(Going back to March 2013)
Location: Malaysia
Azrin was on his way to the grocery store when his mother, Syazana, called and told him to return home right away due to the announcement of a national state of emergency. His mother has all the necessities and crucial items packed and is waiting for him when he gets home.
"Pick up anything else you want to bring and hurry up! We're going to the safe shelter with Untie Zainab in her van." Syazana said. Azrin grabs the camping charging cord and camping bag in case anything occurs because he knows the safe shelter won't have enough power outlets to charge his phone and that the shelter will not have enough power sockets. The items in that camping bag include a tent, a sleeping bag, a large knife, a fire starter kit, two MREs, two bottles of mineral water, and a set of ropes.
Following that, we boarded the van driven by Aunt Zainab, a high school acquaintance of my mother's. Azrul, my childhood pal, is Zainab's son. The distance to the shelter is only a few minutes, but because everyone is traveling in the same direction, traffic is backed up.
Syazana suggested, "Let's just walk to the safe shelter; it's not that far anyway.
"No, the situation outside was chaotic; it would be better for everyone if they waited inside the van because the traffic would be moving nonetheless," Zainab argued.
Jai, Zainab's husband, lives in the metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, which is a four-hour journey away. Her husband told her to go to the safe shelter with Azrul first and that he would be there in two days.
Syazana, on the other hand, is a widow, and Azrin has no siblings because his father died a few years after he was born. His father worked as a truck driver. His father was involved in a tragic accident that resulted in his death when he hit a highway divider in the middle of the road. The only positive aspect of his death was that he was the sole victim, given that it occurred in the middle of the morning and that he left behind some money for Syazana to care for Azrin.
Syazana is physically and emotionally strong. She is a clerk at a psychiatric hospital. The salary, which seems meager at RM900 per month, is plenty for Azrin and Syazana. She refused to marry again because she simply did not want to experience the misery of losing her loved ones again. Due to the government-run nature of the psychiatric hospital, they reside in a residence provided by the government. It is in Perak, a state with a lot of forests.
Azrul and I were dozing off during our 20-hour stalemate in traffic congestion. I was awakened by my mother, who was trying to buy some food from inside the van. Many peddlers are attempting to offer goods like food, drinks, and snacks. We eventually spotted the safe house after another seven hours. I can smell the sweat from a long way away since it is crammed with cars and people like ants. Damn.
The Safe Shelter is a single structure that combines a shopping center with apartments. There are 5 levels below for a parking garage and 4 levels above for the retail area. After another three hours of waiting, we finally arrived. We parked the van in the complex's outdoor lot and proceeded to the shelter. Following our registration, we were given LG-01 as a temporary shelter. Basically, LG01 is a tiny shop lot with a capacity of no more than 15 individuals. There are numerous shop lots that are larger than ours, as well as numerous ones that are significantly smaller. Fortunately, everyone in this store lot is either my neighbor, my mother's acquaintances, or my classmates.
After we finished putting our bags down and stretching a little, one of the volunteers came over and gave us food, drinks, and an instruction document that described house rules (common sense of what not to do) and also a timetable for when meals would be served. Beyond that, we are simply left free to do as we choose. So, I asked my mother for permission to go take a bath with my friends. The bathroom is... Well, it's been a dreadful experience for me. In that tiny restroom, there was a mixture of sweat, pee, fart, and another unidentified stench, and I simply... can't.
As a result, Azrul, myself, and the other three members of my class left the bathroom queue and wandered about the shopping center. We simply strolled up the staircase to the resident section, where there is an infinity pool. We looked for a bathroom and discovered one, as well as a gym area. We don't utilize the sauna, which is another feature of it. You need an access card to enter, but we just pushed the door open. Obviously damaged or something.
Once we have finished showering, we keep the restroom to ourselves and proceed back to the assigned shelter. After that, my friends and I walked to the in-queue for food while acting as representatives for LG-01. We pass over a paper listing the headcount, and the volunteer then hands us a box of food and beverages. We simply go to sleep after eating. We were stress-free and enjoyed the entire day. In the morning, there are sounds of crashes, but we ignore them because it's dangerous and we don't know where they are coming from. Everything was calm when suddenly all hell broke loose.
