Apocalypse: The echoes of Madness

Tick-tock, tick-tock,

The clock sings softly in the quiet dawn.

Six chimes echo; the night is gone.

"I should take a shower," Rose murmurs low,

And opens her closet where choices glow.

A hoodie of blue, a shade mixed with black,

Baggy pants waiting, no colors lack.

Are these rose favorite? she pauses to muse,

Not hated, not loved—a simple truce.

She steps from her room, the hallway cold,

Toward the washing room where stories unfold.

Her thoughts wander back to a sleepless night,

A meeting of shadows, a flickering light.

When I woke in this world, I knew I wasn't me—Not Rose, but another, Why does the truth slip from my grasp?What force binds me, erasing the past?

And sometimes it happens—I forget to ask the right thing at the right time, and later I forget it."

She halts at the door, her reverie breaks,

Other girls move, the morning wakes.

"Shower or face?" a voice cuts through,

"Shower," Rose answers.

"Water is fleeting, just five minutes, no more,"

"Thank you," Rose nods, stepping toward the door.

"I heard you guys are leaving on 'Operation redemption' today."

A quiet nod is all she conveys.

"Why now?" the girl asks, her tone alight,

"That video—truth or a crafted sight?"

"Who knows?" Rose whispers, her gaze withdrawn,

As mysteries linger in the breaking dawn.

"Don't you find it odd?" the girl leans near,

"That your team keeps silent, their voices unclear?"

"Perhaps," Rose says, her words a mask,

"They each have their journey, their own task."

The girl smiles, her time now done,

"See you around," she hums on the run.

Rose watches her fade, a fleeting flame,

Oh, she sighs, I forgot to ask her name.

---

After the shower, Rose stepped out of the public women's bathhouse, the cool air brushing against her damp skin. She quickly changed into fresh clothes, the quiet hum of the room amplifying her racing thoughts. Emily said I should try to control my power... but can I really? she wondered, adjusting her sleeves as she made her way back to her room, her steps slow and uncertain.

The hallways felt unusually quiet, and as her footsteps echoed in the empty space, she couldn't shake the unease that clung to her. Reaching her room, she pushed the door open with a sigh, letting it close softly behind her. Her eyes landed on the stone resting on her desk—something about it called to her, but she didn't know why.

Emily seems like a good person, but... Her thoughts faltered for a moment, doubt creeping in. Nothing comes without a cost, no matter how pure someone seems.

She sat on the edge of the bed, the stone still in her hand, trying to tap into her power. It buzzed beneath her skin, restless, but unyielding. Frustration simmered in her chest as she closed her eyes and focused harder. But still, nothing happened.

With a frustrated sigh, she let the stone slip from her fingers, landing softly on the bed beside her. She lay back, staring up at the ceiling, her thoughts a swirling storm of doubt. When will I ever lie in bed so peacefully again?

But then another thought struck her. I shouldn't just lie here and waste time. Determination flickered in her chest as she stood up. She opened the door, only to find Lily standing there, blocking her path.

Startled, Rose jumped back, a mix of confusion and curiosity in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice a little sharper than she intended.

Lily's expression was unreadable, but her voice was steady. "We've been called. We need to go underground to get weapons," she said, her words carrying an unspoken urgency.

They walked together, the silence stretching between them, heavy and suffocating. Rose, sensing the cold weight of unspoken words, broke the stillness. "How come you came to get me? Where are the others?"

Lily's eyes flashed briefly to her, her expression unreadable, before she looked ahead once more. "They've already gone down," she said, her voice hard, like ice cracking under pressure. "Before they left... they told me to bring you."

Rose nodded, a chill crawling up her spine. Something was off, something unspoken. "Thank you," she said.

Lily's pace slowed, and she stopped just ahead of Rose, her eyes now meeting hers with an unsettling coldness. "Do you know how people find out about their power?" she asked, her voice carrying an eerie calm, as though it held a terrible secret.

Rose shook her head. "No…"

Lily's lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile, more like a shadow of one. She gestured toward a door at the end of the hall. "That room," she said quietly, her voice lowering to a near-whisper. "It's locked right now, but when someone new comes, they put them in there. Afterward, they never speak of it. They can't."

Rose's throat tightened as dread settled in her chest. "What happens in there?"

Lily's face darkened, her eyes hardening into something cold and distant, as if she were speaking from the very depths of some buried nightmare. "What I saw... It was like waking up in a nightmare you can never escape. They strapped me down. My hands... my hands were bound. They injected me with something that burned like hellfire in my veins, searing through my blood. And then—" Her breath caught, her words faltering before she forced them out, "Then they put something inside my head. I can still feel it, even now. It's like it changed something deep inside me... something I can't undo. I'm not the same anymore."

