Chapter 2: Wrong Way Ahead

Groggily, I woke up in a foreign space. Perhaps foreign wasn’t quite the best way to describe it, but the ruined apartment buildings that loomed upon the alley they surrounded were nothing like the calm streets I knew. Instead, the eerily silent alley immediately shocked my mind awake. Looking around, I saw a fading tear in the air—the last glimpse of my world disappearing even as reached out to grasp it, the last remnants slipping through my fingers.

Rather than regret my decision, I forced myself up and checked for any injuries. Although I must have collapsed at some point, I discovered no injuries, not even a scratch. Despite that, waking up meant I blacked out at some point. After shaking my head, I looked around once more. Vines crept along the walls of the apartment buildings, and dead weeds dotted the alley, but no wind blew through to clear the stagnant air.

Despite searching, I discovered no sign of Akane, although I spotted a crossroads a little way off. It seemed fairly normal despite being the intersection of two alleys and a road just wide enough to fit a car. A broken balcony hung precariously over the entrance to the other alley. Although I doubted it would fall while I passed, I made a note to avoid going through that alley.

A shadow dashed past the nearby crossroads the moment I looked away. At least, I thought something did, but the moment I turned back, the shadow was nowhere in sight. With my curiosity piqued, I made my way to follow the shadow. Somehow, every step felt wrong, and after making it most of the way down the alley, I finally realized why—the ground ate the sound of my footsteps. The air consumed even the sound of my breathing. Even my thoughts seemed calmer than usual, to the point where even I noticed.

Finally at the crossroads, I looked for the shadow, but a light pittering of something on my shoulders, then my head distracted me. My hand unconsciously brushed off the dust and gravel from my shoulders before I froze for just a moment. Before I knew it, my body threw itself out of the way—a cloud of dust filled my mouth by the time I recognized the cracking sound.

A yelp of pain escaped my mouth as shards of concrete rammed my body. Despite having escaped the danger of a crushing defeat so early in my search, the apartments clearly had it in for me as they stabbed me in the back. Really now, did the world just want me dead or something? Even if nothing more than unfortunate timing on my part, the giant pile of rubble behind me felt personal.

For the wounds within reach, I put some adhesive bandages to at least cover a few of the more severe ones, but I lacked enough to cover everything, and little spots of red now covered my uniform. With the other routes now blocked, I followed the only path remaining to me. After a few minutes of uneventful travel, I came across a basketball court where I encountered people.

At least, I initially hoped that they were people, but it seemed this world really had it out for me. Having approached the nearest person, I soon discovered that this was no person at all. I held in the scream that threatened to bolt out of my mouth, but it took all my effort. The man in front of me had no face. No, I can recognize faces just fine! I mean, he literally had no face. With all my effort put into not screaming, I only noticed the second person approaching me when his hand reached out towards my shoulder.

Even though I referred to it as him, he was clearly not human either—I don’t know any human whose head is shaped like a spring, or that has arms that split into triangles despite being recognizable as arms. Obviously, I took the one reasonable course of action and ran.

As I raced down any path I could find, I looked back to see a crowd of them chasing me. Screams from a foreign language followed. Words squirmed in my ears. The worms crawling in my ears sent shivers down my spine. Every turn of my head, a larger crowd. Finally, I reached an extensive field of grass surrounded by trees.

Although the trees glared at me with their curled branches and uninviting sneers, inanimate plants seemed a far better choice than what followed close behind. When I passed one tree, the roots tripped me, but I scrambled up immediately—just in time to feel a hand brush against my back. I winced as the fingertips struck a shard of concrete still embedded in my back. Still, the rush of fear only helped me push through the pain.

Even then, it was only a matter of time before I ran out of breath and collapsed with my momentum dragging me into a spiraling slide. Exhausted, I panicked at the hands reaching out for me.

“This has to be a dream, right? A really horrible dream.”

Who said that? Oh, it was me. It really felt like a nightmare, though. The hand gripping my arm burned like a scorching pan while the entity attached to it dispersed sounds that violated my soul. A splash of water on my chest distracted me for only a moment, but that distraction only made the looming end that much more obvious.

“I—I don’t want to die… Why can’t you all just go away? Please leave me alone.”

Not that I expected them to listen, with how they chased me for so long, but I couldn’t help but allow those words to escape. Even as they crowded around me, placing their hands on me, I felt a pain that quickly became distant as everything went hazy, as if I was looking through a stranger’s eyes. With that, I couldn’t stop the words from spilling out.

“I’m scared. I’m scared. Why won’t you leave me alone? I want you all to just disappear!”

And everything stopped. Not that I woke up or anything, but everything just suddenly wasn’t there. Sure, some trees remained, but all those things chasing me just vanished. I couldn’t understand. What just happened? And while still stunned at the unexpected situation, a twig cracked behind me.