The once imposing walls, fortified with barbed wire, guard towers, and armed guards, were now nothing but a pile of rubble and debris. The charred remains of buildings and the twisted metal of fences and gates were scattered across the landscape, evidence of the sheer force and power of the creatures that had caused this destruction.

Among the debris, a bloody hand broke through from the rubble and a man in a tattered prison uniform struggled out from under the broken rocks and wood, he looked like a ghost, a thick layer of dust covered him from head to toe. He was fortunate to not only survive but to escape injury was a miracle.

but he had no time to waste, this was a rare opportunity to escape, he ran fast toward the forest, and disappeared in the woods, afraid of being chased by the soldiers or those creatures that attacked the prison.

When he was sure no one was after him, he halted to catch his breath "It seems, I'm the only one who made it out alive! I'm so lucky to be unharmed".

After long, exhausting hours of running, he finally arrived in an urban area. He kept exploring to find a spot where he could rest for the night, but he couldn't help but stand rooted to the ground, gazing in confusion, something seemed out of place, the eery silence and the empty streets made him nervous, this was a city, not a big one, but still, it should be full of life and movement.

'Where is everyone?'. He wondered.

He walked around, but not a single soul was around, feeling the effect of all the running and walking he had gone through to get here, his body needed some urgent rest, so he set his gaze on a random building and decided to explore the inside.

He tried the doors of a housing apartment, but no one was home. He kicked open a door and found the place empty and covered in dust. It looked like it had been abandoned for weeks or months. The electricity and water were off, so he couldn't use anything inside. After a thorough search, he discovered some clothes and sneakers that fit him. In the kitchen, he opened the fridge, but everything had gone bad without power.

He searched other vacant apartments and found some canned food, cereal, and water, he ravished the little food he found, it made a decent meal compared to what he had eaten in prison.

***

He nervously asked, "What was that sound? Please don't tell me it’s one of those creatures!" Peering out the window, he saw three zombies strolling past the building, they growled loudly and dragged their heavy and rotten bodies with surprising agility.

Things have taken a turn for the worse, and now there are even zombies, it is truly chaotic out there.

Fletcher isolated himself in the apartment and stayed there for the whole night. He barricaded himself inside intending to stay until morning.

Fletcher was startled awake in the middle of the night by a loud noise coming from outside his window. When he looked out, he spotted several people running away from an approaching group of zombies.

As his eyes met one of the people, Fletcher gasped and quickly ducked down, praying that he hadn't been seen.

A middle-aged man with a beard strode ahead of the group and shouted to his allies, "Head into that building on the right" he pointed to the building Fletcher was in.

"Tommy! Do your thing" a skinny boy at the back slowed down until he was just within reach of the zombies. It almost looked like he was teasing them by keeping a constant distance; eventually, their attention was completely taken away from the rest of the team as they followed the boy far away.

The rest cautiously made their way into the building. After a bit of time, Fletcher heard knocking at the door. He rushed to it and peered out the peephole; he recognized the man from earlier who had caught his eye. "Pardon me," the stranger said, "could you open up? We don't mean any trouble."

Fletcher tucked a kitchen knife into his trousers and moved towards the entrance. "I can't hide anymore, he spotted me earlier," Fletcher thought to himself as he opened the door. Standing before him was a tall man with a full beard and an unyielding expression. He held out his hand for a greeting.

“My name is James, I apologize for bothering you”.

"What do you want?" Fletcher gave the man a cold look and didn't even bother to shake his hand.

James didn't seem to mind Fletcher's attitude. "I just wanted to say hi and apologize for barging in, we won't stay long."

“Where are you headed? if you don't mind me asking” Fletcher inquired.

 James looked around the flat and noticed Fletcher was by himself. "we are going to the 11^th base, you can tag along if you want, it's not safe to be on your own," James said in an attempt to gain a new companion.

“I'm thankful for the offer, but I have other plans”.

"well it's a shame, by the way, we found some supplies in the building, I hope you don't mind sharing some with us".

“It's all good, I just arrived here as well”

"Well thank you anyway, listen tonight will be having dinner, if you want you can join us, and I'll introduce you to the Others ".

" I will think about it ".

Once James had departed, Fletcher shut the door. "They don't seem like bad people," he thought to himself. "Maybe I should join them tonight, That wouldn't be a terrible idea; I could get some information about what's been going on outside since I've been stuck in jail all this time”.

**

James and his pals were all together in one room, chowing down on canned food, chatting about whatever came up. Then there was a knock: "Hey James! It's Fletcher from upstairs , you told me I could drop by!" They opened the door and he stepped inside.

“I'm Fletcher”.  He then turned to James and meekly said, "Sorry for snapping at you before. It's been a long journey on my own."

James greeted him with a warm smile, assuring him that there was no need to worry.

