Tick tock.... Tick tock.... Tick.... tock

The slow rhythmic ticking of the clock felt like torture to you. Especially when you couldn't see a thing.

Dark. Everything was dark. You couldn't make out what was around you, you couldn't move and you couldn't speak. You had no absolute control over your body.

You could feel yourself on the floor. Weak, hungry, and most importantly confused. You couldn't process what was happening and at that moment, you felt lost. You tried to move, but despite your best efforts, you could only go as far as moving a finger.

You eyes were blurry, your brain throbbed hard in your head and your entire body felt like it had been rammed over several times by a truck. The air was dense and you couldn't breathe properly. You made an attempt to speak, but short ragged gasps escaped your lips instead.

A flash of bright light spontaneously filled your vision and you close your eyes almost immediately from the burn. Tears dripped down your eyes like water from a broken dam, slightly easing the burn. When you open them again after adjusting to the light, you're stunned at what you see.

The once dark area was now brightly lit and you could make out what was around you. Everything was painted white.... Everything! Including the ceilings and the floor, it made you so anxious.

The room was cold... So cold you could feel yourself go numb. Black speakers lined the entirety of the ceiling, forming a sharp contrast to its white background. There weren't turned on, but there were glaring. Glaring at you. Apart from the black speakers and a small rectangular window by the corner, nothing else was in the room... except beds.

You see several other kids all around your age, cuffed up to futuristic looking beds. Each had a weird globe around their heads, much like the type SpongeBob wore in Sandy's dome, they were attached to a small tube behind their beds and they looked eerily like oxygen globes. The kids were all donned on weird, ugly hospital gowns and they all looked so sickly and pale, as if they had been ill for a very long time. They were asleep, unaware of their current situation. You look down at yourself-- a difficult task considering the massive globe over your head-- and just like the others, you were also cuffed up. This explained why you couldn't move.

You panicked. Where the heck were you? What is all this? Why were you along with so many others cuffed up here? You had so many questions running through your mind but no answers. You could only attempt to free yourself from the shackles of the cuffs.

The cuffs looked weak and easily to pull off, but you were frail and feeble— you could barely move. It would of course be difficult to pull yourself out of these chains.

Whilst deep in your thoughts, you hear a groan beside you, and you immediately notice that many of the other kids were waking up. You were suddenly washed with a bucket of hope, hope to figure out what was going on and if possible, how to get the hell out of here.

With the strength you had mustered overtime, you opened your mouth and attempted to speak.

"G-Guys!" Shaky, barely audible and unuseful but very effective. Your voice echoed through the quiet room, almost like an outcry. Several eyes turned to stare at you almost immediately, noticing your pathetic state. Chained up, weak and miserable. And as if being splashed with a bucket of cold water, they began to realise their own situation.

Almost instantly, the room was filled with panicked groans and muffled screams. Several of the teens who had miniscule strength tried to break their way through the cuffs. Very stupid! You thought. You've tried, nothing worked.

As you all continued to struggle maniacally, a cold, robotic and detached voice suddenly boomed, echoing off the white walls. "Welcome participants, to the 2045/2046 Apocalypse simulation. A game where the strongest shall strive and the weakest shall be trampled upon"

"You have been chosen to compete in this ultimate survival of the fittest and your objective is to be the last one standing. You are all lucky citizens whose lives are about to become mere statistics in the grand experiment of human resilience." A resonant silence followed shortly after those words. Several of the struggling teens were now all stilled, staring in shock at the speakers.

You say nothing. Your heart is thumping erratically, and you had the feeling it would almost pop out. You quiver, thinking, this couldn't be what you think it is.

Were you in some sick life and death game at this moment? You didn't know.

You tried to remember how you got here, how stupid you were to have signed up for shit like this. But your mind was blank, you couldn't remember a thing. Not even your name.

You tried hard. You strained your brain just to remember, even if it was just a flash, but what you got instead was another throbbing headache.

It was at this moment, the same detached voice boomed once more. "For those of you wondering why you have no memories of your past self, the answer is simple. All your memories have been wiped out at the orders of the higher authorities. But don't worry, your memories have all been stored in a safe place, where no one will temper with it"

Again, silence. You were pretty certain you all could speak now, but no words were said, none of you could find any words to say. After all, you were all as equally confused as the next person.

The voice was not seeking an approval from the most of you as without warning the speaker once again resounded that haunting voice.

"Phase 1 of the simulation shall now commence. All participants should be prepared for this phase."

