I'm Sorry World, I Swear it was an Accident

Another day, another dollar am I right? The tick of the clock never faltered, my brain in a trance like captain hook with every moment passing. I lived in a 5 by 5 grey cubicle, occasionally visiting my home, I feel like my life was ticking away with that clock. The chorus of keyboard typing was the only thing I know, I always tried to keep up with the chorus, but I couldn’t. My calculator was my only friend here. Talking only caused problems from John, the office manager. If you have time to talk then you're not typing fast enough nor were you crunching enough numbers. Two times of getting caught talking was a write up, after that no one sees you again. I mean I'm sure they get fired but we never see them again. Maybe I’m just bitter, one of those people was Jack. He was flirting hard with me, then he got fired and I was ghosted. This is my way of rationalizing repulsing men. Plus they’re not  allowed back in the building and a security guard cleans out their desk. So silent we are as they do, everyone watches. The clicks and the ticks are all that echo through the entire room. Sometimes you'll hear someone sigh, but the look they get might as well kill them.

I honestly can't tell you why I even work here. Sure I need the job, the money, healthcare, but I'm sure I could make it somewhere else. Maybe for less money. The thoughts began to form a noose around my neck, slowly getting tighter. Enough. I stood up from my desk abruptly, the sound of the wheels echoed across the office, every eye caught mine. I turned my back and nearly ran to the cooler, trying to get away from the eyes. Every pair of eyes made my body feel heavier, almost as if I was dragging weights behind me. I could feel my breathing get faster. I need to stop. I caught my breath and calmed down. In through the nose out through the mouth. I already had a warning thanks to Jack, and those stares, I couldn't take it. This isn't a jail. Why is it a crime to stand up and go to the bathroom or just get a drink of water? Why is everyone on board with this? Are we all sheep being herded for slaughter, stripped of our dignity and livelihood? I need to quit. I got to the water cooler, alone, thankfully. I needed a drink. Something stronger would be nice, but a drink of water is still calming enough. I threw a small styrofoam cup under the stream. I usually did a little warm and a little cold to keep the temperature balanced, but I was worried about the time I was away from my desk. I touched both the blue and red flanges down to release water. The tank of water started to bubble, the water in the cup tumbled off the ledge. What the actual fuck is happening? The wall behind the water cooler pushed in, revealing a hallway behind it. My eyes felt like they would pop out of my head. I tried to wrap my head around the fact that there is a DOOR behind the water cooler. A door. A DOOR. my brain felt like it was melting out of my ears.

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING." John screamed and ran towards me. I could either try to run out past my boss, closing in fast. Or I could go through this dark opening that just exposed itself from me GETTING WATER FROM THE WATER COOLER. I tried to see what the threshold had further down. The tunnel was dark, the lights were few and far between, two of the five were flickering, I couldn’t see more than fifteen feet forward. Now my boss was only ten feet away, I lept behind the water cooler. Behind the entry way there was a button that was green, another above it was green but glass covered it. I pushed it about a hundred times in 30 seconds and just before my boss was able to grab me. His arms were outstretched, reaching towards me, but I pushed him away before the door closed. The button turned red. "Door is locked, Door is locked." A voice over my head screeched. I figured that was a good thing, that means no one could follow me. I grabbed my phone to get a little more light. There was water dripping from the ceiling, pooling right next to my feet. What the actual fuck is this? I didn't know how  much time I had before the door would be unlocked, I had to move. The only way was forward. I was not about to die down here.

Each step echoed through the tunnel, my heels clicked against the concrete. The sound was terrifying, as if someone was following me. My heart was racing. Maybe I should call the police? I unlocked my phone, my heart sank, there was no service. I don't know what I was even expecting. I am in a tunnel, going under a freaking office building. 

As I continued on I started to see a brighter light. I needed to get out of here. The sweat was beading on my forehead, my feet pounded down against the pavement, each stride hurting more and more. The heels smacked against the concrete and my pace increased with every second. I need to get out of here. My breathing became ragged and it hurt to breath, it felt like there was a knife in my side. I needed to press on. 

I finally reached my desired destination. Another door. This one was all steel, from top to bottom, left to right. There were lights on the ceiling, illuminating the door. Another two buttons were hand level, blinking red. This is the only 

"ALEXA, IF YOU DON'T COME BACK OUT I WILL FIND YOU," I hear my boss's voice echo through the tunnel. It sounded close, but more upward oriented. Maybe he was speaking on the loudspeaker. Maybe he couldn't get in. This was a good possibility, bringing hope back into my heart, slowing it down. I debated pressing the button, but there was  no argument against it. Where else was I going to go? The tunnel had no side paths, only straight. I smack the button, it turned green "Doors are open, doors are open." The door opened, revealing a white path way. Follow the white brick road I guess? The hallway was lined with glass, every four feet had a white bar, separating the windows. I turned around, the button was green. I smacked it. The button instantly turned red, "Door are locked, Door are locked," The voice confirmed. Hopefully that didn't give enough time for anyone to get through. So someone must have left the doors unlocked. That's why this time that door opened, I've pressed down both the red and blue clips before to get room temperature water, but nothing like that ever happened before. No door POPPED OUT OF FREAKING NOWHERE.

Knock, knock, a rasp of tapping echoed from the windows. A scream slipped through my lips, I felt tears form in my eyes. I forced myself to take a breath.I frantically searched for the source of the knocking. Walking forward I heard a woman's voice, " Alexa? is that you," Her voice wouldn't stop shaking. "Please, help," I knew that voice, I just knew it. I walked even further to reveal Jessica, or what looked like her, she was fired 2 weeks ago. Half her face was grey, her eyes were bloodshot and she was laying limp against a window, a trail of blood was falling from her nose.

