My GPS rerouted me somewhere that doesn't exist

To whoever finds this, my name is Matteo and I'm currently somewhere that doesn't exist. I have tried every GPS app out there, checked out maps, even went online to see if anyone else has experienced what I am currently going through, but it seems like I still can't find a way out of this place.

It all just started as a normal drive, I was on my way back from work when my gps gave me a notification:

"A faster route is available. Would you like to take it?"

Not thinking much of it, I tapped Yes and kept my music going — Grateful Dead, for the curious. Sure, it was a little weird to see a new shortcut on a commute I’ve driven for years, but I figured maybe they’d opened a new road or done some construction. As I kept driving, things started making less sense. It's a hard feeling to describe but it was almost as if someone who did not know anything about road signs just went crazy along the side of the road with them.

"Limit Speed: MPH 65"

"In Exit 2526 miles"

"North East South West"

I was obviously thinking these were fake, maybe some prank pulled by local teenagers or something. As I drove past them I remember just how real they looked though, the same kind of metal stakes and sign material a real sign is made of. That wasn’t all though, the trees and the plants don’t make much sense here either and it hurts to look at them too long… I just try to keep my eyes on the road.

Driving for this long has surprisingly not taken a lot of gas from my car, although it has gone down a bit since I first got on it. My odometer currently spins all the numbers non stop but otherwise my car seems fine, even driving through the soft parts of the road with little trouble. The road gets soft sometimes among other things, but in the time I've spent here I have learned to not ask how this place works and just try to focus on getting the hell out of here. It doesn't really feel like I’m in any danger but I know that this isn’t right either, almost like I’m doing a bad thing just by existing in this place.

I’ve changed too. I haven’t felt hunger and thirst even though I’m sure I’ve been here for days now. I blink less, sometimes going minutes in between until I realize I haven’t blinked and I force myself too.

I think this is day four and while driving I came across a gas station, or at least the idea of one. This place looks like a regular gas station sure but it's just the surface of it, it feels like plastic to the touch, with a slight discoloration to it. I tried to open the door but it wasn’t a door, not really. Coming closer to the door I realized it was actually a wall, not something with a tangible handle I could grab. I tried looking into the windows too but I was not able to see through the glass, although I could see my reflection in the mirror. It is a strange feeling to watch your reflection start copying you but then stop halfway, stuck in whatever position it happened to freeze on… I’m not going to dwell on that right now. Whatever the hell this place is though, it’s the closest thing I currently have to a feeling of normalcy here. I think I’m writing this just to stay sane. If someone finds this phone, at least they’ll know what happened. My phone keeps syncing the wrong time now too — I’ll blink and it jumps forward hours, and I stopped trying to understand it. The sky doesn’t move though, it's that same dull grey blue it has been since I took that turn onto this road.

As I sat there in my car, contemplating whether to start driving at that moment or rest a little longer, I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw… a hand. There were dozens of them pressed against the inside of the gas station, stretching against the walls which unmistakably began to crack under the internal pressure.

Wasting no time I stomped on the gas pedal and heard my engine roar to light — however I also heard the bursting of the wall behind me. Looking in my rear view mirror I panicked as I saw the wave of hands flooding towards my car, clawing over one another in such a chaotic frenzy it hurt to look at.

In the rearview mirror, the hands weren’t slowing—they were multiplying, dragging themselves across the asphalt like a tide. I drove until my arms ached, until the sky blurred into the same color as the road. The hands never caught me—but I don’t think they stopped either, if I stay still too long I can see a mass start to form in the reflection of my car mirrors. Just when I thought all hope was lost the GPS just spoke again:

“A faster route is available. Would you like to take it?”

I didn’t think the GPS voice would ever speak again after what happened near that gas station. I don’t even remember opening the app on my phone, yet there the message was clear as day:

“A faster route is available. Would you like to take it?”

Hesitantly I tapped Yes on the screen, not like things could get much worse than they are now. Immediately my phone began vibrating and heating up, before displaying a new route.

“Proceed to the route.”

