Death time — 3:48:34 pm

An earthquake.

A goddamn earthquake happened…..

While I was asleep…..

Look I know I am a deep sleeper, but I am not that of a deep sleeper.

I thought I was.

If it wasn’t for Thalia’s call, then…. I don’t know what would have happened.

Cause I don’t remember.

And now there’s a power cut throughout the town because all the electrical towers are down because……..

Of the two earthquakes.

Blackout.

Town’s gone dark.

Phones? Dead.

Wi-Fi? Forget it.

Communication?

Gone.

Just static.

And silence.

And me—

Just barely managed to shower with a paining sore.

Oh, yeah…. the bullet got removed and now in its place is a whole dead man’s land.

Dead.

Rotten.

Gone.

Just like how Coby is to me.

Dead.

Rotten.

Gone.

The water pumped out of the pipes like the house was exhaling.

Spitting clean lukewarm at best.

It wasn’t exactly soothing because when the person who used the shower before you left it uncleaned, you get this disgusting taste in your mouth like….. As if someone just died.

I mean no offense to Sammie, who tried his level best to get rid of the strong stench of blood, but he should have given me a heads-up for it.

The soap was (fortunately not stained by my blood unlike the pearly pinkish tiles) the only thing that kept me away from puking. Hot steams of the water carried out the pleasant smells of the rose buds around the shower, making it a bit bearable to wash myself without any discomfort.

While my left hand rubbed the soap around, the other hovered near the waterproofed two layers of bandages around my abdomen. My muscles screamed when I twisted even slightly. Like they weren’t mine anymore.

And underneath it all, there was that hum.

Not the shower.

Not the pipes.

Something else.

Like the silence was trying to talk to me.

Or maybe it’s my paranoia.

My fingers brushed over where the bullet used to be.

Past tense for a reason.

It didn’t feel like a hole anymore.

It felt… wrong.

No pus.

No scabbing.

Just dead skin, sealed tight.

And beneath it?

Something moving.

Not pain exactly.

But active.

Like the wound itself was watching me—-

Definitely my paranoia.

But I know this time that I can dealt with it.

Finally, something, out of the blue, blew Coby’s plan apart.

And now, we are with a lead.

This is what I needed.

A head start to figure and break through the Galvin’s secret.

You sure about that?

Yeah.

I am no longer that sullen, gloomy sick kid anymore, I am the school’s most decorated debater and regional wrestler for a reason.

I am strong that I could withstand this deadly wound.

I am confident that I could have lasted this long.

I am me.

I survived this.

I am surviving this.

I am not gonna run from my fear.

Fear of losing my friends.

They are with me, I am with them.

They made this choice. I can’t help but let them jump on my boat.

They are here for me as I am here for them.

Time to drop the douche-bag act.

I chuckled to myself, turning off the tap.

The water kept dripping.

I ignored it.

Towel wrapped.

Bare feet on cold tiles.

Hands on the bandage.

But a smile on the mirror.

I stepped back into the sunny room which was literally drenched in blood a few minutes ago.

My actually-assigned doctor’s mopping the floor. He looked up at me, mask on his face.

“So,” he said, dropping the mop into its bucket with a wet thunk, “thought this might be enough of a gift for what you pulled off last night.”

He rolled a metal tray up beside the bed, the wheels clicking faintly over the floor.

Then he sat down on the edge of the mattress, casually patting the space beside him like we were about to watch a movie instead of unpack a goddamn apocalypse.

I squinted, proceeding to sit in such an awkward angle that I didn’t pull my wound apart.

“Of course, you can’t remember the incident, but let me deliver my gratitude to your phone, for letting us know of this van that was coming to the hospital.” He moved to his left side to grab a fresh rolls of gauze’s for changing.

I blinked.

“I barely remember, other than the pillow fight that I had with—”

SHOOT!

“OFFICER ADAMS—-” I jerked up. Two hands held me down, steadying me.

I was held down by the doc, to slow down my quick reaction.

But, that didn’t slow down the tears from following out.

“Kid, he’s fine. He’s in the next room. Took two bullets,” My eyes widened. “One in the foot and the other grazed his chest. He’s gonna make it.” My sigh was short-lived as soon as his hands landed on my abdomen.

