Tevun-Krus #104 - SoulPunk

Incursion 440 - A Story by @HC_Leung

Incursion 440

by HC Leung / HC_Leung 

When we die, we die. Right?

Like in the book of Ecclesiastes, the dead would know nothing and have no more reward, for the memory of their name is forgotten? Their love, their hate, and their envy would perish, and forever they'd have no more share in all that is done under the sun?

In death, our bodies would turn to dust and return to earth as it once was. Correct?

The reason for asking is because I thought I died. When the bombs fell from the sky, my unit and I were instantly pulverized. I saw my limbs scattered over the upturned mud in my last moments. I was 100% sure I died.

Yet here I was, breathing normally and gazing down at my clean, bare chest. Drops of sweat trickled down my forehead. My bum felt cold against the hard, metallic bed. And oh, I wasn't dressed.

My stomach growled while my hips felt sore from prolonged sitting. Hunger, check. Pain, check. Reductive reasoning had me believe I wasn't in heaven.

So where the fuck am I?

I leaned over the bed railing, only to see miles and miles of other people waking up around the same time. They were naked like me and looked no less puzzled and astonished than I was. It was hard to tell how many of us were there. Hundreds, if not thousands? This hall was boundless, bordered only by where the light ends. I looked up to check the ceiling, but it was too high up to be visible.

This place felt familiar though. A gut-wrenching feeling told me I had been here not once, but multiple times before.

The place jumped up without warning as if a boulder had tumbled underneath us. I fell off the bed and realized the back of my neck was tethered to some kind of luminescent cable. I tried to yank it off, but no luck. It was embedded too deep down my skin tissue. Everyone else had it too.

What kind of place jumps up like that? Parts of my memory resurfaced to form an incomplete puzzle. I was able to piece together some form of an answer.

This is not a building at all. This is a vehicle. We're in a warehouse-sized, military ground transport.

A tall figure loomed out of the shadows. It was a woman in high heel boots. She sported a navy coat that came with a multi-head dog logo. Her long, silvery hair waved and shined under the low light. Behind her, strings of human skulls draped down from her waist and clattered in her wake. Her sheer presence terrified us all.

The woman towered over me and sneered. Of all the people, she seemed only interested in me.

She seemed familiar. Something told me I had dealt with her not once, but multiple times before.

"Ramirez, we meet again." She poked my bare leg with her solid heel. "Looks like you're struggling to say my name. That breaks my heart. For the 440th time, it's Rudwell. Ghislaine Rudwell. Try not to forget that again."

"What's happening to me?" I asked. "And all these people?"

"You don't remember, do you?" Her tone was more intimidating than the devil.

"Am I supposed to?"

Ghislaine turned furious. Something in her got triggered. She clenched her teeth, and the veins on her forehead became prominent. My memory came back a little more - I remembered Ghislaine was a dangerous person. She could manipulate people into selling their mothers. If she didn't get her wish, she becomes venomous. Revenge was her second religion.