"Bro… we really just beat Elden Ring in one night?"
Jackson's eyes were bloodshot from sleep deprivation. He was slumped on the end of Matthew's couch a controller still resting on his chest dark circles under his eyes.
Matthew half asleep "Technically I beat it." He shuts his Tv off and lays down "You just died and cheered when I landed the final hit."
Jackson snorted. "Still counts. We both saw the credits."
The next time Jackson opened his eyes sunlight poured in through the blinds. His mouth was dry and his back ached. It was past noon.
"Shit…" He rubbed his eyes and stretched. "Matt, you alive?"
Matthew groaned from the other side of the room sitting up. "What time is it?"
Jackson checked his phone. No signal.
"Uh… time to get me home."
Matthew stood up cracking his neck. "Yeah, let me grab my keys. Guess we missed class."
They freshened up a bit threw on hoodies and stepped out into the hallway. It was… quiet.
"Did your neighbors move out or something?" Jackson asked.
"No" Matthew said slowly looking at the empty doormats. "I usually hear that annoying cat meowing."
No sounds. No TVs. No footsteps just the soft buzz of fluorescent lights. They headed down the stairs and got in the car. The road and other apartment buildings were clear, eerily so in the middle of a weekday. No joggers. No cars. Nobody heading off to school or work.
"Alright…" Matthew muttered, pulling toward the exit gate of the apartment complex. "Why's the security gate empty?"
The white mechanical bar that blocked the driveway didn't move.
"Probably on break." Jackson unbuckled sighing. "I got it."
He stepped out walked up to the bar and manually lifted it. No resistance. No beeping. Just silence. Matthew drove through slowly. Jackson ran back to the car and hopped back into the passenger seat. Still no one. No signs of life. And when they hit the main road—
"…What the hell?" Matthew whispered. "Jack take a look..."
Jackson was on his phone trying to figure out why he had no signal and when he looked up. The streets were ruined. Scattered glass. Burnt out cars. Buildings charred black at the edges like someone had set them on fire. No people. No bodies. Just nothing like a war happened overnight.
"Was there a riot?" Jackson asked his heart started to beat faster.
"No sirens. No police tape. No news."
They drove in silence, tension filling the car.
"Where is everyone?" Matthew finally said.
Then they finally got to town they passed a twisted pileup of scorched vehicles Jackson caught a glimpse of something. A pile of dead bodies sitting in the road.
Matthew gagged. "Ugh what the fuck?!"
Jackson's hand gripped the door.
"Matt…" he whispered. "I think something happened while we were asleep."
Matthew didn't respond. His eyes were locked on the dead bodies. The further they drove into town the worse it got. Blood smeared across sidewalks like someone had been dragged cars sat with doors wide open some with shattered windshields. Jackson saw a body... no bodies limbs twisted some torn clean off like something had ripped them apart, not killed them clean. Flies buzzed around a pile slumped against a burned-out sedan. One of the corpses had no facejust a red mess where it should've been. Matthew gagged again hand covering his mouth.
Jackson just stared, eyes wide. "Holy shit" he muttered. "What the fuck happened here?"
They passed more wreckage. A woman's arm lay in the middle of the street. No body. Just the arm. Fingers still clutching a purse. The town was just pure silence. Jackson looked like he wanted to say something but didn't. He gripped the door, knuckles pale. His phone had no signal and he battery was at 10%. They kept driving. Not because they knew were the were going anymore but because stopping felt worse. Then they saw it. A city bus had plowed into the front of Dave's Hot Chicken. The front was totaled glass everywhere engine still lightly smoking. Inside behind the smashed windows, blood streaked the floor and walls.
Jackson stared at it for a long moment. Then, in a weak, shaky voice, he said, "W-We were just there the other day… Guess where not getting the sliders again..."
He let out a short dry laugh one of those ones people make when they're trying not to fall apart. Matthew didn't say anything. He just kept driving slowly like he might break if he went too fast. They rolled through an intersection traffic lights dead. Another pileup a grocery store had its windows busted in shopping carts tipped over food rotting in the sun. No people no cops just… decay. They kept driving then up ahead was more bodies. Scattered across an intersection like they'd been dropped from the sky. Some fresh. Some rotting. One missing everything from the waist down. Matthew started to breathe faster a sense of panic set in.
Jackson said. "Stop—stop looking. Just drive."
"I am driving!" Matthew snapped voice stern.
The car was silent again. It felt like they were the last two people on Earth. Jackson stared out the window. His voice was quiet.
"Where'd everyone go?"
They turned onto the street leading to Jackson's apartment complex. Trees looked scorched. Some houses had fire damage. There was only a couple cars left in the drive way. Matthew slowed the car to a crawl.
"You still wanna get out here?"
Jackson didn't answer right away. His eyes locked onto the open front door of his building. The metal door swung back and forth in the breeze. There were scratches on the frame deep ones like someone had tried to claw their way in… or out.
"…Stop the car."
Matthew parked. Jackson opened the door slowly, stepped out onto the pavement, and just stood there. The air was wrong. It smelled like ash and metal.
"Matt…" Jackson said, voice low. "It's too quiet, man."
They moved slow, walking the path toward the back of the building they didn't speak. Jackson's apartment was tucked behind the building, facing a patch of fenced in yard. His apartment door was closed. Windows intact. Untouched. Jackson pulled out his keys with a shaking hand and unlocked it. Inside was dark. The power was out, but it was… safe? No broken glass no blood. Just the same mess he always left behind hoodies on the floor, game cases on the TV stand and a piece of bread on the floor. They shut the door behind them double locked it. Pulled down the blinds. The two just stood there for a second. Then Jackson exhaled.
"Let's just stay here tonight. Chill out and get our minds right."
Matthew didn't argue. He dropped his backpack and sat on the couch eyes still wide. Jackson grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. "We'll figure it out tomorrow."
The sun started to set behind the trees out back. The yard dipped into shadow. It got dark fast. The silence was louder now then... A sound. Far off, but distinct. A gurgling moan it sounded... unnatural. Then another. Closer.
Matthew stood. "Did you hear that?"
Jackson's heart started to race. "Yea.."
Jackson moved to the window and slid the blind just a crack outside by the fence… Something was moving hunched over and lurching. Its head jerked up nose twitching like it smelled them. Then it let out a ear piercing shriek like a dying animal and three more shapes crawled out of the woods behind it where the trails where.
Matthew and Jackson both spoke at the same time "Oh god..."
"What the fuck..."