Within a split second, he was prepped up with his gloves, a pair of tweezers in his hand.

“Hey, just gonna batch up your bandages. Don’t try to move and….” His hands dropped as soon as he undid my bandages.

So, did Sammie.

“SEE! I TOLD YOU, HE HAS REGENERATIVE POWERS! ” Sammie hit his fist in the air, as if he won the lottery.

Wait—

When did he even come in?

Wait—

The hell did he mean by that?

Oh.

Right.

Now I get it.

Sammie is an anime fan who loves anime type stuff.

For example, superpowers.

It’s not a bad thing to be a fan of those 2D characters…. If you’re single-

That’s not the point.

The point is—

He’s traumatized.

So deep in it, he’s stitched his coping mechanism straight out of a shōnen arc.

In his eyes, I’m some kind of superhero.

With regenerative powers.

As if surviving a bullet wound makes me ‘Ichigo’ with plot armor.

I would’ve laughed.

But then—

I looked down.

And the bullet hole?

It wasn’t a hole anymore.

It was a wound.

Sealed.

Smooth.

Pink.

Fresh muscle like someone had taken a highlighter to my insides and photo shopped the trauma away.

Heavy.

Sure, it was bloody and had dried off but…

Damn it.

Just how many times have I traumatized the people around me?

It’s becoming a thing now.

At this point, I might as well call it a superpower.

“This is impossible,” the doc mumbled. “Like–like it’s almost healed, by now.” He scanned the wound, his gloves caressing my abdomen like I am some sort of never-been-seen-before organ.

Like I was not human.

Like he was trying to understand what kind of creature I’d become.

Shit—

“Hey… umm,” Shit, why didn’t I ever ask for his name.

“Carl.” he said, casually, like he wasn’t tending to the most baffling wound of his career.

He grabbed an alcohol pad, started cleaning me up.

It felt cold.

Too cold.

Like my skin wasn’t ready to feel things again.

It felt so cold.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s-”

OUCH!

He pressed down—way too hard.

“Even I don’t know,” he muttered, unshaken. “Hell, I didn’t even know it was possible for human tissue to regenerate this fast… not until your friend here gave me his little theory.”

Carl flicked his chin toward Sammie.

Who, of course, jumped like he’d just gotten name-dropped by Jesus himself.

I shook my head at him, trying not to laugh.

Silly.

Ridiculous.

And yet—

Behind his grin, I could still see his dad’s face.

The one he doesn’t talk about.

The one I can’t forget.

“From what I can see—and feel—your pain tolerance is absolute shit,” he said, locking eyes with me.

“Just like every man I’ve ever treated.”

I blinked. Ouch.

“But you’re healing—no, regenerating—so fast your body can’t keep up.”

He tugged on the tissue with tweezers gently, like proving a point.

“Your recovery’s outpacing your nerves. Meaning your healing isn’t syncing with the pain.”

He paused. Leaned in a little.

“Could be nerve damage. But…”

A shrug.

“I highly doubt that.”

“So, is he gonna be okay?” Sammie asked, resting his chin on the headrest of the wheelchair he somehow wheeled in like it was part of his costume. His brows scrunched, lips in a full pout—

like a kid asking the vet if the puppy’s gonna live.

Carl didn’t answer right away.

He dabbed more antiseptic on the wound, eyes flicking between it and me, calculating.

Then:

“He’s gonna live.”

Sammie beamed.

“But,” Carl added, voice dipping low, “that’s assuming he doesn’t go wrestle a bear in the next twenty-four hours.”

It’s an inside joke within the doctors with me.

As a recurring patient, from my wrestling injuries to seasonal flu, I have become a sort of living legend for these transferred doctors and nurses.

That’s because a few years back I wrestle a bear cub in the woods.

The same woods where those cults reappeared.

“C’mon, man.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that dumb.”

Carl didn’t laugh. He just stared at me a beat longer than necessary.

Not at my face.

At my abdomen more.

Which was somehow worse.

“This is why,” OUCH! “You folks should never EVER believe the internet.” He pulled the tweezers out. It held a bloody clotted substance that landed with a ‘clink’ on the metallic tray.

Before I even had time to even realize what was that, he continued pulling out, one by one.

