The Beginning of an End

Inky blackness surrounded Ao, but all she could think of was the hot, stabbing pain that seared every inch of her body. Even the small breaths she took drowned her lungs with liquid fire. She couldn’t move. And if she could, she wouldn’t move. It just hurt too much.

Each second that flew by Ao’s corpse would drag her through an aeon of this torture. Blood would boil and explode in her veins. Her eyeballs would pop and dribble down her cheeks as white tears. Flesh would dissolve and seep into the pores of her bones, shattering the connective tissue that bound her being together. Then Ao would be dropped off back where she started, waiting for the next second to do it over again.

She didn’t know when. She didn’t know why. But in the midst of this endless torment, Ao heard a voice ring out in the back of her brain.

“The game of tag starts… now!”

Ao couldn’t process what was going on with an ocean of pain surging through her. But as a looming presence grew closer and closer from behind, she knew she had to run, no matter what.

Her limbs desperately branched forwards. Her skull jerked backwards. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts— It hurts! Ao trudged ahead, wobbling in and out of consciousness, yet the peace she prayed to find in that flicker of unconsciousness wouldn’t spare her from the flaming agony. She could only continue to trudge through that dense mass of nothing.

But alas, Ao was too slow. As the creature jammed its claws into her and tore out her spine, fire scorched her insides. She slumped over, the last of her soul evaporating in the heat. Right before Ao slipped forever into deep nihility, there was another voice. Faraway, erratic and young. A child screams.

“No, no, no!”

—

Ao jolted awake. The first thing she sensed was the dull ache that gnawed at her shoulders. Rubbing them, Ao exhaled shakily.

“So it was a dumb nightmare.”

Still, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding in her chest. It felt too real. The pain, the creature, the screaming, those felt like clear memories rather than a wispy made-up dream.

Once her head cleared a little, Ao took in her surroundings the best she could. It seemed to be a chamber of sorts, though cramped and a little eerie. Sickening white light, the sterile hospital kind, doused the room. There was enough space for a bunk bed next to a plain wall as well as an old wooden closet, but that was it, no other furniture or amenities.

The room swayed. Or was it just her head spinning? Ao put her hand down onto the cold concrete ground, trying to discern if movement came from the structure enclosing her. Faint vibrations came from underneath. An engine? Was this a ship?

Ao scanned the room again, then spotted a small circular window she had missed. It was hidden by the open door of the closet. When Ao peeked outside, she couldn’t see anything except for a dark void waiting on the other side. It gaped, ready to swallow her reality if she stared at it too long. Ao turned away, a shiver creeping up her spine (which thankfully was still intact and in her body). It reminded her too much of the nightmare hell she was in a few minutes ago.

“Wakey wakey! Did you have a good sleep?” It came from a small intercom in the upper corner of the room. The person spoke in an infantile manner, as if talking to a bunch of little children. “It’s time to exit your rooms and walk your little legs to the main hall. Got that? Good? Bye-bye, see you sinners later.”

Ao didn’t need to see the person to decide that she found him annoying. Nevertheless, she followed his instructions and exited the room. Staying in there and doing nothing was less than appealing.

The dim hallway was flooded with people, easily in the hundreds. They were far from your usual crowd, with humans from all walks of life. Different colours, different sizes, different personalities. But one thing united them: Fatigue, pulling at their ankles as they shuffled and lumbered along together. Some were wiping away tears, others were trembling and shifty, and the rest looked like they were at the brink of exhaustion, dark bags under their eyes. Ao slid into the zombie hoard.

Not too far in front, a young couple was busy making out as they walked, or stumbled about, more like. Their drunken stumbling made them almost knock into others a few times, yet they did not care one bit and only delved deeper into their sensual affair. The girl tiptoed higher while the boy —strikingly handsome by modern standards, boring to Ao— rubbed his hand up and down her nape, shoving his tongue deeper into her mouth. Ao scoffed. Gross.

When Ao neared the two of them, she made sure to stare in visible disdain. There was a time and place for unsightly acts, and now was absolutely neither. Ao loured even more. Jesus, get a room.

With her back to Ao, the girl was oblivious and continued to ram her lips into the boy’s. But the boy caught on quickly. He shot back an intense, unwavering stare for a good few seconds, before narrowing his eyes and leering.

Then he winked. What? What the fuck was that? Ao shuddered, lurched, and hastened her pace. It’s these types of people the world doesn’t need. Did they not have any sense of decency? Ao swiftly zig-zagged through the crowd to get as far away from him as possible. Staying anywhere near that must be bad for her well-being. It had to be. Her mind assaulted her with the scene again and another shudder shook her.

She and the crowd had been walking for quite a while, passing through hallway after hallway, down some steps, then into another hallway. Ao felt sick. She didn’t care to analyse her environment anymore. Instead, all she wanted to do was plop herself at the side and take a breather. But as the crowd moved, she moved too.

After about 20 minutes, the last hallway was finally reaching an end. Ao craned her neck, trying to get a better look at the main hall a short distance away. But there was only a bright light, and the people walking in would be engulfed by it. She frowned.

Soon, it was Ao’s turn. She stepped into the hall and blinked to adjust to the light…

A bullet whizzed past. Bang! She turned. A man’s face had burst open, a splatter of red. Jagged slabs of flesh dangled and what was left of his teeth were lodged where his forehead and sockets used to be. A sharp wheeze escaped the man, then he crumpled to the polished floor. Blood pooled on white.

Silence. Then chaos erupted.