This Story was written by Kevin Lim and was published in this site with the authorization from the author
Rain
sprinkled onto Jack’s body, waking him up.
As he opened his eyes, water trickled into them.
Jack felt a throbbing headache. He
sat up and looked around him. For
some reason he was lying unconscious in a dark alley drenched in rain.
He was completely disoriented and felt really cold.
He looked down the alley. The
sun was close to the horizon. There
was a large dumpster right beside him. Rubbish
was almost everywhere. He could not
remember how he got here. Nor could
he pinpoint the last thing he remembered. For
a moment he wondered if he had lost his memory, but then he realized he still
remembered his name and age. He
knew he had a wife and a five-year-old son.
He also remembered that he was a pilot.
But still he hadn’t a clue how he got here.
He could not figure out where he was.
There was some strange air to this place, something strange.
But he couldn’t figure that out, either.
He stood up.
His body ached all over. Jack
checked if he still had his wallet and found that he did.
He decided to find a telephone and call home.
He turned around and walked down the alley.
It was eerily quiet. All he
could hear was the platter of the rain. He
walked into the deserted street. There
were a few cars parked erratically across the middle of the road.
There were a few parked properly beside the curb.
There were rows of shops on both sides of the road.
In the sky, Jack could see a dark blue. He saw a phone booth and walked
towards it. The phone wasn’t
working. Frustrated, he tried to
figure out where he was. He looked
at the signboards on the shops and found that they were all written in Cyrillic
letters. Was he in some Russian
city? It was getting more and more
strange for Jack. All the windows
and doors on the shops were broken. There
was nothing inside the shops. It
looked like this area had been looted. He
peered inside one of the shops. It
looked like a grocery shop. Though
the cupboards and shelves were completely empty, there was a newspaper on the
floor. The date printed near the
top was unmistakable even though it was written in Cyrillic:-
14
OKTABYR 2016
He felt completely disoriented. His
throbbing headache grew more painful. He
walked away from the shop. He
didn’t know where to go. Jack
just kept on walking. He hoped to
find somebody to talk to. It all
felt like a terrible nightmare. Jack
wished he could wake up from it. He
kept looking around him and saw the same picture – abandoned shops and cars.
After about an hour of walking, dusk began to set
in. Jack’s initial panic was
gone. Now he just felt worried and
frustrated. For some reason his
chest began to burn and he occasionally coughed.
He had been walking around in a deserted ghost city.
Suddenly, he saw something down the road.
It looked like bodies of two men lying across the road.
He ran up to the bodies. As
soon as he got a close look at the bodies, he grimaced.
All that was left of the bodies were skeletons.
Apparently these two men are soldiers as the skeletons are wearing green
Battle Dress Uniforms and a helmet.
Bullet holes peppered the walls of shops around him.
What had happened here? More
importantly, how had he gotten here? He
kept thinking about the date written on the Russian paper.
Did it mean that it was printed on the 14th of October 2016?
Did he somehow land unconscious in the future?
He remembered that he was born on April 18, 1964, and that he was
thirty-eight years old. The year
was supposed to be 2002. Or was it?
He realized that he could not recollect what had happened recently.
He could only remember his past. Did
he somehow lose his memory for the past 14 years?
Somebody. He needed to find
somebody to help answer his questions. He
needed to get out of the city. It
had been deserted after some disaster had happened.
That would probably explain the looting and the dead soldiers.
It was completely dark now.
The skies had cleared. Jack
felt scared again. There was
completely no light in the city. The
only illumination came from the full moon, which was just rising above the
horizon. Then, Jack saw a faint red
flickering light in the distance. He
walked towards it along the sidewalk. There
was a fire burning around a corner. Desperate
for some warmth, Jack hurried towards it. As
he went around the corner, he saw three figures of men standing around the fire.
They were all wearing dark, long clothes.
All three of them were bald.
“Hey,” Jack called out, “can you help me?
I’m lost here.”
They turned towards him.
Then, the one in the middle said something that Jack didn’t understand.
The second man said something in reply.
He suddenly went to the side of the sidewalk and picked up an axe that
was leaning against the wall. The
other two picked up metal pipes, which was equally menacing.
They walked quickly towards Jack.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked.
He didn’t need an answer though. When
they were about ten feet away from him, they all raised their weapons and
started running. Jack turned around
and ran as fast as he could.
He was chased down a seemingly endless road.
Occasionally dodging cars and debris along the way.
He was getting tired. His
chest now hurt even more. He knew
he wouldn’t escape if he kept on running like that.
The three men looked bigger and stronger than him, which meant that they
could probably outrun him any moment how. Abruptly,
he turned right and ran into what seemed like an apartment building.
He ran past a block of letterboxes and up towards the stairs.
After three stories he ran down the corridor of the third story and sent
into the apartment at the end of the hall.
He waited there.
He was gasping for breath.