“Either you’re a miracle… or I’m about to lose my goddamn license,” he mumbled while he worked on my body.

My arms hung stiff at my sides, fingers twitching uselessly.

I stared at the tray, blinking slow and heavy, like my brain was short-circuiting to catch up.

Every metallic clink echoed louder in my skull than the last.

I didn’t even flinch — just breathed shallowly, like moving too much might break whatever was left holding me together.

By the end of it, a dozen staples clinked onto the tray—

Sammie uncomfortably shifted in his seat.

I have so many questions for-

“GUYS! THE FOODS READY!” Thalia barged in, her boots clacking down the clean pristine marble floor. Her warm expression vanished the second Sammie turned to face her.

Did something happen while I was taking a bath?

Carl whipped his head to her entrance, dropping the tweezers onto the plate with a clank. “Finally, somewhat of a news.” He stood up to patch me up, while Thalia motioned Sammie to the corner, reluctantly leaving his seat. Carl may have seemed unbothered, adding his finishing touches on my bandage, but his eyes didn’t ignore the tension among them. Neither did I.

Having been the the third-wheeler to their relationship, is what giving me an edge as to what Carl might be missing, to conclude of them as a couple.

From the looks of it, they are still continuing their bickering about last night’s events. But something about it is nudging my gut, a lot.

Sammie’s usually backup dimples, his crooked grins, his defensive hand gestures…. were all gone. Replaced by a thin line, his unwavering stare added another set of alarms in my head. His hands, whose main purpose was to be a comedic relief for the soothing down the heat, just loosely hanged down. Sammie, who would switch back and fort within his range of emotions, stood there like a blank canvas, nonchalantly. All that glow his eyes had radiated turned gray upon Thalia’s arrival.

Her jet black hair swished around her shoulders vigorously, during the heated mumbling. Instead of her nonsensical commanding vibe that would come off from simply crossing her arms, her distress was severely highlighted throughout their quarrel. She hunched her back, towering over Sammie, when she would just normally bend her knees, adjusting her eye level as same as his. Her sneakers continuously stomped the floor, hinting to end whatever they were on about. Which is unusual, as Thalia loves to listen to Sammie’s on-the-spot-made-up excuse on the get go.

Whatever it was, it seemed like Thalia was the one who screwed up this time.

Big time.

The fact that they’re talking in private makes me feel like I’m trespassing into their private love life.

Which, I hate to admit it… been doing a lot, recently.

But how do I get them to—

“So, shall we?” Carl beckoned towards the exit, causing the couple to step out of their world.

Thanks, I fist bumped him in the corridor.

No worries, he returned it with a steady arm, clamped on my shoulder.

“Hey, were you there with them? You know… after I hopped into the shower?” I ask him, making sure that the topic of discussion didn’t hear us from the front.

He lowered his voice. “Nah. By the time I came to mop your room, your buddy was just sulking outside. ”

He made sure to glance toward the front—just in case our topic of conversation had bat-like hearing.

“Although, I did bump into her—”

“Guys! Come over! Quickly!” My actually-assigned nurse was shock and relived to see me, making her tear up a bit.

I was so invested in the discussion that I took no notice of our quick arrival at the cafeteria.

“Donna,” she introduced herself before briefly introducing us to all of the remaining staffs, including a wounded Officer Adams who just came in with his assigned nurse as well as Sue.

“Come over here.” He pulled me towards himself, shocking me with the strength he still had left in him. I genuinely cried over his shoulder, not realizing the fact that I was squeaking his chest.

Same with Thalia and Sue, both were hugging each other and comforting with sweet words of affection.

Nonetheless, I felt quite guilty for Sammie, who shot a reassuring look at me, while awkwardly standing in the midst of the reunion.

“Hospitals and Police, are the universal symbol for safety and protection,” he and I sat at the table of three.

“And corruption.” Sammie followed up. He pulled the extra chair, and welcomed himself to the table. This was the first time since the interrogation, after the tree house incident, they have met. Officer Adams didn’t look surprised. Must have gotten briefed about how Sammie is involved in what has been going on.

“So? Shouldn’t we get an apology for it?” Sammie dawned the question upon the unmoved officer. I was worried, because Sammie kept on digging his nails onto his own crossed arms. Both of which turned crimson red.

