ARTHUR'S POV
I could see the sky turn red. Not the kind of red that comes with sunsets or summer haze — this was blood-red, as if the heavens themselves were hemorrhaging.
I was standing on a twenty-five-foot building, barefoot, my clothes tattered and soaked in sweat. I breathed in the air howled around me and it carried this distinct stench of rotten meat but it wasn't meat, it was human— actual human being like me.
I looked down— death and hell were completely staring at me!
The streets below were filled with bodies. Blood was everywhere — on the walls, the ground, the cars. And the people…
If you could even call them that anymore.
Everyone of them had this non-human appearance. My eyes fell on one, it had no jaw, only a head with blood oozing out from his eye socket, his legs twisted that he has to crawl on the floor.
My head turned to other dreaded humans—Some had no jawsme had one leg. Others had heads that were split in half or missing completely. Their skin was ripped and full of wounds that oozed with thick blood. From those wounds, huge red flies buzzed and crawled, feeding like they belonged there.
I froze. My eyes locked on a woman down below, not too far from the crawling beast. She looked like she was trying to run — her hands were shaking, legs stumbling.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it happened.
The monster leapt on her.
She let out a scream that made my skin crawl. It was sharp, painful — like she already knew she was going to die.
The thing tore into her with its bare hands.
I watched, frozen in horror, as her skin was ripped clean off her arms like it was paper. Blood sprayed into the air like a fountain. She kicked, screamed, begged. It didn't stop.
"Let go off her! Let go!" My legs surged forward, but I stopped realizing I was at the edge of the building. I screamed but it seemed no one could hear me.
Then it grabbed her head and smashed it into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Crack.
Her skull split open like a watermelon, and her brain spilled out. And right in front of my eyes, the creature started eating it. Scooping it with its hands and stuffing it into its mouth like it hadn't eaten in days.
Her body twitched a little — then stopped.
Just like that, she was gone.
I stepped back from the edge, nearly tripping to the ground with my hands sweaty and wet. My breath was stuck in my throat. I wanted to scream, but nothing came out.
That's when I heard another sound — behind me. A low growl from behind me. I turned around.
There she was. Not fully one of them, half human depicting she was about to turn. Her head was lowered that I couldn't see her face but I knew it was a woman limping toward me.
"Hey, are you also seeing the same thing that I am seeing?" I called out to her but she didn't respond and only kept growling, limping more and more to me.
Her skin pale, blood dripping down her thigh where her leg had been half-eaten. Her hair was gone on one side, her eye swollen shut. Her body was shaking, arms reaching out to me like she still had hope.
Then she raised her head.
Slowly.
Her hands lurched forward, fingers twitching like they were trying to grab something — or someone. She staggered closer. I took a small step back, panic rising in my chest.
Then she looked up fully… and I froze.
Her jaw was half broken, hanging to the side, twitching every time she moved. Her tongue — gone. Just a hole where it should've been. Her teeth, covered in thick blood, clenched and clicking like she was trying to speak but couldn't.
But then, she did.
"Arthur… help me… please… help me… I'm scared… baby…"
That voice.
I knew that voice.
I blinked.
What?
No. That can't be right.
My head shook, lips slightly open. "Elysia…?"
I took a step back. "No, no… this can't be…"
She kept limping toward me, crying and growling at the same time. Tears — or blood, I wasn't sure — dripped down her pale face. The pain in her voice was raw. Real.
"Arthur… it hurts… help me…"
I stumbled back even more, shaking my head as my eyes welled up. "You're not her! You're not Elysia! This isn't real!"
But she kept coming, dragging what was left of her leg, arms outstretched like she just wanted me to hold her. To save her.
I looked at her and wished I could. God, I wished I could.
But this thing… this thing wasn't my wife.
Then she threw her head back and let out a terrifying growl — loud and deep, like it came from the pit of her stomach. Her bones began cracking, twisting in directions no human bones should ever move. Her back arched unnaturally, and then she dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, screaming like she was being torn apart from the inside.
I wanted to move.
I wanted to run.
But I couldn't.
She clawed at the ground, growling louder, blood pouring from her mouth. And then—
POP!
Her two eyeballs exploded, bursting open from her socket and into pieces, spraying blood straight onto my shirt and face. I screamed and fell backward, crawling away from her, heart racing in my chest like it would explode.
I didn't want to believe it.
But the monster in front of me… was my wife.
Elysia.
"The world is coming to an end… the world is coming to an end!" I cried, over and over again, stumbling backward.
My hands scrambled against the floor as I pushed myself up, my body shaking, drenched in sweat and blood. I ran — bolted — toward the only door on the rooftop.
Behind me, I could hear her… no, it… changing.
Elysia let out a sound I can't even describe — like metal scraping against bone, like a thousand nails on glass. Her body convulsed, twisted again, and I turned just in time to see the final horror.
Her skull… shattered.
Not cracked.
Shattered.
Bone fragments flew in all directions. Blood gushed like a fountain. And then, from the deep, torn open hole in her stomach, something slithered out.
A worm.
But not just any worm.
It had no eyes, no real head — just a long, slimy, gray body and five gaping mouths lined with rows of jagged black teeth. The thing screeched and lunged straight toward me like it could smell my fear.
"No, no, NO!" I turned the door handle. It was stuck.
I looked around — nothing. No stick. No pole. No knife.
Only—
The doorknob.
Without thinking, I grabbed it with both hands and yanked it hard. It wouldn't budge.
I slammed my foot into the door.
Once.
Twice.
Clink!
It broke free.
The worm was inches away now, its mouths snapping wildly.
With every ounce of strength I had, I raised the broken doorknob—sharp metal edge glinting—and swung it hard.
Slash!
Right through the center of the worm.
Its body split open with a sickening squelch, spraying black goo all over me. It screeched louder than anything I'd ever heard before, shaking and flailing, before finally dropping to the ground — twitching… and then still.
Dead.
I stood there, gasping, trembling, my chest rising and falling like I'd just run a hundred miles.
I stared at the body that used to be my wife… and the monster that had come out of her.
Tears blurred my vision.
What the hell was happening?
What was this nightmare?
I dropped the broken doorknob from my hand, breathing hard, chest heaving like I couldn't get enough air.
The rooftop was silent now, except for the eerie sound of wind howling and the faint buzzing of those damn red flies still circling the corpse below.
My legs gave out.
I slumped to the ground, my back hitting the cold concrete wall behind me. My hands were shaking. My face, wet with sweat, blood, and maybe tears—I couldn't tell anymore.
What kind of nightmare was this?
My heart was racing, like it wanted to rip out of my chest. I tried to calm down, but my body felt like it was on fire from the inside out.
And then…
I glanced down at my arm.
At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. My skin—was glitching. A strange red shimmer flickered across my forearm like a hologram blinking in and out.
"What the hell…?"
And then it appeared.
A glowing red line, outstretched across my skin, slowly forming into words written in cursive, as if the letters were bleeding themselves into my flesh.
In three days, you'd only be the last man standing.
My blood ran cold.
"What… what does that mean?" I whispered.
Before I could even blink—
A loud screech rang in my ears. The rooftop cracked beneath me. The sky flashed a red again, and all around me the air shifted — like the whole world was about to collapse.
Could this be the end of the world?