Fletcher took in the scene of nine people gathered around, seven men and two women. His gaze hung a bit longer on the female duo; both were young and attractive with slender bodies. He chided himself internally to not give in to his impulses , this was not the moment. There was one man around their age while the other males looked significantly older than James, who seemed to be sitting by himself in the corner.

The two women and the young man appear to be sitting together, seemingly comfortable with one another.

Fletcher was eager to find out more about the group, so he inquired about their story. He wanted to delve deeper into who these people were and how they had come together, so he posed the question "How did you guys meet?"

James spoke up first "Well I met Tommy, Jess, and Monica two weeks ago at a gas station, we met these gentlemen a few days later, heading the same direction as us ".

“Did you come across anyone else while traveling here?”

“A handful of people showed up now and then, including the army yesterday. We thought we'd finally made it to safety, but strangely enough, they wouldn't have paid us any attention if I hadn't revealed my prior military service. They insisted that their mission was too important to be delayed, so off they went without another word, how can anything be more urgent than saving civilians?”

Fletcher was rattled, hearing about the army's movements had him all worked up. But He stayed composed and asked,"Do you know which way they were going?"

James gazed off southward with a perplexed expression. "I'm pretty sure it's to the south, but there's nothing out there apart from mountains," he said in confusion.

Fletcher was aware that they were headed in the direction of the prison. he thought, "I have to get out of here fast, they might be on the lookout for anyone who made it out."

James inquired curiously, "So Fletcher what brought you here? Where did you come from?"

“I got separated from my brother and since then, I've been searching for him”. To cover up the truth, Fletcher came up with a false story of looking for his missing sibling in case anyone asked.

“I feel terrible for you; can you tell me what he looks like? Maybe we crossed paths with him”.

Fletcher described a random person, a friend he knew from prison, and obviously, they did not recognize him, because he was dead.

"I strongly suggest joining us at the shelter; he may be there, also you might not know about this, but all shelters compile a record of those who have survived".

"I will think about it, thank you for the suggestion".

Fletcher listened intently as people began sharing what had taken place outside. He was utterly unaware of the events that had unfolded in recent months, but he finally obtained some answers to his many questions.

From what he could piece together from their conversations, a year ago, scientists made a groundbreaking discovery: infinite dimensions existed. They found a way to open portals leading to them and planned an expedition like no other, to be broadcast live on television for the world to witness, something akin to the landing on the moon, but eight months later, when they were ready to send the team in, disaster struck, as the world watched in complete horror, A massive explosion happened at the site, taking hundreds of lives with it. Since then, portals have been popping up all over.

Horrifying monsters, grotesque creatures, and all sorts of horrifying beings emerged from portals around the world, causing chaos everywhere. Even dead bodies rose as zombies! But most shocking of all was when some humans started displaying supernatural abilities.

Governments around the world attempted to control this devastating situation but were unable to. As a last resort, they directed their citizens into secure underground shelters. Those who opted not to seek shelter, have been left to fend for themselves on the surface.

Fletcher discovered that Tommy had special powers; his speed increased tremendously and he was capable of reaching speeds as high as 90 kilometers per hour, an astounding feat. He was the reason the group had survived for so long; Tommy would lead zombies away from their location, giving them a chance to escape.

When the chatter had subsided and exhaustion began to settle in, one of the men named Joe reached into his bag and pulled out a radio. He switched it on, filling the room with static noise, as he was frantically changing frequencies in search of some coherent sound.

"…this emergen…Chanel number 96.0 to all survivors in the Maton city and nearby areas the 11th west base is now ready to receive more people please be safe on your way here...".

Fletcher listened as well, but his attention was elsewhere. His eyes fixated on Jess, mesmerized by her beauty. Her attractive face and full figure drew him in. After all the time spent in prison, being so close to someone as lovely as her filled him with desire. He looked at her with a burning intensity.

Jess noticed Fletcher and wrinkled her nose in distaste. He had been gawking at her the entire time, she shivered, grabbing a blanket to cover herself up, she was used to men stealing glances at her every so often but this Fletcher made her skin crawl, his presence gave her an unsettling feeling.

As night had crept in, everyone was fatigued and ready for some rest; Fletcher said his goodbyes after a lengthy evening and went back to his apartment.

Jess settled in for the night, nestled beside Monica. She couldn't help but tell her friend about the eerie feeling the strange man gave her, and to her surprise, Monica had sensed the same thing.

***

Early the following morning, James and his companions set off, while Fletcher watched from the window with a longing gaze, admiring Jess's figure; "If I wasn’t in a hurry, I would've had some fun with you," he thought wistfully.

Fletcher ventured further away from his current location, marching northward to increase the gap between himself and any nearby military presence. He had taken James' advice to heart and resisted hijacking a vehicle, which may have served as a beacon for dangerous creatures.

