"One more shitty day."
"Nothing more… Nothing less."
Murmurs from the street disrupted his dreams; Jun nuzzled his chin into his chest, trying to avoid the morning light. Eyes flickered open. Pushing his hand down on the paper-thin bed, he got up. His back straightened as he crossed the shabby room.
He halted in front of the door that sat ajar.
He yawned, pushing the door fully open. The rusty hinges groaned. A cracked mirror and a lonely sink that has seen better days.
"Ahhh… Not that shitty smell."
He groaned, pulling his head away.
"Someone should fix that."
Grunting, he turned his head back toward the sink. Pinching his shirt, he brought it up to his nose. Inching closer to the sink, he carefully reached out his free hand like the sink was radioactive.
Turning the tap, water barely trickled out.
He sighed, drew his leg back, and kicked once. Nothing. Kicked again. Still nothing.
"Fucking hell, why every damn morning?"
Third time. The water burst out, sputtering and then steadying. He dropped his shirt, placing both hands under the water—hot, surprisingly.
Splashing water onto his face, he rubbed his eyes, his mind drifting.
"Damn it."
"That bloody migraine has come back. Fucking hell."
"Ohh well, what time is it?"
Snapping back to reality, he looked at his wrists. A definite red line tracing around his wrist. He shook his head in surprise and then panicked.
"Damn… Where the hell is it?"
He shouted in his mind as he snapped his body backwards, running back into the room trying to find something. He opened drawers and basically destroyed the room trying to find it.
Pulling off the torn bedsheets and tearing the pillow open, still not able to find it, he jumped and screamed. Startling a burrowing owl off the ledge of his window.
"Where is it!"
Still screaming, he bumped into the table and felt something in his pocket. His screaming stopped as he quickly placed his hand into his pocket, scrounging, and then he stopped. Taking out his hand, he clutched that something he was screeching for. A wristwatch with its seams creased and straps worn thin.
"Fuck!! I am really a dumbass."
Looking at his reflection through the dirty lens of the watch, the corner of his lips curled into a smile. Then he read the time, and his expression, well, changed.
"Shit, shit, I am late."
He whipped himself around once again and ran. Opening the front door to a hallway with a staircase to the right corner. Before he ran through the door, his hands flicked a jacket from the hanger. He ran with all his speed, throwing his watch back into his pocket and wearing his jacket as he ran.
"If I am late, I am dead."
He hummed as he slid along the staircase railing. Close to the end of the railing, he jumped and landed onto the yellow-stained tiles.
He ran out of the building into the narrow streets. The road was covered with mud, and crackheads sat around the corner, swinging metal bats for "fun." But he couldn't care less about it.
Some moments later… he stopped, breathing heavily. He bent, using his knees for support.
"Ohhh... my-my god."
"Why did I take a job across the city?"
He finally caught his breath and stood up straight. Sweat dripped from his face, and he looked around. A massive construction site in front of him, with signs of caution and people walking and staring at him, laughing. Their whispers were loud on purpose, but who could say?
"Mama, who's that man?"
A child innocently asked loudly.
"Be quiet; if he hears you, he will do bad things to you, okay?"
The mother kneeled to her child and explained this. Jun didn't respond. He walked in.
Keeping his head down, he walked through the site. People were pouring cement and placing brick, concrete, and wood. Their clothes and hands were dirty, yet they still smiled. Then a voice erupted, and Jun looked up.
"Ayyy, Jun, Jun, you bastard."
Jun looked at the man with a thick goatee and yellow cap on his head running toward him.
"Ida, how are you, man?"
He asked, and Ida stopped running and placed his hand on Jun's shoulder.
"By the way, Jun, why are you late?"
Squeezing Jun's shoulder tightly, Jun crumbled like paper, yet Ida didn't stop.
"Ida, Ida. I was only 1 minute late."
He mumbled. Ida still didn't stop squeezing Jun's shoulder and shook his head in disappointment.
"Yeah, don't 'Ida' me right now, because now, I am a bloody boss and you are a 1-minute-late bastard. You are getting a write-up, and for the next 6 days you are on roofing detail."
Jun looked at Ida like his life was ending.
Moments Later…
"Fucking hell… Why do I have to do this in the middle of the day in the shitty sun?"
Murmuring under his breath, Jun nailed shingles down as sweat ran down his body.
"Oi, Oi, Ida, Ida."
Jun looked down, his voice echoing. Ida, who was pulling a trolley filled with bricks, stopped in his tracks and looked up.
"What?"
"Can I go for lunch?"
Jun replied. Turning his body towards the ground. Ida smiled and looked him dead in his eyes.
"Absolutely not. In 2 more hours."
Jun raised his eyebrows and looked at Ida like he was crazy.
"Shithead, if I look at one more coil nail or shingle, I will kill someone."
"Don't care, and if you do, maybe you'll get a real work ethic."
Ida said, continuing to pull the trolley. Jun grunted and groaned as he turned back to finish.
***
Hours later…
"Hey, you did good today."
Ida walked with Jun, who looked like a ghost.
"I hope you die."
Jun raised his middle finger. They continued walking until they came to a halt in front of a massive tower made of stainless beams and glass that glinted in the afternoon sun. Stalls reached from Beacon till the end of the street, covering both sides completely.
