Hellscape

“Damn it.”
You throw your phone across the room, and it shatters into little pieces. You stare at it for a second, thinking that wasn’t the most rational thing. Either way, you just lost your job. It was supposed to be a prank. You weren’t even involved, you just supplied the materials. Your boss didn’t see it that way. Your average-paying yet enjoyable job at Executive Auto Service was over. You had worked there for almost two years. You turn on some trashy TV and ponder what you are going to do next. You drift off.
The next morning, you make up your mind and decide to go back to try and plead with your boss. You hop in your car and notice that you are almost out of gas. “Guess I’ll stop at the Terrible’s on the way.”
As you start pumping, you realize you need to pee, very bad. Someone else is in the bathroom. As you stand outside the door, you watch the sun rise from across the valley. With a start, you realize you aren’t casting a shadow on the exterior wall of the bathroom. Upon closer examination, you realize that it is a darker color than the rest of the walls around you. You think maybe it’s just too dark to see your shadow. You hear the guy in the bathroom finish up. As he walks out of the bathroom, you bump into him by accident. You start to say, “My bad-” when he shoves you, and you trip into the wall. You barely have time to think about what’s up his ass when a strange sensation falls over your body. It’s like the molecules of the wall pass through yours, and you can feel it, but there is no pain, just discomfort. Everything goes black.
You wake up on your back, looking up at a stained yellow ceiling with fluorescent lights. At first, you think you got knocked out and are in the hospital. You close your eyes and roll over. Squish. You inhale something moist and almost retch. Your eyes shoot open. You’re not in a hospital. You’re lying on a gross-looking, moist yellow carpet. The walls around you are a sickening shade of mono-yellow. They remind you of a room in your childhood home. You stand up and survey your surroundings more carefully. There is a hallway to another room. You walk into it, only to find it exactly the same as the other room. You pass through more rooms, all nearly identical. Eventually, you come to a four-way junction. As you look in different directions, your panic starts to rise. There is nothing but the horrible yellow interior, as far as you can see. “Hello?”
You call out into the rooms. Nothing. It is like your voice is absorbed by the musty walls. “What the hell? This isn’t funny.”
Again, your voice is just absorbed by the walls. Despair starts to overwhelm you as you try to handle the situation. You think that it would be best to think about the situation later and figure out what you need to survive now. The only things you have are your jeans and t-shirt, and your phone and wallet. You take out your phone and text your homie. It won’t send. Frustrated, you jam your phone into your wallet and start walking. As you round a corner, you freeze. Someone is standing at the end of the hallway. They are staring directly at you, and not making a move. “Hey. Hey! Who are you?”
You try to get closer, but they stay rigid. “What the f*ck?”
With a start, you realize where the person's face should be smooth. You start backing up. It waves at you and starts casually walking towards you. Not knowing what it is or what is happening, you turn around and set off on a dead sprint. You hear a grunting behind you. Not daring to look over your shoulder, you make several turns before stopping and looking around. The… thing doesn’t appear to have made a chase. You catch your breath before realizing you are exhausted. Not sure how much time has passed, you check your phone. It says only three hours have passed, but it has felt like a day.
You continue walking, looking for a covert spot to rest. You can’t get your mind off what you just encountered, though. What in god’s name was that? It had seemed humanoid enough, although it behaved strangely and didn’t have a damn face. Come to think of it, you realize it was acting almost curious and friendly, although you were inclined not to trust something that looks like something out of a nightmare. Still, in the back of your mind, you wonder if you could have gotten some information from it.
After more of relatively undisturbed trekking, you spot a hole in the wall, covered by a ventilation shaft. That should work, you think to yourself as you pry it off. It’s tight but should be concealed. Now that you know you are not alone in this place, you are a bit more cautious about making noises. You crawl in and close your eyes. Sleep comes surprisingly easy.
When you wake up, you are hungry, thirsty, and have an awful headache. It is like your head is pulsing. You peer through the shaft cover and crawl out. Out of habit, you check your phone. Still no service. Your headache was making you sleepy, almost making it impossible to think. Not exactly sure where you were going, you set off in a direction, taking turns here and there. Your headache was getting worse, almost like you weren’t even in control of your own body. After what felt like days of walking, you took a small break to catch your breath. Unsure of what to do or how to deal with the incessant pain in your head, you notice an inconsistency in the wall across from where you were seated. You walk up to it, curious, but also cautious, considering your recent experiences with walls. Go through it. Your mind says. Skeptical, but welcoming any relief from the hellish landscape you resided in, you sort of try to run through the wall, and promptly give yourself a concussion. You try again, this time ready to give up if it happens again, and free fall through the wall, going limp instead of trying to force your way through. The sensation you felt at the gas station overtakes you, and you find yourself looking at a different wall. You look around. You seem to be in a small, enclosed room. It is not all that different from the one you were just in, but the wallpaper is a little different, and so are the lights. Another thing you noticed, that you hadn’t before, was how nice silence was after the awful buzzing of the lights in the yellow… place.
