A blinding white light burned my eyes, which then somehow enveloped all my senses. Now I have opened my eyes again. I could feel that my senses have returned back to normal…wait! I am not dead? What the hell is it and why am I in a post-apocalyptic movie set? Whatever sick joke this is… please stop it - it's not funny.
Looking around all I could see was grey. Just grey. I'm standing in an area that seems to be a rural area, surrounded by a few trees and bushes - no houses in sight. The trees were all devoid of leaves - so dead, somehow wrinkled and flaky. Those remnants of trees were all just grey in colour, dark ominous grey. The grass and bushes around me were all grey and flaky as well, just like the trees. But the most unsettling thing was the mist - a thin mist permeating everything, dulling everything and limiting the vision.
Am I hallucinating, somehow? On drugs or something? But… but I haven't used any drugs before. Well - Ben did get me to smoke a cigarette once. But other than that, not even alcohol, let alone anything that could cause hallucinations this vivid - if this is a hallucination.
I looked around once more. Now I could feel my heart pounding and my breathing growing heavy. Calm down…I tried to calm myself. Instinctively I looked up.
There is a general, faint light from the above which convinced me that there is the sun, at least. However the mist seems to scatter the sunlight so much that it's impossible to know whether it's late evening or the mist is eating away the sunlight. And strangely … it doesn't feel cold at all.
A mist which eats away sunlight but which doesn't feel chilly? And, it's even a little dry somehow, to the extent that I could already feel my lips starting to crack. What kind of a world is this?
Hell…I think I'm isekaied - and worst, into a post-apocalyptic world of every possible world. For a moment I felt like my heart beating so hard that my rib cage may break. Bloody hell… I'm really isekaied, and I'm in a wretched damned world !. And why me? I don't even believe in gods damn it. What the hell…
Or is this hell? But I've never committed any serious crimes. Sure I was an atheist - but only because the gods, if they exist, refused to give proper evidence of their existence. My head started to ache from the overwhelming thoughts.
A cold sweat broke up. A part of me kept on yelling that this is a dream, or an illusion, yet - Now I know that it's undeniable. Calm down….calm down… I am struggling now, to keep my sanity.
Despite everything, if I was transported into another world, why am I transported into something like this ?
Getting overwhelmed by emotions and thoughts I cursed with all my might and voice until my throat felt sore. Oddly it felt so good and satisfying. And then, a strange subtle but suffocating stench hit me. I never felt something like it. It was like dried flesh rotting, along with a faint reek of burning leaves and hair. I'm feeling sick. I gagging a little, nearly retching. I pinched my nose hard to ward off the smell.
What is this and where does it come from?
As the stench overwhelmed me I heard the sound too late - a sound like a person breathing with great difficulty…grunting. It came from behind me. Turning my head back I almost pissed myself.
A silhouette covered in mist - slowly but steadily closing in.
First it was indistinguishable from a mere shadow or a mental trick played by panicked mind. But as it came closer, some part of my brain identified it with unnatural precision. A zombie?
Huh… Wait - a zombie? For real?
I have only seen zombies in movies, comics, a few odd games and Halloween, that's it. Seeing a zombie for real is nothing like any of them. Still covered in the mist I'm not sure if it's a cosplay, or an illusion? Or is the mist causing some sort of hallucinations?
But my instincts started yelling. It's real. It's too real for a dream or hallucination. It's a zombie, And the zombie is coming towards me.
What's this…. I wanted to run, my heart beating like hell.. But my legs felt like logs. The zombie kept approaching me at a steady pace, arms outstretched. But for some unknown reason it's left hand was missing by the wrist. A black rotting stump remaining in place of the left hand. It's a human male….Or so I assume from the looks.
It was nothing like the ones I ever seen in films. Grey wrinkled skin, sunken eyes devoid of iris. The eyes were just orbs of sick white and the mouth hung open as if it's in constant agony. Yet the sharp teeth of the person…er…zombie indicated that he took good care of his teeth. It also reminded me that he's planning to sink those teeth into my flesh.
