An Acended's Journey

Logan dazedly followed them into the complex. Warm air blasted into Logan's chilled skin. The change in temp helped lighten Logan's mood, even if it was just a little. The Main complex was filled with cubicles and people working. It was a chaotic symphony of people working in the office space. People rushed across aisleways. Keys clicked away at their desk all in this extremely luminescent environment, but it was of little consequence to Logan. He was here to save his friend and this camp, but the environment did bring back some old memories. 

The workplace here reminded Logan of a job he had as a kid. He could see the supermarket like it was yesterday. Blinding lights and large stacked shelves of food. Logan had complained about the work and boss at the time, but even now Logan looked at those memories fondly. Logan got to meet new people there, and his family was alive. Those times were simpler for Logan. 'I wish I could go back.'

Now, life was more complicated for Logan, and he was living at the end of one apocalypse, lapsing in the start of another. 

The guard had stopped in front of a door on the side of a hallway, pushing Logan out of his thoughts.

Turning toward Logan, the guard addressed him, "This is your stop. Please step inside and sit down, and we'll have someone with you shortly."

Logan sighed and thanked the guard before sitting down in the room. The room looked conveniently like an interrogation room, but who was he to judge? For all Logan knew, they had every right to lock him up: the cut on his hand could have transformed him into some monster. 

The room had a single desk with two chairs sitting in the center of the room.

Logan tiredly walked over to the opposite side of the table and slumped down into it. 'It probably hasn't even been half a day, and I want to die. I'm just tired; everything will be fine tomorrow.' 

Logan had exhausted his being today, and he could wish for nothing more than a room to himself and some sleep. 

Looking down at his hand, he checked over the cut where the beast had sliced the backside of his hand. Logan remembered cutting into the hard leather of its neck and pulling back only to be caught by its clawed hand. Blood had congealed over the wound, but given the size of the marks, it would leave a scar. 

Logan breathed out heavily before throwing his head back. Logan let out a small wail from the godawful light above him.

Staring up at the ceiling, Logan's eyes felt pain even while closed. The Single lamp in the center of the room had no reason to be that bright. 'I wonder what's gonna happen to Alex? How long am I gonna wait here? God, I wish I could wake up from this nightmare.'

Closing his eyes, Logan tried to fall asleep in that uncomfortable position. Logan's mind ran through everything that happened this morning. If Logan had jumped in to assist Alex earlier, would he have been injured as much? 'I know it's not my fault, but I feel so guilty.'

Logan's mind ran through all the possibilities and the signs, but as he released a sigh, he realized there was nothing he could right now. Logan's body begged for rest as he sat in the chair, but now was not the time for sleep. He still had a job to finish.

The door slammed open with a bang, jolting Logan awake, opening his eyes in a flurry. 

" I wouldn't do that if I were you." A female voice said.

Coming into view, a red uniformed woman came to sit in front of him. She had a hat on and her red hair bunned. The woman appeared tired with blacks under her eyes and an oldened look about her. She seemed to emanate nobility with her legs crossed and her hands propped on the table. The sight left Logan with a sour taste in his mouth.

Logan turned his head curiously, " And why is that?"

"Because you might never wake up again," the lady stated matter of factly. 

Logan hadn't thought about how all of the unconscious people he had seen in camp. 'Did I get infected when that creature sliced me?' 

"What's gonna happen to me? Is Alex going to survive?" Logan shot off some questions.

Crossing her arms, the lady cooly collectively answered back, "We don't know much about the infection, but once it starts, people have anywhere from a week to a couple days before they fall asleep. And the man you came in with..."

For a moment, she paused, but then she added:

"He is alive, for now. I don't want to give you any hope, though. Even if we stabilize the man, he has already fallen asleep."

The room was filled with silence. 

Logan sighed again. 'Why does everything have to be so unfair.'

"Look, I don't know a lot of what is happening, but I do know a couple things. Some girl in campe transformed into a some vile ashy monster. It took five of us to kill that thing."

Logan took a moment to breathe before he continued his rant.

"My friend sacrificed his body to hold that Umbra down. Oh, and how do I know it's called an Umbra? Well, you know, Magical text just appeared in front of my face after I pierced the back of its neck open. So not only is there a deadly disease or virus that turns you into a monster, there is a some visual hallucinations from the same virus.."

Logan's rant finished with him slightly out of breath before he eased back up into his chair. 'So stupid! I've got to get control of myself.'

"Yes, we have had reports of similar sightings on a moon base, but we never thought anything like that would spread here. We're just getting reports from the central government agency that these sightings of the infection are spreading across most refugee camps."

She paused for a moment and succinctly asked a question.

"Do you see any weakness in these creatures called the Umbra?"

Logan thought for a moment before replying, "Well, that thing came from the body of an infected woman. If we had attacked her body during the transformation, I think we could have stopped the monster from coming to life. After that, I and some others stabbed all over the body of it. The front of the neck, shoulders, arms, legs and its back, but the most effective blow seemed to be the back of its neck."

"I don't know if it was because we had hit it so much or because it was some weakness, but after that blow, it went limp."

The lady stood up from the table. 'Are we done already?'

"Thank you for the information, Logan. Well, have a guard escort you to your friend before we evaluate you for the infection."

She left for the door, but before she left, she turned around and added: 

"Oh, and please don't address an enforcement officer so casually. I know you haven't been here long, but remember, red equals dead." 

With that, she disappeared from the room. 'Are you kidding me? That was it?' Logan thought over their meeting for a bit and realized something strange. 

'I didn't tell her my name, did I? Ugh, it doesn't matter. We made it, and we informed them about what we knew.'

Logan stirred in thought for a bit before a guard entered the room. Logan was honestly irked by the guards. The inanimate mask and the dark color would have left Logan in awe of their cool design, but today, it seemed to strike some sudden fear.

Logan stood up to follow the guard and was led through the halls of the Main complex. Logan had seemingly entered an area of higher security as they entered the second floor. Guards lined each intersection in the hall, and through the windows of the doors, I could see the backs of their heads standing in guard against something. Gone were the cubicles and long aisle; now there were only hallways with rooms lining each side. The guard made a turn at a hall intersection and arrived at a room near the end of the hall.

"This is your destination, young man. I'll wait out here for you." 

The guard stepped back and assumed position beside the door. 

Logan looked towards the man and thought, 'Man, that position had some aura.' He twisted the long knob on the doorway and entered the room. 

Adjusting to the darker lighting in the room, Logan realized this must have been some medical room they set up in the main complex. To Logan's surprise, a guard was in the room sitting in the corner near the door. Logan nodded to the guard, and he nodded back. 'Feels kinda weird to have him here.' 

Logan couldn't hold himself from looking any longer. Strapped to a bed, a young man with brown hair and eyes lay speckled with blood. His skin was still rosey from the blizzard outside. The white linen bedsheets contrasted against the bloodied and dirty man beneath them. 

'He breathing,' Logan thought. Relief washed across Logan's wearied mind. Alex had survived, for now. 'I was worried when he went limp that he died, but to think he was just infected.' Logan chuckled to himself.

'Just infected? How ironic. This infection might be even worse than death, but at least I get to him once more.' Logan's thoughts scattered as he came down to hug Alex. 'If this bastard was awake, he might really think the world is ending if I hugged him. I'll see you again, friend, I promise.'