Oh, god…….

The tension was skyrocketing.

Officer Adams nodded before continuing. “You both have the absolute right to sue the police as well as Piers. It was unexpected and also at the same time…. predictable trait of his. He had many corruption cases filed against, all of which were hidden in the piles of cash.” He looked over at Sue, finally breaking a smile.

“Because with your promotion, you have could dug into those files and cases as they would have been given to both of you. ” I waved back at Sue, who kept on shooting worried glances from her table with Thalia and the medical staff.

“With all that aside, how much can we get him in jail?” Sammie blurted out, arms crossed. He stood in-between us.

The main victim of this whole facade.

Sure, he had very right to be untitled to the damages….but….

“Could you just go easy on him, Sammie?” I nudged him a bit, trying to soften his glare.

“Easy?” His voice cracked like glass. “When my parents died over a MURDER that THEY NEVER COMMITTED?” He shifted his gaze from me towards the wounded officer— bandaged, shirtless, still catching his breath like survival itself was a full-time job.

I didn’t blame Sammie.

Not really.

His anger had roots that ran deeper than any words could reach.

Roots soaked in grief, betrayal, and years of silence.

By the closest people we all knew….

“As far as we know,” Officer Adams interjected, voice low and even. “Piers wanted both of us to be eliminated. You—for his reputation. Me—for his secrets.”

He leaned in, steady and calm.

The kind of calm that came from knowing how close he’d come to dying for a system that was never clean to begin with.

“All we can do now is strike a deal. Because whether we like it or not…”

He extended a hand.

“We’ve got a common enemy.”

Just inches separated them now.

Inches between a handshake and a punch.

Between justice and vengeance.

Between Sammie’s fury and the one person who might help bring Piers down for good.

Can’t believe that it took him just a minute to build an efficient rapport.

Because not even sixty seconds later, Sammie was breaking down in Officer Adams’ arms.

The same arms he’d glared at. Accused. Almost swung at.

Now?

Clinging. Shaking. Not from weaknesses —but from the flood of everything he’d been holding in.

Grief.

Guilt.

Fury.

All of it.

And Adams? He didn’t flinch. Just held him steady. Like he’d done this before. Like he knew that sometimes the hardest part of survival… is letting someone else carry the weight, even for a second.

Wait…… Of course, he has done this before.

He did it with me, right after the interrogation about the tree house.

Ahh…. the good old days.

“He-he-called—” Sammie buried his face into Officer Adam's chest, craving the first parental touch after the brutal murder. His parent were no longer there for him. Now, who’s gonna look after him? Probably he could stay at my house—

That’s when it finally hit me.

My firm arms, felt sweaty against the randy shirt I wore. My legs ready to give up any second upon my realization about my parent’s survival. God….. are they okay?

Sure, at times I wish they were dead for some dispute, but they were my folks. They traveled all the way from Mexico to the USA for a better future.

For me.

For my future.

“Casper?” I turned to see the short pixie-cut girl at whom I was waving at.

“Hey, Sue….” My groans becoming more apparent at how close she was to me.

“You don’t look good.” Her oversize hoodie made her seem so small….

So small like… Kat…..

If she were to be alive….. she would be around her age.

They would have been best friends, I suppose.

I chuckled

Turns out grief is a better liar than I am.

“Am I making you uncomfy? Because after the night…” She nervously chuckled along with me.

“AH shit! My bad. Just zoned out.” I slapped myself again for making sure that I don’t let my intrusive take over again.

Sue weird-ed out.

As one would.

“You good?” Sue asked.

“I am good.” I answered.

“Doesn’t sound like it.” She questioned.

“How am I supposed to sound like in this situation?” I clap backed at her.

“Uh… I don’t know maybe a bit positive vibes for being alive?” She looked around, before pulling my arm away back into the hall away.

“CASPER DOESN’T LOOK GOOD. HE WANTS TO WALK AROUND!” She shouted at the only one person who would have given a damn.

“OKAY! DON’T GO FAR!” Officer Adam gave a thumbs up behind Sammie’s back who was still sniffling on his chest

Why is she doing this?

Sue isn’t that dumb of a person to know whether a person is happy or sad. It’s like she's purposefully making me sound depress. Wait…. does she want to tell me something in private? Like…. a crush?

