earth

chapter 66

My eyes fluttered open, but the putrid stench that flooded my nostrils made me wish I could shut them again. It was the unmistakable smell of death - the mingling odor of decomposed flesh that filled the air with a sickening, choking weight. As I struggled to rise, I felt the squish and crunch of decaying bones under my knees, a grisly reminder of the sea of corpses beneath me.

The sight that greeted me was nothing short of a nightmare. The once-human forms that surrounded me were now grotesque, bloated husks, their once-whole bodies now reduced to putrid, rotting carcasses. Yet even amidst the ruin, there were signs of a more recent, less-decayed death. Fresh blood, still sticky and dark, pooled around some of the bodies, while others swarmed with maggots and insects, a testament to their more recent demise.
As I looked down at my own body, the sight was no less horrifying. My arm was a landscape of open wounds and festering sores, each one crawling with maggots and ants that greedily devoured the rancid flesh. Yellow pus oozed from the cuts in my flesh, mingling with the blood that dripped in sticky streams down my arm. Through the haze of pain and fear that clouded my mind, I knew that I needed to find a way out - before I, too, became just another of the lifeless, rotting bodies that surrounded me

My heart pounded frantically in my chest as I heard the doctor's words,

"One of them is still alive." I quickly surveyed my surroundings and saw a blur of white coats hovering over me. Pain shot through my body as the doctors expertly lifted me onto a gurney and rushed me down the hallway. Once again, I found myself strapped to the cold, unforgiving metal table while the medical team conducted a battery of tests on me.

As my vision began to fade, a familiar face materialized before me. It was Gabe, with that same maddeningly cheerful grin that had haunted me for so long. "I'll give you a new leg," he smiled, as if he hadn't just put me through hell. All I could do was close my eyes tightly

Pain ebbs through my body as I try to pry my eyelids open, each flutter sending a shockwave through my skull. But it's not just my throbbing head- my leg is sore, a searing pain relentlessly shooting up my thigh. I don't want to look at it, too scared to bear the sight of my injury.
As I struggle to gather my bearings,

"I told you they gon mess you up" a familiar voice cuts through the haze. It's the man with small teeth, his grim face twisted into an eerie smile. He chews on his fingers, the bone gruesomely visible under the skin, as he taunts me with words that send shivers down my spine.

I can't help but ask the burning question that's been on my mind since waking up.

"How long have I been here", amidst these horrors? My voice is barely a whisper, strained by the agony that courses through me. The man simply shrugs, his attention shifting from his fingers to his gums as he starts to scratch at them with gnarled fingers.

" why are they doing this?" I whisper, He stares looking around in confusion. As if struck by a sudden realization, he stopped abruptly and his eyes narrowed with anger.

"Don't even ask that question," He warn sternly.

"This world wasn't perfect, but things were still manageable until you and your reckless crew came along and messed everything up. That's exactly why they are doing this. Monkey see, monkey do. It only takes a monster to create another monster."
I wave him off, scanning my body while doing so. My gaze lands on my left leg, where my once flesh and blood limb had been replaced with a sleek, tanner leg. Its surface was etched with intricate designs and patterns, including a tattoo that had been etched into the synthetic skin. The words 'The world we knew' were engraved in bold, permanent ink that seemed to pulse with a life of its own. It was a constant reminder of all that had been lost, and all that I had left behind in the wake of the catastrophe.

"You come with me," Gabe's voice echoed through the room, startling me out of my daze. I didn't even notice him standing at the doorway until now. As I got up, I became acutely aware of my new leg. It felt foreign, yet alive, as if it had a personality of its own. I steadied myself using the wall and followed Gabe's lead, my eyes scanning the room for any signs of danger.

That's when I saw it – the horrors that surrounded us. I saw people being tied to chairs, their screams filling the air as doctors performed gruesome experiments on their brains. A hammer lay on a nearby chair, going up and down onto someone's skull with a sickening rhythm. It wasn't enough to kill them, but enough to cause unending agony, and the doctors didn't even flinch as they gathered around, scribbling notes in their journals. The stench of death permeated the air, filling me with a sense of dread that I couldn't shake off.

"Don't worry that won't be you," Gabe scoffs as he glances back at me. Without another word, he commands me to lie down on the cold, blood-stained metal table. With a thud, the heavy door slams shut and the room is filled with a suffocating silence. I can feel my heart beating out of my chest as Gabe begins to strip off his clothes, revealing the grotesque tattoos that cover his body.
In an instant, he climbs on top of me, his weight pressing down on my chest. The smell of sweat and alcohol fills my nostrils, making me gag. I can already feel the bile rising in my throat, threatening to spill forth.

"Why don't you smile? Is it because you aren't into men?" he asked. I could feel his eyes drilling into me. I tried to ignore his words, but they kept bouncing around in my head like a pinball machine. His frown only deepened. Suddenly, he took out a knife and started tracing its edge along my cheek. I heard him say something about my girl Ava being dead, but I couldn't focus on anything other than the sharpness of the blade against my skin. Tears pooled in my eyes and threatened to spill over. I knew I had to be brave, but I wasn't sure if I had it in me.

"They are all dead," He whispered softly, referring to everyone in my life who had disappeared or died. But Ava was different. I could feel her presence in a way that was hard to explain. The man frowned even more, and his grip on the knife tightened. He wanted a response from me.

"Say something," he urged.

I couldn't resist the temptation to lash out at him. "Fuck you," I hissed, my anger boiling over. He seemed taken aback by my words but quickly recovered.

"Oh, I didn't realize you curse," he said with a smirk.

"It's not often I talk to degenerates," I spat back, refusing to let him get the upper hand. But then, his knife traced along my cheek, and a burning sensation swept over me. He was trying to force a smile out of me, and I hated him for it.

"If you behave I'll stitch it up for you-" His words echoed in my head as I lunged at him, tearing the knife out of his grasp. My hand gripped the weapon tightly as he struggled against me, trying to turn it towards my throat. I wouldn't back down, I pushed him off my crotch and we rolled to the floor. With a surge of adrenaline, I leapt on top of him and plunged the knife deep into his shoulder. I stood up, wanting to relish in his bloody misery when something caught my eye.

A bottle of flammable liquid glinted in the corner of the room. I snatched it up, hastily stuffing it into my pocket as I rummaged through the cabinets for a match. My eyes darted from side to side, searching frantically for something to light the fluid. Suddenly, a sharp pain seared through my back, and I stumbled, falling to the ground. Gabe was on top of me again, with the knife, ready to strike.

"Riley didn't want me to kill you but Seems like I'm going to have too" His giggles sounded maniacal, and I could see the knife glinting in the dim light. I tried to move, to make a run for it, but it was already too late. He lunged toward me, and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as the knife sliced through my skin. The world spun around me, and I could feel the warm, sticky blood oozing out of the wound. It was pooling on the ground, forming a crimson puddle around me. I knew I had to stay still, or risk my guts falling out. The sound of sirens in the distance only added to the chaos of the moment, a stark reminder of the danger I was in."

"I'm going to die," I whispered, as the darkness engulfed me. With every passing moment, I could feel my life slipping away. As I shut my eyes, a vivid image of my twin brother James flashed before me. His face contorted in pain, his bloodied body lying lifelessly on the ground. The memory hit me like a ton of bricks. I remembered that I had murdered him. The guilt weighed heavily on my heart as I whispered one last apology, "Sorry about that."