“Zak, wake up…!” “Zak, wake up…!” Zak got up suddenly while rubbing his eyes, still dazed from the fainting spell.
He looked at Anna and the two young men in front of him.
The place seemed familiar and brought him a wave of memories from the last time he had been there.
He knew he had to act before everything ended in death.
“Shit…” he growled.
The young men watched the new place in awe.
Around them were debris and, in the distance, a ruined building in the middle of that desolate area.
Anna also seemed confused, but first she made sure Zak was okay.
“There’s no time!
Run!” Zak shouted, grabbing Anna’s arm as he ran toward the building.
The young men followed without questioning.
Zak was sweating cold as a shiver ran through his entire body.
The floor wasn’t safe, nor was being there.
Nothing about that place was safe, but they had to buy time until they found a way out.
“What’s happening, Zak?” Anna asked without stopping running, pulling away from his grip and moving on her own.
“I can’t tell you now!
Just run fast!” his voice sounded desperate.
They were getting closer to the building.
They would have to climb to the very top to avoid being caught.
“Hurry, they’re coming!” Zak shouted without stopping.
Sweat hit his forehead and he felt his body trembling.
“What’s coming?” one of the young man asked.
Before Zak could answer, a growl similar to a loud scream sounded behind them.
“Don’t look back and keep running!” Zak was completely scared shitless.
He knew those things had appeared.
Anna didn’t let curiosity take her and kept running without stopping.
But one of the young men got a little tired, stopped and turned.
All he let out was a scream of horror.
Zak and the others turned and all froze at what they saw.
“What the fuck is that!?” the other young man shouted.
They saw an entire swarm of creatures running toward them.
They were being hunted.
“Don’t stop and keep going!” Zak shouted, bringing them back to reality.
“Hurry!” Anna ordered.
The four started running and finally reached the building, where they began to climb.
“Move fast!” Zak shouted while everyone ran nonstop.
In the background all you could hear were the desperate screams of the creatures and the floor shook from their heavy footsteps.
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“Where are we going now?
How the hell do we get out?
We have to buy time until those creatures get here…” “Zak, where are we going?!” Anna asked.
“…
“Zak, answer!
Those things are catching up to us!” she demanded.
The other young men also looked at Zak and then looked at each other.
“I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die… I want to get out of here… I want to get out of here…!
I don’t want to be here…!” Zak thought strongly, driven by fear, while he ran.
Right at that moment, a crack opened in front of them.
The four stopped dead in their tracks.
Zak was watching the interdimensional crack.
“What is that?” Anna asked, serious.
Zak, before answering, saw that the creatures were already too close, only five seconds away.
“There’s no time!
Get in, now!” he shouted desperately as he entered.
Anna and the other young men also entered while the crack finally closed.
The creatures fell to the floor with their claws extended where their prey had been before.
The air changed.
The smell of debris went away and the smell of salt came in.
A strong wave sounded in the background while the weather seemed cloudy, like it was about to rain.
Zak got up and opened his eyes.
They were on an islet.
The waves hit the rocks splashing water while the wind howled.
“Zak… what…?
Where are we?” Anna asked while she also got up, regaining her footing.
“I don’t even know…” “Mmmph… classic you.
But getting back to the topic, what’s happening?
And don’t lie to me, I’ve seen enough and it seems like you’ve been through this… a while ago” Anna said, serious.
“The truth is complicated” Zak explained.
“It doesn’t matter, say it.
Now” she ordered.
The other young men also got up while watching their new environment.
“Mmmhp, okay… but it’s a long story.” “It doesn’t matter.” Both sat on two rocks while the young men also stayed alert.
After a long moment of explanation… “…
“…
There was silence from Anna, and Zak who was still a little worried about how she would react.
Although thinking about it… “Everything that’s happening to me seems… I don’t know… I doubt it’s real.
Could someone travel between dimensions just with a microchip?
Why did I bother telling them the truth?
Will these people be real?
Will all this be real?
Or is it just a product of a coma I must be having because in that tremor a piece of debris fell on my head?
