Adam woke up feeling like someone had shoved a beehive in his skull. He sat up, saw the beer cans scattered across the floor, and moaned.

God damn it, Adam…

Trust him to get hungover on travel day. At least his university’s first day wasn’t until tomorrow.

He forced himself off the bed, rubbing his aching forehead. Seriously, what had been inside those cans? Vodka? He had only drunk two!

He groped for the light switch. Nothing happened. Must be another power outage. Disappointing, but not surprising, given the state of the motel. Adam dragged himself to the bathroom. A cold shower and a cup of coffee—that’s what he needed.

Except, when he reached for the water knob inside the bathroom, nothing happened—again. He gave it another turn. The metal knob squealed like a mouse, then did nothing.

He stared at the knob, a variety of curses popping through his head, and he was too exhausted to say any of them. Screw it. He couldn’t wait to get out of this place. He went back to the main room and pulled back the curtains. Sunlight blinded him for a second and then…

“What the hell?”

The sight before him was straight out of an apocalypse movie. The sky was red, in a hue reminiscent of cherries. It hung high over the cityscape, bathing buildings and roads in its splendor. The sun, a white dot amidst the red, burned hot and bright. No clouds were present.

His stomach lurched. That cherry-red hue reminded him. Of scaling a pyramid in darkness, as a similarly colored pool rose from the ground, swallowing up the residents of the city. He wanted to dismiss it as a dream, but now he remembered it so vividly. The aching of his muscles, the sweat pouring down his back, the glowing light that awaited him at the top…it had all been real!

How was he here, though? What had happened to the other residents, whom managed to escape the red pool?

The city was quiet today. Too quiet. He should be hearing the rumble of the early morning rush, or the chatter of pedestrians walking down the sidewalks. Now, it was as if someone had switched the city off, with only himself behind.He stuck his head out the window, and saw.

“No…don’t tell me…”

Empty streets and decaying buildings. Plant life stretching all over the place, wild and untamed. A maze of concrete, rock and steel, all lacking any sapient life.

Adam’s gaze travelled along the nearby road. At the end was a mess of crashed cars. A fire had rampaged here, though long since faded, leaving behind the charred, rusted husks. The air was chock with dust, even from his height, and it was enough for him to cough. The wind howled and nobody responded, not even with apathy...

Adam slammed the windows shut. The picture of stillness vanished. He ripped his phone out from his pocket and dialed Trent’s number was first. Then his other acquaintances. Next, his school, the pizza delivery guy, even the police!

“Please, pick up, damn it…” He moaned. “Not like this!”

Beep, beep, beep.

“The number you have dialed is not available. Please contact another time…”

He hurled his phone across the room. It landed on the bed. He sank to the floor and curled up into a ball. A ray of red light shone through the crack in the curtains, bathing him in its warm splendor.

Goodbye normality. Welcome to the new world.

By the time panic eased out of his mind, two whole hours had passed. Hungry and thirsty, he dug through his bag. He came up with a few snacks, a can of beer, and a bottle of soda. He left the beer and consumed the rest. It didn’t come close to filling him up, but the sugar gave him the energy to think.

So, he was now a character in an apocalypse movie. Humanity had fallen, the city was in ruins and his plans for the future were dust in the wind. This was the part where sad violin music played, as the camera panned across the cherry-red horizon to reveal the breadth of the city.

That didn’t mean he needed to roll over and die. He could scrounge up resources, navigate through the city and survive. It was just like being homeless again, except there was nobody around to ignore him. As for the winning part…well, he needed to get a better idea of the situation.

He owed Mary to at least try.

He started with his room. He dumped the contents of his bag and inspected them. A set of spare clothes, a university pamphlet, the last can of beer, switchblade, and lighter. They weren’t into the useful pile. The main room didn’t have anything that was both light and useful. The bathroom, however, provided him with a small towel and a bottle of soap.

He had clothes, fire, and a blade. It was a good start. Next was to find water and food. Motels didn’t have expansive kitchens like hotels, but they did have break rooms for their employees. A fridge ought to be in this one.

He repacked his bag, strapped it on, and left. The hallways of the motel were dark and quiet. Adam added finding a torch on his to-do list.

Upon descending to the ground floor, Adam saw a figure at the end of the hallway. Its back was facing him and it was retreating away. Was this another survivor? He’d intended to find survivors, but to think he might have stumbled across one this early…

"Hey!" Adam called. "Hello?"

The figure did not respond. It continued to shamble down the hallway.

"Hey, did you hear me? What's going on?"

Again, he was ignored. Snarling in frustration, Adam walked up and tapped the figure on the shoulder.

He walked over and tapped the figure on the shoulder.

"Hey buddy, I’m talking to—”

The figure whirled around, giving Adam a full view of its face. He let out a strangled cry and stumbled back. It was indeed humanoid in shape, and the similarities ended there. Instead of skin, it bared a sinewy, reddish layer of pure muscle. The tendon lines in its arms bent and twisted as it dragged itself along the hallway. Two white, expressionless dots stared out of a featureless face at Adam.

Monster!

The monster opened its mouth, revealing a gaping black hole, and gurgled out a low-pitched moan. It sounded like a beached whale crossed with the whirr of a meat grinder. It then lunged forward, swinging its fleshy hands. Adam leaped back, attempting to move in the same direction as the monster's blow. It clipped his chin and he was thrown to the ground.

