Chapter 3: Were they the same?

After a deep and tiring sleep, a stomach ache brings him back from the dream land.

Kyle groaned while covering his stomach.

''So hungry…''

He stands up from the couch while rubbing his stiff neck.

"Where am I?"

Being still half asleep, he looks around the room.

This was a pretty spacious living room. With big windows, that was lighting the surroundings. All the pieces of furniture looked in good condition and the decorations were quite thoughtfully arranged. If the layer of dust were not thick enough to cause a panic attack to a misophobic maybe it would have looked better.

When was the last time someone cleaned up around here?

Remembering how he got here, his expression changed to a deep frown.

So, it wasn't a dream…

This mean he's in deep shit.

He goes to the window and looks down, trying to find something.

There was someone on the street. But the floor was too high, and he couldn't see that person very well. Yet, he could still realize that he wasn't walking like a normal person. It was very slow. He dragged one of his legs, walking around in the middle of the road. After all this time, it didn't leave. He was almost sure it was the same one from earlier. It was wearing a yellow neon jacket and red pants.

𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒍…

Kyle was awakened from his thoughts by the noisy protest of his stomach. He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything since he woke up in the hospital. And that was this morning.

After how high the sun is now in the sky, the evening should approach in an hour or two.

Maybe there's still something to eat in the kitchen. With a purpose forward, he abandons the window.

When he first entered to inspect the apartment, he did not look around detailed enough.

Arriving at his destination, he opens the refrigerator door with hope. Only to be hit by a wave of smell that can rival a landfill.

"Ugh…"

A strong nausea struck him without warning.

He closes the door and leans on it with both hands, trying to recover.

Everything inside has long sins rotten.

'With how deserted this place looks like, I should have expected this.'

It seems that the fridge is working, but what's in it still looks like this. Just, how long has it been since someone has been around here?

The important question here is if can I still find something comestible? Maybe in closets.

So, he opens the closest to him.

Just pots.

It might be in the next one.

The next one is full plates.

"Damn!"

Next one. There sure is something to eat in the next one.

"Yes!"

He grabs a box of cereals and opens it. He takes a few full mouths straight out of the box, but choke with it. He punches his chest twice and manages to swallow.

His throat felt dry and painful. Remembering how thirsty he was.

There were a few bottles of water in the fridge if he saw it well. But the smell… Kyle looks at the tap. He turns it on. Water also works. He licks his cracked lips.

"Ugh"

'That hurt. I'm so dumb. Even if I die of thirst, I won't drink it. Who know how many germs and who know what is in that water?'

The water pipes are quite old in this city. Water should be boiled before drinking. Just be safe.

Those bottles of water in the fridge are sealed. So, the water was not contaminated by anything. But the thought of it sitting in that smell is disgusting.

After a brief inner debate, Kyle opens the refrigerator door again and, at a speed of which he did not think he was capable, he grab a bottle and close it back.

"I did it."

He opens the bottle cap and takes a few big sips.

He opens the bottle cap and takes a few big sips. With a box of cereal in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, Kyle finishes his saddest dinner ever.

After throwing the garbage in the trash, he comes out of the kitchen. It was almost dark. He should take a shower and prepare for bedtime. Maybe he can find an exchange of clothes. These are too dirty. Only now he noticed how sweaty and sticky he is.

'I feel disgusting.'

Kyle enters one of the two bedrooms and opens the closet. This room must have been a girl's. There were only girl clothes inside. Now that he looks more closely through the room, he can see a table with all kinds of cosmetics covered in dust.

There were also some bags on the hanger.

Going outside, he enters the other. This room seems to have belonged to a couple. In the closet, he finds what he is looking for.

There were both women and man's clothes there. He also saw bedding and a quilt.

So, he grabbed the dusty bedding from the bed, knotted them in a pile and leaves them in a corner on the floor.

He takes off his dirty clothes and throws them over the rest of the pile.

He enters naked in the bathroom with a towel in his hand.

After turning on the light, he enters the shower cabin.

The water began to gush out of the shower head. The cold water makes him shiver a little.

"No warm water for me, it seems."

But with how messed up his day has been, a bit of cold water was welcome.

Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind of all the thoughts that were eating away on his nerves.

He really didn't wanted to think of anything. Just for a while. So, he just let the water wash all the filth and worries away.

A long while later he closed the water and got out and dries himself with a towel. He stops in front of the mirror and clean it with the towel and then trows it away in the laundry basket.

Kyle looked at his reflection and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"I look like sh*t."

He sported quite a haggard figure.

There were dark eye bags under his green eyes. His face was pretty average, but thanks to his eyes it was giving a charm of it's own. His skin was too white because of lack of exposure to the sunlight. He was quite tall at 1.8 meters, but he seemed a bit skinny right now. Maybe because of the coma. His black hair was also much longer than he remembered. It almost reached his shoulders. His lips ware a bit blue because of the long cold shower. He was sure that if someone saw him right now, it would probably think that he was a ghost.

Finishing checking himself for any sign of injury, Kyle returned to the bedroom.

He put on some clothes and made his bed.

"Time to sleep."

Once in an unfamiliar bed, he felt more and more out of place.

Thoughts about today were keeping him awake. Even if he was trying to ignore them, that didn't mean that they were not real.

He was in an accident and probably was in a coma until today. And somehow he was lucky enough to not die the in that crazy massacre.

All those dead people at the hospital.

He was having a strange feeling that there was a connection between them and the cannibals at the corner of the street. He still remembers their hideous faces, dirtied by blood.

Those corpses at the hospital, many of them, were also having faces full of blood. It couldn't be their blood.

That first old man didn't seem to have any other wounds except for a gunshot in the forehead. There were also many corpses with signs of being bitten and torn apart. We're they the same?

And if yes, what were them?

He couldn't come up with an answer just yet.

He didn't have enough information. Even thought he slept quite a lot today, he was still tired.

Maybe all the questions can wait until tomorrow. Kyle covered his head with his blankets, hugging his legs and trying to forget his fears.

It might seem pathetic for a grown man to act like a scared kid, but under great mental pressure even the bravest would be left helpless.