Entering this rotten world

The warmth that filled my body came to a sudden halt. As I felt my broken body's pain quickly come to a serendipitous end. The ringing sound that filled my ears quieted just as quickly. All that remained was the sound of light dripping of water.

As I open my eyes, my vision is encompassed by only darkness, and the scent of stale air fills my nostrils.

Once my vision adjusted, I became aware of what seemed to be an old ruin. Moss covering most of the stone and a large puddle of water which seems to be slowly growing do to a leak in the broken structure. Sitting up, I look to where I was lying. A pedestal of sorts with unintelligible runes marked throughout. Behind it, a Large 8ft or so statue of a young woman cloaked in a white gown. It looks as if it was originally white, but time has broken the statue down. Its arm has fallen off and lies shattered on the ground. Vines and moss cover the rest, leaving the details of the statue lost.

Where am I? I thought to myself. This place is unlike any ruin I have ever heard of. Especially not anywhere close to where I live.

How did I even get here in the first place? I was dying in the snow. Are my wounds gone? I quickly pull up my shirt to see no blood. Not even any bruising or damage of any kind. But I’m still wearing my hard hat and bright green workwear. It's not even stained. Is this the afterlife? If so, it's definitely not what I imagined to be what eternity after death to look like.

Quickly hopping off the odd pedestal, I look frantically around. Noticing an arched gateway with a set of grand double doors farther down the room. With it seeming to be the only way out, I slowly head towards it. My heavy boots echoed the sound of footsteps throughout the ruin. Creeping towards the exit, hoping to find out what is possibly happening right now.

The set of double doors is wooden. Touching them, I can tell they are deeply dilapidated and rotten. Seeing no other option I give the doors a heavy push. The Doors, unable to even withstand that much force and break apart as I force my way through. Causing a wet snap, the wood opens up a way through to a man-sized hole. The rest of the door stuck to its hinges in an unnatural way.

As I exit the old building, light shines through. Blinding me for but a moment. After a moment, I can come to see a large courtyard. Just as ruined as the building I can from. Large trees rising out from what used to be a fountain. And a nearby building had collapsed, leaving a large collection of rubble strewn about the streets nearby. The architecture of the remaining buildings looks impossibly grand. With large towers dotting the horizon and bridges connecting them hundreds of feet in the air. The fresh air is warm. Comforting my tired spirit. But confirming my suspicions is the sun that covers the sky. As almost like an octopus, it has glowing tendrils slowly moving around it. Looking behind me, the building looks most dissimilar to that of a building of faith. Like a chapel or the like. Though its details and iconography remain entirely unrecognizable.

Wherever this is. This is not Earth. And for whatever reason, I’m not dead. I wonder if Frederick made it out ok. I wonder. Will my parents mourn me? Knowing them, they will probably cry and blame me for not listening to them. Yeah, that’s probably right. Even in death, they will refuse any responsibility. But even so. I’m kind of sad I never made up with them.

Something rolls down my cheek. And then another. Tears? Why.

Ahh, I see. I’m mourning. I died. Go, how dumb of me to mourn myself. But you know. It just feels more real now. Looking at that eldritch sun on an alien world. Makes it clear to me that. I'll never be able to fix my mistakes. Who knows if I can return home? Do I even want to? God, I’m so unsure. This isn’t the time for this. I need to find somewhere safe first. So stop wallowing. I wipe my tears with one large swipe as my attention is dragged elsewhere.

Snap. A broken branch. I twist my head towards the noise. It came from an alleyway nearby. I quickly dive for a bit of cover nearby. Trying to hide behind the stone stairway that leads to the Chapel from where I came from.

I frantically wipe my own tears, trying to see what possibly made the noise. Better be safe than sorry after all. Peaking through the marble stairway. Chills spike through my spine as I see the source of the noise.

A humanoid-looking creature. Its body is similar to zombies but markedly different, with red veins filled with some type of energy covering its body. An aura of what looks like ash follows and surrounds it.

What the hell is that thing? Whatever it is, it definitely doesn’t look friendly.

