Riding across the street by the van, passing many ruins now ran over by these mindless creatures as they ravaged what’s left of the corpses they can gather as I can feel my stomach turning from the mere sight of it, even when it’s not presented right up on my face. We’re closing by the only Simulacrum Corp HQ, which is surprisingly enough close to the now walled off border of the Northern district, standing tall near it’s bridge entrance as we then stepped out of the van, looking up to it’s now crumbled, decrepit and dusty outside. Pretty sure even in it’s prime, the staff would still consider it a hellscape anyway with it’s said to be tight schedule of work.

“Alright…how do we get inside now?” Wisnu points at the barbed fence surrounding the complex, and seems to extend further to it’s front gate as he then took a closer look while we standby and looked around. “…The fence gate is locked. Maybe we could use a lo-“

Without a second, Luh De stepped in and loaded her gun, shot the rusty lock as it fell apart, pushing the door open as she then smiled at Wisnu. “Your welcome deary.” We were stunned at the sudden display as she only looked at us and led the way along with Wisnu, rolling her eyes like we’re students that just failed her chemistry class.

The place smells awful, worse than any garbage truck that passed by our house every Saturday even, but thank goodness this place merely stink and has none of those radioactive cliché in every movie about breakout. We then pulled out our flashlights, looking to the wide open lobby as it’s all dirt, broken planks and rubbles covering many of the remaining furniture.

“Sattvam, you can take Wisnu and Luh De with you to search for the communication center. Martha, Raisa and I will look around here and see if there’s any room we can use for the time being. We’ll meet here again at the lobby, so take care buddy.” Sattvam nodded to my word as we then led to separate ways, but not before giving me a handshake like Baymax, leaving me giggling from it.

As we ventured down to the complex’s long hallway downstair, we were met with many vandalized properties and wall, some saying ominous messages that I don’t really get, a warning if you will.

“DON’T BREATH”

“Don’t…breath? Well, how are we gonna go around if we held our breath??” The sign doesn’t seem to bother Raisa a lot, as she pulled that question out so innocently and got a good laugh from Martha.

“I don’t think they really mean it that way, Raisa, but let’s keep on going.” Martha then continue on going further leading the way, as the hallway grow dimmer from the many blocked off windows across the place.

It’s astonishing how many of these electronics had ended up as junks, some even now used as a blockade on certain room, with many bloodied hand stain all over it’s surface. The hallway led us to a large display area, with cables dangling down, some of the television remained on as it plays nothing but white noises and the floor filled with blood splatters, too old to even get it off the surface. Hell, this place sure is crowded when it happened, they really tried to fought the unthinkable…

“We can settle here. Just need to get rid of these televisions and placed down a few of the newspapers there to cover the stained floor.” Martha pointed to a messed pile of torn newspapers, before starting lifting these tv’s off somewhere else, with us following him soon after.

“Hey Mar, do you think I should go and look after Sattvam later? The comm center should be on by anytime now, and with us haven’t hearing anything at all on any of the radios here…” As I throwed the television off to a single corner, my heart felt heavy just to think of what could be happening to them right now.

Raisa quickly stepped in, placing a newspaper right under our feet as she pinched my cheek. “Brother, they’ll be fiiine! You trusted them, and with such trust I’m they won’t let you down!” Her assurance felt sweet, I might have as well contracted diabetes from it…

“Perhaps, you may have a point sis…” I felt relieved, smiling as I gently patted her head before carrying on the work, with us throwing jokes and laughter at each other to pass the time being until we get to gather back by the lobby.

……

“Sattvam, how much further do you think the communication center is at?” Wisnu’s question makes my anxiety worst, and not to mention my half blind eye could barely see through the dark hallway filled with nothing but wires and pipes, things been tripping my step since the very first step I take down this maze like basement

Hours earlier after we parted ways from Made, we stumbled onto nothing but rooms for janitorial services, that was after we suffered trying to squeeze ourself through the cables that were lying and hanging all over the hallway. Luh De and Wisnu has been leading my path, both holding my hands as we further ventured this place, to no avail.

“Tvam, dear if we can’t find it anywhere else, then we have to regroup back at the lobby. Take a rest for the time being.” I can only sigh to Luh De’s word, since she do have a point. My leg felt tired and it’s only an hour and a half in already.

“Maybe you’re right dear, we sho-” I was cut off when Wisnu suddenly pulled us forward with a wide smile and pointed to a single door, with Luh De gasping with a smile. I can’t hold myself when we finally find what we need, but when we stepped in the room, it’s…a little messed up.

But it’s not much as being deformed completely however, only few loose cables and broken buttons to repair. “Yep, this definitely calls for a tomorrow. It’s already evening and we should head out to the lobby, we clearly don’t .” Both Wisnu and Luh De nodded, as they then led us out once more.

