The sky was dark, the moon being covered by gray clouds. White mist escaped his lips as he breathed, cold air creating condensation; even though it was the middle of summer. Faint screams and flesh ripping are heard in the distance. He was standing in the street, looking towards the buildings in front of him through the darkness, he couldn’t see anything inside their pitch-black interior. His right thumb rubbed the grooves of the cold rebar he held tightly in his hand. He slowly turned his head to his friend standing beside him, his white button-down shirt covered in blood splatter. He couldn’t make out his face, it was blurry and contorted. “I think we’re all going to die.” His friend said through a deep, almost unintelligible voice.

  Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, illuminating the rows of cubicles that filled the building floor. I was sitting at my desk in one of those cubicles, staring at my computer screen in a daze, when a soft hand patted my shoulder and brought me back to reality. I jumped and quickly turned and looked up at the woman. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She said in a cute voice while covering her mouth and giggling. “The boss wanted me to bring you the forms you said you’d review for him.” She placed a handful of newly printed papers on my desk. I glanced over at them, I’d forgotten I agreed to that. “Thanks, I’d almost forgotten about those.” I lied, while rubbing my eyes. The woman looked at me more intently. “Still having trouble sleeping? You should try taking some NyQuil, it always knocks me right out!” I smiled at her, she was petite, her long blonde hair was fixed smartly in a bun, and her office attire fit her curves perfectly. I glanced up into her green eyes as I spoke, “I might just give that a try, this lack of sleep is killing me.” She smirked back at me. “Well let me know how it goes, anyway duty calls, I’ll see you later!” She said a little too excitedly, and with a wink. “Yeah, see you later.” I replied, her heels clicking on the floor as she left. I noticed the familiar sweet smell of her perfume fill the air.

  “Jack.” A deep voice said. I looked up from the papers and saw a man leaning over my cubicle wall, a look of mischief on his bearded face. “Troy.” I replied, mimicking his deep voice. “You know Sarah is sweet on you right?” I pressed my lips together with a slight smile. “Uh-huh, and I’m taking over the company. She’s just being nice, she’s like that with everyone.” Troy shook his head and sighed. He is a heavy-set man, but tall and has a full, black beard to match the short black hair on his head. I’ve joked around with Sarah and a few others by dubbing him “The Viking”. He was wearing a white button-down shirt, complete with a blue tie and black slacks. Of course, I was wearing the same thing, except my tie was maroon. “You wouldn’t know flirting if it slapped you in the face. Look man, just ask her out, take her somewhere nice, and you could have a nice decorated desk like mine.” He gestured towards his desk, I couldn’t see what he was pointing at because of the wall, but I knew it was to the pictures he had framed of his wife and kids. I leaned back in my chair and stretched before replying. “Alright dude, you win, I’ll ask her out, but if she says no, or that she already has someone, then you owe me lunch for like 5 days.” Troy grinned excitedly, he looked quite pleased with himself. “You’re on, but if she says yes then you owe me lunch.” He reached his arm over the wall and extended his hand, I took it, shaking on it. Troy always squeezed a little too hard, or maybe he didn’t mean to, either way, it kind of hurt.

  I finished reviewing the forms and checked my phone, 12:00pm, lunchtime. Also a few memes from my brothers. I stood up and stretched, I noticed that Troy was already gone. That dick, we always ate lunch together. A quick glance around while stuffing my hands into my pockets revealed that everyone had already left, maybe the clock on my phone was wrong or something. I walked down the row of cubicles, stopping in front of the thick, silver elevator doors. I pressed the down button, the doors slowly squeaked open and stepped inside. A tune was already playing from the speakers, a weird mix between upbeat and waiting. My finger poked into the “L” button, the doors slowly squeaking closed. The cables groaned from the descent, the sound always made me nervous. It was a short ride because the building only had three floors, this being the third, but the music that played on repeat made me vow to start taking the stairs. I would have done it today, but I’ve just been so tired for the past week. I could hardly sleep, and when I did I kept having oddly realistic dreams that woke me up, and when I was awake my body felt drained like I was getting over a cold or something. “Ding”, the elevator doors squeaked open, I left quickly to escape from the music.

