HUMAN

Chapter 20 - Premonition / The Sports Car

I walked around aimlessly within this vast depth of nothingness that defied all laws of physics that I knew: no sound, no sight, and no sense of place where I belonged.

I didn't know where I was. . .

It felt like that for a second before I could feel my body. I know where I am now. Each step I took resounded within these familiar concrete walls lined with pipes, wires, and machinery, jutting out the walls disorderly. I knelt and felt the coarse texture of the cold concrete. But something felt off about this place. . .about the bunker I spent years in. It's as if I don't know this place, yet I do simultaneously.

The silence broke within the hallways as footsteps rapidly charged inside the bunker, immediately putting me on high alert. I felt an imminent danger coming towards me, and without my proper sense of thought in this situation, I ran back to never look back before suddenly colliding into a wall that crumbled into an office hallway.

Everything fell silent once more. The wall I had gone through had been fixed somehow as if I hadn't touched it in the first place. "What is this place?" I muttered. I brushed my hands over my forearm to brush off the dust, but something felt off. This isn't my skin.

Or is it?

Fur. I could only feel fur. I was no longer in my body; I was in someone else's, or that's what I chose to believe. The ceiling lights dangled and swung as they illuminated the seemingly infinite hallway lined with endless doors on each side before a towering, dark figure stood in the distance.

Its speech was inaudible. It was communicating with me. I took a step back, and the figure took a step forward. Without hesitation, I knew what was up, and this is something that I couldn't fight. The wind swept past the fur on my cheeks, and my tie flapped all over my face. The figure ended up being in front of me.

There was no time to react. I couldn't turn, so I had no choice but to fight back. I relied on my momentum to send a flying kick toward the figure's chest but was greeted with a backhand midair, sending me flying around. The figure bolted towards my direction before hacking and slashing maniacally, forcing me to parry those sharp claws, but to no avail. Each slash took off a part of this body.

Carving away all the flesh as it cuts through my bones, sending my left forearm to the walls before the figure pierces its claws deep into my cranium.

I shot up.

Shit. What the hell was that about? I rubbed my eyes and blinked as I coughed due to the smoke filling my lungs. I'm now on a burning bridge. . .fire surrounded me as the figure I saw in the hallway before was here. Within a flash, I was fighting this thing barehanded again. Dodging, ducking, kicking and punching. The figure still had the upper hand after I'd damaged it before the final blow was sent down upon me.

Its claws pierced into my guts as I was lifted from the momentum. Its speech was still inaudible before-

SLAM!

"1,015 push-ups, young man!" Frank pulled off my blanket, and upon instinct I jumped out of my bed and immediately started with the push-ups. Shit, it's 10:15 in the morning. . .I overslept again.

- - -

The lactic acid buildup was starting to hinder me at the 900 mark as sweat beaded down my face and a small puddle appeared from the carpet I did my push-ups on. But the pain and the aching of my muscles could not suppress the dream I had.

What did it mean? Should I take it seriously? What is it representing? What is that squishy pink noodle in my head trying to tell me?!

I collapsed on the floor after I reached 1,015 push-ups. Good Lord, what a great start to the day. Frank seemed satisfied and left the room as I panted for air. "Here are your errands for today." Frank walked into the room and dropped a notepad on my face. "Oh, make sure to get the fresher vegetables. They hide them underneath the old ones, so look carefully."