All In Vain

The room was dark, dark enough to the point where David could've sworn he heard footsteps coming from the other side. He tried moving his hands to get up; at least that might've relieved his anxiety. It did. He felt like someone was holding his hands to the wall, some sort of metal maybe. He tried moving them again and managed to stretch out his arms.

I originally thought that my hands were cuffed, but they aren't. What is this place? It smells like dust everywhere. Where did all my colleagues go? Why am I sprawled up like this?

Indeed, he was doing lab research probably a couple of hours ago with two of his colleagues. Only now, he realized he was sprawled against the wall of a dark room that wasn't his laboratory. Someone must've knocked him out and taken him here.

I don't even think I'm on the same college campus, or a campus for that matter.

David got up, stretched his arms, and started walking toward what he believed was the door. He put his arms out to feel the space around him, hoping this would help him figure out what he should touch and what he shouldn't.

I'm almost there, I think.

He was still somewhat anxious as he couldn't control his hands from shaking. Taking one step at a time, he finally managed to reach the door because he felt the knob.

Yes!

He turned the knob and pulled the door open. He was expecting light to shine upon him, almost as if he were in a dream, but nothing happened. There was still darkness, and David began to feel more frightened by the minute.

He took another step and noticed he was stepping on a different kind of floor tile. It was a different material, something metallic maybe. Either way, he had to keep going and find a switch—anything that would give him light.

In the darkness, he walked forward, stretching out his hands. Sadly, he didn't have a weapon, although, if anything approached him, he would have to turn around and run back to the room while shutting the door behind him. Even then, there wasn't a guarantee he'd survive the encounter.

Yes! I've got something! I think I've finally managed to find a switch.

He felt a switch on the right side of the wall. Based on the area he was feeling, he concluded he was walking down a hallway. At the end of the hallway was a light switch, his main key to getting out of this cursed place.

He flipped the switch, but nothing happened. Agitated, he started flipping the switch again and again, only to get the same result. He sighed, turned around, and started feeling for another door knob—there it was. He turned the knob and opened the next door. As he stepped inside, he noticed the air felt different. More importantly, as he touched the objects in the room, the answer to where he was in this vicinity was put right in front of his face: the control room.

David was in a control room of some sort, with buttons and even levers. He bumped into a soft wheeled-chair as he was touching all the buttons. If only he had a flashlight or even his phone to call for help. Why did he have to suffer like this?

Okay, you got this, there should be another door here that leads out. If I'm lucky, maybe there are some keys in the cabinets, although I highly doubt that.

He started to give up, and it became clear to him that the entire vicinity was powerless. He should've come to this conclusion beforehand, but he held onto his hope. Whoever put him in that dark room might be watching, so he couldn't act too swiftly.

David walked away from the controls, bumped into something else, and moved out of the way. He walked, but something pulled him back, something that had been attached to his lab coat.

What is this?

It had been sharp because once David moved back and felt what had held him, it almost pierced his finger.

Fuck.

He was about to remove his lab coat from whatever was holding him back until he felt the button of his feet kick something. It was a cabinet. He kneeled and tried feeling for the handle. Once he felt it, he opened the small cabinet and moved his hands through it. He smiled as he felt a flashlight.

Oh, please, please let this flashlight have batteries.

It did. David turned it on, and now he could see everything more clearly. He pointed the flashlight in all directions and fixed his glasses. He took a deep breath and pointed the flashlight at what had caught his lab coat. It was a bloody piece of glass—a long one at that. He removed his lab coat from it and turned around.

The flashlight aimed in front of him detected another door, just like David had thought. It also revealed a control room, just as he had presumed.

Hold on, if I can't get through the door, there should be a vent. I'm short and skinny, so I don't see why I shouldn't be able to fit through it.

He walked to the other side of the row of control equipment and saw a vent.

Hmmm...

First, he turned toward the door, walked up to it, and tried opening it. Not to his surprise, this door wouldn't open.

Whoever trapped me in here purposely unlocked the other door and locked this one, which means they wanted me to go through the vent I just saw too. But...what's waiting on the other side for me if I go? Do I want to find out?

Before, he had thought someone might be watching him through the cameras, but the power was off, so maybe they were watching through other means, which meant they might be close.

Or I could just be crazy and over-assuming things.

Point noted. He looked in the cabinets again for a screwdriver and couldn't find any. Even after looking through all the cabinets in this room, it was useless. He decided to put his efforts into pulling open the vent cover instead. It worked, against David's expectations. He pulled the vent cover out and tested whether he would be able to fit. He could, as expected.

The air vents, hopefully, would lead him to another room, then to a staircase, then to a parking lot, and finally outside. Only then would he be free.

He put the flashlight in his mouth, bit down on it, and started crawling through the air vent. He was making good progress as he continued to crawl until he needed to make a turn. The turns were the worst and always took longer than he expected.

About five minutes of crawling went by, and he started hearing noises—munching and growling. It wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for him to notice.

What?! Are those animals? No, they don't sound like animals. What is that?

He shook his head, feeling a little dizzy, and continued crawling. He saw a vent fan and made a left turn.

Oh, this is it.

What was in front of David was another vent cover. Using his flashlight, he hit the sides of the vent cover hard enough that they nearly popped off. However, they were still secured.

Shit, kicking them would be more effective, but this is the position I have to keep.

He went for another hit, and finally, the vent cover came off. At first, he decided to know where he was, as it was still dark, and he needed to use his flashlight to analyze his surroundings. Once he was standing, he analyzed the area—he was standing on concrete, and it was colder, so he must've been outside. Blood was everywhere, and the stench was terrible.

David saw vehicles, lots of them. Most were barricaded next to each other, and they looked like the ones an average civilian would use. The other vehicles, the ones that were scattered, were emergency and military trucks.

I still hear the growling noises, and it's coming from where the barricaded vehicles are.

David flashed his flashlight in that direction and started walking. He felt sick to his stomach, mostly due to the smell of blood that never left no matter how far he went. Maneuvering from vehicle to vehicle, he managed to get across the barricade. It wasn't until he fully stepped out of the cover of the building that he realized he was trapped.

There were walls in all three directions, but maybe he wasn't as trapped as he thought. Due to the moonlight, he didn't need the flashlight, but he kept it in his pocket. He jogged toward the crates stacked against the twenty-five-foot-tall walls and used them to get higher ground.

When he reached the top of the crate and looked over, he was shocked. The sight overwhelmed him so much that he felt his heart heating up in his chest. He put his palm on his chest and started breathing deeply.

Holy shit...no...this can't be. This has to be something from a comic book. No way...

Oh, but it was true, and he couldn't deny it. There was a large poster that he had just seen saying: CORVINIA X RESEARCH BUILDING; THE ISLAND'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST!

Right below the poster was a horde of the living walking dead. No one else. He thought about his situation and his heart sank. He was all alone on this island full of zombies. Who knows what the other countries are going through.

That's it. It's over. I guess I'm going to scavenge for a gun and shoot myself. All my efforts were in vain. There is no light, only darkness.