Rose's heart thudded in her chest, a sickening feeling crawling up her throat,she thaught "Of course we are just side characters,everything can happen to us."

Lily turned her gaze away, as though the weight of her own memories was too much to bear. "The eight of us... we didn't volunteer. We were chosen long before we knew it. Chosen for some... purpose. A purpose none of us can truly understand. All we know is that there's no escaping it. It's more like we were chosen from world itself"

Rose's eyes lingered on Lily for a long moment without saying anything.

The underground chamber was cold, its air thick with anticipation. As they descended the stone steps, the faint echoes of footsteps and the dim, flickering lights made the place feel alive with shadows. Every corner seemed to hide something waiting to leap out.

Yuri, her voice high and eager, broke the silence. "What took you so long? We've already picked out our weapons!" She held up a sleek, polished gun, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Look at this! Doesn't it look cute?"

Rose's lips curved into a faint smile,No matter how innocent they look, they can never be innocent.

Dr. Lucas's voice cut through the moment, sharp and commanding. "Rose, Lily, we don't have much time. please pick your weapons."

Lily stepped forward first, her movements deliberate and calm. She reached for a long, slender arrow, testing its weight with the kind of ease that only comes from years of practice. Rose watched her, nodding slightly, but her attention was already drawn elsewhere.

Her eyes fell on a sword resting on a nearby rack. It was beautiful, its blade gleaming even in the low light.Without a word, she reached for it, but before her fingers could touch the hilt, another hand shot out, grabbing it first.

Zane. Always Zane.

He grinned, holding the sword up with a smug look in his eyes. "I touched it first," he said, his voice low and taunting.

Something inside Rose snapped. Without thinking, her body moved on its own—fast, precise. She was there in a flash, snatching the sword from his hand with a swift motion, the cover falling from the blade and clattering to the ground.

The room went silent as Rose raised the sword, bringing it to Zane's neck in one fluid motion, the cold metal kissing his skin. His smirk faltered for a split second, but he quickly recovered, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"You can have it," he said casually, touching the blade lightly with his finger. Zane smirked coldly, his eyes locking onto Rose's. "But remember, the sword is only as sharp as the one who wields it."

But Rose didn't move. She didn't lower the sword. She was frozen in that moment, the weight of the blade felt right in her hands, like it had always belonged to her.Her breath came fast, but she didn't falter. She could feel the heat of his breath against the blade, the tension hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break. The room was silent, everyone's eyes fixed on her, a mixture of shock and awe in their gazes.

Slowly, she lowered the sword, the sharp ring of metal echoing in the quiet room. The adrenaline still pumped through her, leaving her breathless, but she didn't show it. She wasn't going to let anyone see her hesitation. Not now.

Her lips twisted into a small, almost imperceptible smirk. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she didn't need to understand it. Not yet. The sword was hers now. And no one could take that away.

The silence that had fallen over the room was finally shattered by Dr. Lucas's voice. "Let's go. It's time," he said, his tone crisp and cold, as though he had been waiting for this moment to arrive. The weight of his words hung in the air, suffocating, as if they marked the beginning of something irreversible.

Everything had already been packed. Weapons were secured, and the bags were slung over their shoulders, heavy with the weight of what was to come. The group moved together, stepping out of the underground chamber, their footsteps echoing in the quiet hallway as they made their way toward the main gate.

As they approached, the air grew thicker, more suffocating. The people of the facility watched them from behind windows, from the shadows, their eyes filled with a mix of hope and fear. They looked at the group as if they were the last glimmer of salvation, wondering if any of them would return, wondering if any of them would survive the horrors that lay beyond the walls.

The main gate groaned as it slowly opened, its heavy iron doors creaking in protest, as if reluctant to let them go. The world outside waited—unknown, unforgiving. Dr. Lucas glanced over his shoulder, his eyes distant, calculating. "The world outside is the opposite of this hospital," he said, his voice low and unsettling. "Good luck to you all."

And then, without another word, he turned and began walking, leading them into the unknown.

As they stepped out into the cold, the sunless sky stretched above them, dark clouds hanging like a heavy shroud. The road ahead was long and deserted, an abandoned path leading into a world that had been broken and forgotten. It was a place that had no mercy, no promises of safety or warmth.

Cale, who had been quiet until now, spoke up, his voice sharp and determined. "Let's go." His words echoed in the stillness, cutting through the tension like a blade.

They walked in silence, the weight of their journey pressing down on them with every step. The wind howled through the empty streets, whispering of forgotten stories, of lives lost in the shadows. And as they moved further away from the safety of the facility, the door behind them slowly creaked shut, locking them into a new reality.

The sound of that door closing seemed to mark the finality of it all. There was no turning back now. What lay ahead would test them, push them to the limits of their endurance and their sanity. But It's just the beginning.

---

(To be continued)

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