Azrin was startled out of sleep by a loud scream and instantly looked for his mother, who was not with him. He inquired about the whereabouts of his mother, to which Zainab replied, "She went to the restroom a few minutes ago." He nodded in agreement with the response and then started packing his mother and his belongings. Azrin heard screams from individuals nearby as well as the sound of something hitting the wall, possibly a rock or metal, as he was packing. His mother arrived after a few minutes, and they promptly retreated to the underground basement.
They made this decision after Azrul saw metal rain from the sky while walking to the swimming pool area with his pal. He quickly takes cover, but his other two friends tragically perish. As they battled their way through the sea of people to the basement's underground space, we all managed to enter the basement of building 3 within minutes, and as soon as we did, we all heard a big smash sound and what sounded like an earthquake. We descended further underground as the hysteria spread. Others who witnessed us do the same.
We reached B4, which is four levels underground. The sound of the metal showering down continues as the earthquake passes. We did a census once we gathered ourselves; three family members who live with us have gone missing, and two have been verified deceased. Currently, only three families remain. Azrin and Syazana, Zainab and Azrul, and Hairil, the father of the child confirmed dead at the swimming pool, and his wife also went missing after they were separated on their way to the basement. Hairil quickly attempted to return to the surface in order to locate his wife when he saw her personal bag in front of the landslide mixed with concrete. We tried to be positive since there are a few hundred individuals who manage to take refuge in the basement before the building collapses, so perhaps his wife is among them.
After around three hours, the remaining volunteer starts counting again. The process of verifying the missing and creating a suitable area for temporary housing takes around an hour. Many people have gone missing or have been deemed dead. Hairil also failed to locate his wife despite seeking her out a dozen times.
We are assigned to the B5's corner space, where there is some sort of storage facility. But as soon as we arrive, there is a commotion, and several people see what appears to be an alien gadget that was buried at the corner of the B5 as a result of being swept away during the collapse. Many others assumed it was some sort of missile that malfunctioned, did not explode, and was swept away in the landslide.
Since there is an unidentified alien object in basement 5 that might or might not detonate, the volunteer team blocked off part of basement area 5 to prevent anyone else from accessing that device. The reason is that we are underground; a couple more impacts will cause us all to be buried alive. In actuality, that apparatus is zereviolite, which the Kraexils employed for breathing in a manner similar to that of oxygen. To make their home planet habitable, they spread zereviolite. And the locks were damaged in some terrible incident that occurred while the structure was crumbling; the gadget, which is partially buried in the ground, is malfunctioning, and the zereviolite is still not discharging as a result.
The sound of metal showering down finally stops after two days. The volunteer leader then moves quickly to gather a crew to excavate our way out. There are several alternatives, the first of which is beside the ramp that goes up to B3. One of the volunteers offers to serve as a scout, and he attempts to crawl down the cramped, nightmare-inducing passage.
He shouts from inside the hole, "It's doable.
The scout then succeeded in locating a location where it would be simple to dig from the B4 up to B3, which is in the midst of the B4 wall, where a landslide was present but no concrete was to be seen, which is option 2.
The last option is to dig close to the alleged alien missile because the scout said that there is plenty of room there for one to exit from level B5 and proceed directly to level B3. In addition, since there isn't much concrete, digging is simpler. The leader then chooses option 2, which is much safer than the other choice.
Following the selection of a course of action, the digging process begins. Various tools, including metal pipes, bare hands, knives, and even plates, are used in the digging process. Because the basement lacks an adequate ventilation system, we dig in shifts to maximize the process and hasten the work even more. Since that hectic day, rationing has been a concern as well.
It continued like this for two weeks, day and night, until a sturdy trench was dug and a temporary stairway was constructed to make climbing even simpler. The volunteer tested that path a couple more times before the evacuation started. Even though the days were awful, exhausting, and dismal, no one lost hope. The food ration ran out two days ago, and roughly 10 individuals died, mostly elderly folks with heart issues and other health issues of their own. Additionally, a lot of elderly people declined the food ration and gave it to the children instead. Being there to see those circumstances unfold was terrible, but since we did, the people are now more motivated than ever to live and find a way out.
