Chapter 146 Human evolution

Chapter 146: Chapter 146 Human evolution

John Allen knew he wouldn’t make it much longer in his condition. His eyes had become sunken deep into his skull, making his face look almost skeletal. His cheeks had hollowed out, his lips were charred and split, and blood frequently gathered around the cracks whenever he tried to speak. Even his gums were beginning to turn pale. His teeth had darkened from weeks of neglect, and his entire body felt as though it were slowly shutting down.

He was seriously sick.

But somehow, he was still alive.

For weeks, Allen had survived by doing whatever was necessary. Whenever he spotted a rat crawling around the corners of his cell, he hunted it down. He didn’t care how disgusting it was. He would grab the creature, snap its neck, and tear open its throat with his teeth because he had nothing sharp enough to cut it. Then he would drink its blood. To him, it was water. The meat was food. The blood was something to keep his body functioning.

There was no dignity left inside this place. There was only survival.

And for a while, Allen had one thing that kept him from completely losing his mind.

His companion.

The prisoner in the cell opposite him had been there for almost as long as he had. They talked whenever they could, sometimes about the world outside, sometimes about their lives before everything fell apart, and sometimes about absolutely nothing. It was the only human conversation Allen had left.

Then one day, the man stopped answering.

At first, Allen didn’t think much of it. "Hey."

Silence.

Allen waited. "Are you sleeping?"

Nothing.

He tried again the following day. Still nothing.

By the second day, a strange smell had begun creeping through the cells. Allen frowned. At first, it wasn’t unbearable. But as the hours passed, the smell became stronger. It was dry, rotten, and atrocious. It seemed to crawl through the walls and into his head.

Allen had spent years in the military. He had seen battlefields. He had worked around corpses. He knew what death smelled like. And this was unmistakable.

His companion was dead.

Allen sat quietly on the floor. He called again just to be certain. "Hey..."

Nothing.

He waited. Still nothing.

His eyes slowly became wet. The realization hit harder than he expected. That man had been the only person keeping him sane. And now even that had been taken from him.

Allen turned away from the opposite cell and cried himself to sleep.

The next morning, the smell was worse. By the fourth day, it had become unbearable.

Allen couldn’t take it anymore. If nobody removed the corpse, the stench would eventually become another threat to his survival. He pushed himself upright. His legs trembled beneath him.

"Should I call and tell them someone is dead?"

He stared toward the cell door. Then he shook his head.

Who was he kidding? Nobody cared.

After his downfall, whatever respect he had once possessed had disappeared. He had been a soldier. Someone important. Someone whose orders had once meant something. Now? He was just another prisoner locked inside a forgotten cell. At this point, he wouldn’t even be surprised if a corpse had more value than him.

Allen took a shaky breath. The outside world was completely disconnected from him. He didn’t know what was happening anymore. He didn’t know how the apocalypse was progressing. He didn’t know who was alive. He didn’t know who was dead. He only knew that every day inside this prison felt longer than the last.

He was about to call again when something happened that hadn’t happened in weeks.

The cell door opened.

Allen immediately looked up. Three soldiers stood outside. They dragged another prisoner toward the cell. The moment they stepped inside, all three soldiers recoiled. The smell hit them. One of them immediately covered his nose.

"That is horrible!" He looked toward the opposite cell. "Did someone die here or what?"

He was already preparing to leave when another soldier grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you’re going?"

The soldier pointed toward the dead prisoner. "Come on. Let’s get rid of this corpse before it begins affecting the main zones." He covered his nose again. "The smell could leak through the ventilation system. We don’t want to get beheaded because we couldn’t take care of these cells."

Allen’s eyes narrowed. Beheaded? So that was the kind of place this had become.

The soldiers dragged the corpse away. They didn’t even bother checking whether Allen was still alive. They simply cleared the body, shoved the new prisoner into the cell, and slammed the door.

The footsteps gradually disappeared.

Silence returned.

The new prisoner immediately reached up and ripped the tape from his mouth. "Those irritating jerks!" He gasped for air. "Fuck! They literally manhandled me! This isn’t how you treat a human being!" His voice echoed through the cell.

There was no response. He turned around. He expected to be alone. Instead, his eyes landed on Allen.

The man standing in the corner looked almost like a corpse himself. His skin clung tightly to his bones. His eyes were hollow. His lips were bloody. His clothes hung loosely around his skeletal frame.

The new prisoner screamed. "AHHH!"

Allen flinched.

The prisoner stumbled backward. "Damn! Are you a reaper or what?!" He stared at Allen from head to toe.

Allen understood immediately. He sighed. "Well, I am John Allen." His voice was rough and weak. "And this is what happens when you spend too much time inside this hell." He coughed. "You either die... or you start looking like a complete skeleton before you waste away."

