A huge TL;DR warning here.

Prelude

I owned a small apartment in this huge, confusing, ugly apartment complex. I left it for some reason, but then I met a friend of mine named Yoshi who asked me for something. I told him I had it back in my room, so I went running around with him around the complex, except I couldn’t find my room. I lived on the second story, though, and all entrance to rooms were accessed by grated stairways that laced the entire, misshapen building. We go up the nearest flight of stairs… then discover that half of the twisting path is missing. Only the guide and support rails were left. The metal creaked against the weight, yet, for some reason, Yoshi wanted to go across it anyway, thinking that it was completely safe. Then we heard a snap, and suddenly we fell a good eight feet to the ground. I cracked my head against the earth and got a good bruise, but thankful I didn’t snap my neck or anything.

Night Life

Instead of finding a way back, I got together with a group of other friends I had. In it was Kareem from my Japanese class, NoodleKnight (#beastslair), Hidelu (#beastslair), and Len (#beastslair). I don’t know what we were, but I guess we were a bunch of hooligans. We broke into this one old lady’s house, then all got scared when she was threatening to call the police and have us all killed.

I noticed, however, that the house was of a lovely Victorian style, and idly made mention of that. This evidently calmed her down and pleased her, and offered to show us some of the more interesting parts of town. We got into her brand-new, white Toyoto pickup and started cruising around. She would point to us interesting tidbits and pieces of gossip about various places, which actually was actually interesting to all of us. Kareem was driving the car and the rest of us were in the passenger seats. The old lady stood in the bed of the car like a commander/tour guide, commenting that we were such wonderful kids.

Rain began pouring down, and she pulled on her pancho hood. I felt bad for her, since she was outside and we were relatively safe inside. The torrent continued and strengthened, and water began leaking in, but I didn’t care so much. People began taking naps after such a “long day.” Noodle, in front of me, was fast asleep, while Len, opposite to him, was fallling asleep as well. Her shirt was low-cut, and I blushed when I noticed she -had- breasts. Her eyes opened up a little and looked towards me. She wordlessly said, “RK~!” and smiled a little before going back to sleep.

I guess the hormone therapy worked. o_o

The Beginning of the End

We stopped the car because of some commotion up ahead. We jumped out and looked to the right, across the dark fields. One of the Slicer Defensive Missile Systems in the distance had activated because of an incoming. It streaked out a five missile pattern towards a distant target, prompting fear and uncertainty to creep into all of us. To our horror, more missiles joined it. Then missiles from the other direction began appearing. The missiles danced and weaved around each other in a computerized tracking and evasion routine. Another five missile pattern lanced out. Then, in the distance, we saw specks of light. I knew for certain that these were missiles heading straight for where we were. We all panicked. A missile, sensing this, began twisting and turning in unpredictable direction, but ultimately destined for us. We panicked more as people began to run for their lives.

Kareem, Noodle, and I were on the left side of the crowd, near a corner with two walls and some bushes. The missile streaked straight towards us, and we knew we were hosed because we were close to two walls. Nevertheless, we dove down to the ground, I flying a little further forward. The missile blazed past us and impacted against the brick wall to our rear, creating a minor explosion.

What jumped out of the explosion surprised us all. A large, flat, animal-like beanbag (it looked like a flattened gecko from Fallout II), raced forward and smashed into the bush in front of me. It then flopped down right on top of my back. I freaked out and flipped it off of my back… straight onto Noodle’s. There was a flash of light… and I knew I just did something very bad. I panicked more, then looked up and, to my horrow, I saw dozens of missiles heading towards us. People screamed and fled. I jumped to my feet and ran, darting behind one brick wall just as a missile that was tracking me collided with it. I continued running… abandoning my friends in the process. I wanted to go back and help, to fight against whatever was attacking us. But another part of me told me I had to survive, because people were depended on family depended on me being alive. So I ran.

A Crumbling City

The screaming had faded away, and I didn’t hear any more missiles. I ran up a half flight of stairs and ran noticed the entire catwalk it connected to was littered with those explosive Gecko Beanbags. I ran forward anyway, careful not to step on any of these pressure-senstive mines.

A young black girl ran past me, and I warned her to not step on “those things,” since they were actually explosives. She heeded the advice, stopped, turned around, and began following me.

