[Buzzzz]

I blinked as I slowly got up. My world shifted back into something my brain could understand.

The world… was an office?

I only recalled walking down the street before. I was… groceries?

I looked down and at my feet was a backpack I was going to use grocery shopping. I was going to buy some bread. Some cheese. Meats. I was making a sandwich.

I wanted to walk today since the day was so nice. My t-shirt and shorts were an oddity in this world of overdressed workers.

The drab office buzzed around me as the only sounds were the fluorescent lights. It looked like the downtown office of that oil company I used to work for.

I grabbed my water bottle. A nice robust plastic thing. Military-grade and translucent because I was a geek, it was imprinted with eight symbols from RWBY.

I took a nice warm chug as I suddenly found myself nervous. I checked my phone, but there was no reception at all.

I stuffed the water back into the pouch and I then began to move.

I hope I didn’t set off any office alarms, but without windows, I couldn’t tell where I was, let alone the time.

The office was built like a maze. Which made sense since not every building was perfectly opened. There were pillars for support. Extra walls for extra rooms.

Row and rows of cubicles lay before me.

My occasional cry of ‘Hello?” was never answered.

It wasn’t I was was walking for nearly half an hour that I realized that I was lost.

Each section, each room didn’t have clear markings. They were organized at random…

Nor did I ever see anyone.

The closer I looked, the stranger it also became.

Each cubicle and desk had random office stuff on it. I found a cubicle filled with boxes of staples. Another was empty. Another had two chairs flipped onto each other.

No jackets. No pictures of people.

The occasional frame I saw was simply empty.

I swallowed as unease finished settling from my bones and directly into my soul.

I swear that I began to see the shadows jumping at me.

I started to jog.

The dull thumps of my footsteps onto the carpet and the buzzing of the lights. There were only my gasps of breath as my fat body began to wear down, and the heavy rhythm of my heart.

I stopped and drank more water.

I grimaced as half of the bottle was already gone, and I had yet to find anything.

The only thing stopping me from breaking down and weeping was simply fear. There was something about this place, other then the fact it was larger then Ikea, that kept me composed.

I kept moving.

I alternated between light jogs and a steady walk.

To pass the time I started to pick up knick-knacks for myself.

I found a set of nice pens. A small binder that I eventually filled with nice sheets of paper. There was a red stapler and it took me a bit before I found another set of staples.

The chill also began to set it.

This office wasn’t chilled by any AC I could hear. Yet the lack of sunlight made me regret wearing thin clothing.

As such, the first break made me sign in relief as I saw something bright and different.

I stepped onto tiled flooring, and a dream kitchen was revealed before me.

It was made with stainless steel. There were three sinks and a pressure hose. Cooking pots and pans were hung from the wall by the prepping area.

I ran over to the sink.

I turned on the tap and to my relief water came out. I watched as the crystal clear liquid spilled forth.

I licked the water and tasted nothing but clean, cold water.

I slung off my backpack. It was damp from my back and I pulled out my water bottle.

I rinsed out the bottle with the pressure hose. Then I filled it again.

Satisfied, and relieved, I placed both backpack and bottle onto the counter as I explored the kitchen.

The drawers were mostly empty. I found a few cans of food. The high in salt, low in health variety. But considering what I hadn’t found. Like an exit. I took them and placed them onto the counter.

There were two bags of jerky, one of which I simply opened and consumed. I powered through it so quickly that the fact it was BBQ flavored didn’t even register until my last bite.

I washed my hands and dried it with paper towels. I dropped everything into the garbage bin in the corner. No sense in making a mess.

By the time I had scoped out the place, I had found a simple chef knife. Toha Heavy Industries was stamped onto the body of the blade. There was also S90V Steel written underneath… whatever that meant.

The fact that it came with its own little sheath was nice and I happily put it into my pocket. Say what you will about men’s fashion, but you will never hear me say it needs fewer pockets.

There was also a first aid kit. Something I was grateful for since I somehow doubted I would find the exit anytime soon.

I packed everything into my backpack.

With a nice weight to it, it slid back onto my back. I sighed as I knew the walk ahead was going to suck. I needed to stop soon, but who knows? The exit might be around the corner.

Thus it was a pleasant surprise to find a washroom in the next hallway.

There were a nice M and W sign over each door, and I went into the Ws. I was daring since I hadn’t seen anyone else thus far.

I locked the door, and the day caught up with me.

I pooped. I peed. I nearly cried as the day was wearing on my spirit.

Instead, I checked my phone. My battery life wasn’t great, but it was also running low.

With a sigh, I turned off the unit. I should preserve the remaining power in case I did find a window and perhaps reception.

I finished up. Washed up.

I took in a deep breath and slung my backpack on again.

I opened the door and it's one eye stared at me.

I blinked.

It blinked.

A child? With a head that was a little too big.

It was gray and not completely human.

Its limbs were deformed, and black veins ran across its nude body.

It turned its head, and its deformed eyes stared at me while its gaping jaw opened up to reveal a perfect circle of fangs. It opened up like a flower, it's jaw-dropping low to its chest.

It screamed as it eyes turned red.

I screamed and a small part of me was glad I had just finished letting everything out.

It ran towards me and I lashed out with a kick. It was knocked over but quickly got up. For those creepy, crippled looking arms, it used its elbows amazingly well.

So it got up to its knees before I lunged forward with another kick. Then another.

I took a solid stance before I began to stomp down on it.

Then it stilled.

I backed away, my breath thundering in my ears and my heart hammering in my chest.

The child then collapsed into dust. It dissolved before me and even the leftover pile vanished.

I stared at it. Then I looked up and saw nothing.

I looked into the kitchen and saw nothing.

[Buzzzz]

The lights above did not answer my pleas.

I ran back into the washroom.

I locked it, and then I made my way to the empty corner.

I collapsed as I finally broke.