Proud to be a Coward
Act I: Chapter 2
At least, that was the story shared by the media. A young and depressed emo author decides to commit suicide because of the hardships of life. Geez... Why'd they have to taint my image like that? Was it on purpose? Did someone twist my story? Was it my brother ruining my name again? Maybe it was my classmates this time? Or did the authors of the articles just have a field day? Anyways, I'll tell you more about it some other time; what matters is, I was alive for some reason.
I opened my eyes into a room painted in yellow. I felt my heart sink, as I felt as though I was falling right into an abyss. Fear consumed me as my heavy breaths filled the quiet room. I closed my eyes once more, rubbed them, and then opened them again, revealing a quartz-like ceiling with curtains surrounding me. I was lying on a bed, wearing a hospital gown, next to a big window. Through that window were cracked buildings with gaping holes all over them and roads filled with craters the size of a small meteor; it was a ruined city, something straight out of Nier: Automata. Man, I love that game.
I got up from bed, feeling better, but still somewhat nauseous. I walked towards the curtains covering the area around my bed and opened it, revealing more beds with the same design and format as mine.
I walked towards the door located at the end of the room, which led me to a hallway. There, I saw two lines on the floor, one being black and the other being yellow. "These colors again…" I felt the shivers course through my body once more. It almost felt as if the color yellow was going to hunt me, or maybe it already was… So, I decided to follow the black line, thinking it was less creepy.
While cautiously walking over fallen debris and shattered glass, I could hear the sound of my speeding heartbeat as I noticed the status of the building I was in. The hospital's signs and logos were still plenty visible, albeit splattered in blood. It was named MCM Medical Center, and it was absolutely trashed, to say the least. Chairs lay scattered everywhere, while overturned tables and medical equipment littered the floor. Holes spanning from the size of a bullet to the size of an elephant riddled the walls, and splatters of dried blood painted gruesome images within these walls...
Every door was unlocked, but not a single soul was to be found in the building; I don't remember seeing some when I peeked out the window earlier either. There were also a few droplets of a very dark red liquid falling from the ceiling; it smelled like rusting iron. Is this fresh blood..? I wondered, refusing to believe the reality of what I was seeing. My footsteps got slower as my heartbeat grew faster, but I kept on walking until I finally managed to find an elevator next to a staircase with a sign on the wall stating "26th floor."
My first thought was to get out of this building and get to somewhere safe (or safer, at least). Perhaps finding people who could help provide me with food and an explanation would be nice as well. So, I tried using the elevator, which unfortunately did not respond to my repeated pressing of the down button.
My motivation to head to the ground floor immediately died, as high up as I was. Either way, I started heading down the stairs. It was a long and tiring journey to the ground floor. Was it because I was unfit as hell? Well, duh, idiot. With a dying expression, I had to take a break every now and then. I tried looking for any nearby drinking water after each stop, but to no avail; I even tried pressing the elevator's down button on every floor, hoping, praying for it to work, only for my leg and ass muscles to feel sorrow after each letdown.
Finally, after a gruesome exercise, I reached the ground floor, and the exit was thankfully right in front of the staircase from which I had just gone down. I walked out of the hospital and let my legs lead me wherever. Although I was tired, it felt refreshing to take a slow stroll through the front lot. Especially with what I had just witnessed within the hospital, this felt like exactly what I needed.
I loved it. Even with the ruined city, it was still so beautiful. The bright sun, with its warm touch, shone through every part of the city. There were even a few greens growing off the cement in the roads and the ruined buildings. I could see the buildings and their contents, and not a soul could be found anywhere. Some buildings were empty and trashed, and some were left with a few goods inside, but none were left undamaged or untouched. From broken glass windows to wrecked cement walls, it was quite the view. I wondered.. why does this feel so… relaxing..? comforting even..?
That is until I heard a very loud combination of deep, resonant tones and sharp, piercing cries. It sounded like one of those "What would a real T-Rex sound like" videos from YouTube, and it completely ruined the freakin' moment. I could feel the size of the monster I was hearing just from its noise. It activated a natural reaction out of me, and as a big, strong man, I knew exactly how I would react.
I fucking booked it right back to the hospital.
Feeling exhausted again, I sat on a nearby chair that was somehow still attached to a wall and noticed a bag with random books and folders scattered on the floor near the counter. It seemed like most of the books were about science, theology, and mythologies, while the folders looked like they contained research papers(I was too tired and lazy to read anything that required thinking). I decided to pick it up and take a book with a leather cover, thinking no one was here to care anyway.
It was a brown journal containing events that happened from July 2024 to December 2024 (based on the dates written per entry). As I skimmed through the journal, it only got more and more ridiculous, yet somehow, I couldn't help but give it some sort of superstitious belief. It contained stories of men getting eaten by monsters whose bodies were that of a highly malnourished human without genitals, wearing a head similar to the mouth of an earthworm. Soldiers fighting a losing war against monsters with the wings of a devil, the head of a squid, and the body of an ape. It also keeps on mentioning this serum people took, the Carmot serum. It didn't really explain what the serum is or what it does, but it was mentioned quite a few times in the journal, especially in the "Carmuts" section listed here. The journal honestly felt more like a fantasy novel than a diary, almost like the owner of this book had read Lovecraft books and had started making up stories about them.
It did, however, contain great detail about the monsters inside it. It gave their traits, characteristics, and mannerisms, and some even sketches of them. There was this one specific monster that caught my attention: the last monster written in this journal, Tago, 8 ft in height, pale as snow, with long, very haggard hair, and a hunched back with limbs so long it reaches the floor even when he stands, and as skinny as though he only had skin and bones left in his body. Is also said to have taken the Carmot serum…
Superhuman strength, reflexes, speed, and bite force. He only attacks people if they were to lay eyes on his face, and he mainly crushes his victims' heads through his bites or his arms. The book deemed him "The False God of Insecurity." And here I thought I was a prime candidate for that title. No one has survived after setting eyes upon him, yet somehow, the author of this journal managed to describe his features… This made me question the book's credibility, but I guess it did, however, miss a few details compared to the other monsters listed. There were no sketches and no details on his face, no weaknesses listed either. Interesting. And with that, I closed the journal and deemed it as my brand-new bedtime storybook.