Looking at the screen my eyes widened and I felt my heart in my chest; it was telling me to turn back towards the direction of the hands. I’m scared but what choice do I have? I think it’s better to at least try the GPS and see where it leads to, the only problem is that horrible mass of hands. I haven't seen it in a while since driving but I’m sure it's still chasing me, that gross bloody pile clawing over itself… It gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

With no other option I could think of however, I turned my car around and followed the directions on my phone screen. After what felt like a few minutes my phone buzzed:

“Turn left.”

I hit the brakes hard at the sudden instruction. Looking around I can’t see where to turn, the road has been straight for the entire time I’ve driven on it and I don’t think my car has what it takes to make it through the plant life here. Not like I would want to anyways, these plants give me a headache just by looking at them.

It was then that I saw the all too familiar shape in front of me, far away enough to not be a threat but enough for me to know I have to act fast. I forced myself to look to my left and it was then that I saw a dirt trail, almost fully covered by the strange plants. 

Driving through the trail, the landscape quickly changes to pitch blackness. With my headlights on I could barely see the road — let alone anything around me.

As much as I’d like to say I was chased by some horrible monster, the truth is I just drove. For hours. Until suddenly yet unceremoniously, I was back where I started. I don’t understand it — a moment ago I was driving in the dark and now I’m back where I started? Where the hell am I?

I tried turning my car back around and see if I could find the dirt road again, there was nothing there anymore. Literally nothing, the complete lack of anything. Do you know what seeing that does to someone? To see the world just… stop? Like your brain can’t even process what it’s not seeing?

I turned back around once more and drove until eventually reaching the gas station. Slowly pulling up to it I could see that it looked better, more real in a way. The windows worked properly now and I could see the inside of the building, shelves lined up with your typical gas station foods. What really caught my eye though was seeing people inside. They seemed to be working, stocking the shelves and talking to each other. I couldn't believe it, there are actual people here!

I parked my car, before quickly getting out and making my way towards the gas station. As I came closer however I kept thinking about the hands that burst out of here last time… why was I in such a rush anyways? This place can’t be safe, and yet I still found myself moving towards the door, my hand grabbing the handle like it had a mind of its own and pulling it.

With the ring of a bell announcing my entrance there was a single deafening crack, as every worker in the building snapped their heads toward me, their eyes wide, jaws twitching — before saying in perfect unison:

“Hello valued customer, how can I help you today?”

…I didn’t even have time to answer before they started walking toward me.

I didn’t even have time to run before they started walking toward me. That’s when it happened—

“Hello valued customer, how can I help you today?” 

I had seen enough horror movies to know that I was fucked. Thinking quickly as they approached me I turned around and went to pull on the door… which was no longer there. With my back literally against the wall I prepare for the worst, taking a defensive stance and really just hoping I can take some of these things down with me.

As the employees closed the gap between us I prepared for the worst, only to have the workers… or whatever the hell they are, stop and stare at me inches away from my face. Not sure of what to do, I froze. That is until a particularly gangly one of these creatures parted its way across the crowd and put its palm on my chest. Instinctively I backed away, only to be trapped by the wall behind me. The coldness of the touch combined with the spongy feel of this creature's skin contrasted strongly against just how gently he pressed his hand upon me, almost as if trying to feel something.

Whatever it was it was looking for I quickly found out that I did not have it, as I suddenly felt the thing’s hands wrap around my neck, with an amount of hostility that was not there moments prior. Lifting me up from the ground I clawed at its arms, my hands easily flaying the monster’s forearms, before those same forearms knit its skin back over itself. With black shadows beginning to dominate my vision I took one last look at my aggressor, hearing his hollow and disjointed voice speak almost as if it was echoing a message, rather than speaking on its own:

“You are not a valued customer. Goodbye.”

I awoke with a jolt, quickly sitting up and immediately panicking as I realized I did not know where I was. Whatever place this is, it's dark and cold and it stunk to all hell.

As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness however I saw that I was in some kind of prison, as I could see more cells across from me, some of them open while others were locked. 

As I stood there taking in my surroundings, it began to dawn on me how screwed I am. There was not a single person in the world that knew where I was, and even if there were people who were looking for me, how would they get to me?

Becoming more panicked I frantically started looking around the space I was in, hoping to find anything that could help me break out of here. It was immediately apparent that I was not the first person to be held here, as I looked upon a room with a lot of waste and blood everywhere, as well as a torn mattress on the floor. 

