Infinite Zombie Apocalypse

Not long after, Elián appeared at the gate of the colony, running toward one of the junk shops he used to frequent, hoping to sell his find.

Upon arrival, he entered the shop of an old man, a merchant who bought all kinds of scrap. The old man, Ricardo, with a white beard and worn clothes, looked at him in surprise. He approached and, with a clean rag, wiped the dust and blood from his face: "What happened to you, boy?" Ricardo asked.

Elián said nothing and pulled the object from beneath his shirt. He examined it closely for the first time.

It was circular, with a golden shine that reflected the light from the shop. At first, he didn't know what it was, but when his eyes stopped at the details, the piece began to take shape. It was a door knob, perfectly intact, without signs of wear despite being found in the trash.

A sigh of discouragement escaped his lips; he didn't think such a simple knob would be worth much. However, upon closer inspection, a glimmer of hope shone in his eyes. Maybe, considering how beautiful and well-preserved it was, it could be worth a few coins!

Elián took out the golden knob and extended it toward Ricardo.

The merchant took it cautiously, inspecting it closely: "Hmm... it's a pretty beautiful knob, but it's missing the internal mechanism. And this part... I've never seen anything like this before. With this design... it's useless, boy."

Ricardo knew he couldn't buy the knob from Elián. It was a unique object, with a custom mechanism that made it useless for any other purpose. No piece would fit, and the material was common plastic, without any special value. He couldn't buy it out of pity either; he hadn't gotten where he was by giving away his money.

The only thing that stood out about it was its clean and golden appearance.

Elián felt a pang in his chest upon hearing those words, a mix of frustration and discouragement filling his soul.

Grrrrr!

Without saying a word, he tucked the knob back under his shirt, pressing his lips together to avoid complaining. However, his stomach growled loudly, reminding him of the most basic need: hunger was devouring him.

"!"

Without saying anything, old Ricardo noticed the hunger and desperation on Elián's face. With a sigh, he handed him a piece of dry bread and half a jar of water. Elián, gratitude shining in his eyes, promised he would repay the favor in full.

He quickly left the shop, his heart eased by the gesture, and began his way back home.

When he got home, he collapsed onto the dusty floor beside a small table, where he placed the bread and water. His hands trembled as he tore into the bread greedily, shoving it into his mouth without even chewing properly. Hunger gnawed at him from within, and each bite gave him a fleeting sense of relief. He drank the water immediately, savoring it as though it were a precious commodity.

The cold no longer affected him as much, the food giving him strength, though his mind was far from calm.

His gaze fixed on the golden knob, and a mixture of sadness and rage enveloped him. That small object had been his only hope, a fleeting comfort that had given him the illusion, if only for a moment, that maybe, just maybe, he could have a decent meal after so long, like in the days when his grandparents were still alive.

In a gesture of frustration, he placed it on the table and stood up, looking toward the bathroom door.

The door that, as always, was missing the knob. He knew it: even if he put the knob there, it would just be an accessory without purpose. Without the internal mechanism, without the knob on the other side, it wouldn't serve anything.

Despite this, Elián approached the door, looked at it once more, and placed it in its spot. It was as though the knob was the last vestige of hope in that place. He stared at it for a long time, as if simply having it there could make it something important. A door that seemed like the most beautiful of all, a luxury amidst the desolation surrounding him...

With a sigh, he stepped away from the door and lay down on the filthy mattress that could barely be called a bed.

His torn and dirty clothes clung to his skin, but he no longer cared.

He settled as best as he could, staring at the ceiling, searching for an answer that never came. Fatigue quickly enveloped him, but though his body begged for rest, his mind remained tangled in a web of thoughts. This time he had been lucky, but how much longer could he rely on luck? Would he survive next time?

"It's cold..." murmured Elián, crossing his arms in an attempt to warm them. Finally, he closed his eyes, letting the darkness take him, and fell asleep.

Hours later, Elián woke abruptly, with an urgent need to pee. The freezing cold was to blame. He looked at the bathroom desperately. Still half-asleep, he walked slowly toward it. Upon arrival, his eyes landed once more on the golden knob. Without thinking too much, he reached out, touched it, and turned it, a pointless gesture, since the knob was useless. However, he did it as if he could make it work, as if he had something valuable in his home, something that made him feel less empty.

Creeeek...

The door opened slowly, emitting a soft creak, as if each movement revealed the wear of the years.

"W-what!?"

Suddenly, a blinding red glow filtered through the crack. Elián tried to step back, but his feet were glued to the floor, as if something invisible held them in place. A strange buzzing filled the air, vibrant and disturbing, as a viscous, sticky sensation began to invade the space, as if the very air was changing, becoming thick and oppressive.

Looking down, he saw something red, a kind of thick mucus, slowly spilling over, covering his legs.

The hot liquid trapped him, preventing any attempt to move!

The only thing Elián could do was stare, paralyzed, at the inside of the bathroom. Instead of the familiar bathroom, before him stood a grotesque gelatinous mass of disturbing red. As he approached, he could distinguish with horror that it wasn't just gelatin. They were organs, thousands of them, piled and intertwined in an aberrant manner. They moved slightly, as if they still retained their own life, shifting in a macabre rhythm that left him breathless.

"Ahhhhhh!"

A scream of terror erupted from his throat, escaping with an indescribable force.

Desperate, he tried to move, but his body remained immobile, as if bound. Fear enveloped him, and his breathing grew more erratic, as he watched the bloodied organs continue spilling from the door, like a repulsive tide threatening him.

"Help, someone, please!" he screamed desperately, terror filling his voice.

However, in an instant, he remembered the location of his house, and the cold reality struck him hard: any possibility of help was completely out of reach. Screaming more wouldn't help, so he tried to find an escape, desperately examining the grotesque wall of organs before him.

Sadly, his attempts to find an escape were interrupted by a multitude of hands.

These weren't ordinary hands: skeletal, burned, some wrapped in rotting flesh, others mutilated and torn, as if something or someone had ripped parts of those limbs away. The hands emerged from the grotesque wall of organs, twisted and alive, reaching toward him with terrifying agility. Elián tried to fight, but his body was completely paralyzed, unable to move against the nightmare surrounding him.

The hands reached him. One closed around his leg, another around his arm, and another grabbed him by the neck.

They were like claws, cold and wet, dragging him slowly into the mass of flesh and guts. Elián fought with all his strength. His world was reduced to unbearable pressure, to deep pain as his body was absorbed by the monstrosity.

"Nooooo!" he screamed desperately, but his voice quickly faded away.

Darkness enveloped him, his mind began to slowly fade, and his body seemed to dissolve, as if it were being swallowed by the very blackness surrounding him, consumed by the nightmare itself.

Crash!

When his body was finally swallowed by the mass of organs, the bathroom door slammed shut violently. The sound of the wood hitting the frame resonated through the small house, and everything returned to normal. The bathroom was empty, the door was closed, and the golden knob shone with the same cold light it had always had.

Silence reigned again...