"Phase 1 shall commence in 10..."

"9..."

"8...."

"7...."

"6...."

"5...."

"4...."

"3...."

"2..."

"1..."

"Phase 1 shall now begin. Goodluck to all participants" The speakers automatically turned off and the room was instantly filled with heavy breathings as you all watched the large metal doors slowly open.

The ordeal was lethargic and terrifying. And the tension was slowly killing you from the inside. What was behind those doors? What had these sick people prepared for you all? And most importantly, what the heck was Phase 1?

Your gaze almost burned a hole into the metal doors, but it didn't last long enough to actually burn a hole. The doors finally opened, and in a blink of an eye, a short, greyish, crazed figure rushed at you....

"Roar!!" A loud animalistic growl escaped its lips. Its eyes were as white as the room and its claws, bared at your face were long and spiky. Long bloody fangs peeked from its mouth, glaring directly at you. As if telling you, 'it's your end'

You couldn't tell if it was running very slowly or if your mind was intentionally playing tricks on you and turning everything into slow motion, but the zombie's advance towards you felt like eternity and you didn't like it. You didn't like any of it.

Your wait wasn't long, and It soon neared you, ready to bite your face off. Everything else suddenly became a fever dream. Everything was blurry. You heard screams from all the other kids around you, they all watched in horror as the creature charged at you. For a moment, you cursed. Out of the several billion people in this room, this... thing, had to target you first.

Your luck.

Your luck was a silent bitch.

You didn't know how, but from a rapid surge of raw adrenaline, you managed to kick the creature several feets away with your legs. You had mustered all your strength to perform that stunt, and the moment the creature was far away from you, the adrenaline in your blood dissipated like smoke.

Your hands were still cuffed, your heart was beating rapidly in your chest. You didn't know what to do. You were helpless. You look over at the others, they all had flabbergasted looks on their faces. You notice how their chest heaved up and down speedily, probably from the shock. You were not surprised, you felt that too.

Suddenly, you all hear a growl and all your eyes shot at the creature in less than a millisecond. It was still laying on the floor, with its body bent in a weird angle. It was obvious it had broken some bones.

It didn't move, but it was growling nonstop. It was shaking violently, as if it was about to explode. None of you knew what was happening, but you weren't clueless for long. With a loud boom, the creature blew up into bits. Black liquid spluttered everywhere around the room, all over everyone. You all stilled in shock.

A severed limb lands on your face, you stare for a moment, allowing your brain to process. Once you've realised what had happened, a shrill scream erupted from your lips.

Like a catalyst, your scream seemed like a cue for the others as they all began to scream one after the other.

By the large metal doors, several crazed greyish creatures-- all bearing the same threatening fangs and claws as the first one-- charged through, attacking the closet human they could find. All hell had broken loose.

"Oh my God!" You meant for it to come out as a whisper, but your voice resonated in the entire room, drawing unnecessary attention towards you. The crazed creatures, hearing your words all snapped their heads to you directly. One let out an animalistic growl, it white eyes quickly turning red with a hungry look plastered on its face. It charged at you!

"Jesus!" You cry out, shaking violently on your bed, trying to free yourself from the cuffs. You were not alone, all the other kids were also in a frenzy, trying to free themselves from the shackles as many other crazed figures rushed at them.

The ones that were closest to the creatures suffered a far worse fate. The creatures neared them quickly and immediately began to chomp on their bare skin. Tearing, scratching, biting, peeling. They screamed again the globes that seemed to crack under the pressure. It was too brutal for you to watch.

You cried. You didn't want to suffer the same fate, but looking at the crazed creature running at you albeit slowly, you couldn't help but lose a little hope.

You continue to shake violently, in hopes of freeing yourself. You feel the cuffs loosening on your hands, and with new found hope, you increase the intensity of your shaking.

The creature neared and launched at you with its bared fangs. His class struck at your globe and it immediately broke, sending shards of sharp glass everywhere. You close your eyes to protect them, you're successful but the skin on your face suffered far worse. A shard of glass was embedded in your skin, but your mind was now too wrapped around the creature coming back to attack, to even think about it. Just like you did earlier, you kick it away with your legs, causing your entire body to jerk forward. From the brute force, the cuffs on your hands broke, releasing you from the shackles.

You didn't even have the time to breathe a sigh of relief. You jump out of your bed, barely evading the other creature trying to grab you. You dash to the opposite direction, where two claws clutched you shirt and slashing through you bark. You cry out but you don't stop running.