She asked, “Where are you going now?”

“I’m heading back to my apartment. I need to get away and find out what happened.”

“Alright, I’ll come with you. I was planning to head over to the military base to find out what happened, but your place sounds like a better idea.”

We ran. The lights were gone, and shadows had crept out of hiding to rule the dead city. We made our way to an area where some man was contemplating the best way to scale a certain chain-linked fence. It had razor teeth on the areas where we could grip, so I found some small pieces of cardboard we could use to help grip those areas by using them as gripguards.

Then… a rabid combat dog came after us. I quickly gave a piece of cardboard to the black girl and we tried to scramble over. I was partly over when the dog had jumped up and tried to bite my face off. I flinched back, and the dog pulled the man down instead. Frightened with the prospect of a painful death, I tumbled my body over and continued running, regretting that I left the girl behind.

The Chinese Military Checkpoint

I reached a sort of military checkpoint, then climbed aboard a bus heading toward the apartments. At last able to rest, I stood near the front of the bus so I could see where we were going. It was dark, yes, but I was way too paranoid at this point to not be wary. our path illuminated only by the bus’s headlights, we slowly continued forward. The bus driver mentioned that the Chinese military was blocking the way, keeping traffic out of the more dangerous areas. The bus driver insisted that we continue, so, they let him through. A feeling of dread and fear permeated the atmosphere as we began to slow down. We could hear in the distance a Chinese person on a loudspeaker, speaking in the same accent as the Red Guard in Command & Conquer Generals.

“These brave people have volunteered to sacrifice themselves and venture forth into unknown hostile territory… for the good of China!”

I flinched. Seems like these people were assholes. As we slowly continued forward, to my horror, I saw the Gecko Beanbag Bombs all over the road. I quickly warned the driver that those were actually explosives, so he tried to maneuver the tires to not roll over them. He ended up managing to run over one, though, as we felt a strange tremor jostle the bus. Losing his nerves, he turned the bus around and heading back to the checkpoint.

The Beginning of the End

I talked with one of the passengers on the bus. Evidently, he had fought his way -out- of that area to get to the checkpoint and was some sort of paramilitary soldier. I asked him what was in there, and he replied, “Oh, just the usual stuff.” I pressed for more details, and I got the impression that some sort of biological agent was used to turn people into grotesque freaks of nature driven to only kill the closest living thing next to them. It was then that I realized I was hopelessly useless in the war.

We reached the checkpoint again, and I took a closer look at everything. Evidently, the Chinese military was handling a lot of logistics for the U.S., and had been contracted to do so in case of an invasion. The bus was then redirected to proceed to a “safe area.” Brightly lit shops offered several end-of-times services; some where selling firearms, other emergency supplies, others were pawnshops, etc. Businessmen through and through.

As we entered a tunnel, I noticed strange lights and advanced technology hugging the walls. Evidently, we entered a “hyperplane corridor,” or whatever. The bus began to accelerate, and we began whizzing past other cars and houses and whatnot at perhaps 200 miles per hour. I began to get tired and watched the bus television. There was an advertisement about the the Slicer Defensive Missile System, and how it’s an unstoppable defense against incoming threats. The animation showed a pattern of five missiles flying and weaving about in the sky. I found it incredibly ironic how it did jackshit to defend us all. I dozed off…

Home… Sorta’

I woke up to find myself at my house. All the emergency supplies were taken out, and it was a bright sunny day. I looked outside and noticed the vacant lot across the street was filled with military supply trucks. More were regularly running down our street. I turned on my computer to try to get in contact with people. The Internet worked… but the ISPs were gone. Instead, I connected with a new ISP signup page, where we could rent bandwidth if we wanted to. <_< Evidently, all Internet resources were being used for the military invasion. >_>

I got a call on my cellphone from someone named “Alma,” but didn’t connect it with Hidelu’s name until after it finished ringing. Panicking, I dialed the number, but heard the voice of a very annoying person I knew. He had called with some cellphone he had dug up, and now wasn’t really paying attention to the call. Guilty and angry, I hung up the phone, contemplating what I was going to do now.