He hadn’t run so hard before in his life.
He tried to stay as quiet as possible.
The moonlit apartment was filled with cobwebs.
It looked like its tenant had left without packing.
He saw cups and plates in the basin at the kitchen.
Books and magazines were on a coffee table. Everything was covered in cobwebs. He looked at the floor barely lit by the moon outside.
He had left footprints on the floor!
Then, he heard footsteps that were growing louder by the second.
The three bald men were surely following Jack’s footsteps along the
corridor. Without hesitation, he
climbed out the window into the fire escape and headed down the ladder.
Suddenly he realized that there could be one standing guard outside the
building. He climbed up.
As he passed the apartment, he saw all three men rushing through the
door. Knowing that it was too late
to change directions again, he headed straight up.
When he reached the fifth floor, he climbed in an open window.
He was sure that he did not leave any footsteps on the metal ladders.
He took off his shoes and walked out to the corridor.
He went down the stairs to the fourth floor and hid in one of the
apartments. He sat down in the darkest corner and waited.
No one came. He coughed so hard he thought he would spit his lungs out.
*
*
*
“United Flight two-eight-zero, this is
Miami Tower, do you copy?”
“Miami Tower, this is Flight two-eight-zero, we
read you five by five, over.” Jack said.
“There
is a 767 inbound from Puerto Rico five miles to your 190, suggest you come to
new course one-five-zero. Reduce
your airspeed to 250 knots. Maintain
altitude.”
“Miami Tower, United Flight
two-eight-zero, roger new course one-five-zero. Airspeed reduced to one-five-zero knots, over.”
Jack said into his microphone. His
captain, on the left seat was letting him handle the radio communications.
“Very well, two-eight-zero. Have
a nice flight. Miami Tower out.”
The voice said.
They were flying a Gulfstream IV corporate
jet in cloudy weather. In the
passenger cabin behind them, there were five corporate executives who wanted to
go to the Bahamas. As Jack turned
the plane, he watched the bearing indicator changing numbers rapidly.
Then, the indicator went blank.
“What’s wrong with the bearing indicator?” Jack asked his captain.
He did not reply. He did a
diagnostics check on his avionics.
“The computer’s unable to determine which way we’re heading.” The
captain finally said. It was not a
satisfactory answer for both of them, though.
At the same time, the weather instantly deteriorated around the plane.
Rain was crashing against the windshield.
Heavy turbulence circulated around the plane and flashes of lightning
occurred everywhere.
“United Flight two-eight-zero, this is
Miami tower, come in”
“Miami Tower, two-eight-zero, we read
you.” Jack replied.
“We lost you on our scope.
Is everything okay up there?” the voice said.
“We’re having problems with our INS.
Onboard electronics seems to be okay.
The weather is not so good, though.”
“Two-eight-zero, can you get a position
fix at this point?”
“Negative, our INS is not working. We have
zero visibility. our pla-“ before
Jack could finish the sentence. The
plane shuddered uncontrollably. It
was so strong Jack felt as if the plane could be shaken to pieces.
Then, there was a blinding white light that made both pilots wince.
Screams could be heard from the executives behind.
The plane shuddered harder and harder until they felt dizzy.
The light was so intense that their eyes hurt even when they were closed
shut. Then, suddenly, everything
stopped. There was nothing. Jack wasn’t sure if his eyes were still closed but all he
saw was blackness. The screams were
gone. The sound of splattering rain
was gone. Everything was quiet.
His senses could not register anything.
Nothing. Just the blackness
and the sensation of infinite nothingness…
*
*
*
Jack woke up suddenly. He
found that he was still in the abandoned apartment building.
Although he could barely recollect his dream, he remembers the plane and
the blinding white light. Soon he
realized that it was the last thing he remembers before he got here.
His plane was having trouble. Did
he crash and die? Was this some
kind of hell? No, he thought.
He felt alive. He also felt tired and still had his headache.
He tried to remember where he was before the plane crashed.
His navigation system was not functioning, but he was somewhere between
Florida and the Bahamas. He
suddenly thought about the Bermuda Triangle.
It was the legendary three-sided zone at the Central American portion of
the Atlantic Ocean where every ship and aircraft that went inside never came
out. Ships and planes had been lost
in the area for centuries. No
satisfactory explanation had ever been given.
They just vanished. Just
like him. Was he part of the
mystery? He could not find another
reasonable explanation to how he got here. Though
it wasn’t the best explanation. Where
were his captain and his other passengers?
Where was his airplane? As
he decided that he’ll never figure it out by sitting here and thinking, he
headed out of the building.
His coughing began to increase and now he felt really sick.
He also started to feel dizzy. Maybe
it was the cold weather. He still
didn’t know where to go. Jack
knew that he needed to find some food to eat.
