Hector's eyelids fluttered open, and for a moment, the world was a blurry mess of shadows and light. His head throbbed, a dull, persistent ache that seemed to echo in his skull, reminding him of the fever that had ravaged him for the past week. His mouth was dry, his body weak and stiff. But as he slowly became more aware of his surroundings, he realized the fever was finally receding—his feverish haze lifting at last.
He sat up slowly, a wince crossing his face as the stiffness in his muscles protested. The past week felt like a blur—a series of restless days spent locked in an exhausting cycle of fever, sweats, and confusion. He had spent so much time lying in bed, trying to drown out the constant weight of his thoughts: the breakup with Mina, the pressure of upcoming exams, and the looming uncertainty of his future.
Everything had felt too much. So much so, that even his body had given in--breaking down under the stress, succumbing to an illness he couldn't shake, lost in his own spiral of misery and fever. Mina had walked away, the final fracture in a relationship that had seemed like the one constant in his life. And the exams, the looming pressure of the school year ending, had only added to the pile.
His thoughts were interrupted by the uncomfortable stillness in the room. He needed to call Emit, his best friend, the one person who had been taking care of him over the past few days. Emit had promised to check on him while Hector had been bedridden in his apartment—alone on the third floor of their building.
Hector shifted slowly, scanning the small room for his phone. He hadn't been able to get to it the last time he tried, too weak to move much beyond the bed. But now that his strength was returning, it was the first thing he needed to find. He spotted it on the nightstand, just out of reach. His fingers fumbled for it as he reached over, desperate to hear a familiar voice.
When Hector grasped the phone, he was surprised. The screen was on, but there was no signal. Not even a single bar. The connection was dead, leaving him with nothing but the eerie silence of his apartment. He tried scrolling through the contacts, but there was no indication of life. No messages, no calls.
A sinking feeling spread through him as he let out a slow, frustrated sigh. Was the network down?
Hector set the phone down and dragged himself to the living room, determined to get some answers. He reached for the remote hoping TV would offer him some solace, his fingers stiff as he pressed the power button. The television flickered to life, but only static greeted him. The usual channels—news, entertainment, anything—were nowhere to be found. It was as if the airwaves had gone silent.
He tried to shake off the unease, but the sensation of something being terribly wrong continued to grow. He could no longer ignore it. The stillness of the apartment, the lack of sound from the street, the absence of anything familiar—Hector needed a change of scenery.
With a grunt, he stumbled to the window, hands trembling slightly as he pulled the curtains open. The sunlight streamed in, but it didn't bring warmth or comfort. Instead, it highlighted the strange silence outside.
Hector's breath caught in his throat. In the distance, smoke was rising from several parts of the city, like a warning in the distance and as he looked closer, his heart raced, people were lying on the ground, some unmoving, others walking aimlessly. His first thought was that maybe it was some sort of disaster or an accident, soon realization hit him besides Emits daily visits his only other contacts were his parents and two siblings. if there really was a disaster that would leave Haven city in such state he needed to check on his loved ones but with the signal lost his best bet was to make it to the roof or seek one of his neighbors for a means of communication, most likely Henry a middle aged man that you couldn't tell whether he was cool or crazy.
He staggered back from the window and made his way toward the bathroom, he had to clear his mind and what better way than a splash of cold water. Hector took a look in the mirror the first thing he noticed was his tired gray eyes than his pale face, he didn't know whether it was the sickness or what he had just saw that caused his light skin to grow even paler, lastly he took notice of his overgrown hair he needed to visit the barber before the barber came looking for him. A cold splash on the face and he regained his composure grabbed a bottle of water and a piece of bread before making his way to the door. As he made his way out of the apartment, panic rose, a tight knot in his throat. The hallway outside his apartment was pitch black save for some light that made its way from his own home he made sure to check for any movement but there was none. He didn't understand why but he had a bad feeling in his gut, whenever there is a disaster some people would go full anarchy for all he knows the building management turned off the lights to dissuade any would be looters after all this place was relatively decent. As Hector moved cautiously through the hallway, he could hear distant sounds—muffled cries, the occasional crash. The unsettling noises seemed to come from all directions, adding to his growing anxiety. He kept his back to the wall, inching forward and straining his ears for any sign of danger. Hector reached his neighbors home and as he extended his hand to knock, the door cracked a little revealing that it was open, "Its not a habit of old man Henry to trust anyone easily but to leave his door open... something is definitely wrong I need to check on him" Hector thought to himself. He knocked twice and announced himself not trusting the old man would go nuts on him for trespassing leaving the door slightly ajar just in case "Old man Henry its me, your neighbor Hector, are you here? I came looking for you and found your door open" Hectors declaration was met by silence, as he checked around the apartment he heard a commotion in the small storage room. He made his ways towards it and slowly reached for the handle only to found a can of food had fallen to the ground. Hector finished checking the remaining rooms and observed that Henry has most definitely left in a hurry given the state of his home. Hector checked the old man's TV and ground phone both which were useless, all the tension built up from checking around the place had began to exhaust him reminding him of his sickness, this had caused him to become reluctant to check his other neighbors leaving him with two choices either head to reception and hope to find an answer there or head to the roof in hope of receiving a signal. Being in the third floor made either choice as tiring as the other one he had thought about using the elevator but assumed it would be shut off in case of a disaster however the lack of sirens and any activity for that matter has left him questioning.