Blood dripped from his lips after the cough. Allen glanced down at it. There it was. His condition had gotten even worse.

He knew exactly why. The rats he’d been eating probably fed on human waste and whatever else they could find inside the prison. The bacteria alone could have destroyed his organs. His throat burned constantly. His lungs felt heavy. His stomach twisted whenever he ate. And every breath seemed to scratch its way through his chest.

It was almost ironic. After surviving months of battles and wars, after standing on battlefields where bullets and explosions could have killed him, it might be a simple rat infection that finally took his life.

What a life.

The new prisoner stared at him. "You look like hell itself." He covered his nose. "Don’t they feed you?"

Allen didn’t know when the laugh escaped him. But the moment he tried, pain shot through his throat. He stopped immediately. Laughing hurt too much. He touched his lips.

"Look at this place." He gestured weakly around the cell. "Does it look like a place that’s being maintained?"

The prisoner remained silent.

"No one comes here to check if we’re alive. Once you’re tossed into these cells, it’s either permanent or temporary." Allen swallowed painfully. "And I sincerely hope you’re temporary." He looked directly at the stranger. "Because dying here while slowly losing your mind is the worst kind of torture. This place eats you from the inside."

The man’s expression changed.

"So..." Allen leaned back against the wall. "It’s either you’re a permanent resident, in which case I’d say you’re completely screwed, or they’re still deciding what to do with you and tossed you here until they come back."

The prisoner’s eyes widened. His breathing became frantic. "No."

He suddenly rushed toward the cell door. "Let me out!" He slammed his fists against the metal. "LET ME OUT NOW!"

The walls didn’t move. He hit them again.

Allen watched him quietly. He could already tell what kind of person this was. A rich kid. Someone who had never experienced real hardship. Someone who still believed that screaming would make people listen.

"Calm your shit down."

The man turned.

"Tell me what brought you here. I might be able to tell you whether you’re going to spend months here or only a few days."

The prisoner looked at him with irritation. Then disgust. He stared at Allen’s skeletal appearance and immediately covered his nose. "Don’t talk to me, you weirdo."

Allen raised an eyebrow.

"We aren’t friends, and we aren’t alike. You’re going to die here, but my family will get me out."

Allen shrugged. "Suit yourself." He looked toward the ceiling. "But understand something." His voice became colder. "This is the place of the forgotten."

The prisoner slowly stopped moving.

Allen continued. "And you’re not being forgotten."

The words finally sank in. The man slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. His breathing became shaky. Then he started crying.

"I didn’t do anything."

Allen glanced at him. "You know it wasn’t me."

"Do what?"

The prisoner looked up. "I didn’t kill him."

Allen’s eyebrows pulled together. "Kill who?"

The man swallowed. "The general."

The entire prison seemed to become still.

Allen’s expression changed instantly. The general was dead? That bastard had actually been killed?

For the first time in weeks, something other than hunger or sickness sparked inside Allen. Information. He needed information. He shifted closer. "Tell me everything."

Thomas wiped his tears. "It wasn’t me."

"I heard you." Allen’s voice became firm. "Now tell me what happened."

Thomas hesitated. "The general..." He swallowed. "He’s dead."

Allen stared at him.

"What happened to the plan to leave Earth?"

Thomas shook his head. "That has been cancelled."

Allen frowned. "Why?"

Thomas looked toward the cell door before lowering his voice. "Because Earth is changing too quickly."

Allen listened carefully.

"The disasters are evolving. The environment is becoming more dangerous. The creatures are mutating." He paused. "And apparently, someone decided humans needed to evolve too."

Allen’s face hardened. "What do you mean?"

Thomas looked at him. "They’re experimenting on people."

Silence.

Allen’s breathing stopped for a moment. "Experimenting?"

Thomas nodded. "They’re creating evolving humans and placing them around Earth."

Allen stared at him. "Why?"

"To see who survives." Thomas’s voice trembled. "They want to see which humans adapt, which ones reproduce, and what kind of new generation comes out of it."

Allen slowly shook his head. "No." His hands tightened into fists. "They’re experimenting on humans?"

Thomas nodded.

Allen’s eyes widened as the implications finally struck him. "Evolution..." He whispered the word. Then his expression twisted with horror. "They’re not trying to save humanity."

He stood as much as his weak body allowed. "They’re turning humanity into an experiment."

Thomas looked down. "It’s already happening."

Allen’s voice suddenly rose. "No!" He slammed his hand against the wall. "They’re going to wipe humans out!" His words echoed through the prison. "This isn’t survival! If they keep changing people, we won’t even be human anymore!"

Thomas stared at him. "It’s too late."

Allen froze.

Thomas’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. "The shit has already been done."

For several seconds, neither man spoke. The prison returned to silence.