When the Clock strikes 12

Chapter 8 [Neutral Path] - Days 8-9 - As It Were Yet Born Anew

Devan woke up to the chilling winter air and a strange feeling of déjà vu, "Haven't I been here before?" but he quickly brushed it off because he had more important matters to attend to. Devan fired up his portable grill and brought out two relatively fresh eggs along with his pan to cook breakfast. Then, A well-placed cough reminded him of his sickness, "I should get my mask on.". Devan brought out his mask then finished cooking the eggs. Kathryn yawned, signifying that she was awake, then after a few minutes came out of her tent, "Wow! That smells amazing!" Devan set the two eggs on their respective plates and sat down, "Thanks, Kathryn."

As per usual, Kathryn started scarfing down her egg while Devan cut his egg into bite-sized pieces. Once Kathryn had finished, she routinely began conversing with Devan, "You ever wonder where the virus came from" strangely enough, the thought had never occurred throughout their two years of surviving. "Huh, I never really thought about that, I can only remember the news telling the effects of the virus, not the origin." "I guess the origin wouldn't be very useful." something about this seemed off to Devan, but he again brushed it off.

At last, Kathryn finished her egg, and Devan started asking the usual questions, "What do you think we should do today?" "Maybe we could go drive around to see where we can set up our camp." "Okay.". Once Devan and Kathryn finished packing their belongings, they got in their distinctive green van and drove in search of a new spot to sleep.

"Should we go back to the village tomorrow?" Kathryn inquired, "Sure! It'll be nice to see them again.". Both Devan and Kathryn were immediately put off by this exchange, as both had remembered saying those exact words before, "That was weird" Devan finally acknowledged the odd feeling he had felt this morning, "Yeah, didn't we say that exact same thing a couple days ago?" "weird". Suddenly, the two stumbled upon a place that seemed very familiar, "Hey, isn't that the village?" Devan turned his head and instantly recognized the crude wooden walls, "Yeah, I thought it was farther away from here." he eyed it suspiciously, "Why don't we go in?" Kathryn asked, a hint of unease damaging her confident tone, "Okay," Devan reluctantly agreed.

When the two knocked on the large wooden door, they were greeted with bright-eyed ginger, "Hey Devan! Hey Kathryn! What brings you here?" Eden greeted the two with the same unwavering cheerfulness she had during their first visit, *after* they entered of course. When Kathryn saw that the familiar ginger remained unaffected, she basked in a wave of relief. Devan, however, remained skeptical of the situation, "I swear the village was father from here last time I went here," he thought, "How the heck is it here now!?". However, this man was no detective, so he pushed his thoughts away once again.

These concerns would not be gone for long, as when they entered the village, they were met with a shocking discovery. "What the...!". Stepping inside the walls, it was abundantly clear that something was off. The village that was once the size of a small town was now barely reaching a quarter the size, "What's wrong Devan?!". Eden looked quizzically at Devan's shocked expression, "Agh, Sorry! My stomach hurts because of my allergies." Devan bluffed, as he realized that Eden was oblivious to this change, "Darn, allergies suck!"

When the time came, Devan and Kathryn headed towards the now fewer cabins, which thankfully remained unchanged, "That was super weird." Kathryn furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah, the village isn't nearly as big as it used to be" this caused even more confusion for the two, however, there was nothing that could be done, "For now we should sleep, we can investigate in the morning." Kathryn yawned as her eyes grew cloudy with tiredness, "Yeah."

DAY 9

As with all people, Devan was accustomed to normalcy, a normal life following the rules of society was once the goal of many people throughout the world, this all changed when the outbreak happened, however, there was now a second twist in this story. Devan rubbed his eyes as he woke up, disoriented from the day before, "Kathryn, time to wake up." Kathryn shot up, "Hey Devan!" she yelled, clasping her hand over her mouth, "I didn't do that," she said in disbelief, "Devan I didn't say that.". Right at that moment, Kathryn had a look of terror and confusion that she had never expressed before. Devan knew from the sheer expressiveness that his friend was telling the truth, "Let's uh- Let's go outside" retaining her stunned expression, Kathryn agreed, but little did she know that the day would become even stranger.

Luckily for them, their morning routine was not impeded by the strange occurrences, They got dressed, brushed their teeth, and walked out the door. When they stepped beyond the threshold this comfort became a distant memory, as they saw reality itself shift around them, "What the fuck is this?!" The man asked as the ground beneath them began to flip like pages in a book. He saw as the cabins shifted and morphed into tree trunks that flashed bizarre colours. The fire turned into a paper-thin triangle that burned red. Then the two were bombarded with the most strange thing yet; all the villagers had been simplified to their most defining features. What used to be Eden was now a faceless blob of flesh and tiny speckles of red fibres meant to represent hair, "Hi! Friend talk!" the ball of flesh blurted, "Oh- Oh God." Devan managed to say before blacking out, "I-" Kathryn uttered as she did the same. Then, suddenly, a hole opened up beneath them, as they were sucked into nothing less than their plane of existence.

END