Cryaotic Apocalypse

Chp. 3 The Player

As soon as I came back from my trance I saw him jump out of the broken window. I ran towards the window still and saw him take off towards the forest.

"Wait!" I called out while preparing to attempt the jump. As I leaped out and landed with a stable position, I raced after him. The thick forest seemed to devour the sunlight and only tiny shaped bits passed through. It was dark and had a purplish hue that gave it a solemn scenery.

As I ran for minutes which seems like hours, a figure in the distance leaned on a thin branched tree. I crept slowly towards it. It was that male teen with the strange mask who 'saved' me. But I noticed something... There was a long thin glass shard pierced through his left thigh, leaving a crimson blood trail from where he ran.

I scurried towards him and saw him breathing heavily and occasionally wincing. He was mumbling something when he spotted me, but was in the process of drifting off into an unconscious state.

I panicked and quickly brought out my bag. I stumbled upon a small container with rubbing alcohol with slightly dirty rags wrapped around it and wipes.

"This might sting, but I want you to be calm..." I held his leg down with my knees and placed both hands on the glass shard. It didn't seem to go through his leg, but it looked deep. I looked at him with a reassuring smile. He faintly nodded, then I pulled out the shard from his leg. I saw the red fluid latch on the shard and flooded the wound while he twitched in shock and agony. He yelled out in pain and started to tear up as I threw the shard away from us. I grabbed the alcohol and quickly cleaned the wound. He tensed up and started shaking violently in pain while squeezing my arm. His grip hurt really bad, but it was probably worse for him. Poor guy.

His eye lids grew heavy and he kept mumbling, it looked like he didn't know what was going on.

After he groaned, he started to drift into a heavy slumber.

"We have to go somewhere safe before we get spotted by anything...." I thought.

I looked around an only saw litters of broken furniture and rotten garbage. But a slightly burnt shed with a few vines coming out of it caught my attention. It was pretty far and distant, but it was safer than to be out in the open.

A wave of silence passed by. Probably no one was around.

I then slipped my arm carefully under his legs and the other under his back and lifted him up. He was very light and had such a slim frame and it was pretty easy just to pick him up and carry him around like nothing. As I carried him towards the shed, I couldn't help but stare at his mask. He was asleep but- I was so tempted to take it off. After a few steps through the charred logs and the sunset patterned leaves, I hesitantly opened the creaking shed door. It was slightly clean and abandoned, but it had a foul stench to it. I coughed an laid him down on a green kitchen mat and sat legs crossed from him.

I started to think... It seems like the apocalypse, and I met a masked man who saved me from those filthy creatures. And- why didn't he do anything when I found him? Maybe a save for a save? Or he doesn't even know what's going on. Even... I guess.

After a few moments of silence, a heard a faint groan. I looked over at the male as he shuffled.

"Aw fuck..." He mumbled as his gaze locked onto mine. Suddenly his eyes widened as he attempted to scramble away, but instead yelped in pain and held tight to his bandage leg.

"S-Sorry, I-I didn't mean to uh harm you! Just- please stay still!" I yelped as he froze in place. I sighed in relief and scratched the side of my head.

"Okay, just listen. I thought your some murderer or something, so ah, I just tried to protect myself. And I was that person who was stuck in that room..."

"Yeah, I recognized." He sat up in a seated position.

"I was scared, so I jumped down to the next floor..." I trailed off in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I waited for a while then went out to look for you." He said casually as he relaxed a bit.

"Then why'd you run away?" I asked.

"If there's some girl holding a pipe with a nail in it about to hit me- yeah." He chuckled an I let out a giggle.

We chatted for quite a bit. We talked about that he was a Youtuber before 'this' happened and I was just your average teen. But while we were talking, he mentioned something that caught my attention.

"Hopefully we get outta this game..." He stared the ground.

"A game?" My eyes widened and a small gasp escape my lips.

"Yeah, we somehow got trapped- in the game the Last of Us, or well it seems like it- it's fucking crazy..."

I nodded in understanding while trying to keep calm.

"We're the player, we gotta find the ending- or so what I call it 'the gate'"

Huh, The Last of Us. The game with the horrifying undead, murderers, hunters...

"Have you played or seen the game before?'

I didn't answer. Just stared at the ground, as thoughts raced through my mind. What about my family, friends, or even enemies? I somehow missed them...

"_____?"

I snapped out of it and turned to him.

"Wha- um, no, but I've seen gameplay, a-actually..." I stuttered, as if it was hard to breath.

"You okay? I-I know it's hard to take in so- just let it simmer down.." He said with a concerned tone stringing his voice.

"Y-Yeah... Just surprised, that's all..." I give him a reassuring smile. There was a short eerie pause before I let out a sigh.

"So how's your leg?" I quickly changed the subject. He smiled and patted his bandage leg.

"Pretty good, it wasn't that deep, so I could probably walk or jog." He says while standing up and stretching out.

"C'mon, lets find a safer place..." He suggested as he opened a destroyed drawer near the rotting door.

"Woah! Look what I got my hands on!" He pulled out two fully loaded small hand guns and a short burst carbine with three more cartridges left. I bet he'd love to use that.

"You uh, want one ____?" He asked, while hovering the small handgun in front of me. I thought about it for a moment, and shrugged.

"Sure, I've seen how these things work." I reloaded it with a grin.

"Great, lets get going then." He said while reloading his carbine.

I nodded and opened the door for him.

As we fled, looking for a way out of the thick forest, Cry was feeling better and looking more healthier and comfortable than before. We never talked about the past or how we met, just a few things about ourselves and our real lives. It was a huge relief to me because it's embarrassing to talk about our 'accident'. He said he'll tell me everything about this game and this so called Gate once we finally settle in a safe secluded building. A small smile tugged my lips. I'm glad I'm not alone in this terrible forsaken world. I'm kind of sympathetic of the solo players out there. It was fun to use gaming terms in this world.

A few minutes of wandering around later, we came across a pretty stable, aged, and slightly damaged one-story building. It laid on the outskirts of a small barren and abandoned town.

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Hey guys QvQ Sorry for not updating and left you at a cliffy, this story will be updating almost everyday for now on c: Thanks!