Still not ready to think about what is happening to you, you instead take stock of your surroundings. There is a small table in the corner, with a faded pink and yellow can on it. You walk over, and on closer inspection, the can appears to be something called “Almond Water”. You have never heard of this beverage, but decided your thirstiness definitely needed attending to. You opened the can. Sweet notes of vanilla and rose wafted out. Not sure what it would taste like, you take a tentative sip. Instantly, you feel calmer about your situation, and even the meager amount feels like a huge relief to your system. You take a couple more sips. Feeling revived, you start to nod off, thinking maybe this won’t be so bad.
Scriiiitch. The hell is that? It sounded like something was scratching on the wall outside of the room. On the other side of the room, a faint knocking started, and slowly moved to the next wall, and the next. You tense up. Is something trying to break in? As far as you can see, there were no ways to get into the room, but then again, how did you get in? You tense up, and prepare for an encounter. After seeing the faceless person, your mind started to run wild about what kind of monsters lurk around here. DOOOOoooooooooooooooo. What now? As the lights go out, casting the room in a pitch blackness, you wonder, what fresh hell is this? Unsure of whether going into this room was for better or worse, huddle into the corner. The knocking and scratching are replaced by distant clanks and purrs of machinery. This terrifies you even more, and you wonder how intelligent these creatures are that they created mechanical contraptions. Suddenly, the lights click back on. This time, they are a deep orange, casting the room in a rather ominous glow. You huddle tighter, wishing you could leave this place. You press your back against the wall, and close your eyes, fighting back tears.
You shudder, and feel a squish. What? The incessant buzz is the first thing that hits you. No. You find yourself back in an unfamiliar part of the horrid yellow maze. “F*ck me. I gotta be more careful about what I wish for.”
You stand up. As you creep through the hallways, you notice the smell is worse than normal. For the second time, you turn a corner, and what you see stops you in your tracks. Two human-dog looking creatures are bent over, occupied on something. At first, you almost retch at the sight of them. Could these be what you heard knocking on the walls? As you turn to try and sneak away, you bump into a wall that you could have sworn wasn’t there before. You hear a low growl. They definitely heard you. One appeared at the corner, in a low stance, like a tiger about to pounce. You back away, then realize the second one got behind you. You have no choice but to fight. You swing around, kicking the second one in the head. It lets out a yelp, and is temporarily stunned. Your victory is short lived, however. The one you turned your back on pounces and latches on to you. You grab it by the throat and violently snap its chin upward, breaking its neck. Horrified that you did something that brutal to another living thing, yet relieved to see that they are relatively weak, you turn around just as the second creature lacerates your arm with it’s wicked claws. You scream and almost pass out from the initial pain. As you round the corner and go down the hallway, your pursuer is right behind you. You give it another solid kick, and this time it scurries down the hallway. Not convinced it is gone, you wait for a long time, feebly holding your destroyed forearm.
Finally, sure the dog thing isn’t coming back, you look at the bloody mess that your left flexor is. Sure that you will bleed out if you don’t treat it, you remember that infection will cause a slower, much more painful death. As you reached for your precious can of water, your heart dropped. It must have fallen out of your pocket back when you were fighting the creatures. You slowly stand up, still cradling your arm. Your water can is nowhere to be found. Fighting rising panic, you turn your attention to finding anything you can to sanitize your wound and staunch the bleeding. By now, your shirt is completely bloodsoaked. You notice that it’s harder to focus on things, and your headache is back. “Uhhhhhhhh.”