Several of the others had also broken free from their shackles and we're all headed towards the large metal doors ahead. You follow their lead and run towards the doors. From the corner of your eyes, you notice that three creatures were hot on your trail. Despite how slow they moved, you always had this feeling that they would catch up in no time.

You look at your exit. Why did it feel so far away? You were still really weak, and you weren't sure you could make it in time, but you put in more effort. Just as you closed in the distance, you were tackled to the ground from the side. You back hit the floor with a thud and you shudder in pain as the bleeding in your back intensifies.

The person that had pushed you was a boy with no distinctive features, he too was being tackled to the floor by a creature. Ignoring him and everything else around you, you continue your race toward the exit, desperate for your life and pushing whoever was in your way.

A hand clutches around you just as you finally reached, dragging you back. It was a creature.

The creature's grip around you was tight, and despite your best efforts, you couldn't pry yourself away.

Another pair of rotten hands grabbed you by your leg, pulling you further away from the doors. You scream. No! You had to escape! You couldn't die here.

The creatures pounced on you, trying to bite your face. You try to push them with your hands, but they also attempted to bite your hands too. You didn't know what to do, but you did know that if those creatures bit you, it would be a bad thing.

You mustered up enough strength to punch one in the throat, and as if made of butter, the creature's head flew out from his neck, splattering the same black liquid all over you. You were too scared to care. All you wanted to do was to escape.

While you fought, you took a quick glance at the gate and noticed how it was slowly closing shut. Your chances of survival seemed to be waning by the second  You see people pushing and harming others just to get to the doors before it closed shut. Several of the people had jumped out of the room. And the few of you that were left were quickly outnumbered by the creatures.

You were beginning to lose hope. Fate really played you. You were going to die here.

A countdown of twenty started, and doors slowly but surely closed. No! You weren't going to give up. No matter what happened, you would fight till your end. With newfound will and adrenaline, you shoved the creatures away from you with unimaginable strength. And as if speed like flash was dumped in entirety on you, you sped towards the doors in a blink of an eye, just in time for you to cross to the other side.

Creatures from the different sides rushed at you, trying to grab you by the hands and legs, but you quickly crossed over, and the giant doors closed shut on them.

As soon as you were outside, you collapse on the floor, breathless. You took greedy gulps of air, trying to catch your breath. But your mouth ached from the lack of water. You were thirsty.

After a few minutes of rest, you get up and took a good look of the place around you. It looked like you were in a city of some sought, but this city didn't look like any city you've ever seen before.

A bleak wasteland, with quiet rubble, smoking ruins, and rotting corpses. Buildings were in ruins, shattered windows, cracked walls, burnt surfaces. Debris littering the streets like nothing, and the stench of rotting flesh and decay hung harsh in the air. The silence was deafening, no humans, no animals and no creatures as well... It was odd.

A sense of hopelessness washed over you, and you couldn't help but cry. What is all of this? Why is it happening to you? You fall on your knees and huddle at the corner, crying.

You hear footsteps and you realise that several other survivors were around you, they were leaving. You sighed. Giving up right now didn't seem on your bucket list. For your survival, you had to keep going. You take in a deep breath before standing up again.

Your stomach rumbled immediately, reminding you of your hunger. You clutch your stomach thinking: You had to find food first.

You walk, following the other survivors closely behind.

It took several minutes before you spotted a small snack store up ahead. You rush towards it, the rest of the survivors simply spared you a glance before going their own way.

The moment you opened the door, a gush of wind pushed against your face, bringing along with it the smell of rotten flesh. You gag, ready to throw up, but you swallow back your disgust and stepped in cautiously.

The store was small and dark, but it was illuminated by the light from outside. You look around, the entire store was covered in blood and rotten bits, It was as if a manslaughter had happened there. You feel disgusted but when you looked closely, you realised something. There were so much snacks on the shelves, ranging from different biscuits and drinks to cookies and cakes. You couldn't help but grab the closest thing to you before gulping it down. It was a bottle of milk.

But the moment you drank a gulp of it, you spat it out. It had turned mouldy. You almost cried.

You rushed to check the other snack but one by one, you realised all of them had expired. You almost fall from the exhaustion. How? And why? Not even a single chip was left.

Just as you sat down in a corner, the sound of pvc wrapping entered your ears. You look around, trying to search for the source of the sound. Behind you, you see a small cookie package laying on the floor neatly, your heart leaped.

