When I woke up, the image was still burned into my brain.

I didn’t want to move. I didn’t even want to get out of bed.

If only it were that easy to forget.

But I couldn’t stay here all day.

Maybe if I focused on searching for more parts at the junkyard, I could distract myself.

Skip still wasn’t fully functional. It kept freezing in place every time it tried to speak.

This robot might be the key to something important—something I and no one else knew about.

Every time it tried to say something, it would stop halfway, as if it were being cut off.

Searching for parts at the junkyard was a tedious process. Many of them were buried deep in the ground, making it time-consuming to dig them out. Most of what I found was useless scrap.

But some parts…

Some parts were unlike anything I had ever seen.

It was as if they were part of an unfinished idea, discarded before they could ever be put to use.

Machines didn’t have feelings, but if they did, I imagined they would want revenge for being left to rot.

I couldn’t imagine abandoning something like that.

I shook the thought away.

This wasn’t the time to get sentimental. I needed to focus.

This scavenger hunt could take hours, maybe even days.

But finally, after digging through piles of useless junk, I found something that stood out.

A glowing green light, embedded in a piece of metal.

I wasn’t sure what it was for, but something told me it would fit inside the machine.

And that meant I was one step closer.

My continued search put me in a good mood, making me oblivious to everything else around me.

“Here...”

I could hear a faint voice beside me, yet when I checked, no one was there.

“Hello? Is anyone here?!”

No response.

“This better not be some shitty prank.”

I was starting to get worried. No one would pull stupid pranks like this—unless it was an ambush.

"There..."

Another voice spoke, matching the same tone as the previous one.

My body tensed.

This wasn’t a robbery.

My body entered a fight-or-flight response, but I couldn’t even move a muscle.

Forget being productive.

Right now, I just needed to get the hell out of there.

"Feed..."

"Consume..."

Both voices were inches behind me, growing louder and louder.

"Death..."

"Agony..."

I turned around and screamed louder than I ever had in my entire life.

Two small entities stood in front of me.

Their bodies were insect-like, crawling on all fours. Their shape resembled an earwig—right down to the proportions. But unlike an earwig, they only had one set of arms and legs, which looked eerily like those of an infant.

Their bodies were covered in a darkish blue color, concealing everything except—

T-their heads.

They had human heads attached to them.

One had a head near the front, while the other had one at the tail end.

And their heads...

Their heads were those of children.

The lower half of their faces had been stripped of all skin, tissue—everything. Their eyes were nothing but hollow sockets, blackness filling the void where life had once been.

I-I couldn’t tell who they were or what the hell had happened to them.

I wanted to sob, cry, scream—anything.

But all I did was stare.

I had seen grotesque creatures before, but nothing like this.

At that moment, I felt like giving up.

Something about looking at them directly drained every ounce of hope from my body.

Nothing could have prepared me for this.

I thought last night was hell.

But this?

They were slowly approaching, inching toward me. I knew they were about to pounce and tear me apart.

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality.

I couldn’t die.

I wouldn’t die.

I wasn’t going to give in.

Damn it, I needed to get out of here!

A sudden burst of adrenaline shot through me, and I bolted toward my house.

The creatures screeched as I ran.

They were fast.

Too fast.

I could feel them getting closer, their footsteps pounding inches behind me.

Stopping wasn’t an option.

I had to keep running.

My house—my sanctuary—was only a couple of blocks away.

One of them lunged at me from behind, but I made a sharp turn down another street, barely escaping its grasp.

I reached my front door, fumbling with my keys as panic set in. My hands trembled, but I managed to shove the key into the lock, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind me.

The creatures began banging and slashing at the door.

I held my breath, praying they would go away.

The banging grew louder.

And louder.

I couldn’t keep them out forever.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

The creatures lunged.

This was it.

No matter how hard I tried, I knew I couldn’t outrun death forever.

Two deafening bangs rang out.

The creatures dropped dead in front of me.

I gasped for air, my panic slowly fading as I caught my breath.

A familiar figure stepped forward.

“Melody?”

“I saw how fast you were moving outside,” she said. “I was going to stop you, but then I saw those things chasing you inside your house. Didn’t think they’d go down that quickly. Guess their skulls weren’t that dense after all.”

“Thanks a bunch,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

I felt like I could have handled them myself, but the extra help was nice.

Still, I hated relying on others. It made me feel weak, like I wasn’t capable enough.

I knew it was a dumb insecurity, but it lingered in the back of my mind, no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

“How are you feeling?” Melody asked, her tone laced with concern.