"JESSICA??" was all I could manage. It looked like her skin was dead, she looked dead. Why is she in a glass cage? What is this place?

"Alexa, " she plastered herself to the glass, "PLEASE, they're experimenting on us all, you have to get out of here before they find you." 

"Experimenting how? What do you mean?" I frantically checked my surroundings. There was no one else from what I could tell.

"Well, when they said they fired me, they didn't escort me out, the security guards shoved me into a closet and gagged me until everyone left the office, then they dragged me down here and threw me in this prison. It was fine the first week, they left me alone,my food for the day would be delivered while I was sleeping, then these men came in with hazmat suits and this huge needle,” She gestured the length with her fingers, “I tried to run, but they cornered me.." Her voice broke off. All of a sudden a coughing fit enveloped her, blood splattered against the glass, i took a couple steps back, even though it was impossible for me to get hit. My heart started racing again, my hands started to stick to my clothes. What kind of company did I work for? Would they capture me too? Throw me in a cage like an animal, like Jessica? 

"I'm sorry," Jessica spat out, more blood fell from her mouth. "I need to finish the story before I turn into the rest of them," She inhaled, "They injected me with something, over the course of the next I started vomiting blood, then my skin started to change color, they stopped bringing food. Every night they would clean my cell while I was sleeping. And now I can't see out of my right eye," she started sobbing, "I don't understand what's happening to me but you need to tell the outside world, you need to get me out of here please."

"I will try my best. I need to go, I need to find a way out. I will get you help I promise," I put my hand up to the glass and Jessica did the same.

"Please get me out of here." My heart broke into pieces, I needed to get out not just for me but for Jessica too. Onward I go. In through the nose, out through my mouth. I needed to get my heart rate down. I need to calm down. I can't make any mistakes. My heels continued to make way too much noise. I debated whether or not I needed them or if they were too much of a risk. 

"ARGH" A bang against the glass, dropped me to my feet. I didn't even know what I was looking at. It looks enough like a human to be called that. Unlike Jessica, his skin was all grey, even black at the tips of his fingers. Blood was constantly flowing from his mouth. His teeth were rotting out both eyes were bloodshot. Looking closer a piece of his scalp was slipping off his head, within an instant my lunch came up. My breath was uneven, I couldn’t help but cry. "Jack?" He was fired a month ago, now I wasn't even sure he was human anymore. I tried to compare his smile to the face that was in front of me. His perfectly straight teeth, that time he winked at me and asked me out on a date. I thought it was me, I thought I scared him off like I always did. Or maybe he was ashamed since he didn't have a job anymore. But I couldn't be more wrong. The only thing I could compare him to was a zombie, but that's impossible, that's only in movies. I tried to find something, anything, to indicate that wasn't Jack. But the features closely resembled him. He was still wearing that ugly plaid shirt he would wear at least once a week to work. I needed to move on. As I moved his banging intensified, every four feet there were more of them. I started to run again. I needed to get out. Was this real or just a nightmare? Maybe my brain needed to come up with some insane fantasy to justify despising my job. 

"Hey, there she is," A man ran out from a side door, completely covered in his Hazmat suit. I'm going to die down here. My instincts kicked in and I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew I couldn't run past the men that were multiplying right in front of my eyes. There were 5 people in front of me, one of them had a needle. They must have been warned about me. I needed a plan. My eyes flew in every direction, I couldn't go back. Past the men were two blinking buttons.That was my ticket out. I took a deep breath. I ignored the throbbing in my feet. I set my eyes on those buttons. The men were getting closer, I threw off my shoes and sprinted toward them. I braced myself for the first contact, aiming my fist to his family jewels. That worked. he fell to his knees, pulling out some of my hair as he fell. I ignored the pain. The next two men tag teamed me, one of them had the needle. For the love of god I had to stay away from that needle if I wanted to survive. I fought against them, thrashing my limbs, trying to hit them where it hurt, But one of them men locked my arms behind my back and drove me to the ground. The other one flailed around with the needle, I tried to kick it out of his hand but hit his shoulder instead. He cried out in pain before trying to stick the needle in me, I threw my hand back making contact with the man that was holding my arms. He released me unwittingly. I jumped to my feet, side stepping the last man. My heart was in my throats, I was so close. My feet barely hit the floor. I threw myself toward the buttons, I made contact with the top one, but there was glass that my hand hit first. The blood dripped to the ground. A siren blared, making me lose hearing in my right ear. I quickly smashed the button on the bottom, it revealed an exit. Behind me the voice blared "All doors open, All doors open." I watched in horror as down the hall a pile of bodies behind started throwing themselves toward the Hazmat men. Their screams tore through my hearing loss. Blood spattered, staining the sterile white floors.

 I felt a small pain on my leg, looking down I saw the needle sticking out of my leg. The screams bubbled up inside me. I made it out alive,  but I wouldn't be alive much longer. I couldn't move anymore, my legs planted into the ground like roots. Everything I did was for nothing. The bodies got back to their feet, eyes set on me. I blinked and they were only feet in front of me. Jack was the first one barreling toward me.  Then he stopped dead in his tracks, he stared at me before coming inches from my face, I could feel the slight wind of his breath, I accept I was going to die. But instead of eating me, he moved on, as did the rest. They blew past me. I fell to my knees, they knew I would be one of them soon enough. That's the story of how I started the apocalypse. I'm sorry, I swear it was an accident.