I am Human

In a race spanning billions, he was nothing 

In a space spanning hundreds, he was nothing

In a room spanning a few, he was nothing

Thats what he made himself to be

Untill one day his body vanished into nothingness 

In a world of unknown, a world where he is nothing

What would a human like him do?

My breath quickened as fear swallowed me whole


Seconds passed since the metal rods had fallen


Yet my feet kept moving forward, sweat trickling down my face


The robotic voice rang again, cold and unyielding


The robotic voice warped and distorted, overlaid with shrill screeches


The screeches grew louder, more frantic with every message


I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from


Then a sharp tingle crawled through my senses


I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned my gaze back toward the fallen metal rods


But the silence pressed heavier, tightening around my chest


Then, from the hole where the rods had fallen, a dark liquid began dripping


I couldn't tell what it was from this distance


The liquid thickened, deepening to a crimson hue


Suddenly something dropped from the ceiling


I couldn't see it clearly—the darkness swallowed its shape


Then its eyeballs caught the dim light that barely illuminated the cave


More blood dripped from above, pooling on the lifeless head


Then with a heavy thud, a headless corpse crashed onto the ground


The sound echoed through the cave and deep into my mind


Its flesh was mangled, body parts distorted, broken, misplaced—like a cruel child's toy


My body froze; tears streamed down my cheeks


Then, from above the hole, what looked like an eyeball attached to a mass of flesh slowly emerged


Like anyone would in this nightmare, I did what I could


I fought valiantly—and tried to take a selfie of its corpse to post on social media


My steps quickened but my eyes never left the hole


I wanted to scream, to punch the cave walls


I was never religious, but desperation twisted my words


As if answering my prayer, a multitude of tentacles burst forth from the hole


I looked forward and refused to look back


I ran desperately, legs burning, saliva spilling from my mouth


From afar, I spotted a tiny hole at the cave's end


In desperation, I tore off my torn shirt and hurled it at the monster


Suddenly it latched onto the walls, shifted the ceiling, and surged ahead of me


To avoid it, I jumped backward as dirt and sharp rocks scraped my skin


Blood dripped down my face where I'd struck a jagged stone


I narrowly escaped, but now I was trapped


Its flesh contorted—part human, part nightmare


I tried to retreat but my body betrayed me


Chapter 5 - Fear