Lifting the mattress up I am surprised to find a big rock tucked underneath it, which considering my circumstances might come in handy sooner rather than later. Dropping the mattress with a thump I nearly jump out of my skin when I am suddenly addressed:

“Shhh!” The voice screeched.

“H-Hello?” I responded, apprehension and fear palpable in my voice.

“SHH!” It responded immediately, harsher than before. “Don’t make too much noise, the guard will come in if you do.” The voice continued barely above a whisper.

Whoever this was, the voice was distinctly human. Even though you could tell that through their voice they were tired and scared, it felt so good to hear the voice of another actual human being after so long. 

As risky as I knew it was to continue talking there were simply too many questions about on my mind, and to be honest I don’t know how long I’ll have the opportunity to talk to someone or if I’ll see anyone else at all, so I began:

“Where are we?” I asked, more resolute than before but matching the person’s hushed tone.

Silence.

“Hello? Can you just tell me that I really want to get out of here.” I said, hoping the desperation in my voice would motivate them to answer me.

“Please, can yo-”

STOMP STOMP STOMP

Thundering footsteps, fast and heavy made their way towards us. Fuck, whatever it was that was coming it definitely heard me. With terrifying dread taking over my body I heard a hard booming sound echo throughout the hallway our cells are in, and even though the person in the other cell didn’t react, we both understood what I had brought upon us. 

STOMP STOMP STOMP

With movements quick as lightning I saw the figure standing in front of my cell, its hulking size contrasting the tightly pulled skin on its body.

The Guard had come to punish me.

I stood there shaking as the hulking figure swung my cell door open, echoing a resounding clang as metal hit metal. I barely had the time to breathe before he opened my cell door and hit me, his fist feeling like a block of concrete was thrown at my stomach. His cold dead hands grabbed me and pinned me against the wall, before opening his mouth wide and began to speak:

“You are not a valued customer, sound is not allowed.” The Guard said plainly, his mouth a dark abyss from which the words floated out from. Dropping me to the ground, the Guard lowered himself to meet my gaze, morphing his mouth into a smile shaped void and echoing: “Shhh!”

Seemingly satisfied with himself the Guard turned his back to me as he went to leave, which is when I swiftly struck him in the head with the rock I found earlier. As the guard fell forwards with a heavy thud I used both of my hands to steady my grip on the rock, hitting him again and again. 

Standing above the body I was fighting against the urge to throw up, the mangled mess of the guard’s head was too much for me to look at. Inspecting him from the neck down however, he truly did seem like this place’s security as he wore a uniform akin to police in the real world. Still it was obvious this was a fake uniform, just slightly off enough in its details to make me unnerved. It's almost as if this place exists to fill in a gap in reality; some cheap placeholder for when the real world stops making sense, something that was quickly thrown together in the hopes no one would notice the difference.

Aside from a keychain I found nothing else of note on the Guard’s body, so I hastily left the cell I was and immediately looked into the cell to my right, as I am certain this is where the voice from earlier came from.

It seems I was right, as in the far corner of the decrepit cell there was a woman trying to press herself into the corner, almost as if in hopes she would be invisible there. Upon noticing it was me who stood in front of her and not the Guard her eyes widened in surprise, yet she remained unmoving. 

In a hushed tone I asked the woman: 

“Are there more?”

After some silence she hesitantly answered:

“I don't know, I… I’ve only seen one guard here, always him…” Her voice trailed off, barely above a whisper.

“What do you know about this place? Is there a way out?” I asked, hopeful she would know something I don’t.

“If there was, do you think I would be here?” She responded harshly, anger quickening in her voice. “Is the interrogation over now? Can you let me out of here?” She continued, getting more agitated by the second.

I was at a crossroads. While I did want to release the woman from her confinement I just couldn’t trust her. There are too many things in this place that act like people only to try and kill you seconds later. I needed to be sure that she was a human being.

“What’s your name?” I began, further questions on my mind.

“Veronica.”

“Where were you before this?” 

“Driving to my niece’s birthday party. I stopped to get gas and next thing I remember I’m here.” She responded, her face conveying pain as she remembered about her family.

