Covered in blood, you held the knife tightly wrapped in your fingers. Owen's blood dripped from the blade. The sound that each drop caused as it shattered in the ground made your mind pull together.

Although it was only a small weapon, at that moment it felt like the weight was pulling you down, so deep that the earth would tear open and swallow you in one bite.

You had to smile tiredly at the thought. Maybe it would feel like going to bed forever. With an exhausted groan you collapsed against the wall, your free hand searching for a hold, but there was nothing but infected mushrooms and plants covering the concrete.

Under your weight the tender branches tore. With a handful you sunk to the ground, your hand drawing a bloody trail.

In any other moment you would have been amused about the fact that someone had died aesthetically pleasing and had had the time to immortalize his suffering in a bloody handprint that also could have been a painting.

But this time it was not some stranger whose death you could admire. It was your own.

Everything inside your body screamed, it felt like the weight of the world was collapsing on top of you.

Breathing hurt.

Holding your breath hurt.

Everything was sensitive, you could feel your weakening heartbeat press against your rib cage. It felt like it was only a matter of time until it would stop.

When you raised your eyes, your hand pressed on the wound, you thought that the ceiling was about to crack and bury you underneath.

The colours trembled before your eyes. Everything turned and danced, like a reflection on water.

Nausea pinched your nose, but you shook it off, your eyes tightly closed.

When you tried to stand up again, your legs were so weak that your toes began to tingle. Looking at your trembling hands, you could see that the skin was already getting paler, so pale that you could be mistaken for a dead person.

In some places the spores mixed with the red. Green kissed your limbs.

Breathing rattlingly, lips half open, you stared at the small orbs. It seemed as if they pulsated like fireflies. The feeling of a thousand little legs crept over your body.

You tried to shake it off, but it stuck to you as if it were a part of your mind, as if it would sink its teeth into you and never disappear again.

Goosebumps crawled down your spine.

You had to cough. Blood poured out of the corner of your mouth and covered your stiff legs.

So this was the end. At least no one would bother you down here. You could die in peace and your body would remain untouched by humans or infected ones.

Exhaling slowly, your head tilted to the side. A soft smile appeared on your lips as your eyes became so heavy that it felt like you would die if they stayed open any longer.

The thought had something comforting about it, a spark of hope that your passing would be better than your time on this cursed earth.

And yet it caused a sharp pain in your chest. Maybe it was the effects of Owen's attack, or the fact that you had gone soft in the last few minutes.

While sitting there, your thoughts drifted to Joel. In your mind's eye his face appeared, rough yet gentle. Your fingers twitched as you thought you could feel his soft hair and the warmth of his hands in yours.

He had been so gentle. Even though you were strangers, he had trusted you. He had shared his fears with you, his joys and even the pains of the past. It felt like betrayal when you thought that you could never repay him for this trust.

And at the same time there was this sadness. This loneliness.

You would never see him again. At least not when it all ended here.

"Huh.", you whispered while a bitter taste spread in your mouth. "When... did I start... to like him...?"

With a gasp, you dropped to your side and began dragging your numb, trembling body through the rooms. It felt like you were filled with sand and stones.

The air burned in your lungs while a sharp pain stabbed again and again into your skull. It felt like a thousand knives that made it impossible to grasp a clear mind.

Before your eyes, the gray of the walls blurred with the green of mushrooms. Like weeds, they overgrew the floor, the walls and even the ceiling. It looked like a spider web of fungi and spores whose only purpose to exist was that it didn't want anyone to pass.

When you raised your hand to stroke the surface, it felt like dry wood mixed with a scratchy fuzz. A strange sound filled the silence as your fingers pressed into the mushrooms. Dusty clouds poured from inside, scratching your lungs as you breathed in, bringing tears to your eyes.

As if in a trance, you dug your way through the dense vegetation. With every meter you advanced, it felt like it was getting denser, more toxic.

It wasn't long before your entire body was covered in a thick layer of green spores. The touch burned your skin. Everything itched.

The rattling in your lungs grew stronger. Writhing under a cough, you spat blood again.

A few more meters, you managed to get a large piece of plant out of the way, when you suddenly faltered. Eyes widened, you stared into two faces. Your hand was still outstretched.

"Mom?", your voice was barely more than a whisper.

But before the hallucination could get out of control, you blinked and the illusion faded.

Instead, the withered faces of two corpses now stared at each other. Their empty, lifeless eyes now seemed so alien, you wondered how you could have mistaken them for those of your parents. Maybe it had been too long to properly remember.

Gasping, you close your eyes to be able to grasp a clear thought.

"Not yet...", you whispered and wiped the blood from the corners of your mouth. "Just... a little more..."