Escape

My name is Marqus Maximus, and I hold the future of humanity in my

hands. The year is 2345, and to sum it up, it was probably the worst year

the human civilization faced. A highly contagious, fatal, man-made virus

named Star Void Illness was released into the world. It nearly wiped out the

whole human civilization. To research a cure and combat this virus, all the

world’s governments joined together to create Umbra robotics. The best of

the best scientists, physicists, and experts joined this group trying to make a

cure. 10 years later the whole facility shut down due to a break-in. There

were rumors that some of the infected broke in and obliterated the labs

annihilating the researchers in the process. Me? I was the lead scientist in

the whole cure operation, and I forgot my diary containing part of the cure

in the facility.

Current Day

It felt wrong to leave the safety of my apartment, despite everyone’s

reassurances that the infection rate has dropped significantly in the past

decades. As a researcher, I know we have to be careful at all times. I loaded

my car with everything necessary for survival in case I became stuck. In a

post-Star Void world, you had to be prepared. Along the way, I occasionally

saw a few Voiders (the infected people) but avoided them entirely. When I
arrived at the facility, I was faced with a choice: charge in head first or wait

until sunrise to go in. I decided on the latter.

The screams and shrieks of the voiders got louder and louder as the

night stretched on. Finally, at the first sign of dawn, I woke up. The day was

chilly, and evil was in the air. I took my gear and started trekking towards

the facility.

The pavement was long gone, and weeds started to grow around the

remaining ones. Finally, I made it to the main entrance. As I entered a few

things went wrong, firstly the wall behind me collapsed leaving me without

any quick exit, and secondly, the lights turned on revealing about 500

voiders waiting to kill me. So I did what any sane man would do. I ran.

“Why me,” I grumbled to myself while taking a shaky breath. I risked

a look back and saw the voiders gaining ground. My panic rose, suddenly an

image popped into my mind: the emergency closet. The name is just a

decoy. The closet contained guns, ammunition, and things for survival, for

me, I could get protection from the voiders. As I looked over my shoulder

relief flooded through me. They were not chasing me anymore, but my

victory only lasted a few seconds because the sound of light bulbs breaking

came. “Oh no,” I mumbled to myself. I had to get to the closet ASAP and

started running like never before. I turned right, another right, turned left,

and almost broke my neck but finally, reached the closet. As I opened the

rusty door, the final light bulb went out with a bang, making the hallway
pitch black. The inside was illuminated with a single fluorescent bulb “Hey,

who’s that…” I barely got that out of my mouth when I saw a baseball bat

flying towards me.

Dream State

“You can do it! Just one more,” a lady says to me. No No NO, I wanted to scream, wanted to get

away from her and everything. Is this what death feels like I thought to myself? “Hey Marqus,

you there,” the lady said again. I wanted to answer her but couldn't. It was as if I was here but at

the same time I wasn’t, it was weird. I had no control over me; if my new state understood that, it

showed no sign of it. Then finally I spoke when I didn't intend to, with a young, crispy, and

squeaky voice. “Mom, I am trying my hardest, if I do any more I will die of exhaustion”. That's

when I looked at my surroundings, and it was as if I was going to die a second time of shock.

Greenery surrounded me, flowers blooming and birds chirping, it was as if the star void illness

never existed. Realization dawned on me, is that my mom? I held back a sob, I never knew my

mom properly, because the Illness killed my mom when I was young. As if on cue a tingling

sensation started on the back of my head, and I felt as if I was being extracted from my dream.

Current Day

“Whoa,” I said dumbfounded. Green grass loomed, the trees gleamed, and

the air felt refreshing overall. But as soon as it came it was gone, replaced

with just a dark, moldy room. There was only one light bulb illuminating the

room, in one corner there was a drawer. From the looks of it, the drawer

was at least decades old and contained nothing special except a brass key

and some dressing. I thought of immediately getting out of this room but
ended up abandoning it. It was safe here, I had my survival pack still on,

and there was a lump the size of a baseball in my forehead that needed

care. After about an hour or so, I finally got the courage to go out the door.

Creek, it took the door an unusual amount of time to open. It was pitch

black outside just as I expected, and judging from the random Hisses I was

probably in the basement. With the faint light coming from the room I saw

only one direction to go, so I started walking. My muscles burned but I kept

walking. Finally, after what felt like hours I saw light ahead, a blue-tinted

one. As I again ran toward it, I saw my diary lying aghast on the floor. I

picked it up; surely it couldn't be that easy. I mumbled as my vision

darkened and I fell.

The End