You let out a weak moan and lean against the wall, fighting exhaustion and pain. There is a ringing in your ears now, and your heart is beating so hard you can feel it in your temples. As bile rises in your throat, you shuffle over to the black lump on the floor. As you look closer, you realize it is an emaciated corpse. That was the last straw. You heave, and spray vomit all over the wall. Just the smell makes you want to vomit again. You turn your attention back to the corpse on the ground. The creatures must have gotten the best of him, because they were definitely chowing down when you first encountered them. Ignoring the exposed flesh, you search his pockets and backpack. Relieved, you notice he was well stocked. You find several bottles of almond water, clean bandages, sandwiches, a cell phone and a charger, and a large ax. As you pour the almond water over your arm wound, you notice it sizzles and the wound gets smaller and looks a lot better. The pain is eased a hundredfold, and as you wrap a bandage around your arm, you start thinking your odds of making it another day just increased a lot. You take a few swallows of almond water, eat a sandwich, then repack the bag, carrying the ax in your good arm. The almond water eased the pain and cleared your head, but your left arm is still very weak. You sling the bag over your shoulder, and then take one last look at the corpse. It seemed the unfortunate man had been wearing some sort of uniform with a chest rig. The chest rig seemed to have been designed to hold a camera. You look around, but can’t find any signs of any recording devices. Whatever. As you inspect the uniform, you realize that it’s made of a rough, thick fabric, not like anything you have ever seen before. On the sleeve, it has a patch with an emblem that says “Major Explorer Group”. Major Explorer Group? Were there other people out there, enough of them to form organizations and factions? If there were large groups and maybe even settlements, you had to find them. 
You set off, with a new goal in mind. Find a settlement, then find someone that could help you get back to reality. Not sure exactly how you are going to do this, you pull out the phone you got from the backpack. You still aren’t getting any bars. Instead, you open the messages app. There are multiple messages from somebody input as “Inzhu”. You click on the messages.
Message 1: Welcome to the Major Explorer Group. We are honored you have joined our cause. I am Local Director Inzhu Shim. I will give you orders through SMS messages or direct calls. Due to security concerns, until you prove loyal to the Major Explorer Group, I am afraid I cannot expose the location of our nearest colony. Your first mission will be sent to you soon.
Message 2: Operative, your first mission is to attempt to find and document the “Manila Room.” The “Manila Room” is a sub-level of level 0, which is where you currently reside. We only have one picture of the Manila Room, and would like to build up a better file on it, as it is a curious anomaly and has been popping up a lot more among wanderers. Place your phone in the chest harness you were given by our operative, and video your entire trip after you see this. 
VIDEO FILE SENT
OPENED (274 GIGABYTES)
Message 3: Your video file has been received, operative. Good work. Your video contributes greatly to our knowledge of the “Manila Room”. Please delete the video from your phone to keep our files secure. We wouldn’t want our enemies getting hold of our information. 
Message 4: Operative, your next task is to document the peculiar transition of terrain that occurs when passing from level 0 to level 1. If you walk far enough one way in level 0, we believe you will find a hallway to level 1. Please document this transition, as it has not been photographed or videoed before. After the delivery of this video,  the location of our colony on level 1 will be sent to you.
You turn off the phone and consider the multiple revelations you just had. One, there was multiple factions, some at war with others. Two, this “Major Explorer Group” used the promise of information and safety to coerce lonely wanderers to do their bidding, not exactly noble. Three, and perhaps most importantly, you had learned this yellow hell wasn’t the only area in this… place. There were separate “levels”, with seemingly different terrain. And the Manila Room… that sounded like the claustrophobic hell you were in a few hours ago. Was it hours, though? Or was it days and weeks? You had always had a decent internal clock, but without the rising and setting of the sun, it seemed impossible to tell. 
You started to feel fatigued. You eat another sandwich and take a few sips of almond water, then start looking for a safe place to bed down. After a couple of hours of searching to the point where you are about to faint from tiredness, you find a room with only one way out, a narrow hallway. Anything trying to get in would have to come through there. You unsling your bag and fall back on it, asleep within seconds. 
You wake up to the awful smell of the carpet, and quickly look around, then check your supplies. Nothing is missing. A little surprised at the uneventful night and feeling much more rested, you finish the bottle of almond water and start figuring out what you will need to do for the long haul. The ax will be useful both as a weapon and a tool, and the almond water is definitely something you need to conserve. A few sips quench your thirst far better than a liter of regular water, so you make a note to be more conservative about drinking it. You have five unopened bottles left. There are still two sandwiches, but they might go bad, so you will have to balance conservation versus immediate value. There is still a large roll of bandages left, definitely enough. You hope you won’t need to use them. You inspect your left arm. The bleeding seems to have stemmed overnight. Grateful for this development, you redress it and pack your supplies, ready to head out. You check the phone out of habit, and an idea occurs to you. This “Local Director Shim” would likely have no idea what the late survivor you looted looked like. If you sent a video of this “transition between levels”, then you would likely be provided with the promised location of the colony. The battery of the phone is at 79%. Relieved it is not an iPhone, you figure it should last quite some time. You turn on the camera, begin recording, and tuck it securely into your breast pocket, with the camera sticking out facing forward. While the chest harness would have been much more convenient, there is no way you are finding your way back to the MEG explorer. You figure your best bet is to travel in the straightest line possible. 