You quickly checked for the expiry date and you almost faint from joy when you saw it still had two two days before expiry. You quickly tear the bag open and pop the first cookie into your mouth. It felt like heaven.

It felt like you'd just gotten a taste of the world's best meal. But a small cookie snack was barely enough to satisfy your hunger. Just as you sat there, almost dying from your hunger. You here a tinge in your head, you look around to figure out who it was, but you see no one. Then suddenly, a robotic voice rang through your ears.

[Congratulations host, you've reached Level 1 of the Scavenging skills.

Rewards:

- Pack Of Biscuits ×2

- Bottle of water ×2

Tap on the green icon to view your Character stats"

You sat there with a confused look on your face. You look around once more to try to identify whoever was speaking but you couldn't find anyone. Suddenly, a big green button popped up in your face and a message blinked beneath it.

'Tap on the green icon to view you Character stats] It read.

Curiosity took over you and you reached out to press the button. A bright light suddenly flashed through your eyes, momentarily blinding you. You look away quickly, your eyes still burning.

When the intensity of the light had subsided, you look back and notice a green tab with the words '𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙎' written on it.

You click on it, and a long row of information immediately entered your view.

*Character Stats*

- *Name:* Hazel Forecaster

- *Gender:* Female

- *Age:* 19 Years Old

- *Height:* 178 cm

- *Body Type:* Medium Pear-shaped

- *Avatar Color:* White

- *Player ID:* 7575-4230V

- *Lives:* 3

- *Level:* 1

- *XP Points:* 100/1000 (experience points needed to reach the next level)

- *Skills:*

    - Cooking (Level 0)

    - Survival (Level 0)

    - First Aid (Level 0)

    - Combat (Level 0)

    - Scavenging (Level 1)

    - Foraging (Level 0)

    - Hunting (Level 0)

    - Farming (Level 0)

- *Attributes:*

    - Strength: 30

    - Agility: 20

    - Endurance: 50

    - Intelligence: 30

- *Inventory:*

    - Water Bottle ×2(Full)

    - Pack Of Biscuits ×2

- *Status:*

    - Health: 30/100

    - Hunger: 10/100

    - Thirst: 10/100

    - Fatigue: 10/100

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳/𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴

You're surprised by all that is happening. You're confused and frustrated, but you don't hesitate to click on the inventory as you're starving. When you click on the inventory, your reward pop into place. You click on them too, and a packet of biscuits along with a bottle of water suddenly materialises out of nowhere and into your hands.

You're stunned, but it didn't take long for you to snap out of it and tear the packets open. Biscuits flew everywhere around you, but you didn't care. You began picking them one by one, popping them into your mouth. Once you've chewed, you twist the cap of your water bottle to open it, before gulping down the entire liquid down your throat.

You feel tempted to go back to your inventory and grab the other rewards, but when you think back at your situation, you stop yourself.

You here the same familiar tinge in your head again and you close your eyes to brace yourself for the bright light that flashed soon later. When you reopened them again, you see a new set of information.

[Congratulations, host's stats has been updated. Tap on the green icon to view changes]

This time, you don't falter. You click on the green icon, and your Stat changes came into view.

- *Attributes:*

    - Strength: 40

    - Agility: 25

    - Endurance: 55

    - Intelligence: 35

- *Status:*

    - Health: 40/100

    - Hunger: 20/100

    - Thirst: 30/100

    - Fatigue: 10/100

Just as your eyes went through your Stat changes, you here that same robotic voice in your ears. 

[Death Wave 2 Shall Commence in 10 seconds. All players should be prepared]

A countdown from ten suddenly began, and before you could say a thing, you feel everywhere start to darken. You stand up and go over to the exit, where you see that, the sun was beginning to set at a rapid speed, and the entire area was slowly going very dark.

You were stunned, you could've sworn that it was only afternoon when you entered this shop, How long had you stayed in here?

You were asking yourself so many questions, but the voice quickly interrupts you with another cold message.

[Death Wave 2 Shall Now Commence]

A shrill cry was suddenly heard in the night, and before you could react, you see a swarm of large black bats slowly filling up the sky.

Several of the bats flew low and started attacking the other survivors outside. Biting and scratching them. Screams from all corners could be heard. You stand there stunned, as you cannot comprehend what is happening. But before you could have any time to think, a group of those bats flew straight at you.