I didn’t have much to go on, but her response calmed me a little. Her demeanor seemed normal, she didn't twitch, and most importantly her mouth actually moved and mouthed the words she was speaking as opposed to just echoing out her voice. If she truly wasn’t human she was good at pretending to be one.

With slight apprehension, I moved towards the cell door, and opened it. If I am wrong about my decision I will find out now. Instead of being attacked however, Veronica quietly began sobbing. Trying to keep her noise down as she lowered her head, avoiding my eyes.

“Sorry…” she sniffled. “I’ve just been stuck here for so long that I thought I’d die here.” She continued, trying to hold back her tears.

As we started walking down the hallway, there was a feeling of optimism mixed with fear in the air. The hallway beyond the cells seemed to go on forever, the cold pale lights casting a sickly flickering light above us as we progressed through it. Veronica followed closely behind me, our footsteps echoing against the concrete floor. Every sound we made felt too loud, like we were one badly placed step away from attracting more of those guards to us. 

There wasn't much conversation between us. I didn’t want to risk any more noise than necessary and she seems to be on the same page. Beyond that though, what would I even say to her? Everything I could think of saying to her would get outweighed in my mind for either being too stupid or unnecessary noise, so I remained quiet.

After some time we reached the end of the hallway, an old rusty ladder ascending into darkness above us. The metal rungs were cold, simultaneously feeling slick and coarse on my hand. It seems like they don’t even know how to make ladders here, as the rungs had awkward and uneven spacing between them.

Turning to Veronica I whisper, “Ladies first.”

She gave me a look. “Absolutely not. Do you really think I’m going to climb up a ladder I can't see the top of before you do?”

“Fair enough.” I responded defeated, before grabbing a rung and beginning our climb.

Reaching the top of the ladder, I began pushing on what seemed to be a trap door. It wasn’t locked, but the amount of resistance I faced told me something heavy was on top of it. Pushing on the door with more effort, it creaked loudly as the door gave way and light flooded in from above. As I hoisted myself up I offered Veronica a hand.

Looking around we seemed to be in another room, this one built more like a warehouse and filled with cardboard. Stacks upon stacks of cardboard went all the way up towards the ceiling, like makeshift walls. Some of the boxes had barcodes, some had the same slightly off writing present everywhere in this place, and some… some had images of people. Just average people's faces, their facial features etched onto the cardboard boxes themselves like some morbid form of art.

One of the faces was looking straight at us.

The face didn’t move at first. It just stared at us from above — a flat, printed image that shouldn’t have been capable of expression. And yet, in its face there was clear emotion, something like desperation or maybe obsession? I could feel the face’s eyes on me, conveying this weird begging look I could not understand. That’s when I noticed that the box began to wiggle ever so slightly… It was slow but it was moving.

Looking at Veronica, I realized she wasn’t staring at the same one I was. Her eyes were fixed on another box in a stack nearby.

Then I saw more.

Dread began to fill my body as these kinds of boxes were everywhere, randomly scattered across the stacks of cardboard boxes we walked near. Some of the faces held that same twisted look from before, while others were blank. It didn’t seem to matter where we were or how far we walked inside of the warehouse, they all knew exactly where to look in order to stare at us.

SPLAT.

The sound echoed throughout the stacks, a sickening wetness to it like something heavy fell behind us and burst open.

Veronica was the first to react, gasping in shock at the sudden loudness. I turned just in time to see one of those boxes burst open on the ground, its form a pulpy mess on the ground where it fell. I didn’t have a lot of time to take in the view however, as I saw more of the boxes writhe, twitch, and jostle themselves off the stacks they were a part of, cascading mounds of boxes all around us.

“RUN!” I shouted, my voice barely rising above the cacophony of sound exploding around us.

We bolted across the maze, stacks of cardboard collapsing behind us. Despite all the sounds — the wet impact from the faced boxes as they jumped off their stacks in an attempt to hit us, the thud of the stacks they supported falling apart from their absence. Each impact of the boxes raised with it dust and this indescribable smell that seemed to be between damp paper and rotting meat.

As we continued making our way through the maze we were faced with two branching paths ahead of us: one going left and the other going right. There were signs of arrows with what I think is a description written, just not in any language I could understand. I turned to look at Veronica only to realize she was already looking at me.

