Chapter Text
The world has become literal hell.
Out of nowhere, a virus has spread like wildfire all over the globe, it didn't make people sick, it made them SICK. Made people psychopaths. Sadistic murderers. Absolute monsters who give into their darkest, nastiest, and sickest desires known to man. Unlike other viruses that kill people when they get sick, this one killed people by disabling all moral and rational thoughts, making them complete psychopathic monsters who murder people on the spot for enjoyment. Friends? Family? Nah, the second they get infected they are gonna kill you on the spot, and they. WILL. ENJOY. IT. The only way to know if a person is sick is if their eyes become fully pitch black like the blackest pit of hell incarnate has possessed them. And 6 pairs of them were staying right at Jake.
"J-Jungwon? Sunghoon? g-guys? please, don't do this," Jake pleads as he backs away, bleeding as cuts from the knife cut his skin like butter. But Jungwon just laughed sadistically while Sunghoon twirled the knife in his hand, both walking slowly to Jake, like predators cornering their prey. But it was not just them, everyone in his friend group was now infected. Ni-ki, Sunoo, Heeseung, and Jay had black eyes and were grinning psychically at Jake. The familiar eyes Jake used to know were all pitch black, staring into Jake's soul. Why did they get infected but not Jake? He was prey now.
"It's six against one, how pathetic for you, Jake." Ni-ki mocked, he was drenched with blood after killing more people on the way to his house. Sunoo, Heeseung, and Jay were just staring at him, blood splattered on their clothes, faces, and hands that held whatever object that killed the most pain. Jake felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears, the metallic tang of fear mixing with the coppery scent of blood that filled the air. He staggered backward, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he desperately tried to find an escape route. Every step seemed to echo like a drumbeat in the silent horror surrounding him. He can hear the distant screams, laughing, and chaos outside the window as the world is sent ablaze right before his eyes.
The once-familiar faces of his friends were now distorted into twisted expressions of sadistic pleasure. The eerie abyss of the pitch-black eyes sent shivers down Jake's spine, a stark contrast to the terrified innocence that once resided there.
As he stumbled backward, his hands clamoring for something, anything, to use as a weapon or shield, the world around him seemed to blur into a surreal nightmare. The chaotic sounds of violence echoed through the air – the grotesque symphony of blades slicing through flesh, bone snapping, the sinister laughter of his infected friends, and the distant cries of other victims outside as loved ones turned against them.
Jungwon lunged forward with a predatory grin, his movements precise and calculated. Sunghoon followed suit, twirling the knife with a sickening elegance. Jake's breath quickened, and panic set in as he realized the dire reality of his situation. The once-close bonds of friendship are now reduced to a desperate struggle for survival.
In a last-ditch effort, Jake grabs a broken chair leg on the ground. He gripped it tightly, his knuckles turning white. The makeshift weapon offered little comfort as the group closed in on him, their collective laughter forming a dissonant chorus.
"Pathetic little Jake," sneered Sunoo, his voice dripping with malice and an unsettling amusement. "Thought you could escape this, huh?" he croons in a sickly sweet voice before narrowly missing Jungwon's slash.
The world seemed to slow as Jake swung the wooden leg, connecting with Jungwon's side. "ARGH! FUCK!" A pained shout echoed from Jungwon as he staggered to the side, gripping his side in pain before snapping his attention back to Jake. His expression is more pissed and sadistic. "I'm gonna fucking skin you ALIVE!" he roars before hissing as he falls to the ground, in pain.
Using whatever furniture to throw at the others, Jake managed to momentarily disrupt the group's advance. He sees the front door still open seizing the opportunity, Jake darts past them, his heart pounding in his chest as he narrowly evades their grasps and slashes of their bloody weapons.
He ran through the desolate streets, the once-familiar neighborhood transformed into a literal apocalypse. Cars crashed, houses on fire, blood and dead bodies littered EVERYWHERE, and the same pitch-black eyes ran around everywhere as they killed whatever human they could get their bloody hands on. Jake holds back to puke on the spot as he sees a person screaming for help one of the infected ties a rope around their legs, before putting the other end of the rope into a wood chipper. Turning it on, they watch in sadistic glee as they watch their prey claw the ground, trying to escape a slow and painful death before they get pulled into a wood chipper's blades. Turning them into a shredded pile of meat and gore.