The more they neared, the clearer their features became. They were huge, incredibly huge for any bat you had ever seen. Their large red eyes were fixated on you, their prey, never losing their sight on you. You noticed their inch long fangs that seemed to be specially prepared for tearing you apart. You shiver in fear, not knowing what to do.

Just as the bats burst through the glass windows, you jump out of the store through the doors. But you seem to have miscalculated because the moment you step out of the store. Another swarm of bats instantly enveloped you.

You tried to resist the bats but they clung unto you tight, making you unable to shake them off. You start to shake violently, thrashing your hands here and there, in hopes of scaring them away, but they latched unto you hard, refusing to free you.

They bite you all over your body, giving you scratches as well. The injuries were not big but they were deep and hurting. Coupled with your previous injuries from the creatures, they felt like hell. Your energy was depleting fast, and you no longer had hope of surviving. You give up, letting the bats do whatever they wanted.

Suddenly, you feel someone grip your hands and pull you out of the swarm of bats. Before you could register what was happening, you felt the person holding you running, dragging you along. The swarm of bats were still behind you, following you aggressively.

You both enter a small store and before the bats could follow you in, the other person shuts the door quickly. You collapse on the floor, tired and weak. You were sure you were going to die because your body would not be able to handle all this any much longer.

After the other person shuts the door, he walks towards you. You squint your blurry eyes to take a clearer look at the person who had just saved you.

He looked to be around the same age as you, with a tall physique that exudes a sense of youthful energy. His bright blue eyes sparkle with a warm intensity, fringed with thick lashes that add to their allure. His hair is a dirty, dark brown, messy and unkempt in a way, probably as a result of all the shit that's going on around.

His features are chiseled and refined, with high cheekbones and a strong jawline that gives him a resolute and confident air. His skin was a bit dull but had a warm golden glow, albeit covered in dirt and sweat. He was also quite thin, like the lot of you survivors.

You blushed. You couldn't blame yourself. Even in an apocalypse, you would always be attracted to a person with fine physical features.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer" You hear him say. Your cheeks suddenly flushed a deep shade of red, and you turn your eyes to look at the other side, breathing heavily.

You hear him chuckle then take several steps towards you. You turned your gaze back to him and watched as he crouched down to your level.

"Are you okay?"

You raise a brow at him, as if asking with your eyes if he thought you looked okay. He turned his eyes away from you, his face flushed in embarrassment.

"Thanks for saving me back there" You murmur. He smiles at you before responding, "No problem. You gotta help a person in need"

You nod. He walks over to a corner and sits, before suddenly materialising two loaves of bread out of nowhere. You're not shocked as you know he got that from his inventory, but you're surprised that he was able to find food in this world's current condition.

He takes a huge bite from his bread and you stare intensely at his lips as he chews on it. You hear your stomach rumble, and you lick your lips from the hunger. You were so hungry, you felt like you could eat anything.

"The way you're staring at me makes me think you're about to devour me any second from now" You hear him say.

" You're not far from the truth" You respond as you continue to stare. He gives you an apprehensive look before throwing a loaf of bread at your face.

"If you were hungry, you could've just told me" He says as he crawls towards you. You pick the bread from beside you and immediately tear out the wrapping before devouring it. You suddenly cough, choking from how fast you're eating.

"Here, have some water. Don't choke to death"  He says, passing you a bottle of water. You take it before gulping the entire liquid down.

" Thank you" You whisper, your mouth full of food. The same robotic voice rings again in your head, informing you of your stats changes, but you ignore it, focusing on eating instead.

"Don't talk while eating" He chuckles. "My name's Avery by the way" He says.

You stare at him, not knowing what to say, but you eventually nod. He give you a look, raising a brow.

" Aren't you going to tell me yours? "

You're quiet for a while. You didn't remember what your name was, but when you remember your character stats, you realize that your name was filled in as *Hazel Forecaster*.

So you'll just assume for now that your name is Hazel. "My name, Hazel" You say, downing the last drop of water down your throat. He nods, trying your name on his lips. For some reason, you loved the way your name rolled off of his lips, it gave you a tingling sensation in your tummy.

Just as you sat there, crushing on someone you'd just met. You both hear a booming voice rang throughout the city.

[Death Wave 3 Shall Now Commence. Countdown initiated from 50....

49...]

"Shit!" You hear Avery curse. "Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

"But I'm still so weak" You say, your voice barely above a whisper. Avery doesn't say a thing, but he immediately rushes to carry you, piggyback. You're stunned as you did not expect such a move from him.

