You turned a corner, then another and found yourself in a narrow side corridor. The suction became stronger, just enough to make strands of your hair bounce.

Goosebumps crawled up your spine. But the air smelled good, not as stuffy as on a hot day when the air just stood and collected dust. It was a warm breeze of a nice day in late spring.

The smell of flowers and growing grass spread. Everything was so natural.

Your father had told you stories of times before the pandemic. Back then, cars had filled the streets and were more common than rare. Today there were still cars but it was hard to repair them and even harder to find petrol that hadn't gone bad to keep them running.

Back then there had been cities full of people, so many that they stepped on each other's toes and the air had been thick.

You couldn't imagine a world like that. You were a child of danger and emptiness. Everything was empty, from the forests, to the ruins of former civilisations, to the seas and mountains. Everything seemed extinct.

Until the infected crawled out of their holes or captured survivors to abuse them for their fun.

The last few weeks crept into your bones again, biting into your flesh and tearing at your skin and tendons. Nausea scratched at your throat. But you swallowed it down and ignored it.

The way it always was.

That was the easiest way.

The easiest way to survive.

Secretly, you believed that many of those who were not infected had died neither from the infected nor from other people, but rather from themselves. Whether through their own stupidity, ignorance or simply despair.

In a world like this, your own mind, your own feelings were your worst enemy. You didn't want to become like them.

Never.

You wanted to live, to be able to tell right from wrong. A shuddering breath made your lungs tremble.

You thought you could feel the taste of acid on your tongue. You swallowed it again and kept walking. Little light illuminated the narrow corridor.

Narrowing your eyes, you had to concentrate to make out the outlines of shops and rubbish. A few plants left behind stretched out their leaves towards your legs.

Gentle touches travelled over your body. The wind blew again and rustled. Your eyes twitched.

Long fingers of light stretched across the tiles. Irritated, you paused and followed the small threads of gold. There was a hole in the façade.

It wasn't overly large, but enough for a grown man to crawl through.

Or a clicker, you thought to yourself and carefully moved the leaves of a plant aside.

That's why you hadn't noticed anything. You hadn't been able to see it clearly from a distance and the leaves had obscured everything.

"Shit!", you cursed and pushed yourself onto your stomach through the hole.

Dirt rolled up in your shirt. But as you pressed your palms into the ground to pull yourself further, soft grass nestled in your palms.

Surprised by the soft touch, you flinched and jerked back, only to bump your head on the top edge of the hole at the same moment. Cursing, you pulled your head in, both hands pressed against the throbbing pain.

Why did such stupid things always have to happen when it wasn't a good time?

Clenching your teeth, you heard a hiss and crawled onwards, into freedom. It smelled of damp earth and fresh water.

And it was bright. So bright that you had to raise a hand to avoid being blind. A wide plain of green and small dabs of bright colour opened up in front of you.

Something was rushing.

"A river..?", you murmured to yourself, your eyebrows drawn together.

At your feet, a narrow ribbon of crystal-clear water meandered through grass that reached above your ankles. Small flowers stretched out towards the sunlight. It was warm, but not hot.

Your gaze travelled upwards. A glass dome curved into a crescent above your head, enclosing a building made of glass and steel. It must have been abandoned for some time, the windows were already starting to turn green with moss.

Small stones crunched under the soles of your feet as you took a few steps to look around. Lavender was in bloom. The purple colour paired with the sweet scent attracted butterflies. Their colourful wings made you stop on a small wooden bridge.

Everything about this place was so beautiful it was scary that it wasn't man-made. Instead, nature had written its own rules and had grown as it pleased.

The sound of the man-made river echoed in the silence, calming your mind. There was no emptiness, but no chaos either. Only beauty. Simple, natural beauty.

Another breeze blew through the glass dome. Goosebumps spread across your arms. It rustled. Somewhere above, a window was open. That's probably why nothing had dried out yet. Rain could get in through the window and was then filtered by the plants.

As if it could heal your soul, you let your eyes fall shut and took such a deep breath that it almost hurt.

Suddenly you heard the sound of guitar strings. It was a simple chord, without moving your fingers or trying to play anything.

Just fingers trying to touch a guitar.

Infected didn't play instruments.

Your eyes opened a crack to see where the music was coming from. A huge lime tree grew on a small island, its long branches heavy with young leaves. It rustled again as a wind blew through the dome. It was as if the tree was trying to sing.

Between the roots of this huge tree sat a thin figure with a guitar on her lap. Lost in thought, Ellie didn't react when you approached her. She stroked the strings of the guitar. Her head hung low but the dark expression of deep sadness in her green eyes could not be hidden.

"Can you play?", you asked and squatted down next to her, far enough away so that she couldn't hit you straight away.

She didn't move. Only the hand with the missing fingers stiffened around the neck of the instrument. You stretched your neck. She turned away.

"Not anymore.", her voice was raspy and hoarse.