep Appalachia and had gotten lost. For four days, they walked in circles, trying to find some semblance of civilization. They never found it. Instead, a local park ranger came and found them after Cedric's mother had called in worried sick. They had eaten so many marshmallows on that trip. His dad got a good beating after that one…

It was one of his favorite memories. Dad very rarely made it home, constantly away on his work trips. Cedric was lucky to see him two or three times a month.

Cedric snapped himself out. He didn't need that right now. With a gulp, he stepped down onto the bank and slid a few meters to the bottom. A rustle of a nearby bush made Cedric stop, his breath caught in his throat. Please be nice. Please be nice. He inched around the bush slowly. Please be n—

And then he saw it, and Cedric fought the urge to vomit, turning away. It looked like a raccoon…if a raccoon had bones outside of its body. Its spine, dirty, and off-white, jabbed from its back; the vertebrae jutting out at equidistant intervals. Cedric looked again. That wasn't even the worst of it. Its ribs, beginning from its misplaced spine, swung outwards before stabbing themselves haphazardly back into its body. Pools of dried pus had mixed with blood, creating a pink liquid that oozed over the gangly green hue of skin at the entry points. It smelled like literal death. He approached it slowly. How could this happen? What could have done this? And how…?

Cedric shivered and backed away. There was one thing he was certain about now. Whatever caused this was not something he wanted to run into. Stepping backwards, he heard a crack as a stick snapped under his foot. Cedric dropped to a crouch, looking behind him, making sure he hadn't invited any unwanted visitors. Another rustle whispered. Cedric froze, slowly turning his head back towards the raccoon…or at least where it’d been a second ago. Cedric stood quickly and ran. He didn't care to know what it was. Maybe the killer had returned for its meal? But why not attack him as well? Surely, he'd make for a better meal.

Maybe…maybe it wasn't—

And then he saw it, arcing through the air at him, pink juice trailing behind. The raccoon hadn't been dead. It was very much alive, and apparently very hungry.

Cedric ducked under its arc, pivoted, and sprung back up. The creature landed and turned towards him. It bared its fangs and hissed, but with the amount of fluid pooling out the sides of its mouth, it sounded like more of a gurgle. Cedric ran again, his feet divoting the soft dirt, churning it as he ran. Trees blurred. Roots twisted. The gurgling continued behind. A violent shudder traveled up his spine as he ducked again, the brown blob flying over his head.

I need a weapon— his mind screamed repeatedly in his head, but what was there to find besides rocks and twigs? Maybe a large enough rock could work, but how would he find the time to land the blow?

He couldn't keep running; it was just too fast. Cedric whipped around just in time to see it take to the air again. His mind screamed as dove to the side, roots and stones rolling up his back. Snatching up a decently sized stick, he lunged. The monster reacted slowly, most likely not anticipating the incoming attack. It jumped to the side, but Cedric thrust his arm forward, following its movement. The tip of his spear stabbed deep into its neck before snapping in half with an audible crack. Cedric fell hard on his elbows, the impact shooting up into his shoulder. The wound in the raccoon's neck erupted as a red spout rained over Cedric. He could taste it; the iron on his tongue, and the way it felt thick, sliding down his arms and face. He fought the urge to vomit again. The monster convulsed for a few seconds before finally falling still.

Cedric collapsed against a nearby tree and rubbed his elbows. The skin had ripped on one of them, blood slowly trickling down his arm. It was hard to tell what was his blood and what wasn't. It didn't hurt badly, but he really needed to find a river or lake. It needed to be cleaned.

In his periphery, he noticed a small bit of movement, and made to dive if he had to, but noticed it wasn't another monster. No, this was somehow even more confusing. Rising from the corpse of the raccoon, several letters and numbers rose into the air. Corporeal text. That, by itself, was confusing, but what they said is what really stole his attention. They read: [2exp].

Now, in his world, that would make sense…if he were sitting in front of a TV or computer screen. It had to mean something else, right? Experience points? Did he know of anything else that used that acronym? Exp.

1. X. P.

Cedric rubbed his temples.

Wait. That wasn't even important. The first thing should be: What the hell was that thing!? He had already had an inkling this wasn't home, but that all but laminated it. Might as well have taken a highlighter and circled it five times. Not Earth. Was this place even inhabited? What if he was the only person here? What if…? What if everybody else did die back on Earth? That meant that he could be dead too. He still hadn't disregarded the chance that this could be some form of afterlife. But, he felt like he’d be able to tell if he had died or not. Everything here just felt too real, too…authentic.

Cedric hadn't even begun to process what all had just happened when a group of clouds blotted out the sun, leaving him, and the unstill creatures of the forest, in darkness.