Countdown to the Apocalypse: 4 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 4 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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I woke up with a heavy feeling in my heart. Deep inside me there was regret. However, I tried not to make it too much of a big deal. "What's done is done," I told myself. What I need to do now, is concentrate on the task at hand. I switched on my workstation and began studying the security videos I've received a day ago. Everything just doesn't make sense.

I contacted a few of my colleagues. Some had some theories. Although without proof, they're just as good as bullshit. I had my theories as well. Sadly, they're without proof either. I decided to head over to the station one last time. This time determined to find something that may push this investigation forward. Within minutes, I was standing at the entrance. Luckily, the sun was still up. Thoughts of the horrid event came back to haunt me. I shrugged it off and pressed onward.

The inside was just as how it was the day before. Untouched. Looks like nobody's been here. From the looks of it, I doubt anyone will ever come here again... Ever. The stench of death and decay filled the air around me. It was unbearable. I left the premises immediately. As I walked towards the entrance, I noticed from the corner of my eye that someone or something has been following me ever since I entered the place. I place my hand on the pistol I had been carrying. With yesterday's events, I can't be too carefree anymore. Self-defense, is a must.

I took deep breathes to calm my nerves. Pulled out the pistol from the holster and released the safety lock. I scanned the area carefully, trying to pick out notable ambush points. I carefully walked towards my car. I stopped as I heard footsteps nearby. I turned, pointing the gun towards the source of the noise. I held my breath. My fingers were already on the trigger, getting ready to pull it at any second. From behind the broken pillar, my stalker emerged. "Fuck, hell!" I exclaimed. It was my ex-partner. Somehow, he miraculously survived last night's ordeal.

He was bruised and battered. His clothes were tattered and torn all around. He could definitely pass of as one of them. He said that he managed to break free from the horde that came rampaging down the basement carpark and hid in a nearby storeroom or some sort. I gave him two shots from my pistol. One on the arm, another on his thigh. "Those are for being trigger happy last night which almost cost me my life. Also, to make sure you're not one of them," I told him. He was groaning in pain. A good sign. It means that he was still human. "Fuck you, bro," he said.

I laughed and offered him a ride home. In his make-shift sanctuary in the storeroom, my partner managed to somehow study the behavior of those things. He compiled it and then uploaded it into my database. I placed the data under lock and chains. It was password protected. The code was encrypted. "This data goes down with me," I told myself. That's if those things get to me before I complete this investigation and let my mates know of it.

Again, I worked till midnight. "3 days to the Apocalypse," I said as I slowly walked towards the bed. I let out a heavy sigh and went to sleep.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 5 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 5 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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My communicator's constant buzzing woke me up at around 3 in the afternoon. I was in no mood to move my ass up and head over to HQ. After all, what's there left of HQ now? That biohazard outbreak we had the day before must have tore the whole place down to ruins. I've had no contact with whoever that were in the labs since I've stepped foot back home at 3 this morning.

I turned on my workstation only to find an anonymous message flashing on my screen. It was the security videos to yesterday's outbreak back at the lab. I was shocked to see the damage that was done. They came from all sides, pounded on the glass doors. Smashed through the plaster walls like cardboard. Then I remembered my ordeal this morning at the abandoned train station. It was just as bad. Suddenly, I began to felt thankful. Thankful that I've lived this long. Thankful that I'm still alive after all this bullshit.

I've had cuts and bruises before but the wounds I had this time were... Well, let's just say that they're non-fatal. I kept watching the security videos. My feelings did not change. I was scared, true. But deep down, the determination to survive grew stronger. I will fight my way out. Dying now will only let my efforts thus far, die in vain.

I headed back to the station hoping to see things I might had missed when I was in pitch black...and also the paranoia of being mauled to death from the back when you least expect it. I rushed towards the station. Hoping to actually find something before the sun actually set. Somehow, these things don't show their ugly faces when the sun's still up. I received a call from my ex-partner. Seems that he's interested in the station and the recent biohazard outbreak as well. A helping hand will always be welcomed within my party. But something does bother me and it's been bothering me for a long-long time. He's known to be a real disaster magnet and he's hopeless in those kind of situations, especially if he's the cause of it.