Hector turned and began making his way to the stairs at the end of the hallways which luckily had a window letting the light in. as he reached a cross section in the building he heard a noise it was a weird and unsettling as if someone was trying to inhale through a broken tube. Hector slowly made his ways towards the source of the noise just behind the corner there he saw a woman, her head pressed against the wall. Hector couldn't help but notice her grey pale skin and the constant growing perhaps in a moment of unlikely wisdom Hector checked around for anything to use for self defense as the sinking feeling in his stomach was becoming more terrifying he saw a pipe wrench in a small tool box which he grabbed before turning his focus back to the woman not that he ever let her go out of his filed of view. Hector thought of reaching for her shoulder but again decided against it rather he chose call her softly maybe she is a need of help but she looks terribly sick in fact deathly sick he was worried that there might be a decease that's spreading or even a chemical attack that caused mass casualties to the population but all those thoughts faded as he called for her softly " Hey madam are you okay? do you need help?" after what felt like an eternity the woman seemed to hear him and slowly turned. For a moment Hector felt his legs give out and his head felt light as his eyes were wide open with shock. The woman as she turned revealed a most nightmarish sight her jaw was ripped off hanging only by a tendon her chest busted open and her intestines were showing yet, there she was standing and moving. She made her way toward him and in a moment of panic he swung his wrench hitting her on the side which caused her to fall to the floor and surely dislocating her shoulder not that it stopped her as she attempted to stand up once more only then did he seem to notice, her eyes were grey and dead they had no life in them, she exuded a rotten smell that made him nauseous. A realization had hit Hector, this woman, was certainly dead yet, she is moving around and In the time it took him to gather his thoughts she stood once more and wobbled towards him causing him to distance himself before using the experience of years he had spent in martial arts training to gather his strength and land a strong hit to her head throwing her yet again to the ground however this time her fall had caused a lot of noise and suddenly groans and moans started rising from all sides and some doors began to thump this caused Hector to panic and he decided in that moment to land one final blow and put this poor soul out of her misery if she was still there to begin with killing her on the third blow to the head. In that moment Hector made the quick decision to run back to his home and process what he had just experienced.
Hector entered the apartment and locked the door behind him before pulling a sofa to secure it even more just in case there were more of them or that somebody had seen him. When he was done Hector felt as if a heavy load had fallen into his shoulders his knees gave out and he fell to the ground his hands shaking as he questioned himself as he gasped between words "Did I just kill somebody? no... that woman was dead... she was dead... I know it, her eyes they were empty... her wounds... no one could survive something like that... I had to protect myself... even if I left her there... what if she followed me... and led others to me" as Hector sat on the floor contemplating his actions the commotion outside ceased and the silence took over again except for some groans and occasional thumps.
Hector made his way to the bathroom and as he looked in the mirror he noticed the blood splatter on his pajamas and as he took a look at his hands they too were bloodied. He decided to take a shower to wash the blood and sweat away as well as to cool his nerves. After a light shower and a change of clothes, Hector made his way to the kitchen he decided to take stock of his supplies whatever is out there is dangerous and he needs to hold out in his home for a few days until help arrives or at least until he figures something out, the latter seeming more likely as once more the lack of sirens an indication that any law enforcement or authority is nowhere close. Having finished taking stock of his supplies Hector was once more appreciating his long time friend and partner in crime Emit as he found the fridge well stocked and so is the storage room the first with perishable food from eggs to meat and the latter with canned foods such as beans and corned beef. Given his current supply of food he could hold out here for at least ten days and if he rationed he could make it to nearly three full weeks his only concern is water as it could cut off anytime and figuring what the hell is going on."I have no means of communication, and I can't go out through the hall ways for all I know there are more of those things..." Hector whispered to himself "I was lucky if that thing wasn't there bur rather in the dark hallway I would've been done for" He acknowledged "What was she anyway, back In high school we read some folklore about dark spirits possessing the dead and causing havoc but those are merely legends" thought to himself. In order to secure drinking water he decided not to drink the two packs of bottled water he had which amounted to sixty four bottles and instead drink water from the tap as well as use the kitchen ware to store some extra water.
Having finished all the tasks he set for himself Hector found himself looking outside the window taking note of potential escape routes and he couldn't help but observe the corpses roaming the streets and yes, he knew they were corpses otherwise why would they stand there for an entire day he saw them in the morning and now that it is near sunset they were still their after all a normal person wouldn't ignore injured people layering the streets "Would they?" he sighed before further analyzing "something I should have noticed the first time I took a look outside... either way I should cover the windows I'm only on the third floor they could see me if I'm not careful".
Hector laid down on his bed after having had a simple dinner to preserve his food. He couldn't sleep his head was filled with worry for his family, for his friend and for himself. If help doesn't arrive, if the government doesn't take back control he would need to think of a way out for himself sooner or later. "I would like to believe that whatever this is, is limited to a small area however the state of the city from this little home of mine doesn't give me confidence... I have to look after myself... making to my parents is a long shot let alone making it to my brothers if I presume the city's silence is due to it being overrun by these things... for now I will have to take care of myself and hopefully locate Emit... I pray for his safety last thing I remember he said he had a date with Sarah".
That night Hector drifted to sleep overburdened by the stress of the nightmarish reality he woke up to and the blood that stained his hands that day and knowing there would be more in the coming days, had made the worries of his break up, final exams and future career all seem so light in comparison. However as the darkness of sleep took over a window popped up:"
"Welcome to the Survival System. User: Hector. Booting up basic functionalities"
Hector couldn't grasp what was going on and assumed that the stress from the previous day had gotten him lucid dreaming or hallucinating which he would be lying if he didn't admit he wished it would be all a nightmare and that all the previous interactions were merely a construct of his severe fever
"The survival shop is now available."
"Advanced functionalities locked as user lacks necessary pre-requisites"
"Initiating Tutorial..."
Hector couldn't even bother to react he just continued to drift to sleep as he no longer could resist the exhaustion that was claiming both his mind and body. Whether this real or not... whether the previous day was also real or not, tomorrow he will figure it out.