Moments after we stepped out of the room, an echoing growl come from the end of the dark hallway. Wisnu, being the only one who hold a flashlight, turns it on, and slowly aims it towards the direction of where it came from, to find dripping blood falling from the vent above it. Steps were heard right above us, drawing closer as we slowly stepped back in unison, quietly as to not alert whatever hellspawn that is stalking us right now.

We quickly make the run, with Wisnu instinctively pulled me for a piggyback ride as the thing roared aloud, tendrils protruding just right behind us from the ceiling vent. “Luh De! Your gun!” Wisnu yelled, still surprisingly keeping up with Luh De while carrying my weight.

She then quickly draw her gun and stopped on her track for but a moment, shooting the tendrils fleshy surface as it writhes in pain retreating for a moment. “Problem solved…I suppose??” She remained cautious for a moment but were then relieved when the steps heard are going further away from us, banishing that thing for good.

“Uh, Wis, you can put me down now, we’re safe.” His face was flustered as he quickly placed me down, coughing to hide his face away from. I can’t help but just smiled, patting his shoulder as a sign of gratitude. “Thanks buddy, you’ve done well. Now come on, let’s go back and eat something once we got back.”

“Y-yeah! I’ve been kinda hungry now…” Luh De can only giggle from Wisnu’s stutter, as three of us then once again hold hands swinging it back and forth, laughing along the way like little childs we were back then. “…Tvam, do you think this’ll really work tho?” Wisnu now looked rather concerned, smile covered in a bit of frown as we keep on walking to the exit upstair.

“Rest assured, this will definitely work. We can tinker with the many junks around this places!” Hearing my words make him giddy again, his face slightly blushed, and that’s just enough to make me felt content and happy.

“Or you’d blown up things again like years ago.” Luh De retorted with a reminder of my failure, as Wisnu burst out laughing from the sarcastic remark. I may have caused some class evacuations of it, but it’s not really that often anyway.

“Hahah, very funny dear.” She only smiled after throwing such painful words but I couldn’t be mad, to either both of them. I promised, once we got out and procured a cure, we’ll live such a great life to the future to come…

….

“Hoo, hoo! You two can do it!” Raisa’s cheer to me and Martha is rather pleasing…if it wasn’t for these hordes of beast trying to get through the door. Thank goodness they’re weaker than we expected, but to have their fingers trying to touch our skin through the door boarded crevices just sickened me badly.

I forgot my sickness the moment I saw them came back, excited to almost even loose my hold to the door. “Don’t mind us, did you three find the room you’re talking about?” I backed off from a  hand that just broke through the door, as Luh De shot it down to ward it off.

“Mhm! Although it’s further than what we expected, it’s there ready to be fixed!” Wisnu remarked, showing his proud face as he was shooked from it when a bang came from the door, loosening some of the boards and as time goes the push started to get stronger. “H-here, let me help…”

Now with Wisnu joining us, we managed to held back long enough as the sun sets, when an inhuman howl echoed from afar, carried by the winds, and seems to led those hordes away? The banging stops, and footsteps aloud began to slowly fade to the distance. Oh wow, so there’s more than what I expect it to be, an entire crowd of hungry audiences tracking our bums.

“We should take a rest for now. By morning, get the communicator done and then set off before another one of those beings came and knocked on our door.” We take Luh De’s suggestion with us as we lead them to the now cleaned up ‘bedroom’ if you will, not fancy like our first one but enough to at least help us pass the night for now.

As we all began picking which and where we will sleep, Sattvam seems to be talking with Luh De about the cure thingy, discussing it quietly as she looked rather happy to hear it, hugging each other before kissing her a goodnight. I was however, entranced by it too long that Martha have to slap my face out of whatever daydreaming I’m at. “If you’re hoping for a girlfriend, the lake’s dead so don’t think of that too much.”

“No, not that! It’s something else…the cure. Have Wisnu tell you anything about this?” He only nodded to it with an affirming look. Guess we all are on the same page now.

“But we have company crawling across this building as well from what they said. Guess I was right when I say this place’s a Patient Zero of this whole mess.” I’m honestly pretty curious as to why he refers this place as such, it’s just an electronical company, how can they be the culprit to all of this mess??

“Why have you been referring this place as that tho? I thought this place’s just another victim of the outbreak.” I slowly leaned back, resting my body to the soft body bag as Martha remained sat by my side.

“On purpose. Someone covered it on the last brink before the world shut down, saying they saw it themselves.” He then showed me a piece of newspaper, covering an interview with the said former employee of Simulacrum Corp.

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“BIG NEWS! BANKRUPTCY OF SIMULACRUM CORP; RUMORED TO BE CULT?”

“As of 10^th of October, 2022, an employee of the once famed electronic service company Simulacrum Corp has recently came forward about the now bankrupt business shady scene, saying that the place is filled with ‘madlad and lass alike’, all who are driven by the unknown. “I sometimes see them walked down a chamber, and when I took a janitorial work there, I hear many noises that sounded so absurd and inhuman, like a screech from a chalkboard.” The employee further stated. Police has been investigating the abandoned building, in hope to shed some light for the public regarding the rumors.”