“Your call.” She said calmly, contrasting the panic and fear her eyes were showing me.

With the echoing splatters growing closer behind us I took us leftward, with no real reason behind that choice other than it just felt right ironically enough.

As we traversed the hallway the stacks of boxes gradually began to narrow and shorten, giving the impression that the space around us was getting smaller, tighter. 

After a while the boxes seemed less like boxes and more like… flesh, bending and folding in a way that cardboard wouldn't. This started to feel less like we are in a building and more like we are in a living being, something that ate us without us even noticing. 

We turned a corner— or at least it felt like we did, and came out onto a wider aisle which surprisingly smelled… clean, sterile in a way that reminded me of the “employees” of this place if you can call them that.

Before I knew it Veronica grabbed my arm, pulling me back behind a shelf. Her nails dug into my sleeve.

“Don’t move,” she whispered.

I was confused but quickly understood why she did that. At the end of the aisle underneath flickering lights I saw one of the workers, its skin tied so tightly around its lanky frame that parts of it were exposed, showing a sort of black fuzz where you would expect flesh to be. 

Scary as it was, what really got my attention is who the worker was seemingly talking to. 

At first glance I mistook it for a man — tall and gaunt, draped in what appeared to be a coat. But as my eyes adjusted I could tell that it was not a coat — not in the conventional sense, it was skin. All of the skin that should have been on its body was instead draped on it like a cape, long and pale skin just loosely hanging on its frame instead of covering it. Its limbs were even more repulsive, long and twisting, its joints bending in directions that didn’t make sense. While the area around us smelled clean there was a subtle aroma now— something sickly sweet, an oddly pleasant aroma which contrasted greatly against its repulsive source.

Its face was the worst part. I felt like I would've seen something slightly human, being its humanoid form and all but I was sorely mistaken. Its head was far too small for its lanky frame, with a singular eye in its center. 

The worker stood in front of the creature, posture rigid and with a clipboard in hand, as it opened its mouth and echoed:

“Hello Valued Customer, how can I assist you today?” The worker asked, more of that black fuzz from before leaking out of its mouth and dripping onto the floor.

The creature stared at it until its eyeball contorted, tearing and bleeding as it rearranged itself into a mouth. The words that came out of its mouth sounded coarse and strained – as if speaking were difficult for it to do.

“Same order. Fresher.”

“Why of course!” The employee responded enthusiastically, before continuing. “We have just received a new shipment, would you like to explore our options?” 

The creature nodded, returning the worker’s smile with its own, its mouth displaying a perfect set of human teeth. Something about seeing that smile filled my body with terror. 

The worker gestured down the aisle, and two more workers appeared from the shadows, carrying boxes — the kind with faces on them. The faces were awake, blinking slowly, their mouths twitching open and closed.

The creature dragged its hand upon one of the boxes which violently jolted in response, as if it were trying to flee. The creature released a sound that might have been confused with a laugh — just wetter.

“Good stock.” It said simply before grabbing one of the boxes from the workers, then analyzing the other box afterwards. “I’ll take them.”

“Excellent choice valued customer! We will prepare these for transport right away!” The worker responded gleefully, putting the clipboard away into its chest. “Thank you for your continued patronage, valued customer.” 

As the creatures walked away towards a door at the far end of the aisle I could feel Veronica shaking, her body trembling as she held on to my arm. 

We waited until the sound of their footsteps faded. The aisle felt emptier now, but not safer. My body was screaming at me to go, to get out of this place, but I knew that the only way out outside of the tunnel we just crawled through was the door those creatures went into. It was in that silence that both Veronica and I heard it — the unmistakable sound of those disgusting boxes dragging themselves towards us.

Veronica looked at me, eyes wide, pupils trembling.

“We can’t stay here,” she whispered. “It’s only a matter of time until those boxes start making noises and they come back.”

She was right. If we stalled in here too long those boxes would definitely get the attention of whatever the hell that thing was that we just saw, and I did not want that.

Looking at the door at the end of the aisle it seemed almost… normal? Just a regular framed door, which now that I think about it should not have been able to accommodate the height of those creatures. 

