Forceful intrusion into a strange world (2)

Chimsy cautiously approached the origin of the sound, her senses alert for any sign of its return, though it remained eerily silent for the next few seconds to minutes.

As Chimsy meticulously searched the third bed for any possible source of the sound, it suddenly returned; a drawn-out, incoherent noise that could only have been produced by a baby.

"A baby?"

Chimsy wondered aloud, her gaze shifting towards the very last bed at the end of the row of horizontal arrangement of beds.

Chimsy couldn't shake the feeling that her imagination was becoming far too vivid and specific, blurring the lines between what was real and what was merely a product of her mind.

Despite the uncertainty and strangeness of the situation, Chimsy felt a sense of relief wash over her.

The presence of another living being, even if it was just a baby, offered a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos.

Though the infant had no understanding of the events that had transpired, its presence provided a semblance of companionship in an otherwise desolate environment.

Her steps quickened with a mix of anticipation and apprehension as she approached the baby, but as she finally came to a stop and gazed upon the infant, a wave of emotions washed over her, causing her to pause and take in the scene before her.

Chimsy's eyes widened as she beheld the sight of the yellow-skinned baby with scanty tiny curls adorning her head.

Seated on the floor near the passageway, the infant was completely absorbed in playing with the glowing light in her tiny palms.

With each flicker of light in her palm, the baby would squeal with excitement, eagerly reaching out as if to grasp the glow.

However, every attempt to capture the light by bringing her hands together only seemed to extinguish it, much to the baby's apparent confusion and dismay.

"This is crazy,"

Chimsy muttered under her breath, her mind reeling with the implications of the surreal scene before her.

She couldn't help but entertain two unsettling possibilities: either she had died and found herself in some afterlife realm, or she was trapped in a twisted and nightmarish corner of her own mind.

Questions flooded Chimsy's mind as she struggled to make sense of the inexplicable phenomena unfolding before her.

How could a child make her palm glow?

What had happened to everyone else?

The lack of answers only deepened her sense of unease and confusion.

I only knew what was going on.

The baby before her was no ordinary child; she was a survivor of the recent forceful evolution that had claimed the lives of countless adults, adolescents, and children.

The staggering toll of the evolution had been especially brutal on the young, with a disproportionately high percentage of children succumbing to its effects.

In the entire world, only a total of twenty children aged five and below managed to survive the catastrophic events.

I call them the "twenty strong," a testament to their resilience in the face of the merciless evolution that spared no consideration for their tender ages.

Despite the odds stacked against them, these twenty young survivors defied fate and emerged victorious, their survival a miraculous anomaly amidst the devastation that had befallen the world.

Despite the absence of physical and external changes the "twenty strong" were endowed with unique and extraordinary abilities, much like the other survivors of the evolution.

The child's gaze lifted to meet Chimsy's, and a fleeting expression of surprise crossed her face before her features settled into stillness.

Then, almost imperceptibly, the corners of her mouth curved into another smile, which blossomed into a playful giggle.

The sight brought a sense of warmth to Chimsy's heart, despite the surreal circumstances surrounding them.

"What a bubbly fella,"

Chimsy remarked with a hint of amusement, regarding the child before her, whom she had initially suspected to be a figment of her imagination.

She was tempted to turn around and leave; Continue walking till her mind decided to snap her out of this weird contraction it decided to conjure up.

The strange baby as well as everyone else oozed eeriness; giving her a feeling that she should not go close to them.

This was logical because it wasn't a usual thing to see anyone capable of making their palms glow.

And usually when one saw the unusual the instinctual reaction was to run.

But just as Chimsy was about to turn away, the baby extended both hands up into the air, looking straight at her with an expression that seemed to convey a silent plea or invitation.

"Babies,"

Chimsy addressed the infant with a mixture of disbelief and concern as she bent down to pick her up. She let go of every logical reason telling her not to carry the baby.

"What are you even doing here alone?"

