MANHUNT SHORT

STORY:
Second Chance
By Toby Hudson
My eyes snapped open. Damn, Id fallen asleep again. Cursing under my
breath, I wiped my eyes and took a look around. I was in a corridor.
Smooth, white walls on all sides, with a single, flickering light overhead,
casting moody unnatural shadows all around. I shouldnt be here! I
thought. Shouldnt I be? It took a while for the word to come, but when
it did, it shot out of me like a bullet. Dead. Thats what I should be. I
looked at my clothes. An army uniform splattered with blood and filth.
Had I been given a second chance? Another chance at life? I peered down
the corridor at the blackness and began to walk forward.
As I ventured down the corridor, an odd feeling of incompleteness washed
over me, as though a part of me was missing. I checked myself over but I
wasnt hurt in the slightest. The blood on my gear must have come from
somewhere. But still, it was an odd feeling, as though a small but vital
ingredient was gone from my body. I shook the feeling off and walked
down the corridor. Suddenly, and without warning, a loud inhuman MOAN
echoed down the corridor.
Priming my rifle (where had that come from?) I walked down the corridor
towards the noise. Thats when I realised. The ground was alive! Small
plants and thorns were pushing their way up through up through the floor
and walls, wrapping round my legs like venomous snakes. I began to run.
The darkness engulfed me and I stumbled and fell. Right at the feet of a
thing on the wall. The very same thing that had made the inhuman noise.
I dreaded to look. Suddenly, it spoke. EddieLong time no see.!
Slowly, I raised my head to look at the monstrosity in front of me. At first,
I didnt recognise it as human. Just a lifelessshape. But as I stared in
awe, I started to make out the outline of what I thought was a face. Eyes,
mouth, nose ears, they were all there. Suddenly, it opened its cracked
mouth again and spoke again. Its been so long Eddie! Almost at once, I
recognised the voice. It was Sam. Sam Barker. Hed been my best friend
when I was in the army. Wed always vowed to protect each other to the
end. And he had. Hed saved my life. I still remember looking around
joyously, the bombing was over! Id cried, were all safe! Thats when I
noticed him. Face down in a pool of his own crimson blood, his face
battered and scarred with pieces of muddy metal lodged into his face.

I could very well ask you the same question he said softly, his voice
hoarse. But I dont understand I began and all at once all the
questions and confused thoughts that had been welling up inside me
burst out. Why am I here? Where has everyone gone? What is this place?
And you! Youre dead sosoI dont understand Eddiedont you get
it? You died as well. Maybe but not physically, but in here... He ripped his
arm out of the wall, tubing and wiring falling to the floor, blobs of a jelly
like substance dripping from his fingers, and pointed straight at my head.
Youre going to have to make a choice soon, Eddie. The decision is
entirely yours, but...but...promise me one thing. Choose life Eddie. Dont
end up like me! Suddenly, he started to laugh. Quietly at first, but getting
louder and louder, making my ears ring. Stop I screamed, but my cries
were lost over the sound of him, filling my head and making me dizzy. All
at once, the noise subsided. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, I
lifted my head to look. Sam was gone. All that was left was a black mark
on the wall where something had once been.
Shakily, I got to my feet. Im too old for this. Walking down the corridor,
thats when I noticed the door.
It was a huge, black door, with details and complex spirals, wrapped
round the edge to create intricate patterns swirling into each other. In the
sides of the door were chess pieces, carved beautifully, one after another.
However one was missing. The white king. I ran my fingers over the area
where it should have been, feeling a groove in the wood where it should
be. As I pushed his finger into the notch, I noticed something very
interesting. My finger sat perfectly within it and as I pressed down, a
small click echoed down the corridor. The door swung open, creaking as
it did, like something out of a horror film. As it did, the odd feeling of
incompleteness returned like a nauseating sickness. But I had to go on.
Something was pulling me into the door. Something not of this Earth...
As I walked through the open door, I saw the strangest thing I had ever
seen. There was a group of white hooded figures standing there, huddling
around a black hole on the floor, pulsating with black goo like it was alive!
The figures had hollow white masks that were like all of the blood and
humanity had been sucked from their faces, leaving nothing but hollow
bone behind. What was this place? Why were all these people there? I
didnt like it. Not at all. I turned to run but behind me was one of those
things in the mask, towering over me like a giant building, his arms
stretched out towards me ominously. Be like us it wailed, become part
of the living. Suddenly, all of the ghostly people began to remove their

In the war! All of you! You arent the living! You arent the living
youre the dead! Suddenly, I realised the horrible truth. These were
the rememenants of the dead. Be like usDont you understand
Eddie? You are dead! You have to become one of us! No! I
remembered what Sam Barker had said. His words echoed throughout
my head. Choose livelivelive And these people werent life.
Whats down there, I asked suddenly, feigning a sense of disinterest.
There? That is the other place, the place where the others go. Thats
not for you Eddie. This is your place. I needed to get away. Go to
hell I whispered coldly and ran at the figures.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO they screamed, as they crumpled into dust.
White swirls of dust and debris started to spin around my head.
Stop, I tried to yell, my voice hoarse. I fell to my knees, and began
to crawl towards the door. All at once, the debris cleared and all that
was left