As Jake sprinted through the night, he couldn't shake the chilling realization that the world he knew had crumbled into a hellish landscape of depravity and chaos. The infected, his former friends, were now relentless hunters, and he was their prey. The world outside offered no solace – only an endless struggle for survival in a reality twisted beyond recognition.
He ran.
Ran as far as his legs could take him and away from the epicenter of the massacre. Everywhere was getting more and more bloodier and chaotic, bodies started to pile on the streets, all brutally mutilated and murdered that only a twisted mind could think up. Which was exactly what the virus was allowing, no more mortal restraint and self-control, freeing you from moral and rational thought, Just you and whatever dark desire your mind and heart can muster.
Miraculously, he managed to get out of the city. The highways were empty, save for some bodies and empty cars from people escaping the chaos approaching. His legs ached, and his mind still trying to comprehend what just happened.
Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki tried to kill him.
His best friends, his brothers, the very people whom Jake has known ever since he was little, just tried to KILL HIM! Jake can't help but let out a sob as he continues to walk through the degrading city. The tears mixed with the dirt and his blood as they fell down his cheeks and landed on the pavement below, he cried as he walked to whatever his legs took him. He didn't care anymore if the other infected jumped on him and killed him on the spot in his vulnerable moment. Because Jake knew the death they'd give him would be better than feeling every wound they stung him as they cut his skin with no remorse, every heartache as the virus made them throw away years of trust for psychotic pleasure, and hearing their wish for his blood to be in their hands as they become sadistic infected beasts.
The asphalt and cement under his feet become dirt and cracked asphalt as he walks away, walking past the city borders and into a more rural area. Finally calming down from crying, Jake wipes his tears away with his hand and starts to think of what should he do now. There were so many questions running through his head yet all came with no answer. How did this happen? Has the government or authorities done anything? Is the rest of the world experiencing this, a virus turning people into psychos? Jake bit his lips, thinking of what was his next move. He can't go back, he'll get killed. Should he go to the next town and hope for the best? Where the hell is he gonna find shelter, food, and supplies?
Lost in thought, he didn't notice he was walking in front of the gates of the abandoned prison sitting outside the city. Decelis Prison lay abandoned with its old architecture, shattered windows, and graffitied walls. Jake hesitates for a moment, should he take the risk and see if he can turn it into a shelter? The place looked untouched and no blood or body was found, unlike the city that was burning in the distance with all the infected still reveling in their killing sprees. Plus the high walls surrounding the building still looked sturdy and untouched, perfect to use as a shelter of sorts.
With a gulp, Jake squeezes himself through the gap of the rusty gate, it squeaked loudly. The sound echoed throughout the area, and a flock of birds flew away as Jake walked on the gravel path leading to the prison. Jake's steps faltered as he approached the building, looming over him like a stone giant of a history of cruelty and emptiness. Decelis Prison had a...dark history, it used to be an academy before being repurposed into a prison back in the early nineteen-hundreds. Jake looks around as his shakey hands reach over to turn the tarnished gold knobs of the building, but before he did he decided to grab a stray metal pipe from the pile of junk and garbage near the entrance.
For safety, of course.
The inside was...oddly grand, it looked like it could be the home of those fancy vampires he already read about. More graffiti lines the walls, and furniture is scattered around the foyer, moldy and broken. With quiet steps, Jake made his way through the empty halls, paint peeling away on the walls, cobwebs and dust everywhere, musky mold occupying the rooms, and old equipment from a bygone era rusting away in many of the rooms. His grip on the metal pipe was firm and tight, ready to strike if an infected decided to pop out and become their nest victim, but as he walked and listened, he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. He comes across a simple square room, far away from the main building and hidden away, only containing a dusty mattress on the floor and a window looking out into the night.
Pushing the door open, creaking on its hinges. He inspects the room carefully, he lets out a sigh of relief as he walks over to the window where a full moon greeted Jake as he glances outside.
Seeing the mattress is when Jake realized how painful his feet were aching, and how tired he was from running away from the monsters that were once his friends. Sitting on the mattress, he sets the metal pipe down beside him before lying down. He stared up at the ceiling, the events that happened finally setting in. He holds back the tears that threaten to fall as his mind flashes to his friends, Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki looking so normal in a normal world not ravaged by the outbreak. Their eyes were normal and not the pitch-black pits of hell that they were now, their clothes were clean and not stained with blood, and their faces familiar and not the sadistic psychos that laughed as they fantasized of killing him.
Jake closes his eyes and tries to sleep before deciding on what to do next tomorrow.
It was a start.