EDEN /// CHAPTER 06 /// REMEMBER

…

Something’s wrong.

I should be dead.

…

But I keep telling myself that, when I am right here and alive and not kicking because I am currently being restrained in some sort of healing stasis chamber, wrapped in bandages. All of my stuff is gone, my bag, my gun, my clothing, my supplies. I can only float as I am still being healed and I am very weak as of now. They are also giving me medicine via many tubes and needles poking inside of my skin. I cannot move a muscle and it is uncomfortable. It is like I have died and they are trying to revive me. To before the apocalypse. Who are “they” again? I forgot. But then through the glass of my chamber, I see something, and my vision becomes just clear enough to make out a few figures. It’s still hellishly blurred because I am submerged. But I can see gray skin and blue eyes. I am not anywhere where they can control my mind, wipe my memories. I remember who I am.

“Eve”. The one who was left to clean things up while the others died. And I know exactly who THEY are. Scientists. And I am the lab rat. The apocalypse was never real. My hell on Earth life was just a prototype for the real one. A simulation. And once the apocalypse is over, when all the zombies die out, when the dust settles, they will be there to conquer the planet. They are not to be trus-

*Zap*. The thought suppressant kicks in. They’re onto me. Damn. I fall back asleep.

/// 2 MONTHS LATER ///

I am fully healed, and I am brought back to where it all went wrong. It is winter. I do not remember what has happened.

…and now as i’m driving I notice something new. In the brown and black blurs of the empty winter branches, there’s something moving around, crawling on all fours. Probably just a squirrel. Oh. Yeah. It is a squirrel. Haha. That was awkward. For a second I thought it was something worse. And as I drive and drive I make note of every time I see something remotely squirrel-like. Because now I know squirrels are still around. I also gather my bearings. So I can remember what i’m doing. I’m trying to find that crashed object in the distance. My mind runs amok with theories on what it could be. What if it’s someone trying to send a rescue squad? Just for me? I chuckle to myself. As if they would send a squad just for little old… uh… I still don’t remember my name. Whatever. I should be focusing on the road. Actually, nevermind. I see something in the distance. It is the crash site! What i’ve been looking for so long. It’s almost too good to be true. I made it here without any trouble. It’s too quiet around here. Really? There’s NOTHING about to ambush me? Lame. Anyways, I drive up and get out of the car. Let’s see this.

From far away it looked like a giant bombshell. About 5 feet tall. And from close up, I notice that it cannot be a bomb as it has a hatch on the side that is opened. It’s some sort of supply capsule. If the door is opened though… that means someone else got to it. With my sudden relevation, I rush towards the thing in panic. And yeah, it’s empty. I grab the door and read the writing on it. “QEM Mothership Delivery - Expected 01-01-3035”. The hell does that mean? My former curiosity may have been quenched, now that I know what this is, but it raises a billion other questions. I decide to go back to my car in defeat. However, as soon as I open the door, sparks fly out of the dashboard and the engine isn’t running anymore. No. Nononononono… The DAMN CAR BROKE DOWN! I collapse face-first in the snow and cry. For a good 5 minutes. I’m lost. Like, actually lost. In the middle of some random forest clearing way out in the mountains in freezing temperatures. But my face is going to freeze stiff if I keep whining like this. So I pick myself up and gather my bearings. If someone already got to this thing and it’s snowing, that means there has to be tracks in the snow. Luckily for me, there is. I silently thank my own ingenuity as I follow these strange footsteps. They’re shaped like a triangle, sort of like something with a sharp, singular hoove. But there’s only 1 set of tracks, meaning it’s not an animal. I think.

I hold my gun by my hip. It may look unnecessary, but really you need a gun by your side for everything. Trudging through the snow like this makes you an easy target for both zombies, wild animals, and wild zombie animals, God bless. The tracks seem to be leading up this hill, but not really a hill, more like a roadway, but it’s made of dirt and covered with snow because there’s no one to plow it. So whatever’s there has to be special. And once I had followed all the tracks my reward was a bunker leading straight down into the ground. It was partially open, so someone must’ve been here recently. Someone. SOMEONE. I’m just going to let that sit in my head for a while. Someone else. Whoever’s down here has to be able to help. I let my mind run amok once again as I venture downwards into the bunker.

If anything taught me anything: NEVER enter opened bunkers. Fates worse than death await in there.