Once again I was the last one remaining in the office which was located just outside the laboratory complex. The faint glow of the monitor was the only source of light in my dark office and had already started to give me a slight, yet annoying headache.
'We really need to get a better internet connection in this building' I thought while rubbing my eyes, shoving my glasses slightly up my face.
The reason I was staying late once more was that after everyday we were required to back up all our research data and oh boy, sending a pigeon with a thumb drive would probably be faster. After watching the progress bar stay at 99% for another ten minutes the transfer was finally done and I shut off my computer.
'At least I can stay at home tomorrow… Maybe I'll even treat myself to some takeout' I thought, while leaving the office, walking past the glass walls giving me a view over the already closed laboratories. Only one centrifuge was continuing to spin while the screens of a few instruments had not turned off yet.
With a shrill beep the machine officially registered me as signed out and I left the building. The air outside was cold, not too cold but also not comfortably cold, it hit that exact spot where your clothes are ether uncomfortably hot or slightly to cold.
Walking across the parking lot and past the lone guards hut, the streets around the facility were dead silent at this time of the day. Soon that silence was replaced by the roaring of the old engine belonging to the only bus driving out here.
I sat down in the back, pulling out my phone and scrolling through the ad-page of my browser… I know, I just couldn't be bothered to put up with all the messages social media would throw into my face the moment I opened it.
A little bit later I finally got off the bus and started walking towards my apartment building. The small restaurants and shops on both sides of the street were slowly replaced with run down buildings, waiting to be demolished.
I was lucky enough to get an apartment in one of the new buildings slowly replacing these old run down structures.
"Stop!" A sharp voice came from behind me. "What is…?" I wanted to turn around, but was stopped by something made of metal being pressed against the back of my head. "In which pocket is your phone?" The person holding a gun to my head asked.
"My right front pocket" I said. "Ok, now slowly reach for that phone and throw it on the ground" the person said. I did as told and threw the phone a few feet away from me. "And now the same with your wallet please"
Soon everything of value I had on me was lying on the asphalt. Then for the first time I saw the person that was holding me at gunpoint as she walked around me, kneeling on the ground to pick up my stuff. After having stowed everything away in her pockets she stood back up, still pointing the gun at my face.
While standing up the cloth covering her face slipped down, revealing the face of a woman with a scar across her face. She started cursing under her breath as she pulled it back up.
Swiftly she closed the distance between us and pressed the gun against my head. "Plea…" but before I could even finish the first word my world became black. The only thing I still felt was the dryness in my mouth, a feeling that also started to fade withing seconds.
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As the body of Kim Jun-su hit the floor a puddle of blood had already formed beneath him, the eyes of dead young man wide open in fear, the tension in his muscles slowly letting go. The young woman was still staring at the dead body in front of her.
She didn't utter a single word, she didn't even move, she just watched the puddle of blood slowly increase in size. It was the first time she took a humans life that day, standing there in shook until the police arrived.
Kim Jun-su meanwhile had already drifted into the realm of the dead, although…. Not quite yet… as it would soon turn out.