Before Twilight

# Here

Each night, after Rhythm laid on open ground, the red blanket slowly came to his body and attempted to absorb nutrition from the novel covering of the creature. However, Rhythm's compound armor was unable to serve as a delicacy to tiny animals, nor did it let plants take root on the surface. Thus, the conscious red mire was not a severe threat to Rhythm.

This day was different. The "sunburnt", continually wandering the world, seemed to know he was there. They gathered together and mingled, forming a three-story-high meat sphere, rolling forward. Figures that used to be humans bore an untold hunger to encase those who had not yet succumbed to the sun at this moment. The communal hunger resonated and amplified inside the giant meatball, turning to the fuel of their motions. When they touched him, the meatball split apart. Countless hands and heads reached Rhythm. His body was elevated, rotated, and pulled roughly. Gaping maws snatched at the side of Rhythm’s helmet, whispering, "Go back……", "Follow me……", "Greetings……". Their words pierced through Rhythm's ears transformed their timbre and changed to his sister's call in his dreams.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rhythm finally awoke, shaking the fragments of the nightmares from his head. He opened his eyes, pupils rolling in broken lines. The armor reacted and opened the electronic vision module and dissipation program, "dissipating" everything clinging to the armor using burning electric currents. After several minutes, the huge block of red mud lost its animation, removed itself from his armor, and drifted away in the rain.

Rhythm slept the entirety of what was left of the morning and into the midday. The brown sun, like a fierce wet eye, poured bloody tears down to the ground through the greyish vault of heaven. Rhythm proceeded carefully; the mud underfoot became slippery, so he lifted his legs with more caution. He configured the vision module settings to see through the gloomy mist.

Among countless semispheres of giant flesh, a grey cube stood out. Undoubtedly, it was a building.

Seeing it, a conversation months ago occurred to him of a sudden. He couldn't remember a thing about the voice and figure of whom he talked to.

An electronic probe rang in Rhythm's armor. Periodic information flows came out of the building in front of him.

Would anyone be inside? Or was he just dreaming?

Hope expanded in his heart, and flooded through his blood vessels.

# There

Speaking of the past, Lyrics Linn - a Foundation level 2 researcher - could still remember the day when she saw sunburnt colleagues rush into the site.

At first, they seemed to be reddish. Maybe she was mistaken. It wasn't until the sunburnt came near her that she realized they were bleeding red liquid all over their bodies. Not long afterward, they melted into a puddle, wriggling towards her. Lyrics shivered as fear shot through her body. Heading to the test chamber, she looked back and noticed sunburnt figures were crawling fast behind her. When she got into the chamber, over 30 sunlit colleagues accumulated into a huge meatball, stuck in the entrance. Like squeezing toothpaste, the meatball pushed itself slowly inside, forming a cylinder. Lyrics fumbled in the corner, picked up a flamethrower, pulled out the safety, and fired against the door. For an instant, she heard howls. Heart-wrenching howls. Soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, together with the roar of flamethrower and the crackle of meat, formed an epic doomsday elegy. Minutes later, the meatball was pelt off by layers. Charcoal-black mud covered the entrance of the test chamber. At last, she put down the flamethrower and collapsed.

However, the bright light went off and the emergency light was lit. Alongside the jarring siren was the great broadcast, which was transmitted to all Foundation sites, informing everyone of SCP-001.

It was at that moment that Lyrics knew that the site generators were severely damaged. Knowing nothing about the site power supply, she was helpless.

A hand-crank flashlight, a map, and a notebook with a pen - those were all the useful objects she found before the site fell into darkness, with the tiny flashlight illuminating her face.

Days later, all available foods were consumed. Lyrics was starving. It was obvious that Lyrics had to turn to the last resort: eating SCP-001-A. She could never forget the very first experience of hunting:

Another unforgettable memory was the moment when she heard thuds on the door.

Things like this were recorded in Lyrics' notebook: past experiences, tips from the Foundation site network, and much more. Bored of the dumb lifestyle, she tried to keep the content concise, "Huh, do I need to write this stuff? No one looks at it. Or shall I toss it to giant meatballs outside and let the sunburnt have a look?" she spoke to herself.

To start another normal day of survival, Lyrics opened the glass box in front of her. A piece of red meat lay inside, crawling slowly upon the edge. She then carried a pot of liquid nitrogen to the table, pouring it inside without hesitation. The flesh shook heavily, and white steam spilled all over the table to Lyrics'Lyrics'coat. Minutes later, the meat cracked into pieces. She warmed it up slightly, picked a chunk, and chewed hard. A cool, mild, mixed taste of grass and rabbit spread in her body.

At that moment, she heard someone knocking on the door outside.

First, she thought it was another sunburnt trying to lure her out. But the pattern, the pattern of knocking, was novel. Strange.

"I can't put my finger on it now. " She put on her suit, ready to go out.

Knock-knock……

Knock-knock……
The Rhythm became Stranger.
And she began to utter.

"Hello?" Lyrics asked the noise tentatively.

No response.

"Hey there, is anyone outside? Hello?"

Her pitch raised higher, but no reply still.

Confirming her protective apparatus working smoothly, Lyrics opened the door.

However, only the sun, the sky, and the brown, bare lands were in her vision, except for a tiny plastic pack filled with red mud.

The mud was squirming weirdly, and minutes later, it finally morphed into a lily.

Her beloved flower.

At that exact moment, Lyrics figured out who came and left before.

Tears ran out of her eyes, and dropped down into the endless wasteland.