  The Lobby was lit by four overhead lights and five strategically placed lamps. Brown walls, a fake fireplace in the center, and a fake animal skin rug were meant to give it a rustic feel. It seemed odd at first, until someone explained to me that the building was repurposed from an old hotel. Comfortable-looking couches lined both walls, complete with tables in front of them with random magazines. The front desk was nestled into a wall to the right of the elevator doors, thick glass protecting the occupants, if there were any. Maybe security had a call-out?

  I walked past the fake fireplace as I stepped through the whooshing automatic doors. The sun always felt good after being cooped up in the cubicle. I stepped down a bush-lined path to the right that led to a picnic table. My right hand pulled out a pack of cigarettes as I sat down, removing one and putting it between my lips, before lighting it and inhaling. As I exhaled the smoke, something felt off, a different kind of off than being sleep-deprived. I glanced around, taking another puff, trying to pinpoint the feeling. It felt like being watched, but more intense than that. A low buzzing started in my head. My breathing quickened as I dropped the cigarette, alarmed. My hands went up to my head, I could feel vibrations. I grabbed my phone to call someone when the buzzing erupted. My vision blurred, the world spinning and shaking as the vibrations in my head got more intense. The ground found my knees. “Aaaa-“ was all that came out of my mouth before all the food I ate yesterday made a second appearance. I gripped my head tightly, tears, snot, and vomit all streaming down my face. My muscles cramped and my teeth chattered together from the vibrations. I was about to explode, I knew it, I really should have made sure one of my brothers would check on my cat.

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  The vibrating stopped suddenly, I thought I was blind until I realized I had been squeezing my eyes shut. They slowly opened, the warm sunlight and greenery around me coming back into focus. My muscles still hurt, and my head was killing me, but at least I didn’t explode. I sat back at the table, breathing heavily, holding my head. “What the fuck was that?” I thought to myself as I cleaned the tears, snot, and vomit off my face with the sleeve of my shirt. I grabbed my phone from my pocket, debating on whether or not to call an ambulance or my brothers. “Nah, ambulances are too expensive, and I don’t want to worry my brothers, especially after what happened a few years ago.” I thought. The phone screen displayed a calico cat, her mouth open like she’s smiling, but really she was trying to get a treat. I stared at the display for a bit, 12:07 pm showing before the screen darkened. Still, I really need to get to a hospital, better let someone know.

  I made my way back into the lobby, noticing that there was someone at the front desk now. I stepped in front of it, the large security guard eyeing me. “Hey man, you mind letting someone know I’m going to be out for the rest of the day?” I said, my voice raspy from the stomach acid. My hand moved up to my mouth, a cough forcing its way out to clear out the leftover gunk. The man nodded, grabbing a pen and a notepad. “Sure thing.” He replied thickly. “What’s the reason?” What reason indeed. “Well, just a few minutes ago I felt-“ as I tried to speak the words, they failed me, new words replacing them and being forced out of my mouth in the most bizarre feeling, like someone using your arm to grab something, but from the inside. “I felt the day was too pretty and thought I should go on a hike.” I looked at him with my mouth open, stunned, he squinted back at me. “You…want to take off to go on a hike?” I shook my head, “No, what I mean is I-“ The same feeling crawled back into my throat, my voice box having a mind of its own. “I’m going fishing as well.” I stared at the man, confusion taking over my face. The security guard locked his fingers together with a sigh, and placed them on the notepad in front of him, giving me a look like I’d lost my mind. “Look, I’m all for taking days for yourself, but maybe you should head on up and let them know yourself.” I nodded, the confused look on my face being replaced with defeat. I turned, and walked towards the elevator.