The first half hour went fine. Well, it all went fine till we left the main building and approached the carpark. The sorry ass found a shotgun from the corpse of a security guard. As luck would have it, he has no firsthand experience whatsoever on firearms. "Just great," I sighed in disbelief. I told him to hand the gun over. He ignored me and continued to press ever forward. I took a rock and threw it towards him. It got his attention sure enough, with a bleeding head to spare. I pointed upwards signifying the sky's getting dark. I'd syncronized my watch earlier, before leaving my place to beep 5 minutes before 7. It did and we're at the far end of where we entered the building.

It was clearly dark outside. The faint glimmer of light seeping through the cracks between the pillars and walls seemed to have just vanished. I called out the bastard's name. He stood there, stared at me and walked towards me like he owned the place. "Fuck, bro. Move your ass. Sun's down," I told him. He gave me his trademark clueless face-look. "Right..." came the reply. I drove my knee straight into his groin and hurriedly jogged back towards the entrance. The ass took aim with the shotgun, and fired twice towards me. The first hit the pillar beside me. While the second, ricocheted off the floor and hit a nearby abandoned vehicle. The car alarm went bonkers. "Geez, asshole. If you wanna shoot me, do it point blank!" I screamed at him. Now the whole godforsaken station is gonna wake up. I picked up my pace and was soon running for my life. Growls and silhouettes can be seen in the darkness. I got out of the place still in one piece.

I opened my room door and black out on my bed. I never did know what happened to the asshole back at the station. If he hadn't been such an ignorant dumbass, we would've made it out without much trouble. Plus, we found nothing. However, what I do know is that come midnight... It'll be 4 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 6 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 6 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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I was rudely awakened from a knock on my door. It was my ex-partner. "We've got a problem," came the words from his mouth. Something I wouldn't wanna hear the first thing in the morning. Especially right after waking up. He said that there'll be an informant waiting at the abandoned train station. I was to pick him up.

HQ was bustling with people, surprisingly. My superiors we apparently waiting for me at the lab entrance. They wanted me to hand in my report. Finally, after numerous attempts to get to their freaking brains that were hiding beneath those thick skulls. However, it was too late. Doom was inevitable ever since they turned their backs on Lab's 6A recent research regarding the outbreak. They say it's not too late to save the rest. I say that we're pretty much screwed.

A biohazard warning alarm went through the roof. There was a breach at the main entrance to the labs. I wasn't gonna stick around waiting for death to come and claim me. I signaled my colleagues and we escaped via the emergency exit. We left HQ and eventually ended up somewhere nearby yesterday's meeting area; coordinates: SK-TE-J. One of us called the emergency line that connects directly to the mainframe core in HQ. Status report was bad. A majority of the facility has been wiped clean of life. Without much thought, we left for home...preparing for the worst.

Back home, my workstation decided to be a bitch. Before it died, I saw multiple anomalies around my current area. Waiting for the inevitable won't help. So, I decided to investigate. My destination was the abandoned train station along the highway. Seriously... It has been traced back from every other incidents that has happened a week ago: biotechnology, the recent power plant investigation and more. As the days come ever so closer, the nights grew longer. Heck, it wasn't even dusk yet and the sky's already pitch black as night. As I ventured closer towards the station, a poster stuck on the wall caught my attention.

No mercy. What irony. None given, none taken. I continued onwards. My communicator beeped signifying midnight. "5 days to the Apocalypse, and still alive..." I sighed and forced myself onwards.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 7 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 7 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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The morning was busy as usual. Two consecutive buzzes on my communicator. I almost forgot that I've promised my colleagues that I'll be heading in to work today. I was late as usual, just to piss off my superiors. They never give a shit anyway. I've just got enough proof about the outbreak. It happens today. Just as I was about to hand it over to them, they smack it back right back in my face. Cool. Best thing that's happened to me. "The god damned fucking assholes just don't give a shit do they?" I shouted as I walked out of the administrative office. Every sorry excuse for life on this planet gave me a cold unpleasant stare. "Stare on, assholes!" I shouted. True enough, security busted into the hallway to take me out.

I was escorted to the plaza. The area was a deadzone, literally. Not a soul in sight for as far as I can see. Eventually, my colleagues appeared behind me. Everything they've worked for now down the drain. Why? It's because they themselves, assisted me with a portion of my work. They believe in the coming apocalypse. And at what cost? Getting thrown out of our own labs? The higher-ups call this "justice". I call it "retarded bullshit". We packed up and was about ready to leave. What else can we do? Orders are absolute. Unless we wanna risk getting our own head shot. We just had to face the facts that we were banned from conducting research in the labs for a whole day.

