TITLE: Dead Or Alive
AUTHOR: MulticoloredGypsy
RATING: PG-13
SUMMERY: When you wake up, you are dead. Your are taken in by hell, raised by The Devil. None of it should be real.
All is quiet in the dark maze of sewers, going on as far as the eye cannot see and even further. Squiddies roam their territory, searching for life, always searching for something to destroy. Never stopping. Never sleeping. Never tiring. Machines are not human.
The machines can detect body heat, but when the power is turned off, the cold of the sewers is strong enough to kill. It can easily mask any signs of life. Machines are not perfect.
They are gone. Captain waits a little longer before switching the power back on. It is still cold, but blankets fall to the floor, no longer needed. Hell is alive again, rising from the sewer floor and tearing through the cold like a knife. A knife that gives life through death. Machines are not alive.
Machines are not, but the Dead are.
You wake up in slime, and if first impressions were everything you'd wish you could fall back asleep and wake up in your bed. But you sit up, choking, freezing. All around you, everyone is the same. All asleep as you were. Then you notice the plugs poking out of your skin. And then the machine comes. You cower in fear, pleading, crying, backing away from the menacing spider-like machine as it sets its claws on you. Machines are not merciful.
You feel pain as the machine un-screws a plug from the back of your neck, holding your neck in its iron grip. You cannot breathe. Then it's gone, and you think the pain left with the machine, but you are wrong. The plugs explode, breaking away from your body, leaving behind red, bloody holes in your skin. Red like the slime you are sitting in. Machines are not careless.
Nor do they have more than a basic understanding of human living conditions. A hole opens up and sucks you down dark, spiraling tunnels. You try to grab onto something, but you are too weak. You let the red current of slime and blood carry you down. You know you are going to die. And then you are thrown into water, cold as ice. You try to swim, but you are too weak. A machine with bright lights hovers over you. