V1-032

At Three Pm on November 15th, 2017, the most extensive large-scale attack in the history of mankind took place. Thousands of Rockets were launched, and every single one hit its mark.

No one was safe, and the entire world was coated simultaneously in a similar bright flash of rainbow light.

Staring at the bright flash of light spanning every inch of my vision and accepting my fate, there was no panic inside me—just an eerie sense of calm; on a fundamental level.

Although it was unnatural for me not to fear death, I was, strangely enough…not afraid at that moment.

Holding my breath and feeling absentminded, my eyes shifted away for a second, and I met the worried gaze of Renton before we both turned back to where the weapon had detonated.

It took a few seconds, but finally, the sound of the explosion reached us along with a sickly hot gust of wind strong enough to not only shatter every window on the buildings around but also flatten us to the ground; the impact was like a freight train slamming directly into my chest.

But that wasn't the only pain I was feeling. As I lay on the ground gasping, trying to catch my breath, I realized that each breath felt like acid was being poured down my throat.

Fear gripping my heart, I tried to yell, but no sound would escape my vocal cords.

Beside me, on the ground, I was faintly aware that Renton and our Dad were experiencing the same thing.

While I struggled to breathe, a sensation began moving like a slithering creature from hell, the searing hot pain slid down my throat into my chest, and I could feel it move through my body.

The best comparison I could come up with at the time was that it felt like a boiling hot octopus tentacle was forcing its way down my esophagus, into my chest, then branching out to every inch of my body.

Meanwhile, as this transpired, I kept screaming in my head, 'What the hell is happening? What the fuck is HAPPENING!' That was when something clicked in my brain.

'THE VIRUS, it has to be airborne, and when we inhaled, we took it into our systems; now that it has entered our body, it's killing us from the inside out.'

Suddenly, something I had only heard about happened; my brain seemingly went into self-preservation mode, and I experienced the legendary life flash.

We've all heard the stories growing up about how in the moments before you die, your entire life flashes before your eyes. Well, I can honestly say it is true.

I Saw everything from the first time I rode a bike to my military graduation to the moment I took my first life.

Every event I had experienced in my short lifetime was flooding into my mind's eye. It felt like an eternity, but that all changed instantly from seeing my whole life play out before my eyes like watching a movie…

Then nothing, everything went black, and the pain ceased.

"Am I dead?" I thought to myself, and the words seemed to echo into the emptiness around me.

Without the intense and overwhelming pain flooding my nervous system, I suddenly felt like my body was floating in a new world filled with only darkness.

That was when I had a sudden epiphany causing me to glance down at my hands, and there they were.

From my hands, my eyes trailed down to my arms, chest, and eventually the rest of my body, and I became aware that I was lying on my back…not on solid ground, but in the air and staring up at the sky, which was previously filled with light and now only blackness.

"Where…cough…where am I?" Talking with a hoarse voice, I realized I wasn't thinking but instead was speaking aloud.

"How can I be alive? I clearly died. Is this purgatory, or am I alive…no COUGH, that doesn't make any sense…."

"Great, here I am, floating in a giant black hole of a room and talking to myself. Come on, Dean, get a grip." I grumbled in angst.

"So…uh, not to interrupt your conversation with yourself, but are we in hell or something similar, Dean?"

The sudden voice coming from my right caused me to jump away in fright, but since I was floating, I bobbed up and down and spun uncontrollably, thanks to being startled.

Since I was spinning around in a barrel roll, I noticed I wasn't alone; there, not even five feet away, Renton and Dad were floating in the Void with me.

"Oh, for crying out loud, is this some kind of joke? Are you telling me I lived through your childhood only to spend the rest of eternity stuck with you two arguing like idiotic children?" I heard my Dad complain bitterly, but that was when I realized something odd.

I noticed that instead of speaking with our mouths, our lips didn't move anytime we talked, and no sound would come out, yet I could still hear every word crystal clear.

With this realization, I came to a singular conclusion…telepathy. That was the only semi-logical explanation for the strange occurrence.

Unable to contain myself, and not wanting Renton or Dad to panic; I immediately filled them in on my observation.

"Don't freak out, but I think we have somehow formed a telepathic link to each other," I stated, which felt strange since I now realized my throat wasn't moving.

To my dismay, they both shrugged it off, leaving me alone to stew in my excitement about the possibility of telepathic communication. One by one, new ideas popped into my head, and I was giddy at the thought of testing my newfound skill to its fullest.

However, that was all cut short as Renton mentally cleared his throat and interrupted my happiness.

"Dean… your nerd is showing; you already seem to have forgotten that we can hear your thoughts, every single fucking one at that," Renton said with a grossed-out frown on his face.

"Instead of having a nerdgasm, can we please try to figure out where we are?" Dad joined in on the hazing, killing my joy instantly and causing me to look down at my feet in disappointment.

As the combination of Dad and Renton's voices bounced around my head, I suddenly became aware of the fact that the three of us were no longer alone.

In clusters of 3-5, other people began popping into existence, appearing all around me, and slowly, these clusters formed into groups of hundreds, then thousands, until all I could see apart from the darkness was a sea of bodies.

That was when I noticed yet another change; my Dad's voice disappeared from my head at some point, and I could only hear Renton's thoughts.

Beside us, I saw that Dad, too, had come to this conclusion and was waving his hands in an attempt to get our attention; however, we couldn't hear him anymore, it was like we connected with him for a few seconds, but after the other people appeared, we could no longer listen to him.

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