That was strong! Adam thought. If getting brushed felt like a normal punch, he shuddered at the thought of a proper blow from this monster.

He rolled up and dropped into stance, fists up. The monster swung its arms out again. This time, he was prepared. He ducked forward, charged forward, and decked him in the face. A soft squelching sound, then the monster tumbled back. Its body felt light, as if someone had ripped out the bones and replaced them with plastic substitutes. He lashed out with a kick, sending the creature back further.

Good. He could do this. Its attacks were heavy, yet slow. As long as he kept retreating out of range, he could beat it down!

He flung another punch into the monster. Its head swung back, reeling from the blow. He advanced, aiming straight for the temple and—

Heat on his chest. A flash of purple.

The monster's teeth sunk into his neck. Chunks of flesh were suspended mid-flight in the air. His blood spurted out in a geyser of red. He met his own eyes and they accused him of carelessness, the life fading from them just like Mary’s seven years ago…

“Fuck!”

He jumped back. The next moment, the monster’s neck swung forward like an elastic band, its head ricocheting forwards. A set of jagged, crusted teeth chomped through empty air, where Adam’s neck had just been.

It happened again. Another one of those visions warning him of his death. Had the monster planned this out? Feigning weakness to let him underestimate it, then moving in for the kill? The implications were horrifying. Adam decided in a split second. He turned tail and ran. The monster followed, its footsteps thumping like lead blocks.

Adam dove into his original room. He slammed the door shut, then threw down a chair as a makeshift bolt. The monster pounded on the door with its fist and head, roaring.

The door wouldn’t last forever. He needed to think of a solution, fast. What could help him in this room? He entered the bathroom and saw a fire extinguisher. Heavy, red, and solid. The gears in his head began to turn. He dug into his bag and pulled out two items.

It was a risky plan, but it was all he had.

The monster smashed the door into splinters. It kicked aside the chair, sending it straight into the window. Glass shards flew everywhere.

At the same time, Adam opened the can of beer. A stream of beer exploded from within, a miracle of carbonation. It coated the monster in frothy bitterness within seconds. It hesitated, confused.

Adam then took out the lighter, lit a bundle of cloth, and hurled it. The effect was instantaneous. Roaring flames devoured the monster , like the embrace of a vengeful god. The horrid scent of burning flesh filled the room. It thrashed around into walls and cupboards, keening in a high-pitched wail. Adam grabbed the fire extinguisher he had set up on a nearby table, pulled the pin, and let it rip. The blast put out the flames but also forced the creature down.

Adam ran forward and slammed the empty fire extinguisher onto the monster's head. He repeated this over and over again, inserting a few kicks here and there, until the creature’s head caved in and it lay still.

He gave it one final whack for good measure, then tossed it aside. Was it over? Had he won?

Cherry-red burst out of monster's body. It pulsed through the air in a wave and sank straight through Adam’s chest before he could blink. He screamed—visions of his skin peeling off, his essence transforming into another version of the creature flooded through his head—until he realized nothing was happening. He felt fine. Energized, even. It wasn’t leftover adrenaline. This was more permanent.

Well, he wasn’t going to turn down a gift horse in the mouth. He glanced down at the monster's corpse. Flecks of grey and black were evaporating off it. He kicked it aside, left the room, and slammed the door shut.

The break room provided him with more supplies. Fruit, beef jerky, cereal, and a bottle of water. There had also been bottles of wine. He considered taking it—alcohol could clean wounds—then decided against it due to the weight. If he rationed his supply well, he could survive on it for at least three days. That was more than enough time to scavenge for more, perhaps even meet some new people.

He exited the motel, in case more of those skinless monsters were roaming around. A wave of mournful nostalgia washed over him as he stepped out into the streets. He never liked Steeldale, but to see it in this state? It was cruel, plain and simple.

“Goodbye.” He said to no one in particular and walked down the street.

He stuck to the shadows, neither running nor plodding along. He kept his ears up for any signs of danger or people. That allowed him to hear the cracks in the distance. Gunshots.

They were coming from around the corner. He rounded it to see an empty parking lot. Other people were there. Two adolescent girls, dressed in strange uniforms. One blonde, one black-haired. Before them were the corpses of several skinless monsters.

Adam ducked behind a piece of wall and peeked out. He watched as they took out plastic bottles and held them up to the corpses. More of the red stuff flowed from their bodies and tried to force through the two girls’ bodies. They instead grasped the red with their gloved hands, before shoving them into plastic bottles. They sealed the bottles shut and placed them inside backpacks.

"That should be the last of them. Let's go back." Blondie said.

"Come on, we’ve still got empty bottles. Let’s collect some more." Responded Black-hair.

“No thanks. We’ve reached our quota and I don’t want to stay another moment out here. Collect on your own if you want to.”

“So prickly...” Black-haired sighed. “You’re just like a cactus.”

“Shut up.” Blondie snapped back. “I don’t like wasting time.”

Blondie opened her mouth to bark out an insult, then went rigid. She spun around and began scanning around the area. Adam retreated further into the shadows, covering his mouth with both hands. A harsh click rang through the air. It was swiftly followed by something metallic snapping into place.

"You there behind the wall!" Blondie shouted. Adam felt the invisible glare of her bolt action rifle pierce his neck. "Come out with your hands up!"