  I stopped in front of the silver doors, not wanting to hear that damn music with this headache. That’s when I noticed I didn’t feel tired anymore, achy from whatever the fuck just happened, but not tired. I moved to the heavy door on the left of the elevator and took the stairs. The musky scent from old carpet filled my nose as I climbed. “Someone should really get this carpet taken out, but considering how they left the lobby I won’t be holding my breath.” I thought as I reached the third floor, pushing the door open. I blinked a bit, the cubicles were full, employees were talking and eating the rest of their lunch, everyone was here. I never saw anyone leave or come back, was I really that out of it?

  A single fluorescent light on the ceiling was blinking on and off with a clicking sound. I watched it for a moment before a Viking nudged my shoulder, knocking me off balance. “Jack! What the hell man? Why did you skip out on lunch?” Troy said, his deep voice reaching a higher pitch. I pushed him back, trying to knock him off balance so he would know how annoying it was. “What do you mean? When I left everyone was-“ that same damn feeling. “Eating lunch and enjoying themselves.” Troy pursed his lips together, giving me a blank stare, while putting his hands on his hips. “Really? That scared about asking Sarah out on a date huh?” I shook my head in annoyance. “No! Listen, something happened and I can’t explain it for some reason, but I need to go get checked out, you mind covering for me?” I said, jabbing my right hand down into my left when I spoke. Troy’s eyes lit up a bit, mischief appearing on his face, along with a grin. “Sure, I can cover for you, all you have to do is go ask Sarah out real quick.” He pointed his thumb behind him, towards Sarah’s cubicle. The man was relentless, if only I could actually explain the situation.

  I looked in the direction of his thumb. The flickering light was right above Sarah’s desk, and blinking like crazy now. I grinned a bit, I knew that had to be annoying the shit out of her. “You know what? Fine, I’ll go ask her right now.” Troy smirked in confidence, feeling so pleased with himself that the smirked reached his eyes, and a little bit of his teeth could be seen through his beard. “Aaaaafter you.” He said, while waving me on with his arm. We walked towards her cubicle together, I could feel the smugness radiating off of him. Once we were close, a strong, sour, rancid smell hit my nostrils. “Ugh!” I pinched my nose shut in disgust and looked at Troy, who was doing something similar. “What the hell is that?” I asked him. He gave me a strange look. “I think I recognize it.” He replied. “Care to enlighten the rest of the class?” He rolled his eyes. “Well, whenever I kill a deer, I clean it outside on a hook I built. But, sometimes I forget to clean all the blood off, and it rots. This is similar.” I stared at him blankly, still pinching my nose. “You saying someone cleaned a deer here?” If his eyes rolled any harder from what I said, they would fall out.

  We both turned out heads back towards Sarah’s desk. In the top left corner of my left eye, I saw bright green text appear suddenly. “Luck +10,000” I thought to myself as I looked at it. I couldn’t look at it directly, it was fixed in the top left of my vision, like on a heads up display. The green text slowly faded. “Did you see that?” I immediately regretted asking, the putrid scent filled my mouth and I could taste it, luckily I had nothing left in my stomach. Troy was about to reply, when we heard cracking and gurgling come from Sarah’s desk. A humanoid figure stumbled out of her cubicle, facing us. It had no clothes, and no skin, only rotting muscle. White pus leaked out of its jaw muscles as it kept opening its mouth and slamming it shut with sickening cracks. It started limping towards us, clacking its mouth, gurgling, pus leaning from any muscle it used. I stared at it in horror, my first instinct was to bolt away as fast as possible, but my shaking legs wouldn’t let me move. The thing looked at me with its soulless, green eyes. Green eyes? “TROY, THATS SARAH!” I screamed in horror as the creature lunged at Troy, it’s maw open. My body moved on its own as I jumped between the two, I guess I liked Troy more than I thought I did. I felt human teeth clamp down onto my forearm, ripping deep into my arm. “AAAGGG FUCK!” I screamed as I saw another green text pop into my vision, “infection resistance +1” the same text kept popping up, making the top left of my vision green.