After an uneventful day of walking, you realize the environment of this place isn’t affecting you as much psychologically. You think it might be because you now have a mission, a purpose here, albeit a vague one. You are down to four and a half bottles of almond water, and a sandwich. You check the phone’s battery. 53%. As you settle into a corner, you plug the phone into the portable charger. It has three out of four dots lit up. Wishing you knew the exact percentage, you fall asleep with a little bit of difficulty. 
The next morning, you start to feel sore. Your leg and back muscles have cramped up from walking and carrying the backpack. Being mindful of your dwindling supplies, you take a small drink of almond water, and skip breakfast. BzzzZT! The light in the corner of the room went out. You shoot to your feet, ax at the ready. Backing against the wall, you squint into the darkness. At first it doesn’t even register, but there is a face staring right back at you. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is th-”
Then, it is just gone. The light pops, and then turns back on. You press your back to the wall, and inch to a different room. “What in God’s name did I just watch? Was that even real?”
Even now, you can’t even seem to recall what you just witnessed. Deeply shaken, you set off again, looking over your shoulder every once in a while. BLAM! BLAM! Instinctively, you duck. You had grown up hunting, and there was no mistaking what you just heard. A shotgun. Unless there was some crazy monster carrying around a 12/70, there were humans out there, and they were close. “HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I’VE BEEN TRAPPED IN HERE FOR DAYS! HELLO? PLEASE, GOD, LET SOMEONE BE THERE.”
And there they were. Two young women appeared around the corner. One had a pump shotgun on her hip, and was sliding fresh shells into the tube. The other was gripping a machete tightly. “If you want to live, come with us. We will explain later.”
With not much of a choice, you ran back around the corner, and to your amazement, accompanied by a little bit of shock, there was a hallway. But this hallway was different. It had concrete walls, and led to a huge, gray, open space. Almost unable to comprehend this, your eyes hurting from being exposed to something other than a sickly yellow, you trailed behind the women, momentarily winded. The one with the machete shouted back at you, “Come on, there is no time!”
You tried to pick up the pace, but your sore legs were betraying you. Finally, the women dropped back, and you all caught your breath. Something rustled, by a pillar. The women with the shotgun aimed in the general direction, but couldn’t see anything. You find yourself creeping towards the pillar, ax at the ready. There was a low growling, and although not sure why you were even still advancing, you crept closer. Suddenly, one of those creatures that you saw earlier leaped out at you. Almost pissing yourself, but reacting quickly, you pedal backwards. It gets low and growls again, ready to pounce. You raise your ax, and it pounces just as you swing. Catching it off guard in midair, the blade buries into the thing's neck with a dull thunk. You slam it to the ground, and it weakly howls, finished. You turn to your new companions, ready to be praised for your handiwork, to find them facing a ring of half a dozen more creatures, slowly creeping in. You back up to stand next to them, ax at the ready. The one with the machete, the more talkative one, says, “We call ‘em hounds. Weak individually, unimaginably dangerous in a pack. We’re in a pack right now. They’ll most likely choose one person and go after them. Be ready for that. I’m Sophia, by the way, and that’s Natalie.”
“Tim,” was your only response.
The hounds began to circle your group. “We should attack,” you whisper, as if the hounds could understand you. Better be safe than sorry. “I’ll take two out in quick succession. That will leave four versus three. Good odds, considering how weak they are.” 
It was the first time Natalie had spoken. She had a gruff voice, and an accent as if English wasn’t her first language. “3..2..1!”
BLAM! BLAM!
Two hounds fell dead, torn to bits by the buckshot. You and Sophia descend on the remaining four, kicking, slashing and punching. Eventually, all six were on the ground, shredded by the collective fighting power of you and your two companions. “Good work, but were not out of this till the lights come back on.” 
