Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Something screamed back at me and I realized it was myself.

Get a hold of yourself! Third was hissing. Some part of me knew my other self was right. That screaming now was akin to death.

But Id just died.

I felt my throat being cut, my chest pierced. The sensations, so fresh in my mind, made my body convulse and squirm. Warm blood covered me, seeping through my clothes

At some point, I realized I was being carried, hand over my mouth. My vision was blurry with tears, my face covered in snot. I didnt want to move. I wanted to curl up and hide.

A part of me raged at that. Angry for the first time in god knows how many years. Truly angry. Of all the shit Id been through, this is what breaks me? That stubborn, idiotic, thought cut to me.

My parents dying? Struggling through school? Working part-time and juggling grades good enough for scholarships? The sacrifice of my entire social life? For years and years, alone? And this, a damn apocalypse, was going to shut me down?

It was so ridiculous I started laughing. A laugh so absurd and out of place, it was enough to snap me back into focus, to center my emotions and mind.

I stood up.

Third had taken me to one of the labs, chancing to open the door. It was empty and hed brought me in after checking the fact. I took a step away from myself and greeted Second the Second, technically the fourth, but I stuck to my own convention.

He looked at me how Id look at myself, which again, was understandable. There was nothing to comfort, no words needed to be said, we were all the same. Me.

Anger burned red hot in others, people lost control, hurt those around and themselves. I would know most of all. I was once that troubled kid prone to violent bursts of anger. I had cooled down since then, found my peace with the world.

That didnt mean I couldnt be angry at the new one. Now, anger for me was a simmering cold. The kind of cold that burned and hissed. It brought ice to my veins and washed me in sudden clarity.

That was me now.

I secured the laboratory. No other entrances, but no other exits. The thick steel door wasnt ideal. It was still better than being exposed in the hallway, open to the cave monster. I suppressed a shiver as I rummaged through the room in three different places.

Boxes of neatly organized safety equipment: goggles, gloves, lab coats, masks, amongst others. Two fire extinguishers, two first aid kits along the walls, an emergency shower, an eyewash station. Microscopes, beakers, funnels and bottles, flasks, test tubes, pipettes, and other tubing.

Both looked the same, unfortunately. Matching outfits, same black mask, same posture, height, and movements. At least the face was covered.

I saw them out the door, shut it, then locked it. The metal clicked into place a deep thunk and I was alone again. I sat there, tracking their progress, quietly piling up chairs or tables against the door.

Second peered around the corner towards the cave and, after a moment, Third was moving for the storage closet. There he found the [Uncommon Chest], something wed barely stopped to inspect further.

Item: [Uncommon Chest]

Chests are hidden troves of treasure, capable of holding great boons and riches. This chest has the potential to hold uncommon valuables, either in effect, rarity, or quality.

That was interesting. Hidden troves of treasure. What made something worthy of a notification like this? I wasnt quite sure, but it was obvious nothing ever mentioned in this strange way was normal.

I was the first piece of evidence. Something had changed me, altered me. I couldve thought about it all day but my mind was outside. Tracking myselves.

I moved about perfectly in sync, not practiced, no, but my rhythm was evident between each of my clones. One watched, the other moved. I did both, clearing the building. Three times I paused waiting, fearful but ready.

Then I was moving again. This was the science building. Biology, botany, marine, ecology, pre-med, biomedical, and the like. And there were dead bodies. In the laboratory, the original me suppressed the urge to throw up.

Not all of the bodies were whole. And, clearly, some werent just halved, but half-eaten. Chewed.

I moved through the building, eyes for anything useful, for any survivors. Both mes paused at the lecture hall Id been attending. A general science course. There was an oddly smooth concrete slope to one side, rubble everywhere else, and I realized I was looking at something that had melted it.

I didnt see the people I had left behind. They had either fled or died. Maybe both.

The second me chanced a peek out the lecture hall. A destroyed campus, worse than before. Now that I had more time to look, I saw the terrain that seemed to be spliced with what I knew from the university, was something akin to a forest. Tall trees in the background where there was none before, thick vines hanging between them.

I frowned, backing away from the exposed lecture hall, and proceeded upwards. To the top of the building. I felt others wouldve done the same, if there were any.

I stopped at the nurses office, hearing something. Breath. Muffled and pained. I took up both sides of the door and froze, there was a trail of blood leading inside.

On an invisible beat, I pushed into the room.