One of us suggested we head over to a secluded spot to continue on our work. After all, we weren't in the authoritative zone of HQ anymore. Their rules don't apply to where I was standing. We drove off. Our destination were coordinates: SK-MD-DT. It was my first time in the area. I was like a lost child and so were some of my colleagues. I wasn't sure about the meeting area in the first place. However, I was assured that it was safe. My gut instinct kicked in. "We leave. Now!" I exclaimed. Without a second to waste, we left the area and splitted into two groups. From a distance, we could see agents ransacking the place. "Good job, we were followed," someone exclaimed.

I suggest that we split, lay low and regroup the next day. For all we know, our names might already be on the blacklist. Pushing any further will risk either one of us being shot dead...or maybe worse. I volunteered we head home, have some rest and maybe, just maybe...get over this bullshit. A few of the guys decided we head over to my place. Infact, we did. Although nothing progressed. I had a bad feeling that my entire room was rigged with trackers and the sort. Nothing would surprise me anymore. Well, that's what I thought.

Apparently, I did some personal investigation on my own. Strangely, all links have been traced back to one, same, single source. Although it's too early to confirm anything, I'd pretty much say that this "Company" has alot more secrets that's connected to the recent outbreak. I decided to stop. Although curious to go deeper into this mystery just when I've found an excellent lead, I remembered... "Curiosity killed the cat," a voice said at the back of my head. I shook the thought off. Cats have nine lives. Then again, I on the other hand don't. I stopped. This time for real.

Midnight is just minutes away. The day of reckoning dawns ever so closer. Only 6 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 8 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 8 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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My communicator buzzing the first thing in the morning is always bad news. True enough. I was called back to work. The people at HQ aren't actually giving me two shits about the coming apocalypse and also that someone's after my head. I decided to sleep in. The report about the early outbreak happening worldwide tomorrow can wait. Heck, I actually said that and went back to sleep.

Half-past noon. My communicator buzzed again. This time it was my colleague. He was expecting me to show up today. We promised to discuss the Light Quantum Modulator we discovered a couple days ago. I turned down his offer, told him that I'll be taking another day off just to piss them off back at HQ. I promised him that I'll show up back at Lab 6A first thing tomorrow morning. No response. The line's been cut. I walked towards the window only to see something, a shade of black disappear behind some foliage. "Shit. Line's been tapped," I cursed silently.

I went back to bed. Seems like the more I sleep, the more tired my body becomes. Could be something that happened yesterday. I brushed off the idea and went back to sleep. By the time I woke up again, it was past 7. I headed towards my workstation and turned the thing on. There was something I needed to clarify. I tried to establish communication connections with a few of my known and trusted contacts. "FAILED. RETRY?" was the damned bloody words showed on the screen. I kicked the mainframe core angrily. The damn thing went dead. I manually turned it on again. It seems like the auto-reboot went dead as well the moment I gave the thing a nice kicking.

I decided to started working early. I booted up my data samples from weeks ago. Compiling them into my report. If I'm to give my report about the global outbreak tomorrow, I'd better be convincing. Them asshats at the administrative department won't let anything get through to the higher-ups unless they see it fit. Seriously a load of bull. The data load was massive. I was left working till midnight. I couldn't care less. I turned off my machine and went to bed. "If the admins don't see this as important, I'll just take things into my own hands." I prepped myself for bed. "7 days to the Apocalypse. Global outbreak begins huh? I don't wanna wake up..."

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 9 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 9 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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With 9 days left, my days starts off with even more chaos. My workstation flared off the annoying beep that can only mean that there's an incoming message. "Coordinates: MD-IKP-I. Proceed with caution." Sender anonymous. I went alone. Somehow I felt like this was indeed a trap. Heck, if news got out that Lab 6A was in possession of a Light Quantum Modulator, I've no doubt that even the local government would bloody send goons out for my head.