She points at a spot in the distance, where the lights are much brighter. You start off on a jog again, and the others follow. “Just run, and ignore anything attacking. Natalie will cover us with the gun.”
You pick up the pace, reaching speeds you couldn’t have dreamed of before, thanks to the adrenaline. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Almost to the lights now, you start to slow down and regulate your breathing. Just as you settle into a good jog, you trip on something in the near dark, and pitch toward the floor. Everything goes black. 
You wake up in a tiny closet. Natalie and Sophia are crouched right next to you, looking concerned. You have a massive bruise on your forehead, and your ears ring from the gun being fired in such close proximity to you so many times. “Christ, what happened back there? What was that? And who really are you guys?”
They looked at each other, and Natalie nodded. She seemed to be the leader figure, despite literally having spoken three sentences to him this whole time. Sophia began, “Well, some time ago, we were both at a party, and we went up to explore the attic of our friend's house. We sort of, well, we just fell through an old wall. I know that sounds silly, but that’s what happened. We both were transported to that yellow hell together. Lucky us. After what seemed like a few days, we found our way to the warehouse, where we got some supplies. We took a wrong turn, got some hounds on our tail, and ended up back in the yellow rooms. That’s where we found you. I know. Probably not the story you were hoping for, but maybe we can stick together and find a way out of here. It’s your turn, now.”
You nod, and begin. “I was at a gas station, when some dickwad pushed me into a wall. The same thing happened to me. I just fell through it. Ended up in the yellow place. For a while though, I was in some other place. It was just an enclosed room, with light wallpaper. Honestly, that was worse than the yellow place. After I escaped, I found a dead guy. He was wearing a uniform with a patch that said ‘Major Explorer Group’. Have you guys heard of them?”
Upon seeing them shake their heads no, you continue, “Anyway, I got some supplies from him, but got a pretty bad wound on my arm.”
You raise your bandaged left arm, and make a mental note to check on it later.
“After that, I found some intel on him concerning this “MEG” faction and this place as a whole. Pretty interesting. I’ll show you guys after. I walked in one direction for what must have been a couple days after that. Then, something really weird happened. A light broke where I was resting, and a glowing face was almost superimposed on the darkness.” 
Natalie and Sophia looked at each other. “It-it felt like it was staring straight into me. That thing was definitely alive. I didn’t stick around, though. I met up with you guys shortly after that.”
Natalie broke in. “Let’s compare our info and summarize. For now, we are a group, and we have to stick together to survive. Sophia and I arrived here a couple days before you. You said you got a phone from this body?”
You nod, and pat your breast pocket, half expecting it not to be there. But it was still filming, at 22% battery. You stop recording, plug it into the charger, and show your new friends the messages. Sophia asked, “Does this mean we have what we need? You got the hallway on film, right?”
“I should have. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
You flip through the video, which is over 30 hours, until you find the transition, which you went through over four hours ago, according to the video. Clipping out most of the video except the two hours before you encountered the women and the hallway, you then send it to “Inzhu.”
The reply is almost immediate. 
Your video file has been received, operative. It has been reviewed, and deemed adequate. Your loyalty to the MEG has been proven. I will send the location of our nearest outpost shortly. Your two companions will be allowed as well. Good luck, operative. 
[LOCATION SHARED]
As you click the link, your phone opens a program you don’t recognize. It reads “BackOS Booting.” Your phone had a different operating system on it? This wasn’t anything you recognized from back home, and coding was a hobby of yours. It automatically opened an application, which had a 3D rendering of the area around you, and an arrow pointing in a direction. That must be where you have to go. Since there are presumably no satellites, your device is communicating directly with one in the MEG base. “So, now that we have the location, are we sure this is the right move?”
You get nods from both women. “Alright, let’s rest up, and be ready for this journey. We don’t know what’s out there, but we know that we need to recover.”
All three of you had minor injuries building up, and major fatigue from the last few hours.
“I see that someone is a natural leader.”
Sophia looks pointedly at Natalie, and you grin. It’s good to be back in the company of fellow humans, even ones you just met. You fall asleep, with more hope than ever of your odds of survival. You wake up to your companions already packed and ready to go. You unplug the phone, tuck it into your pocket, eat your last sandwich, and finish a bottle of almond water. You have four bottles of water left, 2 full charges for your phone, and no food left. They definitely needed to reach the settlement within the next two days. Your group walked out of the closet, ready to face whatever fresh hell awaited. To be continued.
Category:Tales