Children ran, and people argued or laughed with one another.
"Hey, hey, Ida. Look there at those idiots."
Ida turned his head to where Jun was pointing and rolled his eyes.
"Ahh… You mean those white-robed bastards who say, 'Join us, then you will be blessed by our God.' Those bastards are right."
"Holy shit… That was pinpoint."
Jun laughed—actually laughed—and Ida made faces. Ida then stopped making faces and asked.
"By the way, what time is it?"
Jun, who was wheezing, checked his watch and read out.
"4:05 PM. Wait, we are late for the sale."
Jun looked back just to find Ida running away, screaming.
"Move out; we're late for a sale."
Jun palmed his face in disappointment and started running behind him. Soon, they reached a small wooden stall with an old man smiling and shouting.
"70% OFF TODAY ONLY!"
He shouted again and again; Jun and Ida were drooling at the sight of those delicious sandwiches. Jun asked, eyes still attached to the food like glue.
"How much for one?"
"99 eyrir"
Jun's face changed from a ravenous expression to one of worry as he turned his head to Ida, who already knew the drill and was taking out his money.
"Huh… wasn't it 70% off?"
The old man changed slightly, saying,
"No, that's your problem."
"Fucker, how is that my problem? Weren't you the one screaming '70%, 70%'?"
Ida responded, slightly tweaked at this.
"Take it or leave it."
The old man said in a tone of disgust. Ida wanted to throw a punch, but Jun stopped him, giving him a knowing look.
"Fine, we will take the sandwich."
The old man's expression changed back to what he had initially said.
"Hope you come back soon."
Ida spat as he grumbled.
"Bastard."
"Well, Alteast makes a good sandwich."
"Want some?"
Ida asked while stuffing food in his face. But Jun smiled and continued walking through the city.
A few moments passed, and Jun stood behind Ida, whose head was in a trash can in an alley.
"Ida, we have to go back."
"What was in that sandwich?"
"Blah…"
Ida turned back, looking deathly pale. Jun started laughing and pointing his index finger at Ida. Then the siren blared loudly, and Jun turned back as Ida got up. "I repeated, 'This is not a drill. This is not a drill. Code: Gold. Code: Gold! " All people of the center, please proceed to the Outskirts Gate; I repeat—evacuate to the Outskirts Gate."
Peeking his head out of the alley, he sees hundreds of people running through the narrow street.
Ida took a few steps and stopped; he saw chaos and froze. Jun turned and walked beside and muttered under his breath.
"Not Again."
Jun started running, and Ida, who snapped back to reality, jerked his head back and called for Jun.
"Jun, where are you going?"
"Jun, where the fuck are you going!?"
Ida shouted, but Jun didn't stop and instead ran onto the opposite side of the alley. Reaching a road, he took a sharp turn and started sprinting. Ida followed in pursuit but much slower than Jun.
Minutes later, he reached a building and jumped over the fence. Jun climbed the stairs 2 at a time, already reaching the 1st floor, but Ida just reached the building right now. Ida was breathing heavily but still looked up and screamed.
"J-jun! You bastard, why are you going home?"
"We need to evacuate."
Jun just walked in through a door. It was his shabby room, and he gritted his teeth. His knees dropped as he reached under the bed, grabbed a dusty suitcase, and opened it.
Nothing much was there except for an empty bottle, but he scrounged through it until he picked something up. It was an old, rusty dagger with initials carved into it, "J.H.S." He placed it in his pocket and quickly sped out the door. He slid off the railing to the ground floor. He ran and hopped the fence again.
Ida looked up, still gasping. Jun was already gone. Ida followed in pursuit once again. Jun continued running and not once looking back, but in moments' time, he stopped in front of a towering steel wall, but something was different.
The metal the 100-foot wall was made of was torn open but tight simultaneously. Shredded metal with the edges still melting lightly. Like something burned through it with precision and kept moving. The metal didn't explode outward—it was parted. Peeled back like something walked through it the way you'd push through a curtain.
Jun called for Ida but got no response. Jun turned back and realized his mistake.
"Ida! Fuck."
Ida was running toward him. Behind them both, the crowd was being turned into shreds of flesh and bone by a creature that had no right to be on this planet.
The creature had no ears, no eyes, just a mouth with a smile, with bone-like protrusions from its head forming antlers of sorts. It wasn't on all fours like an animal or beast; it was standing and walking like a human. He saw Ida's body get crushed by the creature's feet. The only thing that was his and wasn't in a tangle of flesh and bones was a dirty yellow cap.
Jun stayed quiet. The creature was approaching at a speed that made no sense for something that size. It found Jun and was now running towards him. Jun, who was frozen, snapped back and whipped around and started trying to push his way through the tear. It was big enough, but for a creature, it was too small.
Jun stuck his arm and his right leg through, trying to bend the small, sharp, torn metal apart. Moments before the creature reached him, he went through. Falling onto sand, the creature slammed into the wall. The wall shuddered. A dent the size of a body pressed outward from the other side.
Jun, who sprawled onto the ground, tilted his head up and looked at the horizon. A desert stretched to the horizon in every direction, and something was approaching his location. A mist of hot sand was approaching, and Jun covered his head, bracing himself for it. The mist of hot sand came over him, and everything went dark.