Sweat begins dripping from my forehead. The creature slowly begins to move throughout the courtyard. While it hasn’t noticed me yet, eventually it's bound to find me. I have to think of something fast. This is another world, right? Shouldn’t I have some cheat-like power come on? Maybe some gift to help me out. I must have something I can do.

A raspy voice echoes from the courtyard. It's filled with a deep amount of malice. “Lost little child. Where could you be?. I can smell your abundant life. Give it to me.” The sound of footsteps gets closer one by one.

What the hell. The thing can talk. I have to do something quick. Come on, status screen! Inventory. Something has to be there. Shit, am I going to have to manage on my own? The footsteps are getting closer and closer. I have to do something now. Come on MOVE!

“Found you.” Its soulless eyes glare at me as its body unnaturally bends over the railing. A bit of a smile could be seen on the wrinkled face of the creature. Its lips cracked and were almost torn apart as the face opened to its own insidious smile.

It raises its arm to the sky as if preparing to swing. The ashes that follow its body condense around its fist.

Move. I need to move. Come on. I can’t die this soon. Not now, when I was given a second chance. So please. MOVE!

My Body flies into motion at the last possible moment. Diving out of the way of the creature's strike. Tumbling through the hard stone, I try to recenter myself. As I look at the creature, I see the ash almost degrading the life around it. As the plants wither around the strike, the stone seems unharmed. As if the strike had no real force. I really don’t want to see what happens if I touch that. I hurry to my feet and begin to run at full speed. The creature lifts its hand out of the stone. Twisting its head to look at me. Its hollow eyes are haunting me. As its joints begin to crack and it begins to move.

I begin to scramble to my feet and run through the streets. The creature followed quickly behind. The wind blows in my face as I scramble through the empty ruins. I begged and prayed that I would not find another monster on the path. That my god forsaken luck wouldn’t turn its rotten head to glare at me once more. Turning around, I see the monster on my tail.

The sound of my own heart crying out as it echoes through my ears. It's been years since I last ran. And I’m quickly starting to regret that fact. But as I push my body, I look back and I can tell I have gained some distance. The creature is slightly slower than I; however, looking at it, I can tell something far more worrisome. It doesn’t look the slightest bit tired. I have to find a way to lose it, else I'm done for.

I scan my surroundings, hoping to find anything. I quickly take a sharp turn at the end of the street. As I turn, I notice a building that seems to be in better condition than the rest. With a sturdy stone door. Maybe I can hold the door and hide out there. It seems to be my only option at this point. I'm already getting out of breath. I won’t last long. I push my body to its limits. Trying to make it to the door as fast as possible.

However, in my moment of intense relief, I saw a way out. I fail to notice a few pieces of rubble strewn across the ground. Landing on one of them and crashing straight into the ground. My ankle swells with pain as I tumble. But that pain isn’t important right now. I glare up to see the creature standing over me.

“How foolish. But I can’t say I dislike your desperation.” The creature's twisted smile and sadistic tone said all that needed to be said.

I attempted to crawl away and get to my feet. The creature quickly stomps its feet upon my leg to prevent my escape. I feel an intense pain running through my leg. As if it's rotting from the inside out.

I screeched in pain at the top of my lungs. In desperation, I try to squirm against the pressure. Flailing around, my hands contact a piece of the rubble. I grasp the stone with all my strength. Turning around and twisting my body that I had built over years of manual labor. Slamming the rock into the creature's head. It immediately falls off balance as its head caves in from the impact. I release my leg as I take a deep sigh of relief, as the pain slows in intensity.

From the deep gash in the creature's head, a seeping dark purple ichor, as if a punctured pipe started leaking. I quickly stand to my feet. My ankle is still in pain. I think I may have sprained it when I tripped. The ashen zombie body slowly begins to recenter. It's leaning on my good right leg. I look towards the Ashen zombie. The ooze seems to be stitching together the face. As if it were rapidly regenerating the wound.

What the hell is this thin?. With my ankle like this, I won’t be able to outrun it. So I’ll have to stand my ground. But can I even kill it? It's already nearly recovered. I grit my teeth, leaning down to pick another piece of rubble. This one is slightly sharper. I can’t die here. Not again.

I'll be happy this time. You won’t be the one to stop me.