The world was too quiet.
Ash floated through the sky like falling snow, soft and indifferent. The bones of cities jutted from the cracked Earth; steel towers collapsed in slow motion, windows shattered, walls scorched black with time. Nothing moved in ruins. Not people. Only the wind and the birds that had long since stopped fearing monsters.
He opened his eyes beneath the pale sky, lying on concrete that had long forgotten its purpose. Dust clung to his naked body. His heartbeat echoed in his ears like a drum in an empty hall. He blinked once. Twice.
Then sat up.
"Where am I?"
He didn't know. Worse, he didn't know how he got here.
The last thing he remembered was... Something warm. Familiar. A bright world with soft voices and quiet laughter. It seems to be gone. Or maybe it had never existed. Maybe it was only a dream.
He stood. Around him stretched a graveyard of a civilization he couldn't name. Cars rusted where they'd died. Buildings leaned like drunks. The air was heavy with silence.
Cool wind breezed against his naked body, shivering him.
"Why am I naked?"
There's no answer to that. His eyes searched for clothes or anything to cover up. Then, they landed on a pair of pants and a T-shirt covered in dust on the ground. At a time like this, he couldn't be picky. He picked them up and put them on, not before brushing the dust off.
Unexpectedly, the pants fit him perfectly but the t-shirt was baggy. His foot stayed bare, not a single footwear could be found anywhere close. That was fine by him as long as he watched his steps.
Fully clothed, he wandered.
There were signs of life, but not the kind he had hoped for. Scattered belongings, dried blood, claw marks on stone and walls. Not a person in sight. He called out once but the sound felt wrong in this place like speaking in an abandoned church.
Then he saw it.
A figure. Crouched over something on the ground. Its back was hunched, limbs grotesquely long. It twitched. Snapped. Tore at something beneath it. Flesh, maybe. Or Bone. He couldn't tell. Only that it fed like a starving beast.
His breath caught.
It turned. Its face was not right. Skin peeled back in places. Eyes too wide. The teeth too sharp. A severed human head hung from its jaws, twitching as if still aware.
His face turned pale. Eyes widened. Mouth opened. His body shook. He couldn't believe his eyes. He was frozen in place, his legs wouldn't move.
Then, the creature growled. The head dropped from its jaws.
He ran.
Panic drowned his thoughts. His legs burned. His lungs screamed. He didn't look back. Not until something told him to.
And then he did.
The creature was on the ground. Motionless. Dark-red blood pooled underneath it.
Standing above it was a woman. Dust-coated armor, a weapon stained with blood in her hand. Her face was partially masked but her eyes were sharp. Focused. Unafraid.
She didn't speak at first. Just stared at him like she was trying to decide if he was real.
Then, she grabbed a walkie-talkie from her waist.
"Scavenger Unit Four," she said coldly. "We've got an anomaly. Male. Mid-twenties. No ID."
A pause. Her gaze narrowed.
"He's... clean. No scratch. No wound. No scars."
Neither did him knew the reasons.