The world was ending in front of me, and there was nothing I could do but stand there helplessly.
Should I give up? Maybe it would hurt less if I just accepted it.
At least that's what I thought before I saw her...
A woman sprinted into the street, her shoes slapping into the pavement as she tried to outrun the purple tendrils. She was fast and desperate; The kind of "terrified" that made people do impossible things at the most crucial times.
For a second, I really thought she would make it. She was running toward the gas station. Toward cover. Toward me.
A faint hint of relief washed on her face as she spotted me. Maybe she was relieved to see she wasn't the only human left standing. Maybe she believed the gas station was safe if a useless looking teenage boy somehow still stood there unharmed.
It wasn't safe, and I definitely wasn't special.
"Come on," I whispered, taking a step forward without thinking. "Come on... you can make it..."
A thread dipped low, and just barely grazed her calf.
Her leg burst like a water balloon, sending her collapsing into the asphalt instantly. She hit the ground screaming, still trying to drag herself forward, her palms leaving behind a smear of blooding in frantic red trails.
I refused to accept it.
"Wait! Just—wait! I'm coming!" I yelled, already rushing toward her. If I could just get there fast enough, I'd just pull her behind a wall. Just maybe—
Her head snapped up, eyes locking onto mine.
And in that tiny second, she actually believed I might save her.
"Please... I—I'm scared. I don't want to..." Her voice split on the word "die" like a rope fraying.
Her ribs split open in a violent lurch, everything collapsing out onto the pavement in one awful drop.
I screamed, not recognizing my own voice. Not out of sympathy, but because whatever instinct I had left shattered under the weight of terror.
I didn't move. Couldn't.
Mrs. Han, the kid, and this woman were all gone in seconds erased like they were nothing.
"What... what am I supposed to do? I whispered. My legs almost gave out, shaking unsteadily. I looked at my trembling hands, crimson blood dripping from my fingers. For the first time since the sky tore open, a cold, thought invaded my mind.
I'm going to die aren't I?
As if the world heard me, a soft glow descended from above.
A single glowing tendril descended down like a falling leave. It didn't sway or flicker. It just... came toward me with a steady purpose. It knew where it was going.
Instinct finally returned, and my body moved before my thoughts did.
I staggered backward, slipping on blood as I vaulted into a run toward the gas station.
The automatic doors were still open just a few yards away.
I can make it.
"Almost—almost there—!" I gasped, pushing my body harder than I had ever done in my life. If I got inside, hide in the employee's room, and shove everything in front of the door, there might be a chance.
A tiny ridiculous spark of hope burned into my chest.
The glass door and what was left of the shattered windows reflected everything behind me. There were purple lights, collapsing bodies, and a terrified boy shaking, running like a trapped animal.
Me...?
I reached the curb, just two steps away.
One—
A gentle warmth passed over the top of my shoulder.
"...Huh?"
Then like a molten needle in muscle, the thread sank deep.
"It...burns—IT BURNS—!"
My hand flew to the spot, but the flesh was already sizzling. I clawed at it, slapped at it, and even tried ripping off my skin, but it just burrowed deeper, crawling in me like something alive.
"GET OUT—!"
My voice cracked into something high and broken. I slammed my shoulder into a metal mailbox. Into a parked car. Anything to crush it. To kill it. To stop the pain.
But it only spread.
Dark veins snaked down my arms, like bruises spreading. A cold jot shot through my body, stealing my breath away.
"Oh God—no—"
I sounded like a child begging for the world to end. But nobody helped. Nobody could even stand. We were all dying. Bones snapped. Skin split. People vomited organs as the purple light puppeted their bodies.
The city had become a slaughterhouse.
And then it was my turn.
The pain detonated in my chest. My spine arched backward, wrenching into a bow against my will.
"AAAAHHHH—STOP—STOP—PLEASE—!!"
My ribs strained like something inside was trying to claw its way out. My lungs rattled like broken machinery. Every breath tasted like metal and fire.
"WHY—?!"The word tore itself out of me.
"I didn't— I never—I haven't DONE ANYTHING—!!"
My back hit the ground hard. My legs kicked uselessly against the pavement. My fingers dug into the concrete until my nails peeled back and snapped off.
I felt my heartbeat stutter.
Then stutter again.
Then—
Rip.
A line of agony sawed through my chest as my sternum cracked open, tiny millimeters at a time.
"It—hurts..."
Warm blood spilled down my neck. My left arm jerked—once—twice—
Then tore out of the socket. A wet, awful sound filled my ear as it detached, landing beside me with a dull splat.
"NO—NO—NOOO—!"
I reached for it with my remaining arm—a stupid instinct—but the pain hammering my skull made the world go white. Something burst behind my left eye. Half my vision went dark. The other half swam red, like it was drowning.
"It—HURTS—!!"
My chest split completely.
And I saw it.
My own heart—twitching, faltering,clinging to life like a dying animal.
A slow, stupid thought drifted across my mind:
Oh. I'm dying.
I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I just stared, weirdly calm—like it was happening to someone else.
Then my heart ruptured.
Blood poured from the cavity in a boiling fountain. My body convulsed violently. Limbs twisted. Nerves burned.
"I don't want to die…"The words gurgled out, half air, half blood. "I didn't even… live yet…"
SNAP.
My spine folded. My jaw broke. My vision collapsed inward like a dying star.
Pain erased everything.
Then—
Silence.
Darkness.
…
…
…
When I opened my eye—
No. When I became aware again—
I didn't feel my body. I didn't feel anything.
I floated in a space without shape… without color… without time.
A thought formed—slow and dragging, like pulling a knife across stone.
Is this… the afterlife?
It didn't feel holy. Didn't feel peaceful.
It felt like a waiting room no one ever left.
"My name… is Aiden."
Saying it felt strange—like the word no longer belonged to a person.
"I'm nineteen."
Nineteen. Barely anything. Barely a beginning.
A quiet, awful clarity filled me.
"…I failed at everything, didn't I?"
The words escaped before I could stop them.
I never said this stuff out loud while I was alive. I didn't even let myself think it.
But here—in the dark, with nothing but myself—the truth spilled out like an infection finally draining.
"I wasn't smart enough for a real college. Not strong enough for sports. Not confident enough for friends. Or dating. Or… anything."
The void swallowed every word.
"I went to community college because it was the only place that accepted me. Half-asleep in class from night shifts. Barely passing assignments I didn't understand."
A breath—or whatever I had—shuddered through me.
"I spent my days studying half-delirious…and my nights ringing up customers who never even looked me in the eye."
My voice cracked.
"I died without anything real. No accomplishment. No legacy. Nothing to show I was ever here."
A long silence.
"…I didn't even get a chance."
The void rippled—pale light spreading outward in gentle waves.
Something moved within it—a shadow larger than I could comprehend.
A voice not spoken but understood—whispered through the expanse:
"Then let's give you one."
Light embraced me.Warmth. Force. Life.
Everything went white—
And text flickered into existence:
Aphelion System Initializing…
…
…
[USER DEATH CONFIRMED][DEATH COUNT: 1][TIME UNTIL WORLD COLLAPSE: 90 DAYS]