Just as she posed the question, her eyes landed on a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties.

She was lying on the floor and was like the others; lifeless. Chimsy didn't bother to check because she was almost sure that was the case.

In the cramped space, Chimsy noticed another figure—a man lying on the bed.

Unbeknownst to her, the man was the woman's husband, and they were both the parents of their only child, whom they named Sophia.

Tragically, they had not survived the harrowing experience that had befallen the world in the last few hours.

"Why are we the only survivors?"

Chimsy wondered aloud as she walked away from the spot where she had picked up the baby, carrying her away from her deceased parents.

The question echoed in her mind, unanswered and haunting, as she grappled with the inexplicable reality of their situation.

As Chimsy carried the baby away from her deceased parents, the infant extended one of her hands and pointed toward the motionless figures.

She couldn't speak yet because she was barely nine months old but she knew that these two people were her people, the ones she had formed a unique kind of bond with for the short time she had spent on Earth.

As Chimsy's mind raced with unsettling thoughts, she found herself momentarily distracted from the baby's silent communication.

A strange and unsettling notion crept into her mind: What if everyone suddenly woke up and transformed into some kind of monstrous, walking dead?

Determined to push aside such chilling thoughts, Chimsy quickened her steps and made her way toward the nearest exit, eager to put as much distance as possible between herself and the unsettling scene she had just left behind.

She was headed in the same direction as we were and just in about a few seconds she met up with us in the corridor.

"Why is this happening?"

Dae-su Han's voice trembled with fear and disbelief as he grappled with the surreal events unfolding around him.

The story I had told felt both incredulous and disturbingly believable, leaving him overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions.

"Finally, you're here," I said to the approaching girl.

Chimsy cast a peculiar glance at me, her expression resembling that of someone confronted by a persistent vendor in a market, trying to sell an unwanted item.

Of course, she didn't really recognize me.

Things were jumbled up in her mind.

It was weird that this forceful evolution did nothing to fix her damaged mind.

She looked at us like we were still figments of her imagination.

What a loser; unable to tell the difference between reality and imagination.

"Get a grip, will you?" I snapped, my voice sharp with urgency, in an attempt to jolt the girl out of her confused state.

The sudden outburst seemed to have the desired effect, as the girl visibly startled and shook, shaken from her myriad of thoughts.

"What happened? Everyone in the hospital is..."

The girl's voice faltered as she struggled to comprehend the events she had witnessed in the accidents and emergency ward.

Unable to find the right words to express what she just witnessed, she fell silent, her mind reeling with unanswered questions.

"What happened?"

Dae-su Han's voice trembled with anxiety as he sought confirmation from someone else, hoping to validate the surreal events that had shaken him to the core.

"Why are we all acting like we can't see the scene by ourselves? "

I asked while looking in the direction Chimsy had come from.

The thought of returning to the eerie scene in the accidents and emergency ward filled her with dread, her face contorting in apprehension.

Despite her reluctance, she couldn't bear the idea of being left alone. Whether this reality was true or not, she knew that being in the midst of people was the wisest course of action.

The prospect of confronting the situation together with others seemed to offer a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps by collectively facing the reality of their circumstances, they could begin to formulate a plan to address the crisis at hand.

I thought that calling the authorities, at least the ones that were still alive, appeared to be a logical first step towards seeking help and understanding the unfolding events.

Before I could even suggest anything to them, a strange light suddenly appeared in the corridor.

It stretched from the ceiling down to the floor, emanating a brilliant white glow that illuminated the surrounding area.

The sudden appearance of the strange light snapped Jackson Lee out of his daze, drawing his attention to the corridor.

Similarly, the little girl, previously engrossed in playing with the glow in her hand, turned her focus towards the luminous phenomenon that had materialized before them.

Everyone stared in awe at the white beam of light before them, their attention captivated by the mysterious letters that began to materialize within it.

'WELCOME, INHABITANTS OF EARTH'