“No need to worry, I’m perfectly okay—physically and mentally.”

I didn’t think Melody would be the type to care. She usually kept to herself, staying indoors most of the day.

“Didn’t think you’d be so worried about me.”

“Can’t let a good companion die,” she smirked. “Especially since you don’t have any valuable loot for me to steal.”

Even now, she was as cold as ever.

Some things never changed.

“Well, anyway, thanks for helping back there.”

I tended to repeat myself when I didn’t know what to say.

Maybe it was just my nerves.

Thankfully, she didn’t notice. She simply nodded, said her goodbyes, and headed back home.

I watched as she walked away, still dressed in that costume she always wore.

I had never asked her about it.

Maybe she wore it to hide a birth defect. Or maybe she was just insecure about something and didn’t want others to judge her.

I knew it wasn’t my place to ask.

But it still made me wonder.

“Wish she would just tell me what’s with the costu—”

"I want to kill you."

Wait.

That was Skip.

That shouldn’t be possible.

Skip had only ever blurted out a few broken phrases—never full sentences.

And I hadn’t even installed the new parts yet.

"I want to kill you. I want to kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you! Kill you! Kill you—!"

The robot suddenly malfunctioned and powered down.

My heart was pounding.

Who—or what—was it talking about?

If Skip was speaking like that...

Then this machine had a purpose far more sinister than I had realized.

I thought of destroying the machine but decided to keep it, as I still believed it could provide more answers—even if it appeared to be speaking nonsense. I considered inviting Melody over to see what she thought. The two problems with that were that I’d rather not bother Melody when she was working, and Skip wasn’t functioning at the moment. Unsure of what to do, I decided to just get some rest and call it off for another day.

The match was pumping with excitement as the first two pawns on the opposing team were knocked off the board.

"Every time I see the image of a pawn, it makes me think."

"The pawns I knocked out are the easiest to control and dispose of. They are the essence of the game… and of our lives."

"This game is definitely not going in my favor. I need to rethink my strategies and tactics."

"A well-placed pawn is more powerful than a king."

My alarm woke me up at 8:37 AM EST. I didn’t have much planned for today except digging through the junkyard for more parts. I could ask Melody for assistance, but I was afraid she might get annoyed with my constant begging. I checked in on Skip, who was still not functioning, so I hoped that the three missing parts I could find would at least make Skip useful.

"Out of food," I muttered in annoyance.

It looked like I would have to head over to the market to get some supplies. Thankfully, there was enough food, although I wasn’t planning on getting too much. Most of it came from farms and gardens, so it was fresh and safe to consume. The prices were similar to those in grocery stores—the kind you used to visit with your mother or father. The reason fresh resources weren’t expensive was because of an agreement among the survivors: fresh food would remain affordable, while man-made resources would have a higher price.

That didn’t mean people here were civil. One time, only one apple remained to be restocked. A fight broke out over it, even though it wasn’t anything major. I couldn’t believe the infantile behavior these people displayed—all over a stupid piece of fruit. But I guess it didn’t matter in the end; the apple turned out to be poisoned, killing the person who tried to buy it. After that, apples stopped being sold, and the vendors focused on other fruits instead.

I mostly bought citrus fruits and different types of vegetables since they lasted longer. The market’s stock was fair; there hadn’t been a noticeable decline recently, which was a good sign that our resources were still plentiful. After gathering what I needed, I headed home, placing my groceries on the counter before storing them in the fridge to keep them fresh.

After finishing, I decided to follow through with my earlier plan and made my way to the junkyard to continue my search.

Dread still clung to me as I walked there. Yesterday had been a shit show—a near-death experience two days in a row. Maybe I had some bad mojo following me. But for what sins, I wondered?

My theory of bad luck may have been correct, as my search was unsuccessful. I had to leave before sunset to avoid those creatures unexpectedly appearing. Never do this at night ever again. I needed to write that down on a sticky note and pin it to my wall.

Maybe if I hadn’t wasted time earlier, I would have had more hours to search for those missing parts. It didn’t bother me too much, though; there were worse things to worry about.

Lately, I’d been noticing something odd. The little girl’s door had been left open for long periods. People checked it out, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But whenever someone closed the door, it reopened the second they left.

Another thing I noticed was that Skip seemed to be affecting certain electronics in my house. Things flickered on and off without any logical explanation. I just hoped everything would resolve itself soon. I needed some rest; I didn’t want to put more stress on my head. Then again, I never liked pressure—it felt like lifting weights at the gym.