Apocalypse Ascension

~WEE-OW~

~WEE-OW~

Blue and red sirens flashed deep in a city at the peak of night. The streets were filled with the usual nightlife: strip clubs, prostitutes, and desperate gamblers using their last few coins on a fleeting dream.

But deeper, past the nightlife, past the sirens, was where the worst part of the city resided. Countless homeless, sick, and poor people stayed there because of the shelter nearby. It definitely couldn't fit everyone there, but they still managed to provide rations twice a day.

In an alleyway of that same district lay a young man with long, unkempt black hair and pale skin. His body wasn't the healthiest, parts of it being skinnier than others, but the important places were well defined, proof of the exercise that had been done.

"Food's decent today, perks of being on the staff's good side~"

The young man sat on the ground with a half eaten turkey sandwich in his left hand and an empty water bottle at his side. He took a quick bite before scanning the alleyway looking for a recycling bin to toss the bottle in, quickly finding it.

The bottle missed the bin by a wide margin and fell on the ground, the man stood with a slow eye roll, brushing crumbs off his lap before walking over to finish the job. As he bent down, he noticed four legs approach.

"Hey, Justin…erm…how are you?"

Two men stood above the young man—Justin—the duo was seemingly in their early twenties, just a bit older than him. The one who had spoken was a frail, pale skinned man with short disheveled blonde hair: Austin.

Standing up to see who it was, Justin's lips slightly twitched.

'This guy again, probably here because he couldn't get his rations again. He's brought a friend with him too…'

Justin's eyes shifted toward the man behind him, the man had dirty blonde hair like Austin but his frame was larger, still smaller than Justin's but not by much.

Justin's eyes glided back toward Austin before words escaped from his mouth.

"Austin, what is it this time?"

"Well, Justin…I'm really sorry to do this but-"

Before he could finish, the man behind him cut him off.

"Hand over that sandwich while we're asking nicely."

Surprised, Justin stared at the man then back at his sandwich. Repeating the action a few times.

"This?"

The man nodded.

Justin's eyes shifted back to Austin, his gaze chilling. Austin's eyes quickly fell to his feet.

'Tch.'

Justin's attention went back to the larger man before speaking.

"So you want me to starve?"

"…"

His mouth opened and shut twice, before responding.

"Look at Austin, man he's a damn stick! Could you show some compassion and spare him it just this once?"

The man's shout garnered the attention of most in the area. With everyone being too poor to have any form of electronics, this was the only entertainment available, hence a crowd slowly started to form.

Justin could feel it, all eyes in the slum were on him, weighing down on his back. He wasn't surprised, people loved the scent of violence.

"I'm sure you didn't miss your rations today, did you give Austin some of yours?"

"…"

Silence, he'd struck him good with that one.

'Tsk, hypocrite'

"Listen, this is the last time I'm asking nicely. Hand. Over. The. Sandwich."

The man cracked his knuckles as he took a step forward.

Justin took another bite.

"Come take it, then."

With that, a fist was sent flying towards Justin's face. He side stepped swiftly, managing to get out of harm's way.

'Swing and a miss.'

He sent a barrage of punches, kicks, and elbows all Justin's way.

None of them connected.

Justin wasn't trained, even if he wanted to he didn't have the funds. But on these cold streets, every day was a bloody battle. Everyone out here knew a thing or two about how to throw, dodge, and take a punch.

Small gasps and murmurs rippled through the alleyway, a few in the crowd started grinning—the spectacle before them was slowly reaching its climax.

After his barrage came to an end, the man's attacks noticeably slowed down. Justin, picking that up almost instantly, dodged the man's jab and grabbed his arm with his right hand.

Still gripping the man's arm, Justin yanked him forward, making him lose balance and then gave him a good punch right to the nose.

'Gotcha.'

"Fuck!"

The stumble gave his punch more weight, so when Justin's fist hit, it hit hard.

Someone in the crowd whistled low, and another just laughed; they liked that one.

Austin, watching from the side, flinched as the punch connected. He stuck his hands out and opened his mouth to try to form words, hoping he could stop his friend from getting hurt any further. But his legs wouldn't move and his mind couldn't string together any sentences.

Justin looked past the grunt gripping his nose and shouted toward Austin, sandwich still sitting pretty in his left hand.

"Take him and leave before I lose my appetite."

"Y-yes!"

Austin hurriedly grabbed the man and ran off, fading into darkness.

Justin stretched for a moment and then turned around, shifting his gaze to the crowd that had formed behind him.

"Next time you all watch, I'm going to need some compensation for my services."

"Haha, funny guy!"

"Only thing I have to spare is a loaf of moldy bread, want that?"

Justin's expression quickly changed, disgust filled his mind when he thought of himself even placing a slice of moldy bread on his tongue.

'Just nasty.'

"On second thought, no compensation required folks. Enjoy your night."

Justin slowly walked off, heading to his usual alley corner.

Finally finishing the sandwich.

***

Arriving at the alley, Justin broke down cardboard boxes for comfort and moved trash cans out the way for space, this had been his routine for a long time. Laying down on the cardboard beneath him, Justin's eyes eased upward toward the night sky, the stars were a little brighter tonight.

'Hey mom…how are you up there? Just wanted to say that I'm still surviving down here…well little by little, I still don't like how this cardboard feels on my back, or the occasional unbearable shit smell. But even with all that, I'm still somehow holding up…I'm a survivor, I'm not going to give up! Haha, you liked that song right?'

Justin clenched both fists hard.

'No response again tonight, huh? Well…you were always the quiet type. Oh well, just was giving you another update….I love you mom….wait for me up there please.'

Justin exhaled, the chains of sleep slowly clutched onto him trying to pull him into his dreams.

As soon as he shut his eyes, a mechanical female voice sounded out inside his head.

[Unevolved planet detected, scanning the planet for intelligent lifeforms…%…Species detected: Homosapiens…Protocol will commence in 5 seconds]

[5…]

Justin jolted up and patted his head repeatedly.

[4…]

'Did that food have a chip in it? I did hear that the government was implanting people with them for forced labor…sorry mom your son might have to live as a government slave from now on.'

Justin grimaced at the thought.

[3…]

As the countdown in Justin's head got closer to zero, another mechanical voice sounded out. This voice, unlike the previous one, was masculine.

[Potential host detected, scanning genetic potential…%…Immesurable…scanning evolutionary limit: Unlimited. Suitable host has been found, immersion will now begin.]

[2…]

As both of these voices sounded in his head, Justin looked up at the night sky and noticed a red mist starting to form.

'What the hel-'

[1…]

Justin felt himself growing more and more tired. And it wasn't just him, Justin heard thumps all around him; maybe he wasn't the only one hearing these strange voices.

As the thumps sounded, destruction followed. People in cars, planes, or performing any task that required even the tiniest bit of focus were all falling asleep, their fates uncertain.

[0…]

[The protocol will now commence. Fight and you may survive.]

The female voice sounded in Justin's head for the last time, before Justin's entire world collapsed into black.