Ahh… now I get it.

Because I almost died, she wanted to confess her feelings to me before later than neve—

“Sammie and Thalia broke up.”

or maybe not.

“No wonder, they have been so weird.” I sat down in one of those hospital seats. Sue slipped down right next to me.

“I was on my way to see dad, when I overheard Sammie dump Thalia in the hallway.” She pulled her hoodie over to her pulled up knees. Probably feeling the cold winters rolling up. Terrible as it sounds, it’s still the festive season.

The worst season to break up.

Who’s gonna return all the gifts?

Who’s gonna eat all the pudding?

Who’s gonna be the new year’s kiss?

“Must have been a rough ride.” I mumbled.

“Oh, no! It was just me and my bike—” Took her a minute to understand what I mean. But it was too late. Her fingers had already pointed to her pink flowery bike she locked up right in front of us. Her whole face was bright tomato.

“Sorry, for—” I shut down her flushed cheeks with my hand up. I understood the misunderstanding. Should have made myself clearer.

“Nah, it’s all good. Besides, it happens all the tim—”

THUMP!

Sue’s bike toppled over with a clatter—

—just as Mr. Collins’ head hit the floor.

I snapped Sue’s head towards me, not letting her see the sight, my eyes miserly fell upon.

Mr. Collin’s head rolled onto the ground, his larynx and spinal cord still attached.

His nerves were draining out the blood under the atmospheric pressure. Muddling the dark, lime lit hospital halls with dark red, like a cherry on top.

But how did the head get there?

I looked up from the floor, onto the legs, then the hospital gown till I reached the face. Holy shit, never has my brain ever worked this hard to remember a face.

It was the girl from the web-link.

The girl that made Mr. Collins faint.

Mr. Collin’s daughter.

Amelia….

But, what made me even more scared was that… she still wore her striking maroon bandana…. which meant….

Coby had been monitoring from the start.

The temperature dropped.

The air grew thicker.

Both of our heart beats kept on thumping so loud that it was the only thing we could hear, except the ringing.

We tried our best to not flinch on the munching of the monster’s feast, who was once human.

The lime aided a bit in revealing the gruesome details of the exterior and..…

The interior.

It kept clutching the intestines that kept slipping out of its guts, while the other hand, (barely even a hand, it was just the bones with no too little muscles) kept on smashing the head onto the floor for more protein. Like the lobsters.

“God, I am never getting lobsters again.” I mumbled under my breath, realizing my fatal mistake.

The monster snapped its head towards us…

Glared.

Scanned.

Like it was counting.

Measuring.

A low growl rumbled from somewhere deep in its throat—not loud, but enough to make my ribs clench.

Its eyes—too many of them—flicked across the room like searchlights.

One blinked. Then another.

I couldn’t move.

Not because I didn’t want to.

Because my body simply refused.

Next to me, I felt Sue’s hand tighten on my wrist.

I didn’t know when she grabbed it.

Didn’t care.

I squeezed back like it was the only thing tethering me to the floor.

It leaned forward.

Sniffed.

Once.

Twice.

Then—

It went diving back into its dinner.

We both sighed.

“Wha-at-at if some-on-one come-mes lo-oo-oking for u-us?”

That shook me more than any earthquake could.

I whipped my head back to see the bright sunlight dawning from the cafeteria, people’s laugh and cheer.

If only they knew it was the calm before the major earthquake.

THINK, CASPER! THINK!

I looked at the trembling Sue, who’s tears were so close to coming out.

She’s the marathon runner for a reason.

I softly explained to her the plan, to which she agreed against her wishes.

She reached into her pockets and slowly, her bike’s key were in my hand, with a soft clink.

That’s when I realized that we could slowly make our way back to the cafeteria, because if we took the advantage of the darkness—only when the emergency lights flickered out—we could alert the people in tim—

“Hiya, Barbie!

Hi, Ken!

You wanna go for a ride?

Sure, Ken!

Jump in!

I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world—”

The ringtone. Loud. Echoing. Shattering the dark.

Sue fumbled for her phone like she’d just been tased.

“WHO IS THIS?!” she hissed in a whisper. But it was too late.