Trying not to think too much about it, I turned to Veronica and met her gaze. “That way,” I said quietly.

Before I could think twice, we started moving toward the same door the creature disappeared through.

Walking through that door didn’t make sense. One moment we stepped forward, and the next we were somewhere that wasn’t anywhere — just a sea of black, thick and endless. There was no sound, no up or down, just the faint sense of moving without moving. It felt like we had been walking for years, maybe longer, but at the same time… it couldn’t have been more than a second before we found ourselves in a room.

Immediately we were on edge, I mean could you blame us? The things we have seen… We need to get the hell out of here.

But as I looked around the room I couldn’t help but feel… safe? Well maybe safer is the correct term here

We were in a room. Just… a normal room. Beige walls. Drop ceiling. Fluorescent lights that didn’t flicker for once. There was a table with half drank coffees and strewn about bagels that seemed to be genuine, real food for once. The smell hit me and I almost cried. Veronica touched the table too, like she needed to make sure it wouldn’t disappear if she blinked.

“Hey Matteo, take a look at this.” Veronica called me over, and as I turned in her direction I saw it.

The wall she was looking at had a bunch of framed pictures on it, with the words “EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH” in big bold lettering above it.

Looking at the frames what took me by surprise was the perfectly legible text beneath every picture:

“Humans served: 500.” Underneath the first picture I looked with my eyes widening as I saw the more recent pictures, their misspelled months above their frames.

“Humans served: 1,000.”

“Humans served: “2,300.”

“Humans served: “5,000.”

All of these paled to the most recent picture, containing something I can’t even describe… just an absolute abomination. That sickly shiny skin, the twisted angles, those eyes… It was all too much. 

“Humans served: 10,000.” Next to the plaque there was a sticker of a golden star with “You’re a star!” In the middle. 

I laughed, not because it was funny but because of how absurd this place is. Some bizarre thing out there saw how humans transacted business and recreated it into this twisted monstrosity. 

“Hey, I think I found our way out.” Veronica said before walking over and handing me a pamphlet. I could've sworn she was right next to me looking at this wall just a second ago, where did she get this?

“Where did this come from?” I ask immediately, looking over the pamphlet which says “Welcome Valued Employee!” On its covers.

“On the table over there.” Veronica replied plainly, but there was something about how she spoke that I couldn't place. Her demeanor and voice seemed different than it was just moments ago.

“Are you gonna read it?” She quipped, annoyed at me just holding it.

Hello Valued Employee! 

Welcome to the one and only Abaddon Emporium, the one stop shop for customer supplies! Do you need a new skin suit? Or maybe you’d rather one of our beautiful faced boxes, full of transfigured life within them!

No matter what a customer might need it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that they get it, lest you want to become a part of the supplies we sell here! Now let's go through the basics before we release you:

1. YOU are our direct line to the customer, so remember to SMILE and SERVE! Your face will be what customers remember most of this experience, so make sure it’s good!

2. ALWAYS wear your uniforms! Yes the skin may be tight around you but what matters is that your uniform is on! Don’t want any of that fuzz escaping and leaving you deflated now would we?

3. Ignore any signs that are not written in plain English, as those are not there to guide you.

4. Remember: Absolutely NO humans are allowed to be roaming the facilities! We are a brand built on product quality, and letting humans get damaged DOES NOT MEAN QUALITY.

5. Any coworkers acting weird? Touch them! If you feel a heart beating then DING DING DING you found a human ready to be added to our inventory! Take great care in transporting them, they can put up quite the fight if they’re awake!

A lot of silly humans can end up at the gas station, having taken a wrong turn somewhere along their path that puts them right into ours! They’ll come scooting along in their vehicles ready to be caught! It is your responsibility to NEVER let them reverse their vehicle; always keep it moving forwards. 

Here at the Abaddon Emporium we pride ourselves in our work, and we want to do the same! The better you perform the more perks you will get. Want a more powerful form? Or maybe you want to get some of our products for free? Well serve humans and you sure will be able to have that and more!

Questions? Head on over to our HR Department on floor 1324!

• The Abaddon Team

What. The. Fuck.

With my hands shaking I let the pamphlet fall onto the floor in front of me. I hadn’t even fully registered what I said before Veronica spoke up again.