"We have to go back to the base" You hear him say.

"What base? What's happening?" You're confused. You didn't know what the hell was happening. He starts running with you on his back. As soon as you both exit the store, you immediately catch sight of a huge horde of zombies moving towards your direction from all side.

Up in the sky, you noticed a larger swarm of bats following the zombies closely behind. Your heart suddenly began to pound hard in your chest, and you couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my God!"

Avery looks back, and he spots the creatures behind you guys. "Fuck!" He curses before increasing his pace. Other kids began running out from all directions, all screaming their guts out from the terrifying scene behind them. Not all of them had the privilege of being piggybacked like you, so they were under much pressure.

At this point, you were hyperventilating, you'd experience too much shit in one day to suffer again. You tapped Avery on the back, silently telling him to run faster. As if understanding you, he grunts but begins to run at a much faster rate.

You didn't know where you guys where headed, but from the way Avery was running so surely, you knew he had a plan, so you didn't worry that much.

[19...

18...

17...

16...]

The countdown neared the last digits, and by this time, you were already feeling worried. You look up ahead, in hopes of seeing anything that looks even remotely like a base, but you see nothing. Behind you, the zombies and bats were nearing in. You've knocked several bats charging at you down through the course of the running but you weren't sure you could go on till you reached the base.

Several of the other people running alongside you had already fallen behind. Either died of exhaustion, or were outran by the zombies behind them. You didn't want to be one of them, so you silently urged Avery to move faster.

"Relax, we're almost there" You here him breathe out. With one final turn round the corner, you immediately notice the huge, gloomy dome like building that a large sign that read *The Base*  hung on its massive gates.

You couldn't even describe how you were feeling right now. The countdown reached ten, and you along with the others still had a fair amount of distance to cover. Your heart raced. This was the umpteenth time you were losing hope since you came here.

You hear Avery panting beneath you, and you knew the load on him was too much. You move slightly, hinting for him to let you go "I think I should get down, it'll make you run faster" You suggest. Just as you finished speaking, you feel his grip tighten on you.

"No, we're gonna make it. You're too weak, you won't make it if I let you go, and I'm not gonna let you die just like that" Your heart suddenly fluttered. You didn't know who this was, you didn't know what he wanted, neither did you know why he helped you in the first place, but the way he said those words made you want to lean on him forever.

" Why are you helping me? " You couldn't help but ask. No human in their right minds would casually help a person they had seen on the streets, covered in a swarm of man-eating bats in the middle of a freaking apocalypse.

"It's not time for questions like this sweetheart. Hold on tight, I'm about to make a leap for it" You take heed to his words, clutching even tighter than before. You hear the robotic voice call the very numbers that would continue to make you weak in the knees.

[5....

4...

3...

2...]

Just as the final numbers were called, Avery leaps, jumping straight for the gate. You close your eyes, and held unto him even tighter, almost strangling him. By the time the last number was called, you feel the impact of your body slamming against the cold floor.

You here a loud bang, and you opened your eyes,  looking on to see that the massive gates that were once open were now locked shut, trapping everything outside. This was the last scene to saw before your vision went blank.

But one question floated unanswered in your mind. Did you make it?

...............

"Hazel... Hazel" A faint call of your name has you returning back to reality. Your eyes slowly fluttered open, staring intently at the ceiling.

"Hazel, are you awake?" You turn your head to the side and you caught sight of Avery in a panting mess beside you. He had both his hands wrapped around yours and a worried expression plastered on his face. It was quite odd coming from a person you had just met.

"Avery?" You called.

"Ughh. Thank God, I thought you'd died for a second" He grunts.

"Where are we?" You asked. Your eyes scanned through the entire place and you noticed some unfamiliar features. You seemed to be in a bedroom of some sought, with nothing more than two bunk beds, a desk and a small ceiling fan. The room looked empty.

"We're safe and in the base" He responds, releasing your hands.

"What base? This is the third time you've said this word and I—" Your words are interrupted when a familiar robotic voice resounded through the entire room.

"All remaining survivors should immediately find their way towards the cafeteria. Directions shall be given by your databots. I repeat, all remaining survivors...." The voice slowly trailed off from your mind and you stared at Avery in confusion.

"What the fuck is going on?" You inquired.

"We don't have much time right now. I'll explain everything to you once we've reached the cafeteria" He assures. You nod, albeit still perplexed and frustrated but you say nothing and slowly got up from the bed.