The monster—

The thing that used to be Amelia—

Snapped its head toward us.

And lunged.

“SUE! TOSS ME THE PHONE!” I threw my body towards it, , slamming into the monster—Amelia—knocking it straight into the bike and the seats.

The phone arced through the air.

I caught the phone just in time before banging my head against the metallic seat pretty badly, but it was okay.

As long as I could hear the caller’s voice.

Everything rang for a second, but I clutched the phone like a lifeline.

Because, I had a feeling that it had to be—

“SEE! TOLD YA OLD FOLKS! MY BUDDY COULD BODY SLAM A CRAWLER!” Coby’s voice blasted through, tangled in background chaos.

Laughter, groans, maybe a siren.

“WHAT THE HELL COBY? YOU MADE A BET ON ME??!!” I screeched as I unlocked the bike’s lock on time, as soon as the monster—Crawler? Amelia?—started to rise again.

Even the thing looked offended, like, Really? A bet?

But what could it do? Its insides were literally falling out.

Sue dashed past me, sending the message like we’d planned—urgent, desperate, clean.

“CLOSE THE CAFETERIA! AN INVASION!”

As expected, Officer Adams was the first one to come out.

“Shit. Shit.”

I ducked as Amelia lunged.

Then, I grabbed one of her arms—too long, too light—and twisted, driving my bare knee into her chest.

Listen, before I get canceled, I just wanted to let you know that this person is dead and killed her own father. I am not sure if she was even a human.

Because…. how can someone keep moving…. when its intestines are on the floor?

“CASPER! TAKE THE BIKE AND RACE DOWN TO THE FIRST FLOOR! WITH THE ELEVATOR! MEET YOU DOWN THERE!” Officer Adams shouted just as the cafeteria doors shut close.

Damn… I am alone in this.

“YO THAT’S MY BOY!” Coby’s voice cracked through the phone. “I DIDN’T KNOW YOU DID KICKBOX TOO?!”

I shook my head, lips dry.

“Just because…” I grabbed the bike.

“I only wrestled…” Foot on the pedal.

“Doesn’t mean…” Hands on the handlebars.

“I wasn’t interested…” One deep breath.

“In other forms of self-defense.”

I pushed off, tires skidding against blood-slick linoleum.

“Besides—” I muttered under my breath.

“I had to learn how to stand up for myself.”

I swerved hard, avoiding the broken derbies on the floor.

“HMM…. Fair point. Wait! How are you talking to me while reading the bike??”

In the meantime, Amelia’s claws scraped the floor behind me with a screech.

God! That was an earful!

“Multitasking—AHH SHIT!” I took a turned in the hallway swiftly just in time, the monster jumped over me. It stopped it’s crash against the vending machine by clawing it’s white bone-y hands cross the floor. Each gap deep-deep in just like those cracks in the ice-ices of Antarctica.

“Global warming sucks, man!” Sure, I admit that I am very pissed at him.

“Tell me about it.” But in a situation like this, I welcome any company that’s ready to yap to me.

I turned up the gears to great value and pedaled towards the lift that was just a meter away. My abdomen has been groaning in pain since the wrestle and now….. it’s intensifying per second.

It’s like the wound is threatening to burst open any second now. The adrenaline’s helping, but also overheating me, soaking the bandages loose.

But it’s alright, I just have to get into that lift—

“SHIT! CASPER! STOP! DON’T GO TO THE LIFT!” I didn’t stop my wheels. Even at his panic voice. Why should I care about a dead person?

Coby?

Worried about me?

As in like a friend or an investment?

“IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME, JUST LOOK UP!”

“SCREW YOU! AND YOU-r-err…. oh…. god……” I looked up.

Amelia.

Clawed to the ceiling.

Marching straight toward the lift.

“That’s why we call them the crawlers,” his voice softened for the first time while my mouth just dropped to the floor. “They crawl everywhere.”

“Stairs. Where are they?” I brought the phone closer to my face.

It seemed like Amelia lost track of me….

Until I crashed down the stairs.

On the bike.

“Hey! I can’t see you right now! All of the cameras in the stairs are busted! What happened? Did something break?” I pushed the bike away from the chest, just as I felt one of my ribs broke.

“A dead body.” That’s what happened.