Oh no… I must be dying… my mother must be worried…” Before Zak could keep thinking, he felt a slap while someone moved him violently.
“What the fuck!?” Zak said.
“Hey, Zak!
Come back to the real world!” “Huh?” That slap brought him back to reality.
It was Anna.
Zak had started staring into nothing while his vision clouded.
“What… happened?” “You think too much.
What’s wrong with you?
I was asking you if what you did a while ago, opening that crack, you can do it again” she asked.
“The crack?” he answered still confused and dazed by his thoughts.
“Yes.” “Mmm, I don’t know… I already told you a moment ago.
I just wanted to get out and poof!
it appeared.” “I don’t think that because you said ‘appear’ just like that it worked” Anna demanded.
“Seriously.” “No.
There must be something else.
I don’t know… did you think something?
Or did you feel something?” she asked.
“I just thought I wanted to get out of there… that I didn’t want to be there.
It was because of fear” he admitted.
“Mmmm.” One of the young men who was listening came closer to give his opinion: “It’s weird to think about this right now, more so where we are, but if what Zak says is true, it means he can open cracks based on his state of mind… or I don’t know, just by thinking it?” “That sounds like it’s taken from a cheap shonen anime” the other young man replied.
“Although the idea doesn’t sound that crazy.” Anna, who was listening without turning, spoke again: “It’s safer if Zak already mentioned that crack opened because he thought about getting out.
Maybe… just maybe it’s real.” “Huh?” Zak thought while watching the three talk.
“Next time I’ll give you two slaps if you keep thinking too much or having existential crises.
A lot of people I treated and took care of because of that ended up going crazy, and this is not the time for that” Anna clarified.
“Okay…” Zak shook his head, coming back to himself.
“So…” one of the young men whispered.
“It means there is a way to get back home” Anna finished.
“Well, then I guess we just have to make Zak think that we don’t want to be here…” “Mmm, I don’t know.
There must be a side effect.
How are you?” Anna asked, turning to look at him.
“Yeah… it gives me a horrible headache.
It seems like I even want to faint” he answered.
“I see…” one of the young men said.
Anna got up, took off her coat, folded it and placed it on the floor.
Then she leaned Zak down, laying him down and closing her coat over him.
“Rest” she ordered.
“Huh?” Zak was confused, more so because Anna’s movement was so fast he didn’t even notice.
“Yes, rest.
If you say you have a headache, it’s good that you rest and…” she paused to look at him seriously.
“Don’t think too much, stay calm, because that stresses you.” “But we don’t know where we are or how dangerous it is!” Zak replied.
“I know… But when you really rest there will be opportunities to get out of here.
So sleep” she ordered once again.
“Okay…” Zak closed his eyes and in less than a minute he fell asleep.
The tiredness was noticeable.
“Okay…” Anna murmured.
Then she got up and looked at the vast ocean, examining the islet where they were.
“I don’t know where this place is, but we can’t stay here.
Zak needs to rest and maybe that way there really is a chance to get out and then draw up a proper plan.” “Right…” one of the young men agreed.
“Look, a lighthouse…” the other young man mentioned, pointing at the big lighthouse in front of them.
“What do you think is inside?” one asked the other.
“I don’t know…” the other commented.
Anna didn’t stay with the doubt and walked toward the lighthouse.
She started going around it looking for an entrance, but it seemed to not have one.
“A lighthouse with no entrance, huh…” she murmured.
“Did you find anything?!” one of the young men shouted from far away.
Anna just looked at him and thought he was very noisy.
If he wanted to know so badly, he should come over.
The lighthouse lights turned by themselves, as if they had been programmed automatically.
Anna walked closer to the shore where the waves weren’t so strong, extended a hand, touched the sea and… She saw a series of memories pass through her head.
“Mom!” a little girl’s scream sounded.
“Sleep now, sleep now…” now the sound of a lullaby.
Immediately Anna pulled her hand out and stepped back, falling sitting on the grass.
It was confirmed: this dimension had something weird, more so because there were no people.
They had to get out of there as fast as possible.
Who knows what this place would be like at night…