“Why are you acting so scared? This is our way out!!” She exclaimed way more excitedly than she should, as if the implication of that pamphlet wasn’t horrifying.

Sensing my judgement and meeting my gaze she adjusted, “I’m just saying that this is the first time I’ve seen ANY mention on how this place operates. We can use the uniforms to blend in and get out of here!”

I could not help but frown at the idea of wearing skin over my own, which made me feel sick. 

“Okay so we blend in and get out of here. Then what?” I asked, hoping she was seeing something that I didn’t.

“No idea.” She said flatly. “But knowing that there is a chance we can get out of here is enough for me to try.”

She was right as things stood now we would eventually be caught and reimprisoned, if not worse. While I was still trying to process what we’d just read, Veronica wandered off toward a small closet door by the vending machine, “Uniforms” written across it in plain white text. 

As Veronica pulled the door open a wave of cold air poured out. Inside, hung neatly like any other work uniforms, were rows of pale, fleshy things. They had zippers running down their backs, and some of the faces stitched into them twitched when the light hit. Veronica just stared for a long time, then turned back to me with this expression I couldn’t read. “Guess we found our uniforms,” she said.

She reached for one of the uniforms, and for a second, I swore the rest leaned toward her. I wanted to stop her, but the look in her eyes wasn’t fear anymore, it was acceptance. Acceptance of what needed to be done for survival.

And that terrified me more than anything else in this place.

Putting on the suit, I was immediately repulsed by how slimy it felt against my skin. The fact that it twitched and bulged in certain places did not help either. When I looked at Veronica, she was tightening her suit and didn’t seem bothered at all by the fact that we were basically wearing decorated skin, in fact the expression on her face made it seem like she was… bored?

“Are you ready?” She asked, as if reading my thoughts.

“Yeah but…” I stammered out, before continuing, “...how are you just like, okay with all this?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” She asked, giving me a curious look.

“Are you not repulsed by this? We’re probably wearing actual skin that belonged to another person.” I added, shuddering at the thought of how these suits may have been acquired.

Her response was not what I expected. She stared at me for a good long while, long enough to make me uncomfortable and fidgety.

“I have been here for years. They don’t kill me because I’m ‘damaged product’ but I can’t leave either, just stuck in this hellhole for the rest of my life. That is until you freed me and we actually got away! The danger we are in is only fueling me to get the hell out of this place, and to be honest with you Matteo…” Veronica trailed off, avoiding eye contact with me as she continued, “...there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to get out of this place.” She said plainly.

While she didn’t explicitly say it, I got the implication all the same: if it came to me or her, she’s choosing herself. I can’t say that I blame her for it, if it were between me and her I’d choose myself too. The difference is that I didn’t already have my mind made up about it; I’d probably try to help her even at my own risk but now I knew that she wouldn't do the same. I have to keep my guard up around her.

With no other way of egress we turned back around and left through the door that we used to first come into this room. While this time it operated as a normal door, we were surprised to see my car parked on the other side, engine running and ready to go. As we tried to go through the door however, we couldn’t. While I could see my car it was like there was an invisible wall blocking the actual entryway of the door. God we were so close, it was literally right there!

Closing the door and reopening it kept showing a multitude of different locations. We saw what looked to be a processing section of the facility with all sorts of machines operating, now as to what they were building I could not say. We saw an even bigger storage room with more of those revolting boxes, with a heavy splat reminding us to close the door. We even saw what appeared to be a grandfather and his grandson on a farm. Whatever they were doing the mood must have been somber as there was a dead dog next to them, the boy was crying and who appeared to be his grandfather was holding a rifle. I didn’t stick around to watch that and just kept opening and closing the door until it gave us somewhere we could actually access.

This took a long time though, with Veronica and I alternating as the door kept flipping between different locations yet unwilling to actually let us go anywhere. I think it was around the fifth time we saw my running car that Veronica snapped:

“To hell with this.” She said, slamming the door shut so hard it snapped off one of its hinges and laid half supported across the door frame. Well so much for that I guess.

After a moment of silence between us as we stared at one another, she suddenly beelined for the uniform locker and opened it. 

