DEAD MAN'S JOURNEY

What will you do when you see the ceiling above you collapse?

Of course nothing.

Because you won't have a chance.

That's what happened to me. I didn't know how but it just happened.

My mind blanked as my consciousness left.

* * *

How long has it been… I can't recall anything after what happened when the ceiling kissed my face.

My eyes opened. Blue sky, white clouds that floated without any care just letting the winds take it along.

"What's going on?"

I muttered. My body won't move no matter how I try to stand up.

When my gaze fell on my body to find the reason, I was stunned.

The steel rods which make the main support for the cement pillars, have pierced me.

Not just on, but more than five. Three in the chest and two on my left thigh.

"Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Help! Help!"

I screwed up. How the hell did I even survive till now?

One of the steel rods was actually through the position where my heart should be.

But wait. I can't feel any pain. Why?

I grinded my teeth and looked down with a fearful face and was yet again shocked.

It seems I miss taking notice of many other parts. Like my right forearm was completely twisted.

My right leg was going in the wrong direction while the fingers on my left hand were definitely broken.

I even felt that my neck was off from a certain position and angle.

"Why am I not dead?"

That's the only clear thought in my mind. It's impossible that I am still alive.

Another matter to see was that the injuries and wounds on my body didn't let blood come out much.

"Eehh!"

Suddenly, I felt a weird sensation inside my body that ran towards the broken fingers.

*Crack*

I could feel the bones going back to their places while healing back.

It didn't make me feel any pain but brought me some amount of tickle.

*Crack*

Then my neck made a sound. I gulped while my left hand touched my neck.

It's back to its place!

*Twitch*

My right hand trembled and twisted back to the correct position.

I clenched my fists and felt that I had regained complete control over them.

My right leg, which was off in a different direction, slowly moved on its own and turned to the right angle.

"Ha… Ha… One… Two… Three!"

I grinded my teeth and pushed myself up with all the strength.

I could feel the cold steel rods in my chest rub with the flesh, bones and organs.

It's definitely a weird feeling.

Blood squirted while I managed to lift my upper body and freed myself from the rods in my chest.

Now time for the thigh. I was breathing heavily as I grabbed my courage and lifted my thigh.

"Ehh!"

One rod dragged with my bone creating a rubbing sound which made me tense.

I stood up. My eyes examined my body which was showing super regeneration ability.

"Fuck… What the hell is wrong with me?"

I looked at the five holes in my clothes but the skin inside was totally fine.

Or simply healed to such an extent that it was impossible to figure something wrong.

"What happened here?"

My eyes looked around to see that the floor had collapsed and no upper floor was there.

I was at floor number 10, and the building was supposed to reach till 15 floors.

But no more. I could see the sky clearly. The building on the side which is joined was still standing.

Even though it looked haunted and demolished. The walls were covered in green mosses.

The city… it was completely ruined.

I saw a huge crater in the middle of the city which is filled with water.

Trees and plants all around the roads, houses, public buildings, and many more.

Vehicles that are destroyed and scattered. There is also a very big crack next to the huge crater.

"Shit!"

A curse escaped my mouth. I stood there at the edge of the half standing building.

What exactly happened here?

Even more was, how will I get out of here?

The elevator was no more, the floor was covered with blocks of cement and other materials.

"Do I have to climb down?"

Just the height was enough to make my feet shake. There's no way I could do that.

But once again, my luck showed me his ass.

"Ahhh!"

The edge where I stood shattered and I fell from the 10th floor.

'Damn it!'

*Thud*

I don't remember how long it has been. I think I fell from a very high ground.

"Ha… Ha…"

I felt my body. Slowly but steadily, I stood up and saw that I was above a broken roof.

It should be the top roof part of the building I was in before.

I looked down on the roof where I fell, there was a small pool of blood.

"I got plenty of dirt on me."

A bitter smile appeared on my face. My mind was still digesting the current situation.

"I must be cursed. To not have died two times."

I was not happy. What's the use of being alive if there is no one left around you.

Scattered were human bones which had some rotten flesh stuck on them.

Getting down from the collapsed roof top, I came on the ground with a sigh.

It's still day?

"Why do I feel like I missed many years?"

Yes, it was true. Unknown to him, more than 5 years have passed.

His first death caused him to sleep for almost 3 years and his second death for 2 years.

"Ahge!"

I got a sudden pain in my head like getting stabbed with a knife.

Don't ask me how I know this pain.

But actually, you won't feel pain because you will be dead if stabbed in your head by a knife within a second.

"Let's see. What do I do now?"

I looked in front and saw the uprooted gate which had corroded to extremes.

Gur… My stomach made hungry noises.

"I guess my first mission is to find food and eat it before I die once again."

Now I didn't want to think of unnecessary matters like what happened to the city.

All those thoughts can be pondered later.

"Pfft! Don't I be like a Dead Man Walking? Ha!"

There was still sunlight so I could see the path which I took to get out of the compound.

I jumped from the broken wall and landed outside. My heart wasn't beating how it normally should.

Yes…

Wait what!?

My legs wouldn't move, my body was trembling in fear as my hand went to my chest.

Gulp… I really couldn't feel it. My heart beat.

"Fuck!"

I nearly cried out in fright. But why wasn't there any drop of tears in my eyes?

I once again looked at my body. It didn't look any different from normal so why?

No!

That's the problem!

It was totally fine. But as I remembered, there were many human bones scattered.

The flesh rotten and maggots in them. Shouldn't my body be the same?

It should have suffered from the same fate if not worse.

"A-Am I not h-human anymore?"

I was scared and terrified. It is not a lie.

I am a very normal person. Nothing was special about me to begin with.

"Ha… Ha…"

I tried to control my emotions and slowly walked forward towards the nearest building.

It was a small house, half collapsed and half in perfect shape.

The walls were broken with multiple cracks, I peeked inside and saw that the door was no more.

I stepped in and looked around the front of the house.

There was a rundown Hyundai Verna parked on the side. The metal was completely rusted and deeply corroded.

The windows were broken as shattered glass pieces lay down on the concrete.

The grass overgrown almost everywhere with few trees on the surroundings of the house.

I went inside the house which was made of titles. But everything inside seemed as if caught by an earthquake.

I saw the sofas and couches, their wooden parts were deeply hollow and Termites stuck on them.

My foot landed on a title as it cracked like thin glass, I was cautious.

The table in the middle till stood erect but as my kick touched it, with a loud noise it fell.

"Damn. Everything is destroyed."

I turned to look at what was once a television now a scrap. The interior was rotten with black matter on the table.

It looked disgusting.

No, everything that's left is disgusting here. I held back my vomit at the sight of this insect near the television.

It had a body looking full of organs and blood inside a transparent plastic bag.

Spider-like head with many eyes, two small crab-like claws, cockroach legs, and a scorpion-like stinger.

A true definition of unsightly and dangerous.

I stepped back as my eyes widened, my lips trembling and my body shaking.

Not just one, but the number of this insect in the room went beyond hundred.

How could I have ignored them?

Retreating to another room, I breathed in relief. Only to find a dump of bones in that room.

Maggots, in thousands and thousands. Almost like a sea of them.

Torn pieces of flesh laid in the middle of the maggots as they ate them slowly.

I held my mouth and immediately ran outside the house.

As soon as I did so, my legs gave up and I fell on my knees.

It wasn't because of exhaustion or anything, it was because of the psychological damage.