THE END ? SUNDAY

WARNING : THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN (GRAPHIC) DEPICTIONS OF DEATH, INJURY AND ALL THAT FUN STUFF AS WELL AS ANGST (PROBABLY). THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF FLUFF TO BE HAD THOUGH!!
(additional warnings will be given at the top of chapters accordingly if I see fit to do so!)

ENJOY!

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PROLOGUE

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Life had become boring, pointless in a way. It was always sleep, wake up, work yourself half to death, and by the time you got home, there was no longer time for yourself. Sometimes, you would stay up, despite your alarm creeping closer and closer to going off, just so you could have time to do things you enjoyed. The dark bags under your eyes seemed to be testament to this.

"Stupid boss, I hope he dies in a fire or something," the complaint falls from your lips absentmindedly. You could picture the ugly scowl your boss wore, his accusatory finger pointing at you and the massive cart of produce that he had insisted he had told you to sort out (he definitely didn't... or did you just not listen to him?). His constant nagging about how his employees were a team and that you should take it a lot more seriously than you were.

"Produce... one day, I'll produce the biggest punch to the face that old man has ever seen."

You turn the tap of the bath off. The weekend was truly an incredible thing, the absence of the threat of tomorrow being one of which you were expected to be somewhere filled your heart with a terrible amount of glee.

The steam emitting from the hot water was inviting; it was a shame you didn't have any bath bombs or rose petals to make it feel all the more special-another thing to add to the shopping list.

The 'want' list, anyway.
Moving to Penacony was supposed to be a fresh start. The old, sleepy town you were born and grew up in simply didn't offer the opportunities you wanted, and so moving to a city seemed to be the smartest move.

You were wrong. You were now stuck stacking shelves and taking verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse from vexed customers who seemed to believe those working in retail were some sort of class of sub-humans.

Those thoughts could wait; you had a relaxing bath waiting for you after all!

Sighing in content as you sunk into the water, you felt the tension flow out of your aching muscles-being on your feet for 10 hours five times a week at a minimum was not good for your calves, it seemed.

"I should've become a lawyer or something..." you say wistfully, staring at the ceiling and then at the mold growing in the corner of the room. Another sigh.

"Damn landlord..." you cursed. They had promised they'd figure something out, but that was around five months ago, and still the mold clung to your walls. Can't die from inhaling those spores or something?

It's so quiet... and so nice.

Quiet... quiet?

The distant and constant roar of cars on the road had disappeared, as well as the occasional car horn or ambulance siren.

Squinting your eyes thoughtfully, you got out of the bath, wrapping the towel you had set out previously around your body so you could check your phone.

It doesn't react to you touching the on button, the screen staying black.

That's weird. You thought mold spores only affected people; can they kill phone batteries too? Did you accidentally splash water onto it and damage it? No, that wasn't it; your phone was dry.

Humming in thought, you exited the bathroom and beelined for your room. A cramped but satisfactory space that could hardly fit more than three people-enough for you and yourself, however.

Grabbing the folded sweatshirt and sweatpants you had laid out and putting them on, you walked out of your apartment and into the corridor and then the stairwell.

More silence. Not even the pair of pigeons that had nested in the little nook under the stairs was making a noise.

The soft pat of your shoes connecting with the concrete stairs was all you could hear until you came to the main lobby and out of the front door.

No receptionist drinking her coffee in preparation for her night shift, no security guard with his arms crossed.

As you looked from left to right at the street before you, not one passerby. The cars stood dormant, the streetlights off, not one light in the other apartment windows.

Now that you think of it, you hadn't tried the lights in your apartment since you got home. The remnants of golden hour lit your room when you entered, and you had opted for scented candles during your pleasant (but brief) bath.

A power cut perhaps? World War Three? A prank that everyone in the vicinity was in on but you?

"What the hell," you couldn't help but utter in confusion. Alone. You hadn't had an actual conversation with someone outside of scanning their groceries in so long; that was alone. But this, this felt different. Almost menacing.

You wondered if the stars looked down at you in pity or were laughing at you and your racing thoughts.

A light caught your eye from your peripherals. A huge arrow, pointing down an alley.

Maybe a serial killer with a huge budget?

Swallowing the lump slowly forming in your throat, you marched towards the direction of which the arrow pointed. What other choice did you really have? Maybe it was smart to just go into your apartment, close the door, close your eyes, and pretend this wasn't happening, but it was.

When did people disappear? As soon as you entered your building? You hadn't seen the receptionist or security guard then either, but you assumed maybe they were on break, or maybe their shift hadn't even started yet.

You shook your head-it didn't matter. What did matter was what was happening now, and what was happening was a large botanical garden coming into view. The dome glass allows light to escape and bounce off of the surroundings.

Light. Power. Then again, the screens of arrows also suggested a power source of some kind.

Speaking of screens, another was on a wall on a building next to the garden.

"GAME THIS WAY"

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here's to hoping I actually finish this (don't jinx it)

I hope you're all well, sorry for dying for nearly two years!

I plan to use minimal / no use of "[y/n]" because it's frankly a pain to write and not really my style, rest assured this is still a reader insert tho :P

this will be cross posted on AO3 and tumblr too! My carrd w/ the links can be found in my bio :)