The Sleepers: Quarantined New York

CHAPTER6

Tommy reached for his belt and pulled out his own gun. He checked the magazine, inserted it with a solid click, and then handed it to Jack. “Take this. You’ll need it,” he said. As Jack took the cold metal in his hand, he felt it wasn’t just a gun, but the last shred of his chance at survival. The handle was heavy, but the meaning it carried was heavier than anything else. Jack opened the door and stepped out of the car. The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt as if he had left everything behind him. The fences, the barbed wire, and that dreadful emptiness stretching before him… He took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs carrying a poisonous cold. And he took his first step. After a few steps, he involuntarily stopped. He slowly looked back. Tommy was still there, leaning against the car door, watching Jack motionless like a statue. His gaze held the sadness of a friend he would never see again. Jack nodded slightly, giving his final salute. Then he turned back and continued walking. The moment he stepped beyond the fences, into the forbidden territory of the quarantine zone, the world changed in an instant. Sounds faded, colors turned gray. Everything became quieter, emptier, and fundamentally wrong. As Jack walked away, Tommy's silhouette remained behind, the last remnant of the old world he had left behind. Jack walked alone on the crumbling asphalt road. The houses along the roadside were abandoned, their windows staring at him like dark eyes. In the distance, only the whistling sound of the wind could be heard; no birdsong, no sign of life... Every echo of his footsteps multiplied in this vast emptiness. He couldn't tell if hours or days had passed. This silence harbored a hidden danger; the tense feeling of anticipation, that something might erupt at any moment, gnawed at his soul.

On the right side of the road, a small gas station appeared with its peeling paint and rusty pumps. It was deserted outside. The doors had no locks and creaked softly in the wind. Jack approached the strange silence inside. He scanned every corner with his eyes. At that moment, he saw a deer lying in front of one of the pumps. The animal was dead, but the strange thing wasn't the deer, but the thing kneeling before it. It sat silently, doing something to the deer's carcass with its hands. Jack slowly stopped. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. His hand went to the handle of the gun Tommy had given him. Every movement was slow, every breath controlled. Just as he was trying to understand what that thing was, the figure suddenly turned around. At that moment, Jack's blood froze. This thing he saw couldn't be human. Its eyes were completely empty, not a trace of life in them. Its mouth was wide open, and pieces of fresh flesh, along with pitch-black blood, were dripping from its jaw. Its face and skin were so "wrong," so inhuman, that for a moment Jack thought his mind was playing tricks on him. He turned pale, his steps faltered, but then, with a sudden reflex, he sprang to his feet. The thing moved the moment it noticed Jack. Its steps were unsteady, its body twisted at strange angles, but it was terrifyingly fast. Jack held his breath, his eyes wide with horror. He aimed his gun. The thing was approaching, growling. Jack took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. Bang! The creature collapsed to the ground instantly. Jack stood there trembling.

Sweat poured down his face, his hands trembling uncontrollably. But he understood that this death was only the beginning, that this was the reality of this place. Tears welled up in his eyes; using the gun felt less like firing a bullet and more like leaving a piece of his soul behind. He stepped back a few paces, trying to fill his lungs. The deadly silence of the gas station swallowed him once more.He wiped his eyes, gripped his gun tighter, and knew he had to keep going. Nothing would ever be the same again. He cautiously entered the gas station. Inside, it was a scene of utter devastation; shelves were overturned, and shards of glass covered the floor. Jack checked behind the counter, at the entrance to the storage area, and between the collapsed shelves. There was no sound, but his instincts screamed at him to run. He was just about to head towards the door when he felt the touch of cold metal on the back of his neck. The barrel of a gun was pressed against his head.