I woke up to a faint explosion. At first, I thought I was dreaming, but the breeze hitting my face told me I was awake… in a dark, silent hospital.

  Still confused, I looked around; everything felt cold and shadowy…

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

  Where the hell am I…?

  I pulled the IV out of my arm, threw the sheet on the floor, and stood up.

  I went to the light switch and pressed it, but nothing happened—looks like the whole hospital lost power.

  I started moving and my foot hit something by the window. I bent down and picked it up. A phone… it looked really familiar.

  I turned it on, and saw it had only 8% battery left.

  I tried to get to the home screen but realized it needed a passcode. I gave up and just cranked up the brightness to see better.

  I looked out the window; snow was falling, and it was freezing cold—felt like winter.

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  Or maybe it actually was…? What the hell am I doing here? Who am I?

  When I looked closely, I noticed how high up this floor was—it was insane. I could barely make out the houses below.

  My heart started pounding, its beat echoing in my ears.

  A bad feeling crawled up my spine, so I quickly shut the window.

  I shone the phone’s light toward the door and saw a coat hanger with a jacket on it. I grabbed it and threw it on.

  I tried the door and noticed blood smeared on the handle, but I figured there could be a lot of reasons for that. I didn’t want my hand dirty, so I pressed the handle with a tissue from my pocket—and as soon as I opened it, I noticed the tissue melting. I dropped it on the floor in fear.

  What the hell is going on here? I need to get out, fast.

  I stepped into a huge corridor that seemed to go on forever… I couldn’t even see the end.

  By chance, the light from my phone hit a half-open door across from me, and I could hear a sound from inside.

  Shivering from fear and cold, I slowly crept closer and peeked in. In front of the bed was a massive, slimy, wriggling creature, like a giant worm, with huge eyes forced open and a gaping mouth that somehow made the sound of a crying baby.

  It looked like it was crying as it opened its mouth… ready to swallow a girl who looked about my age, unconscious on the floor.

  I froze in terror, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind—should I run? If I try to save her, will I end up like her? But what if she and I are the only humans here?

  I started crawling toward it slowly, while its filthy mouth opened even wider…