——x——x——x——x——x——x——x——x——x——x——x——

“THERE WE GO! YOU’RE FINALLY ON THE SCREEN! What were you saying? Yeah, we totally wired your house, your phone, except your car. Your car was the only one place we couldn’t wire.” Coby slurred.

Apparently, his cult was having a boy's night.

“Who-ho’s the-he ‘we’?” I barely choked out the words as the only thing between Amelia, and I was the fire extinguisher.

Which was rapidly becoming irrelevant.

“Oh! You know, my family! That I found online!”

Which again, she kicked.

Hard.

“Oh? You m-mean t-the on-nes who’s trying to kill us?”

Amelia clawed into my ribs as we wrestle on the broken glass beakers, rods, chemicals…. god knows how many microorganisms were there in those broken capsules….

My back burned as the acids kept reacting with the glass shards on the floor.

Just like my heart.

“Yup! The very same one!”

I could feel the sting, bubbling under each movement like boiling water on a wound.

And still, she didn’t stop.

She was hungry for my blood, flesh…. even my mea—

The metal clanged once.

Twice.

And then—

BOOM.

A deafening, pressurized pop, followed by a blinding white burst.

The extinguisher exploded, spewing powder and force like a shotgun of ice and dust.

It threw both of us apart—

Her body slammed into the counter, mine skidded across broken glass and chemical sludge.

A high-pitched ringing carved through my ears.

I gasped.

Coughed.

My ribs flared like they were splitting open from the inside.

My whole warmth gone, and I felt the coolness slow down the heated tension that…. me and Amelia had.

Through the haze, I saw her twitch.

Still crawling.

Still coming.

Towards me.

“Fucking bitch!” In quick-style of desperation, I threw the only thing I could get my hands.

Sue’s phone.

That ‘boinked’ off her skinless head.

That did count for something.

But only just.

Her body was barely holding together.

There was barely any left of her muscles…. or her entire body.

Muscles were rotting away, like someone had put a deadline on decay. Her hospital rags barely clung to her, hanging off the shredded remains of her torso.

And then—

Her insides ruptured.

I could hear the wet tearing, the sickening crack of bone and flesh.

Her hands clawed at her own insides, and her head slammed against the counter with a sickening thud—

And she crumpled.

Dead.

Not even the body could hold on anymore.

I looked at the blow apart fire extinguisher, near my foot.

Thanks a lot…. fire extinguisher.

Headache everywhere….

“Yo? Bud, you good?” I snatched the phone away, surprised that it still held together.

“What happened?” I hissed, dragging myself toward the counter. “To your fam? Why aren’t you with them? Why aren’t you… budding with them?”

Head pounding.

Pain flaring in every direction.

“They are just—”

“They are just what? Not good enough? Just like we were?”

“Cassie—”

“Cassie, what? I am no longer your god-cousin or your friend. All the things you made the three of us go through…. The fuck were you thinking?” My voice croaked at the end.

“It was to prepare—”

“Prepare for WHAT, Coby? A non-existent apocalypse? Oh wait, you just made it happen. Congrats!”

“No. Listen to me, you have—”

“Listen or what? Die of the consequences? Letting your loved ones to die? I don’t even know if my folks are even alive.”

“Wait, don’t you hate your parents?”

“Even if I do, they were the ones who brought me here.”

“Same for Coral.”

“What? DON’T PLAY—”

“Your dad had an affair with my mom. Which…. resulted in Coral. Why do you think she willingly committed suicide? With the future known as well as the past, what better than to do in the present?”

“So, your ‘legendary’ family got…. some hold of a prophecy for the next year and…. just went to off themselves…. because of how bad it was?”

“Apocalypse are always bad. The movies just shows the lucky ones. And also, don’t call them legendary. Their legacies are just full of crap.”

“Huh….. Letting me take all the hurdle….. I see you.”

“Some legacies come with land. Mine came with corpses. Of the innocents, including yours.”

“What…. the…. hell….”

“My parents always made shitty deals with shitty people. Goodbye, You’re gonna have a painful death. Breathing in all that carbon monoxide…..”

“Coby….. don’t…………..you….”

“I will always be in debt to you, my only and..... true friend. So..... sorry had to bring you into this mess of mine.”

*Call disconnected*