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│ Surviving The End
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│Cast aside by a world that mistook her for infected, Aisha now sees the crumbling of humanity's reign over their miserable world. It's time for something new, som...
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The city stretched out before me, a desolate, decaying nightmare with no end in sight. Every street, every corner I turned, was painted with black ooze and stained with dried blood. The buildings loomed like skeletons, towering over me with shattered windows and cracked walls, remnants of a civilization that had been twisted into something unrecognizable. I walked cautiously, careful to avoid any hint of movement, any shadow that could belong to one of those things lurking in the dark. Every now and then, I spotted them, staggering through alleys, crawling over debris, their twisted, grotesque forms reminding me of just how far this world had fallen.
But it wasn't just the humanoid creatures—there were animals, too, or at least, what used to be animals. I saw a dog slumped in a doorway, its fur matted with black sludge, its eyes lifeless and cloudy. Crows perched on rooftops, feathers glistening with ooze, their beaks twisted and sharpened into something almost weapon-like. Every living thing seemed infected, tainted by whatever monstrous force had taken over. A deep, gnawing fear coiled in my stomach, the thought echoing over and over in my mind: Am I the last human left?
Human. The word felt strange, like a foreign concept that didn't quite fit. I remembered being human, remembered a time when I was just... me. But now, looking at my body, feeling the unnatural strength in my limbs, I didn't know if I could still call myself that. I was something else, something more—but also something terrifying. The thought haunted me as I made my way through the city, my footsteps echoing against the cracked pavement.
At last, I came across a huge building, its once-grand structure now a shattered relic. One of its walls was lined with broken mirrors, jagged shards still clinging to the frame, offering a distorted view of myself. I stepped closer, my breath catching as I took in the sight.
Black smudges covered my face, streaks of the same ooze that coated the creatures and the city itself. My skin was pale, almost deathly so, veins of angry red tracing up my arms and across my chest, pulsing with a life of their own. My body—muscular, powerful—was taller and leaner than I thought I could remember. It was like I'd been reshaped, reformed, as if my body had been stripped down and rebuilt with brutal efficiency. And then there was my hair. Wild, matted, a fiery red that looked almost like it was burning against the pale backdrop of my skin. It was beautiful and strange, a phenomenon that seemed as alien as everything else around me.
An overwhelming anger bubbled up, fierce and uncontainable. Who had done this to me? Why was I here, in this wretched, decaying place? Why was I... this?
Without thinking, I clenched my fist and drove it into the wall, right where the mirror hung. The glass shattered on impact, shards exploding around me as my fist went straight through the wall, splintering concrete with a force that startled even me. I gasped, pulling my hand back, feeling the strength pulsing through me. Dust and broken glass fell around me as I looked up, my gaze tracing the outline of the building that stretched high above me.
Something inside me snapped. I had to get to the top. I needed to see everything—to get a clear view of this twisted city, of this prison I was trapped in. Gritting my teeth, I charged forward, breaking through the next set of windows with a single swing of my arm, glass raining down as I barreled into the stairwell. The building's insides were just as decayed as the rest of the city, stairs crumbling underfoot, walls stained with the same black ooze that seemed to infect everything. I ran up, my footfalls pounding against the stone steps, the whole structure shuddering with every step.
A creature stumbled out of a doorway as I passed, its rotten face twisting into a hideous grin as it reached for me. I didn't hesitate. A shriek tore from my throat, raw and deafening, and the thing reeled back, covering its ears as it let out a pitiful wail. I swung my arm, catching it in the chest and sending it tumbling down the stairwell, its body shattering against the walls as it fell.
More of them began to emerge, drawn by the noise, crawling out from doorways and shadowed corridors, their twisted, decaying bodies filling the stairwell. They lunged at me, but I barely slowed down. A scream of fury ripped from my throat, and the sound reverberated through the narrow space, echoing off the walls with a force that made the entire stairwell tremble. The creatures collapsed, clutching their heads in agony, some of them crumbling into black ooze as I pushed past them, relentless and unstoppable.
Finally, I burst onto the rooftop, gasping for air as I came to a halt. The view spread out before me, the whole city stretching as far as I could see—a wasteland of blackened streets, crumbling buildings, and sickly, mutated vegetation. Everything was covered in that vile black ooze, a blanket of decay that smothered any trace of life. I looked down at the streets below, watching as the creatures writhed and crawled, their bodies slathered in slime, their faces twisted in expressions of perpetual agony.
But then, something caught my eye. Far across the city, on the other side of this twisted landscape, a flicker of orange cut through the darkness—a fire, burning bright and fierce against the blackened ruins. My heart leapt. It was a sign of life, of something still resisting the corruption that had taken over this place. I didn't know who or what could be there, but it was a spark of hope, a possibility that I wasn't alone in this nightmare.
I opened my mouth, letting out a scream that echoed across the city, a raw, furious sound that held all the fear, anger, and confusion roiling inside me. It was a demand, a desperate call for answers from whoever or whatever had done this to me.
And then, from somewhere deep in the city, a sound answered.
A roar, low and thunderous, reverberated through the air, shaking the ground beneath me. It was powerful, primal, filled with a rage that matched my own. My skin prickled, and a shiver ran down my spine as the sound echoed through the city, growing louder, closer, as if whatever had made it was coming for me.
I stood there, fists clenched, my breath coming in shallow gasps, my eyes fixed on the distant fire and the dark, twisted skyline. Whatever this place was, whatever I'd become, I knew one thing for certain: I wasn't alone. There was something else out there, something that had heard my scream and answered with its own.
The roar faded, leaving an eerie silence in its wake, but the message was clear. This city was a battlefield, a place where monsters ruled—and I was one of them now, whether I liked it or not.
