The Other Side

"Is everyone alright?!" One of the males, who had survived that hellhole, yelled. He was someone who Shio had not seen before. He was wearing a nice black t-shirt, eyes that were grey as smoke, and hair brightly shining with the tint of silver. The man looked very pale, it was as if he bathes in a tub full of bleach and glutathione.

"He must be well hidden within the crowd. I don't even recall seeing his face earlier, or maybe I just didn't care that much with him." Shio thought as he slowly collapses unto the bed of grass below him. He laid his sore legs there as Hyuna, whom Shio had let down after a while of passing through that tunnel, sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, bringing her knees to her chest. Hyuna was embarrassed that someone had carried her all the way here from a place so distant, she was conscious of herself—mostly because she felt that she hadn't done that much and also because she may be too heavy.

"Hmm? It's fine." He replied, thinking that it may be because he carried her all the way here. Which was correct.

Shio laid both his hands to the ground, supporting his weight as he leans a little more to his back. His once clean and nice white t-shirt was now all loose and damp with sweat, dirt, and very few splatters of blood. It was gross to see and he felt really sticky and itchy wearing it since he likes things nice and clean. Call him someone with an OCD, but his hygienic manner never goes that far.

Sweat still dripped from Shio's body, especially to his forehead. His whole body felt like it was about to collapse, while his legs were throbbing from the immense workout session earlier. "This will probably sore so much tomorrow." He sighed.

"Yeah." Hyuna agreed, still all flushed from embarrassment. She was tired as well, her black t-shirt similar to the guy earlier, was now all filled with dried sweat and dirt. She probably soiled her shorts a little, too. From the terror, they all witnessed, who wouldn't?

"Ah! That's right!" She said as she suddenly remembered. Shio looked at her interestingly, his breathing slowly getting more stable and steady. Hyuna, then, brought a bag of coins from her pocket, the one she had used to throw and stun the pig monster. Also, the reason why more monsters came after them in a full-on rampage.

"What's that?" He asked, looking at the raggy bag of coins Hyuna was holding. He sat up more upright as he tries to cross both his legs together, only to feel pain from its soreness. "Ouch, ouch."

"Are you okay?!" Hyuna instantly panicked, half-yelling as it brought more attention from the crowd. The once group of at least thirty people, only eighteen of them were left. Almost half of them have been eradicated.

The others came circling around them as some only glared at the scandalous remark Hyuna made. She was too loud and it's kind of a problem.

"Yeah, don't mind me that much. You're too loud." Shio blatantly said as he straightens his legs once again. The grey-haired guy came approaching them, gazing at them all so concerned and worried.

"How about you, miss? Look at your left leg, it's all bleeding!" He exclaimed, pointing at the wound with dried up blood in it. Shio and Hyuna looked to where he's pointing and noticed the injury Hyuna had on her leg.

"I must have forgotten about that!" She laughed, scratching her head all embarrassingly. Shio also forgot that Hyuna was stabbed with the pig's awfully long claws, it probably slipped through his mind as it was preoccupied with running. The male looked at her all oddly as if it told an are-you-really-okay look towards her.

"Yes, yes! I'm alright, plus it's not bleeding any longer. So, don't worry!" She said, reassuring the male who breathed a sigh of relief. Hyuna smiled and looked at him more closely, noticing the beauty mark he had under his right eye. He was handsome, to say the least.

"Is that so? Then, I'm glad to hear it." He smiled gently at Hyuna, who was blushing all over her face. Her feverish manners from her embarrassment now turned into some attraction towards the male. Shio, on the other hand, looked at them in disgust and was glaring at them. He doesn't like seeing sweet and affectionate gestures in public, even if he sometimes does that with Kagura unconsciously.

"I'm going to go now. Bye then."

"Wait! What's your name?" Hyuna asked abruptly as he turned to look at her once again, his kind smile not wiping off from his face.

"Oh, right! I forgot, my name is Dylan. You are Hyuna, right?" He asked as he carefully places his hands to his pockets.  Hyuna only nodded in response, her lips curled into a smile as her face continues to redden and be flustered from him.

"Do all girls fall for some typical guy? I mean, he clearly looks like a fuckboy." Shio thought to himself as he looked away from the other two, he set his eyes on the tunnel that they had gone through earlier. It was all grey, almost looking purple-ish with a large round door over it. It didn't even seem like a tunnel from the side they were on, it was more of a passageway to this.

The passageway only seemed like a tunnel because of the intense light coming through it. Though from the other side, there was no such light. It was similar to what was behind that door, the skies were all displaying a vast gleaming night sky with the moon as the main source of light from here. Except, here, there were more luminous objects seen from other parts of this site.

He looked to the door once more and noticed some transcripts written on the upper edge of the door. It was in a whole new different language, it was somehow all gibberish like a Sims character had written it there. Not knowing what it says, Shio decided to look away from it and gaze upon the body of water next to the land they were on. This had surprised him. Why was there water here on the supposed 'afterlife'?

Plus, the taker said that after passing through the door, it will determine whether we all go to heaven or to hell but why the hell are they still here? And where the hell was that dickhead of a taker?! Shio thought endlessly as he stood up from where he was sitting.

He suddenly heard a 'cling' from one of his pockets and decided to grab ahold of the item in it. He didn't notice the sound it made earlier when he was running since the place was already filled with countless screams and the cracking of bones of those deceased bodies.

In his hands, there was a bag of coins similar to what Hyuna had earlier. Shio took a peek inside and saw that there were pieces of silver and gold, glimmering before his eyes. "Where did this come from?"

Finishing her lovely chat with Dylan, she went back to Shio and noticed the bag he was holding in his hands. "Oh, you have one too?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember placing them inside one of my pockets," Shio said. He looked at Hyuna, whose golden eyes were glinting from the moonlight. It was as gold as the ones he had found from the old tiny bag and it was beautiful.

"Me neither. I don't even know what to do with it." She said as she looked from the distance towards the direction of the body of water. There, she saw a brightly lit place, looking all so lively and full. It was as if someone was living here in the afterlife. "Hmm? Can you see that?"

She pointed at the place she saw and Shio followed suit. He nodded. He saw the brightly lit place and both of them had the same idea popped into their minds. "Is someone living there?"

"I know right. It's too awfully bright there and it seems suspicious." She said as they suddenly hear a loud cranking noise from the direction of the large door. They just saw the door being locked on its own, several seals appeared from its sides and hastily blocked the door.

When they had passed through it, the door had shut tight closed just then. There were few monsters near the door as well, but none of them were attacking the citizens near it. It was as if the light had stunned them in place, not allowing them to move an inch from where they are. It was odd, but Shio decided to shrug it off and not bother too much about it.

"What was that?" Hyuna asked, looking at Shio all worriedly. She was very bothered at the continuous cranking noises coming from the large door. It had gears around it, moving as it suddenly barricaded itself more tightly. It was now fully shut closed, and there were no more visible signs of a way to enter the other side.

"Why did the door latched itself up?" Dylan asked, his face now full of anxiety and dread. There was no way that the door would shut itself for no reason. He was breathing all hysterical as another girl approached him, patting him on his back.

"Calm down, Dylan. Maybe it just protected us from the monsters on the other side. Don't worry!" She said. Suddenly, from the distance, they could see another person approaching them with a lamp on its right hand.

"Clever, but not too clever. You see, that's not the reason it shut itself up—it's to prevent all of you from going back there. Since that's where all of you came from and the only way to get back to your world."