From his rusted armor and worn chainmail, he looked like he'd once been a knight, a high-ranking one, most likely. The rusted armor,expensive looking, yet rusted helmet, the chainmail worn beneath the armour - it's all too real for even the wildest dreams. It reminded me of the soldiers from medieval drama. As I struggled to process what I'm seeing, the Knight zombie was taking his strides coming towards a fresh juicy prey.
No.…no…run…I'm trying to run, but I can't. Good gods no…He's getting too close…I can even smell a unique stench of rotting dried flesh, most likely coming from him, but I'm frozen from sheer gripping fear.
As he gets closer his features become more easier to understand. Walking in an awkward manner as if he has wooden sticks instead of legs, the legs trembling as if unable to carry the weights of his armor. Despite it, he does have consistent speed and I can outpace it just from brisk walking. But the issue is, my body is betraying me. Everything except my heart that is beating so hard threatening to jump through my rib cage, and my brain pleading my body to run - the rest of my body seems to stay so still, and shaking.
Am I going to die again? And this time I might not be so lucky. As the zombie reached my arm's length he caught my left hand which was making a feeble attempt to shield me. His grasp was so strong and felt super gross, for the skin of his arm was rough and scaly and some viscous fluid seems to oozing out. Eww…gross…! His black cracked and jarred nails started pressing against my wrist, threatening to cut my skin any moment.
But that touch somehow managed to stimulate my body's will to survive and fight back. I felt like my right hand restored some of it's functions. I should do something…but…what…I don't have any weapons. All I have is my bare fist.
I tried to land a punch on the zombie's nose. I'm not sure if zombies can sense pain, but for humans a punch to the nose will hurt like hell and it worth a shot. I clenched my fist, thinking about the several action scenes I watched. Perhaps this is my moment.
Aiming at his shrunken nose, my right fist raised with full force….or so I hoped but the punch was weak and out of pacing as the zombie released his grip on my left hand and tried to catch my flying fist the same time. I should have practiced in martial arts or something when I was on earth.
As if in a slow motion movement he caught my hand and slanted towards me. Then without any dramatic effects his teeth sunk into the wrist of my right hand. A pain that was so intense that it seem to paralyze me rushed through my right arm, blood starting to drip out of the hand. And the zombie is trying to pull me towards him.
I screamed in pain as I could literally feel my tendons are being threatened to be severed, and instinctively I tried to shake my right hand bringing in new waves of pain and blood starting to flow like a fine line. Wishing if I had any weapons or having any magical skills to defend myself and my heart beating like crazy, right hand feeling immobilized and getting numb with pain…. I tried to shove him away with my left hand. A feeble attempt to survive…and then something incredible and inexplicable happened.
This time the moment my left hand pressed to his face something hot and violent seemed to break out in my heart. I felt a wave of energy surging through my left hand and for some reasons the zombie was thrown away like magic. A faint white light started to emitted from his entire body, though it lasted only for one or two seconds as it started to trash all around. Almost simultaneously a tingling sensation and the cessation of pain in my right hand startled me and it brought my attention to my wound on right hand…and good heavens! The wound itself is emitting a faint white light and a somehow soothing tingling sensation being felt on the wound site. First slowly and then rapidly the wound closed.
"What the hell…" I asked myself and it even manifested as a monologue. The previous moment I thought I'm going to be a goner and now out of the blue I'm using some kind of magic…is this the same "cheat skills" plot of isekai novels? Is this the starting point of my new adventures…wait… cheat skills in a post apocalyptic world? oh shoot, never going to happen. But still what the hell? And had I known my isekai fate I'd never chosen history…maybe science, or if possible…magic!
And as I kept on watching it forgetting to take a breath, my wound started to close and bleeding stopped. And suddenly in my peripheral vision I felt that the zombie's movements have stopped. What happened to it? Maybe dead ?
Looking back at the zombie I immediately corrected my last thoughts,for what sits in front of me is a human. A knight to be precise, his armour, helmet and other articles all seem to be spotless. An unbelievably sharp contrast to the worn out conditions when he was a zombie. So did I also restore his armour? What the hell power is this? And… ohh..he seems to be incredibly shocked and surprised… umm... Me too mr Knight … me too…