He was hungry and tired. He
needed to go home. The rain had
stopped. He decided to keep walking
until he found something. Despite
the cold he was sweating. Jack felt
that he was probably coming down with flu or something.
He had entered the outskirts of the city. There were no longer shops or other buildings around him.
There were only trees on both sides of the road now.
They looked alive and healthy, quite unlike the city he was in.
Jack felt that he wouldn’t find anything if he kept on walking like
this. On top of that, he felt
terrible. His chest burned worse
than ever, he couldn’t stop coughing and his dizziness made him feel like he
was spinning.
He stopped and sat down leaning against a tree.
He wanted to rest for a while before heading back to the city.
As he sat, his mind began to wonder what had happened to this place.
What had happened to him? He
needed answers desperately. Suddenly,
he heard someone speaking. He
turned and found two bald men walking straight towards him.
He was sure that these were not the same ones that chased him before. These faces were different – or was the one on the left a
woman? The person had a small,
slender body, and seemed to have breasts. But
she was bald too. She and the man
were wearing the same long black outfit as the three men before, though they did
not seem to carry any weapons.
As Jack stood up, they started running towards him.
Instinctively, he headed towards the woods.
As he ran, he dodged left and right to avoid hitting a tree.
The man and the woman chased him relentlessly. It was slightly darker than before. The clouds obscured the moonlight. He took advantage of the darkness and lay flat against the
ground, hoping that they would not find him.
Then, beams of light flashed around him. It looked like someone was carrying a torchlight.
He heard some yelling. He
also heard the woman’s voice. He
got up as slowly as possible and looked around the tree he was behind.
Bang! As he looked, the man fell to the ground.
Bang! The woman also went limp and crashed to the ground as well.
As the beams of light appeared brighter, three figures of men appeared.
The torchlights seemed to be mounted on their heads.
Their heads were larger than usual, more squarish.
Aliens? He wondered. No, it turned out to be men wearing biochemical protection
suits. The lights shone directly
onto him. He could not see
anything. Suddenly he felt
something sharp piercing his shoulder. Soon
he lost consciousness.
*
*
*
Jack opened his eyes and looked at a rusty red ceiling.
He felt terrible. He was in
pain. His head felt like it was
about to explode. His whole body
felt weak and numb. He could not
even sit up. He coughed violently.
Momentarily he was disoriented but everything came back to him.
The “aliens” must have brought him here.
Who are those men?
“Hello…?” Jack called out weakly.
“How are you feeling?” a voice replied.
He tried to look to his left and saw a man behind a wall made of plastic
sheet. The man looked like he was about fifty years old.
He was wearing thick glasses with a beard and a receding hairline.
He was wearing a white lab coat. He
looked around him. He was in a
small metal cell. It looked rusty
and dirty. The room smelled of
rusted metal mixed with some hospital-like odour.
“Who are you? What am I
doing here?” Jack said.
“My name is Dr. Mikhail Il’ych Petrov,”
the man said. “We found you on
the surface. Apparently you’re
not a carrier.”
“Surface… What surface?”
“The surface.” Dr. Petrov looked
confused. “You know, above
ground. The surface in the open
air. Do you know where you are?”
“No, I don’t remember anything.
And I feel really sick.” Jack felt weaker by the minute.
He could not think straight anymore.
“You do not know what disease you are
having?” asked Petrov.
“No…what am I having?”
“You are having the Scorpion Virus.
You cannot be cured. Your
death will come within the hour.” Petrov said frankly.
Everything was surreal to Jack. It
was like a dream. Nothing for the
past six hours had made sense to him. So
the shock of the truth had not set upon him.
“What…happened outside…?” Jack could
barely talk now.
The doctor taught he was having amnesia.
He decided to explain what everyone else already knew as a way of
obliging the dying man’s request.
“What happened outside happened everywhere
around the world. Five years ago
the world was plunged into the Third World War. While the whole world was busy fighting the war there was an
outbreak of the Scorpion Virus appeared. Nobody
was able to contain it until it had wiped out most of the world’s population.
The ones who survived fled underground.
That’s where you are right now.”
“Who…are…bald men…?”
“Those were people with genetic
abnormalities which made them immune to the virus, but it affected their
neurological systems. They went
mad. Since there are not many
animals left on the surface they hunt on anything that moves. Even humans. That’s
why they chased you. Now we are
waiting for the virus to die out or mutate into a different form so that we can
return to the surface. That
probably means that we wait until every living thing dies out and the Scorpion
Virus no longer find a new host.”
Petrov looked at Jack. Jack had stopped breathing. He is gone. Petrov gave out a sigh. He had witnessed hundreds of these before. It was always depressing. But his mind churned. How did this man end up in the surface? All the occupants of the underground facility were registered and accounted for. But this man came out of nowhere. Then, he realized that he had more important work to attend to. He needed to find a cure. Although this man was a curious mystery, Petrov dismissed it quickly. The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remained unsolved.
