Quiet Town

Kia woke up, groaning in pain, his whole body aching like crazy, making him feel worse than before, but he managed to stand up. When he looked out the window, he saw that the sun was out.

How long had he been passed out? He thought, recollecting the night. Ah, the watch! He quickly glanced down at the watch and saw that it was still attached to his wrist. Frustrated, he sighed, hitting his hand to his forehead.

He was thinking of a way to get it off when his phone started to ring. This got his attention, and he quickly looked around, searching for his phone and saw it on his bed.

Kia sighed louder when he saw the caller ID, it was one of his bosses calling. He was supposed to deliver an important package today, and he was sure he had missed the deadline.

He thought he would have succeeded in his suicide plans and wouldn't have to deal with his boss scolding, but now here he was. Breathing.

"Hello," Kia answered.

"Where on earth have you been!" His boss boomed through the phone. "You are supposed to deliver the package by 9 am! It's almost 4 pm now, and I still haven't heard from you all day."

"4 pm?" Kia mouthed, his brow furrowed in confusion. He pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the time. His eyes widened when he saw that it was indeed 4 pm!

How long had he collapsed? If he remembered correctly, it had been like 11 pm when he passed out! That was more than 10 hours ago! It was like he was in a different dimension or something. He felt extremely disoriented, not to talk of the pain he was still feeling. How was it possible?

"Kia?" his boss snapped him out of his thoughts. "Hello? Are you still there?"

"I'm here," Kia said, trying to regain his composure. "I'm really sorry about missing the delivery, there was something that came up."

His boss scoffed, clearly unimpressed. "What could possibly be so important that you missed a deadline? This is a very important client. What is your excuse?"

Kia once again glanced down at the watch on his wrist. He knew he couldn't tell his boss that he had passed out for 10 hours due to a mysterious watch. It sounded ridiculous, even to him. And he knew his boss would never believe him.

"I..I…" he stammered as he tried to come up with an excuse, but words seemed to be stuck in his throat. Damn it! Why does he have to be so delicate! Deep down he wanted to give his boss a piece of his mind. Yelling at him to fuck off and go to hell with his peanut change and shove it down his throat until he chokes to death. All of these he wanted to say and more but sighing in defeat, he lowered his head and could only manage to mutter a low defeated. "I am sorry."

"Sorry won't turn back the clock!" The boss, not being one to let things go, said loudly. "Get the delivery ordered immediately!" He roared.

"Yes, sir. I will take..."

Beep!

His boss hung up before Kia could respond. His grip tightened around the phone, and his jaw clenched. With anger, Kia hurled the phone across the room, and it smashed hard against the wall.

He had always been overworked, pushed around, and underpaid. Knowing his condition, his greedy part-time boss took that as an advantage to demand more from him. In fact, everyone he had ever worked for did the same. They knew he was desperate and needed money, and they exploited that to their benefit.

He cursed himself for being so weak. Why was he just so cowardly and lacking confidence?

For a brief moment, he stood there, breathing heavily as his chest rose and fell with each labored breath.

A few minutes later, his shoulders dropped to the side, and his breathing became normal. He now walked over to where he had thrown his phone, and he picked it up. The screen was cracked and shattered from the impact with the wall. He glanced at it briefly, and then he threw it back on the bed as he couldn't stand the sight.

He quickly changed his clothes from yesterday, putting on a fresh, clean t-shirt, a new pair of jeans, a green hoodie, and his only sneakers, which were already worn out.

This would be the last time he would put himself through the abuse of his current job, as after this, he would create a new strategic plan on ending his life, and this time he would succeed without any interruptions and distractions.

With that, Kia walked out of his apartment door, his mind clouded in his own thoughts, and as a result, he didn't notice the faint red beeping light emanating from the watch attached to his wrist.

Kia rode his bicycle down the empty street, feeling as hysterical as he had yesterday. There were only a few people in sight, and if he wasn't mistaken, he didn't see anyone in his apartment building when he was coming down the elevator.

That felt strange to him, as he had tried countless times to ignore his neighbors whenever he left for work, but he would at least see someone, even if it was from afar. But today, he didn't even bump into his annoying lady next door.

Something seemed off, but he couldn't place his finger on it, so he ignored it. He rode his bicycle down the quiet street, but as he continued his journey, he was met with only more deserted streets. Was there a reason why he hadn't seen a single soul? Could it be that there was a lockdown in effect that he wasn't aware of?

The thoughts made him feel weird, but he shook them off and pedaled faster until he arrived at a small warehouse where he was supposed to deliver the package.

He got off his bike and unstrapped the package that was attached to the back carrier. As he looked around, Kia noticed that the neighborhood he was in was also empty and dead silent. He walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell. He waited for several minutes, but no one answered. He rang the doorbell again, and still, there was no response.

Kia checked the address on the package, and it was the right one. He had been here multiple times to have his packages delivered, so he was sure he wasn't mistaken. He peered through the window but could see little to nothing, so he tried wiggling the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. It was!

With a little push, the door opened. Kia hesitated at first, but then he stepped inside. He looked around and could see that the house was empty. That was strange. Was it possible that everyone had left town? That seemed unlikely.

With no other option, he placed the package on the floor beside a table and turned to leave. Just as he was about to grasp the doorknob, he paused when he heard faint footsteps approaching from behind. At the same time, the watch on his wrist began to vibrate.

Ding!

[Danger!]

A female robotic voice sounded through the watch.

[Danger. One infected spotted.]