Chapter 5

In a hospital room, Daniel lay unconscious amid the aftermath of the plane crash, with burnt and dismembered bodies and debris scattered throughout.

After a few minutes, Daniel's hands displayed slight movement, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the hospital ceiling. It took a few moments for the events leading up to his fainting to come back to him.

With a shock, he questioned himself, "Where am I? What is this place? Did I lose consciousness?" Daniel remained in a state of shock, trying to comprehend the grim situation.

He stood up, surveyed the surroundings, and was met with the horrifying sight of lifeless bodies everywhere.

The gruesome scene overwhelmed him, leading to a bout of vomiting. After regaining his composure, he remembered Helen and exclaimed, "Where is Helen? We were so close." A slight headache served as a reminder of the impact that had knocked him out.

Cradling his head with one hand, Daniel declared, "There's no time to dwell on this. I better start looking for Helen."

He began walking, stepping over the deceased scattered across the hospital room floor.

Despite the nauseating environment, he fought to keep his vomit at bay, covering his nose to block the stench of burnt and decaying bodies and his mouth to prevent further sickness.

He noticed a section of the building had been blown apart and made his way toward the fractured structure to observe the city he had lived in.

The hospital he worked at was a towering 439.0 feet tall, and he found himself on the second floor.

As Daniel approached the shattered portion of the building, he was met with an inexplicable sight.

The once beautiful and thriving city had transformed into a haunting ruin. Towering structures, once symbols of progress, now stood as decaying monoliths with shattered glass windows and facades covered in graffiti.

The streets remained eerily silent, littered with abandoned vehicles and scattered debris, making navigation perilous.

The city's infrastructure had crumbled, leaving behind broken bridges and collapsed tunnels, isolating neighborhoods.

The absence of electricity enveloped the city in perpetual darkness, occasionally punctuated by the distant flicker of a fire or the eerie glow of moonlight, illuminating the desolation.

This left Daniel in a state of shock, and he muttered, "What happened to the city I used to know? How did it become like this?" He spoke as his legs gave way, causing him to collapse onto his knees due to the shocking sight before him.

While Daniel continued to reflect on the city's dismal state, the door knob to the room he was in began to turn, emitting a creaking sound. Hearing this, Daniel turned his attention towards the door to identify the intruder.

To his surprise, an elderly man stood there with lifeless eyes, bearing bruises and injuries that would be fatal for most.

He moved in a zigzagging manner, reminiscent of someone intoxicated. Witnessing this, Daniel sensed that something was amiss, and the man didn't appear entirely human.

A noxious odor emanated from the elderly man, and Daniel observed worms wriggling in and out of the man's body.

Overwhelmed by fear, Daniel chose to remain silent, as the man had been standing motionless for three minutes, akin to a lifeless statue.

Daniel decided to keep observing the man until a woman's voice pierced the air, pleading for help. "Please help me! I don't want to die!" she cried out.

The man, who had been standing still, suddenly sprinted towards the woman at an unnatural speed.

As he reached her, the woman let out a sigh of relief, thinking someone had finally come to her aid. She extended her hand, pleading, "Can you please help me?"

However, a bizarre and gruesome event unfolded before Daniel's eyes. The elderly man's head twisted 360 degrees, and he began devouring the woman piece by piece.

The woman screamed in agony as she was consumed bit by bit by the old man. Her screams attracted more people with lifeless eyes, who rushed towards her like a swarm of ants, gradually eating her away.

Witnessing this horrific scene unfold before him, Daniel started to question himself, "What's happening? Why are those people gathering around the woman and devouring her? Why didn't the man attack me? Did he target the woman because she screamed? Are they only attracted to noise? There's no time to think; I need to escape quickly," Daniel muttered as he began crawling toward the partially open door.

Daniel turned his gaze to the left side of the door and observed lifeless figures standing motionless, expelling a greenish substance from their mouths.

The sight left Daniel with the unsettling certainty that these beings were not human. He muttered to himself, "No, this direction is not an option."

With that, he pivoted to his right and began to crawl in that direction. There, he encountered a door that had been damaged by the explosion, with debris from the building scattered nearby.

Two lifeless bodies, a man and a woman, lay on either side of the door, their hands tightly entwined. Daniel silently thought, "Perhaps they were lovers. I wish them eternal happiness, even in death."

Despite this somber moment, Daniel proceeded with caution. He had formed a hypothesis that the undead creatures were sensitive to sound, based on the unsettling events he had witnessed in the room.

They were also easily distinguishable by their pallid skin and evident mortal injuries.

Daniel proceeded to tiptoe toward the door, taking care not to make any noise.

As he managed to reach the door, he let out a sigh of relief, his quiet approach hopefully keeping him unnoticed by the eerie, lifeless entities surrounding him.

Daniel's gaze fell upon the door, which had been shattered by the explosion. He reached for the doorknob and attempted to turn it, but it stubbornly refused to budge.

Anxiety coursed through him as his heart raced; fear gripped him, knowing that making more noise could potentially awaken the two deceased lovers lying behind him.

In the depths of his thoughts, Daniel silently cursed, "Is this the end?"