Alright… I guess I was looking into apartment complexes. I was in the lobby of one of the complexes, which looked much more like a resort hotel in Anaheim. I distinctly remember two of them near each other. They both had clean, cerulean carpets and off-white walls styled with simplicity and elegance.

But, I remember I left my mattress outside. So I went out the back way, towards, passing a pool. Water polo lessons were being held there, and the chief instructor was some guy who TA’ed computer class I took back in the summer after fifth grade. I said “Hi” and continued until I reached the busy street at the end of the curving granite walkway.

It was sunny with a mild breeze. Perfect weather. No wonder they were holding water polo classes.

So, I picked up my mattress, and for some reason, I decided to take the sheet cover off. I hefted it the mattress with me, but decided to go to the other apartment complex, which is basically the same as the other one. I asked the desk attendant where to go, and she pointed down a hallway.

I go down the hallway… and find myself in a completely different apartment complex lobby. Clean, but not as high-quality. Brown, woodish walls and navy-colored carpeting. Various people were walking around, but they walked with the demeanor of workers instead of tenants. Well, that’s when I realized, “Oh crap, I don’t have my bedsheet cover with me.” I left the mattress there and ran out the same way I came in but I didn’t go “back” to the other complexes. Damn, a stupid thing to do.

So, I walk back to the lobby, and my mattress has disappeared, but I don’t really care much for it anymore. I head to the elevator, where there are two men and a woman in there. I go inside, and the the whole apparatus shakes and groans. One of the guys goes out disappears around a corner, while the remaining two people discuss what’s wrong with the elevator. Apparently, the complex is currently under renovation, but is still operating. The guy and girl walk out, continue to talk, and block the exit.

Now, the elevator is rocking left and right at 30 degree angles and ever-so-slowly descending. The guy laughingly comments, “Boy, I wouldn’t go into that elevator unless they tore the whole thing out and replace it.” I’m thinking that he needs to get the hell out of the way and help me out. Also, the elevator is slowly going down, making me more panicked until the girl offers her hand to help me out of it. I’m pulled out, and repairment are called to fix it.

I decide to take the stairs to see the rest of the apartment. The elevator, when I had looked in it, showed seven floors, but this complex was huge, looking more like a gigantic Anaheim Convention Center rather than an apartment. I walk around and realize there is a ring of keys in my pocket. I look at one key, which looks like a decidedly unique, modern, yet functional key. So, I decide to go open up the door to some corner apartment, which has clear, industrially-treated glass walls with light steel beam frames. Looking more like a corner office in a corporation, it offered a wide view of the outside. I decided to try a key in the door, but then took off when I realized it was occupied by two individuals. I made up my mind, though, that I would try every door in the entire complex with the keys I had.

I passed by a bunch of equipment and someone that I figured was the chief repairman of the elevator. He was working on it, and I found a little paper spin dial lying on top of some metal boxes. Sribbled on the current entry was “0101.” I spun the wheel dial, reading through some strange jargon and references and landed at “1101.” Then, the chief repairman scolded me (telepathically, I’m guessing), saying that he was now at the 11th floor, and he had locked it to the 1st floor. I guess this dial was a manual lock mechanism for it… or something. So, I wheeled the dial, trying to find “0101″ again. Turned the thing upside down, but didn’t find any special electronics on it. Only some metal clip that clicked with each rotation.

It became dark now, and we were all getting the idea that this apartment complex wasn’t safe anymore, with the elevator being a major source of it’s “corruptness.” I was starting to wake up, so I tried to end it. Realizing I couldn’t, I decided to cut it off as a “Part 1 of 2.” Strangely enough, I got a preview of the second half afterwards.

Three police officers, two male and one female, have their guns drawn and flashlights out, investigating the roof of the complex at midnight. They proceed into a small, fenced-in area. The fence itself has rusted into a sickly orange-brown color. They proceed onto a large, rusty, metal plate, which is supposedly right above the elevator shaft.

“Wait, this isn’t rust. This is mold!”

“What the hell is this?”

“This isn’t normal mold. We need to report this!”

“Wait… what’s happening?”

Black rats began materializing within the cracks in the rusty mold. First dozens… then hundreds… then thousands. The three officers, horrified by the sight, cannot move or do anything as the swarm grows larger around their feet.

Everything fades into blackness…