Two days after he departed from Flandas City, Fletcher arrived at a small town called Rover Hill. As he approached, he heard the echoes of gunfire and booms in the distance, curiosity sparked within him and he decided to investigate further.

Climbing to the summit of a nearby hill, he had an unparalleled view of the town. He watched in shock as soldiers and tanks battled against a dark figure. "What on earth is going on down there?" he moved closer to investigate.

The soldiers were up against an imposing giant standing five meters tall, it resembled a gorilla, yet it had no eyes, nose, or ears, just a wide maw of jagged teeth, the beast was cloaked in a thick black tar-like substance from head to toe.

The tar-like substance moved like an extension of its own body, hardening into a protective barrier of metal when threatened and transforming itself into sharp spears to impale any adversaries or even tentacles to grab whatever was nearby.

Fletcher was astonished as he watched a strange man wearing peculiar armor. Standing among the soldiers, the stranger had flames blazing from his palms and hurled huge fireballs, the size of basketballs, at the beast. Each fiery sphere burst into pieces upon making contact.

The fight dragged on for nearly a quarter of an hour and the soldiers were no match for the monster. Even though they threw everything they had at it, the creature remained unscathed while many of the soldiers perished in its onslaught. With their ammunition running low, it seemed like they were fighting a losing battle.

The strange man didn’t look any better either, he appeared utterly drained and lacked the strength to conjure any more of those fireballs.

The soldiers desperately tried to escape, but the beast was relentless. Fletcher saw it mercilessly pursue each of them until there was nobody left alive, to his shock, instead of devouring the corpses, it only gnawed off the head of the strange man.

Fletcher watched intently as the dark figure dashed away from the town, vanishing into the distance.

**

Fletcher ventured to the battlegrounds, rummaging through the corpses of fallen soldiers for anything that could be salvaged. He didn't want their guns; they were useless against the monstrous creatures wandering about. He found some military rations, medical supplies, and a combat knife.

Fletcher was intrigued by the armor adorning the mysterious man's corpse. It seemed to be made of a leathery material, yet it was as tough as steel. steeling from the dead was not a problem for someone like Fletcher, it was far more tame than all the horrible things he had done throughout his life, Fletcher grabbed the vest and two pairs of long gloves for himself.

He was surprised to find a mysterious bracelet on the corpse's wrist when he removed the gloves. Geometric shapes and strange lines were etched all over it, so he cautiously picked it up and inspected it more closely. The moment he slipped it onto his arm, it locked in place with a startling click, and a sudden prick of pain shot through his skin, something inside the bracelet had just pierced him.

Fletcher was stunned when he touched the bracelet and a glowing screen suddenly appeared before him, He stumbled back onto his rear end, completely baffled.

His eyes widened in surprise as he read the words on the display, which seemed to be giving information about him. ‘What is going on here? Is this some kind of game? Are these my stats?’

 

 

Fletcher was no genius, but even he could figure out what this represented, even though it seemed completely out of the realm of reality, the world was not the same anymore, he needed to adapt to it and fast.

'So my ability is called devour, back then inside the prison when I awakened, I was captured by the army, and they experimented on prisoners, who awakened like me, I never knew what my ability was, and neither did they'

Fletcher stumbled upon a notebook when searching the strange man's trousers. He snatched it and went on his way to find someplace to lay low for the night.

He eventually came across a secluded residence and decided to rest there for the evening. After devouring some nourishment, he began leafing through the notebook's pages.

Notebook entry N1

First day as an awakened august 23 2025.

My name is William Goldberg and I just made a huge transformation. Today, I attained an incredible ability that lets me conjure fireballs from my hands! The people in charge at the shelter saw potential in me and offered me the chance to join the military and help their mission of protecting humanity, something I'm really enthusiastic about. Now, I finally have the power to fight back and make a difference. One of the researchers gave me this notebook and asked me to document all of my experiences throughout the day , even the embarrassing stuff!

Notebook entry N2

Today I woke up at five in the morning…Fletcher skipped the mundane parts, and decided to skim through them until he found something interesting.

Notebook entry N21

… Today, the military elite were graced with a visitor from another realm , they appeared to be human yet had long ears and stunningly captivating elegance. They referred to themselves as elves.

The peace,loving race shared their generous gifts with us, special bracelets that magically show the wearer's attributes! Our scientists modified them so they display data in numbers and our language, just like a character stat window from a video game. Plus, they even gave us tips on how to boost our attributes…

 

Fletcher beamed with delight as he tucked the notebook into his pocket. He felt incredibly fortunate to get this bracelet, especially when all seemed lost in this chaotic world. Now he had hope, instead of fleeing, he could fight back and take control of his destiny. For once, Fletcher was excited for what tomorrow would bring.