The location was another massive structure then the previous day. However, this looked like it was in better condition than the last as well. There weren't any doorways along the main building. So, I headed towards the underground entrance. The labyrinth stretched for miles. Corridors made this place like a maze of doom. With my tracker on, I've managed to find my way towards the stairway that leads to the ground floor. Instantly, my tracker went crazy. Just like my colleague's when we were in the vicinity of the modulator. "What now?" I asked myself. Red dots showed up all around me on the tracker. This time, they were moving. A slow start, then they started to pickup the pace. Without a second thought, I bolted through the nearest doorway I could find and locked them behind me. Then, the lights went out.

Through the darkness, I could make out shapes of humanoid figures running rampant. The keyhole wasn't as good as a window but it worked nonetheless. The pungent smell of rotting corpses filled the air around me. I choked and fell face first to the floor. "Incoming transmission," said the AI from my communicator. It was a data stream being downloaded to my communicator. I traced the source. It led me back to the anonymous sender of this structure's coordinates.

The message read: "As you can see, what's happening now around you has now spread to certain parts of the world. This officially began 3 days ago. In another 2 days, this phenomenon will be global. This is the initial onslaught of the coming apocalypse." The message ended there. There was apparently no reason for me to stick around here any longer. I guessed whoever that sent me the message wanted me to see this. I did and now I'm leaving.

"Global meltdown in 2 days huh?" I asked myself while i made a dash back through the winding corridors. This has to be reported to HQ. Something I'll be doing the first thing tomorrow morning. If this was the initial onslaught, I can't imagine what would happen 9 days later.

I went home and pondered on the subject. Eventually I drifted off to sleep. "8 days to the Apocalypse." I heard a faint whisper in my ear. It was midnight...

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 10 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 10 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

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I awoke to the abrupt sound of my communicator. Well, I thought that it came from my communicator. Apparently I was dreaming. It was 8 in the morning. Eventually, I went back to sleep. Around 9, I awoke to the sound of my communicator, again. This time it was real. It was a distress signal coming from a very familiar location: the abandoned train station along the highway. Although I was supposed to lay low for the time being, this signal was urgent. But to be on the safe side, I decided to call for backup. Apparently, there was this one time partner of mine. He was eventually reassigned due to certain internal mishaps. Whether this was a plot against him or something else, I can't say. I called him.

We made our way towards the station. It was harder to navigate through the ruined pathways now as the pile of worthless rubble has seemed to have gotten a lot more bigger than the previous time I was here. I was surprised to see that my colleague was the one who sent me the signal. We were to be working on a top secret military project called the HGL Project. His research eventually led him to the station. It looks like this worthless pile of rubble they call a station apparently has more connections to various incidents that I had originally imagined. He synced his communicator with mine. I downloaded the data he had collected prior to the events here at the station. "So where to?" I asked. "Coordinates: BU-1U-NW," he replied.

A huge structure stood in front of us. "Here's the place," I exclaimed. The huge building has seen it's share of the chaos through the years. It's exterior paint and structure shows exactly that. We went in despite the fact that the very roof could come crashing down on us. "Where now?" I asked. "Top floor," came the reply. The top floor of the building was a lot smaller than the previous floors. Searching this area will certainly be easier. Or so I thought. I don't even know what the hell were we looking for in the first place. I asked him. He was looking for a Light Quantum Modulator. "You mean a photon generator?" I asked him. He shook his head, "No, a Light Quantum Modulator." My ever silent partner eventually spoke out for the first time since the trip. "The modern name photon derives from the for light, φῶς, (transliterated phôs), and was coined in 1926 by the physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis, who published a speculative theory in which photons were uncreatable and indestructible." I was shocked. That bloody ass actually knew about photons. His reassignment actually did some good for him.

"If we ever find this Light Quantum Modulator," I said. "Photon generator," interrupted my colleague. I gave him a piercing stare. I continued while giving my colleague the stare. "If we ever find this device, then I can say that we've proved Gilbert N. Lewis wrong."

For 2 whole hours, we were searching the top most floor. Eventually after much searching, we found the device. It wasn't in good shape but it was definitely working. It's slight malfunction jammed the tracker on my colleague's communicator. Which was one of the reason why the search took longer than expected. It was giving off false location readings. I was tired but relieved somehow. If this LQM or photon generator would function, it will prove to be a great performance boost to the HGL Project. Maybe even for the coming apocalypse.

I then headed home. My body gave way the minute I saw the bed. I was sleeping till 9. Deciding to turn in early, I checked my doors and windows to see that they're bolted nice and tight. "9 days to the Apocalypse," I sighed and drifted to sleep.