There are numerous corpses scattered across the debris as we attempt to get through it; many of their features, including their faces, heads, limbs, and so forth, are missing. Some are lying on the ground, some are buried, and some are clinging to the ceiling. Even when the smell makes us sick, we continue on with a hardened heart. We eventually see the sky after a few hours of stooping, crouching, and climbing. This little period allowed the link to form and deepen among the survivors.
A few people start crying, and others start laughing, but Azrin just sits there and stares at the sky. The leader then makes an effort to gather everyone's attention so that a head count can be done and a decision can be made regarding whether to build a new base or proceed to another safe shelter in search of any surviving survivors. But before a judgment could be taken, there came a deafening roar.
More than a dozen monsters, or Laasuks, were charging at them. Azrin instantly ran towards her mother and returned inside the building after seeing those monsters. Following Azrin's example, Azrul and her mother did the same. When everyone saw that, they all instantly dispersed. Some people hide, some run as fast as they can, some try to outwit the monster by hiding, and then there are the unfortunate ones who just didn't move for whatever reason.
Moving back into the basement area, Azrin, Azrul, and their mother now decide to go to B5. Azrin reasoned to himself, "I already know what path to take to get out of the basement, and that monster will never fit in such a small space." Azrin, however, failed to account for Laasuk's superhuman strength and speed.
One of the Laasuks runs full speed towards them before they can enter the basement level, and Syazana, seeing this, pushes Azrin forward on the ramp that descends downhill. A second later, there is a deafening kaboom, and Azrin is propelled forward by the impact blast. Syazana, however, flew and struck a divider with such power that her body was split in half.
Azrin then slowly stood up as he touched his head and watched as Azrul and Zainab passed him at full speed. "OOYY, RUN!" Azrul yells at Azrin. Azrin then noticed that his mother's body had been severed in two, and he then continued to run at full speed downward to B3, just a little more, and they would approach a very small space. He keeps sprinting until he sees Azrul.
"Why do you stop?" Azrin quickly said, "Let's go, bro". Just as he wanted to run toward the small opening that went to B4 that the survivor had created, he saw Laasuks in front of that opening. There were three of them, and they were all occupied with eating the bodies that had been left behind. Azrin didn't know where the monsters came from. While pondering his options, Azrin cursed silently. He then noticed a stairway that had partially collapsed but could still be reached by crawling through the small crevices. That stairway can be used to go from B5 up to B2, and the only reason we decided not to use it is because of the nightmare-inducing narrow passage. They came across that staircase when charting the area a few days earlier.
Azrin grabs Azrul's and Zainab's hands and proceeds to the staircase, but one of the Laasuks that had been chasing Azrin earlier comes down and tries to grasp and catch them, but the Laasuks miss Azrin and Azrul but manage to catch Zainab. Laasuk's hand is exceptionally large because it was able to catch Zainab's entire body with just its left hand.
Azrul ignores Zainab's cries for him to go and instead rushes to wrestle the Laasuks to the ground. Azrin then grabs Azrul by the waist and pulls him back into the stairwell. Azrul tries to elude capture and dash to his mother, but Azrin slams the doors shut in his haste. Then, while screaming, Azrul repeatedly punched Azrin.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY BRO, THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, LET'S JUST WORK TOGETHER AND JUMP THAT BITCH BRO"
"We are significantly outnumbered, so let's retreat and find a quiet area to gather our thoughts". Azrin remarked as he cleaned the blood from his mouth.
Azrul said in a chilly tone, "Yeah, let's."
Azrin then looked at Azrul and reassured him one more time, he then headed toward the nightmare-inducing passage but then he heard the stairway door open.
"I'm sorry, bro. I just can't let my mom die without doing anything." He smiled at Azrin before running toward the Laasuks that were eating his mother. He screamed as loud as he could before doing a dive kick to the Laasuks. Nothing happened; the Laasuks then consumed Azrul to turn him into a spouse. Seeing this, Azrin then cancels his plan to survive; instead, he decides to go to B5, the place where the presumed alien missile is located. Azrin, while seething with wrath, fully prepared himself to do the kamikaze. His mom died, and all of his friends died. He then thought,
'Fine then, I 'don't want to survive anymore. Let's just die together fuckface'
(A/N) ENJOY.