Welcome

The gentle waves of dark sky cloaked the entire horizon. Illuminating the dusty and pale city was the glooming phase of the moon. The earth was the sole feature of the universe. The total absence of the scattered dancing stars was a sign of death and misery. Hope was only a word. You can't hear any of it till the burning light of the sun's rays rises in the morning.

In an abandoned 5 story building at the center of Biston town, the frightful monsters had redeemed a thousand souls. This was their hideout. They were sleeping during the day while making individuals scream at night. Trapped people should save their breaths instead of losing them while being eaten. No luck had ever gasped outside once captured by these monstrous creatures.

These beasts dangled the human bodies upside while their heads were protruding through the tight greenish and squashy goo that veiled hundreds of them, sticking up to the ten thick rusty pipes, a meter apart, attached to both ends of the wall. Beneath them was only a foot away from the floor. Their image shone through the splash of water. A deep, solid voice at the end of the seventh tube disrupted the silence.

"Hey," said Khali to a man next to him.

The dripping taps of liquid replied.

Khali bobbed and slithered, creating a sticky sound to escape, but of no use. The crusted substance shaped his athletic figure. Later on, he released a heavy sigh and swung and bumped the man.

The man stretched his eyes. Floaters roamed for a moment until he saw a lucid reality. He gazed around for a second. Nothing was sinking in his mind.

"Here," Khali said.

He cocked his head toward Khali. He showed him an innocent gaze. They stared at each other for five seconds without blinking. Khali then opened his dry lips.

"I need your help, you understand?"

Then the man continued to look at his surroundings. He glanced back.

"Bump me now or we'll die!" Khali said as he became anxious.

But the wide-eyed, middle-aged man only offered him a swift blink. Though no signs of anxiety marked his face, a curved scar on his right eyebrow to his nose says otherwise.

Irritated by the response, Khali swayed by himself to get the big breaker switch on his left. He couldn't even reach half of the way. After his sweats seep from his drained body, groans became the only means to be on track again. While swaying in the air, they heard a soft, echoing roar from a distance.

"What was that?" he asked.

The low, soft echoing roar was becoming louder, which made Khali apprehensive. Because of what he heard, his body produced more sweats. His cheeks flushed. His nerves popped on his face as they heard a sound screeching.

A thunderous scream shook the entire building, making the wet floor dance. The dangled people popped their eyes out of their sockets after hearing a deafening cry. Their lungs released a hopeless bawl after a gargantuan monster peered.

"Chopper," the man said.

It has no eyes and nose but has weird, curvy, big ears. It looked like a weird octopus. Four wide sides divided the round, dark slimy face of it, like a slice of pizza as anyone could imagine. Pumping like a soft part of a human heart. As soon as it opened its gateway, its teeth clung through each side of them. The infinitesimal teeth filled the center like a machine that crushes everything that goes in. It squealed a horrid hell. Its tentacles danced. The atrocious cruelties again encircled the night in this town.

"Hey, BUMP ME!"

The man next to him seemed a little frightened by their situation. So, he gave a sudden jerk of his body and bumped into Khali.

"Come on, come on," Khali prayed.

As they were saving themselves, people in front of them were being eaten. Blood was brimming all over the mouth of the Chopper. Screeching. It used its dwindling tentacles, then grabbed people and threw each one of them down in its mouth, crushing them, using its teeth. It chopped each human into tiny pieces. The Chopper cleared the entire area of the sixth pipe, eating the last victim of the column. Until a hoarse voice left a word that saved them:

"Quiet!"

Heads flipped on their sides. Gasps interrupted cry. The Chopper finished eating up its last meal, then heard no noise. After an extreme call of silence, it left them with hope.

Khali convinced the man next to him:

"We'll try again. Okay?" he said. Khali begged as their situation filled his eyes with hope.

The man then bumped Khali, and they swung until he reached for the switch, and the lights turned on in succession. Flickering. The whooshing sound of air filled the entire floor. The large wings of an electric fan cut up the substance that made them stick to the pipe, causing all of them to fall. They started wriggling on the ground, letting the water soak them. Eventually, they got rid of the goo.

Other survivors were cleaning themselves. Khali looked for things that could save his life. Wrecked office furniture filled the floor like chairs, tables, small rods, pipes, and other stuff you might see in a deserted building.

The place was busy, as it seemed. Khali approached the man that bumped him earlier. He looked at his figure; he was wearing a tight gray suit with strips of black blade style on the legs, waist, and arms. On his waist was a black belt. It has a weapon inside of his pocket. He also wore a pair of gray metallic shoes that matched his outfit, but Khali seemed baffled, holding a pipe on his right arm and a steel shield on the other.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Murmurs occupied the area as a reply. The man stood for a moment, giving him a non-friendly vibe. He was quiet enough for his age. He bowed his head and grabbed the gun from his pocket. It was the size of a 12 inches ruler but had a bore size of 4 inches in diameter. Coated with slate gray, designed to have gaps formed like branches over its top part, down to its grip.

He raised his left hand and clicked on his white metallic wristband device, and a hologram flashed in front of him, showing the status of his gun. He clicked the 'charge' button, then the gun glowed a blue light on each gap and got a full battery within 10 seconds.

As he pointed his weapon at the open door where the monster had entered earlier, people around him shuffled their tired feet and babbled. He was right in pointing it there for a loud and fast approaching high roar bombarded the entire floor. Five small Choppers—two feet tall, filled the place.

The remnants dragged their feet backward, unnoticed, through the empty wall, forming a broken circle with their faith lying on their flimsy weapons. After a moment of silence, the man wearing a gray suit stepped forward. Swiped his left hand in the air, then a screen showed his status. He browsed and clicked the option named TP.

Frightened faces were pointed at him as he looked back once more. He drew his right hand holding a gun and shot one Chopper. The Choppers ran toward them with a blaring scream. People carrying alarmed eyes bent their knees in anticipation of the coming monsters. As the Choppers ran fast near them, the man jumped toward them and clicked the TP on his screen, and shouted:

"YOU'RE ALL IN A GAME!"

Their hands were all up, giving a shadow on their faces with their eyes crumpled. The place was lit up with bright white stripes. Following that was a vacuum of peace. Khali was the only person left. He opened his eyes and saw the cleanest white space.

"Where am I?"

A floating black quote popped in front of him.

"Welcome."