Forceful intrusion into a strange world

"Ah...ah...ah," Jackson Lee gasped, his stance precarious as he leaned against the metal rails, the strain evident as they visibly buckled beneath his weight.

I sensed his unspoken words, formed in his mind, yet his voice faltered, failing to convey the message he longed to express.

With a desperate impulse, he sought to beckon Dae-su Han, who stood mere inches ahead.

The fear that once gripped the pale-skinned man had dissipated, replaced by a mixture of concern and bewilderment.

"W....Wh....What... ha...happened?"

Jackson Lee's once fluent and coherent speech now faltered, his words disjointed and simplified, as if he were a newcomer to the world, grappling with the complexities of language all over again.

Dae-su Han, now as perplexed as the newly awakened Jackson Lee, instinctively shifted his gaze toward the only other person present: me.

He remained silent, and even though I could tell what was in his mind, his thoughts were transparent, written all over his face, conveying everything I needed to understand without a single word spoken.

It was a simple question. "What just happened? Why are we like this?"

I said to them, ''You'll think I'm crazy if I told you what happened just now,'' knowing fully well that they could handle whatever I might reveal.

Humans may not be the strongest species on Earth, but they excel at adaptability, placing them at the top of the list in that regard.

They might complain, wail, and lament, but when push came to shove, they would endure and survive.

And now, the people remaining on Earth were those who had endured the most harrowing event in recorded history, surpassing any challenge known to humanity.

They had been meticulously sorted by circumstances that remained elusive to me.

Among the select few who survived this rapid evolution, there existed a resilience and strength capable of carrying the heavy burden of understanding the profound experience they had just endured.

They simply had no choice but to adapt, for regardless, it wouldn't alter the reality that the majority among them had transformed into something vastly different from what they were accustomed to.

"You're..."

Somehow, even with access to countless stories and knowledge, I struggled to find the words to explain the recent events to the bewildered people.

"Me... Huge,"

Jackson Lee spoke while pointing to his bare chest.

Ignoring the interruption from the towering figure, I pressed on with my attempt to elucidate the recent events that had unfolded.

I stumbled over my words, acutely aware that to both these people and myself, the events seemed so fantastical and surreal, almost beyond belief.

Yet, they didn't need to search far for validation.

Jackson Lee stood as living evidence of the very things I had spoken about.

Moreover, scattered not far away, several humans lay lifeless on the ground, while others, alive but visibly altered, elicited shock and terror from those around them who were also altered in some way or form; visible or not.

Chimsy was one of those individuals.

Every wound on her body had vanished, leaving her skin as unblemished and pristine as if it were new.

The only remnant of her ordeal, the countless muscle-eating sores that once plagued her, was the lingering stench that emanated from her body.

It persisted, serving as a constant reminder of what she had endured before the forceful evolution had reshaped her being.

In the section designated as the accidents and emergency unit, there were no survivors to be found.

The room was filled with lifeless bodies, devoid of any signs of movement or breath.

Her heart raced, pounding against her chest, as her mind raced through a myriad of thoughts, grappling with the incomprehensible events that had unfolded before her.

They all appeared peaceful, as if in a deep slumber, but she felt compelled to check their pulses, only to find nothing, confirming the absence of life in each of them.

The doctors, nurses, patients, and others—all of them were devoid of life.

The question remained: What had happened to them? Could they have perished from some sort of sudden viral outbreak that swiftly claimed their lives?

Despite their outward appearance of wellness, so convincing that one might question why they were in the hospital in the first place, it was clear that their physical state did not reflect their true condition.

Looks could be deceiving, and in this case, looking okay did not equate to being okay.

Within the depths of her mind, it felt as though seconds of her life were missing, yet uncertainty clouded her thoughts.

She found herself questioning everything, unsure of anything at all.

For all she knew, she entertained the unsettling notion that perhaps she was merely imagining all of this, while her true body lay decaying in her bedroom.

However, the vividness of her current experience felt undeniably real, casting doubt on the veracity of her own perceptions.

She recognized that she had not truly mastered the art of losing herself in her own mind.

Whenever she drifted away from reality, her mind acted as a guardian, pulling her back to the present after only a few fleeting seconds or minutes had passed.

So, this was real... If it wasn't, then it would be a cruel and twisted trick her mind was playing.

She would never want to be stuck in such a reality where everyone around her was dead.

As her thoughts swirled in her mind, she suddenly heard a sound emanating from a far corner of the accidents and emergency section, amidst the maze of beds and partitions.

Her senses were heightened to their utmost, sending a flurry of signals to her brain, while her mind remained on high alert, inundated by the torrent of thoughts coursing through it.

For some inexplicable reason, she found herself more composed than she had anticipated in the face of such a threatening situation.

It was as though she had been transported into a haunted realm, yet her calm demeanor persisted, defying the eerie atmosphere surrounding her.

The eerie sight of everyone appearing peaceful yet lifeless sent shivers down her spine.

Was this truly the visage of death?

She pondered this question as she cautiously moved toward the direction from which the sound had emanated, curiosity mingling with trepidation.

"Run, fool,"

Logic screamed at her, urging her to retreat as she persisted in taking steps toward the source of the sound.

The scene before her painted a grim tale, one fraught with tragedy and loss.

Somehow, she found herself as the lone survivor amidst the aftermath of whatever calamity had unfolded in this place.

If this reality proved to be genuine, and not a mere figment of her imagination, she realized the urgency of removing herself from this place.

Whatever had caused such widespread devastation, leaving no visible trace on the victims' exteriors, was undoubtedly a formidable and unseen threat.

She resolved to put as much distance between herself and this eerie scene as soon as possible.

Her mind raced with possibilities, and her highest conjecture landed on an insane infestation, perhaps the deadliest ever to exist.

If her suspicion proved correct, it meant that she had likely been exposed as well, putting her own life at risk.

However, that realization only reinforced the urgency of leaving this place behind.

Remaining here would only increase her chances of succumbing to whatever deadly force had befallen the others.

A few minutes ago, before she lost consciousness... Wait... she passed out? Confusion clouded her thoughts as she grappled with the uncertainty of what had transpired in the last few minutes or hours; whether there had been an intruder, or perhaps it was K-cee?

Her mind struggled to discern what was real and what wasn't, leaving her feeling disoriented and vulnerable.

For weeks, one of the things she had found herself wishing for was an infestation that would wipe out humanity in a manner similar to this, offering a seemingly painless end.

Yet now, faced with the grim reality of such an event, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease and dread creeping over her.

The thought of a swift and effortless eradication of humanity, including herself, had held a strange appeal to her.

Yet now, as she confronted the aftermath of such a scenario, she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding and uncertainty about what lay ahead.

As she grappled with the reality before her, she realized that the outcome hadn't unfolded exactly as she had imagined.

While the wish for humanity's swift demise had lingered in her thoughts, the crucial aspect had been that she would be among those wiped out alongside the rest of humanity.

Yet here she was, alive amidst the devastation, grappling with the unsettling implications of her survival as she moved toward the source of a mysterious sound.