Ethan on the tree looked into the city. What he saw left him scarred. The city was pure chaos, a scene straight from an apocalypse. The sky was dyed red, a deep crimson red as if the sky itself was bleeding. Dark clouds hung in the sky, casting shadows on the world. Red lightning danced in the clouds, sometimes striking the ground, turning anything struck into ash.
The city itself was a wreck. Smoke pillars rose into the skies as if challenging the heavens themselves. Buildings were lit on fire, some collapsing onto the ground below. The streets were filled with the remains of trucks and cars. Bodies littered the place like a set for a horror movie. Blood flowed on the streets, forming rivers of crimson. The air reeked of iron—sharp and metallic. Blood, Ethan realized. It clung to the air like a parasite, mingling with the scent of ash. He began to wonder just how many had died for the smell to be this pungent.
From the city, sounds of helicopters could be heard, chopping through the night sky, looking for survivors. But it wasn't the only sound. Screams could be heard across the city, blended in with the roars of the corrupted, forming a sick symphony.
He had seen this before—it was always there in his game, the scene of a city dying. He never could have once thought the game would become reality.
Suddenly, a crack. Ethan tensed. Only then did he realize the branch he was standing on was about to break. But he didn't have enough time to react. With a sickening crack, the branch shattered, sending Ethan spiraling down. His body collided with multiple branches along the way, badly bruising and cutting him.
He landed on the ground with a sickening thud. He rolled on the ground in great pain. His ankle landed badly, spraining it in the process. FUCK, he thought. This was catastrophic. Running meant you would live to see another day. Now that he couldn't run, there was a higher chance he would be food for the corrupted. He braced the pain as he tried to stand but just spiraled back onto the ground.
But the bad news didn't stop there. He could hear them—the corrupted. He forced himself onto his elbows, crawling, dragging his body backward until his spine pressed against the rough bark of the tree. His hands scrambled around him, looking for anything to defend himself, but it was all in vain. There was nothing he could use.
Am I really going to die like this? he thought.
A shadow moved at the edge of his vision. His blood turned to ice.
A figure approached Ethan, its body hunched over, walking on all fours. Its body was a bundle of flesh, its jaw hung slack from its face, dripping red liquid onto the ground. It began making clicking noises as it neared Ethan, like a predator approaching prey.
It sniffed the air. Then its body snapped toward Ethan. He knew why—when he fell, his body had been littered with scratches, leaking blood, and it could smell it. Is this really how I'm going out? Fuck, I wanted to at least see my sister before I go.
BANG!
The creature stopped in its tracks. Its head was now a pile of mush, its body slumping to the ground, dead. Ethan's eyes widened. Gunfire. Were the police here? he thought.
His head whipped toward where the shot had come from. His eyes widened in surprise. Standing in front of him was Ms. Sophia.