Where once was the skin suits all hung up neatly now had a very narrow hallway, barely wide enough for one person let alone two. We would have to go through in a single file line.

Moving while wearing the suit was… difficult. Despite it having none of the fuzz we saw leaking out of other suits, the ones we wore still twitched and writhed as we went, occasionally making me bump against the walls as I walked. The hallway kept getting narrower pretty consistently, with us soon having to turn our bodies sideways and navigate that way.

Just as the hallway began to grip onto my chest and back I pushed through out into what seemed to be shelves, dozens if not hundreds of rows of gas station products covered the place in a cacophony of color, overstimulating your eyes everywhere they looked.

Veronica pushed past me and began beelining into a partition between the rows, and when I looked ahead of her I understood why she was running so fast: the glass doors of the front of the gas station were visible. It was really far, but just at the edge of my vision I could see the blue outline of them.

I began to move behind Veronica, after all for all I know she could get through those doors and book it in my car, leaving me stranded. That’s even if my car was there in the first place.

Just as I was going to sprint after her I saw an enormous hand come out from a few rows ahead, which Veronica collided into at full speed. I heard her yelp as she fell backwards onto the floor, dazed and probably still trying to process what just happened. She never stood a chance.

The hand wrapped its grotesque decaying fingers around her and… simply held her there. I wanted to move towards her as she cried out to be, begging me to come save her.

All I could do was watch as an enormous box dropped onto her, not ending in a splat but a crash that shook the ground I stood on.

“Fuck. FUCK. Holy fucking shit she’s dead.” I thought, my mind reeling as I tried to figure out what to do. I knew that the exit was right there but I was too petrified to move, not even as the giant box’s eyes fixated themselves upon me, its form wriggling towards me as it squished Veronica’s blood out further onto the ground. 

She really was gone.

Whatever I was feeling I couldn’t just stand there, so instead of running down the center I started speedwalking away towards the aisles, hoping that the grid like pattern of this room could keep me alive. While I understood that running straight down the row was dangerous, were the aisles any safer? 

As if on cue I turned a corner to see… something. Its shape was more or less human but there were just too many eyes. It came up to me and blinked in a random pattern; different parts of its body opening and closing like a game of wack-a-mole.

I had no clue what it wanted from me but I could tell I needed to respond. It must not have been attacking me either because of the suit or because it doesn’t realize I’m a human, so I have to blend in to make it out.

Not really knowing what to do, I just grabbed the nearest product on a shelf near us, this time what appeared to be a bag of fleshy crickets, and said:

“Valued customer yes buy.”

It stared at me. I said it again, more forceful this time.

“Valued customer yes buy.”

It stared at me another moment before grabbing the bag and walking away, some of its eyes shedding tears in what appeared to be sorrow.

As I continued to navigate my way through I eventually found myself a few aisles away from the glass doors, it’s right there, I thought as I prepared myself to cross over to the next aisle. Two more to go.

One more.

I was there. Walking towards the doors I pushed it outward and was relieved to see that it really was my car there, still running as it had been when I first got to this place. I also immediately ripped off my skin suit, it hissing in protest before deflating and laying flatly on the ground.

I took one last look around my perimeter. There were no other cars, no employees… It looks like I truly was free. Without delay I got into my car, got it onto the road and started reversing. Veronica would not die in vain, I would get out of here alive no matter how long it took.

I was not prepared for just how long it would actually take though, as I just kept reversing in a straight line for what felt like years. I knew that I was doing something right however as my car slowly started to come back to normal, my odometer displayed the correct mileage and my levers displayed the right information.

It was not much longer after this that my phone buzzed. I had almost forgotten I even still had it, but as I sat there looking at the screen I began to cry tears of joy.

“Estimated Time of Arrival to your destination: 20 minutes.

In 500 feet take a right.”

Without hesitation I took the right turn, sending my car flying through the foliage on the side of the road. Twenty minutes was how far I was from my house when I first got dragged into this mess. I was free!

Soon after I got on the highway and made my way home, relief washed over me like a wave. It was only when I arrived at my room that I realized just how hopeless my situation was. I stood there trying to process what I was seeing, the big white letters plastered on my closet door all the while:

“UNIFORMS”.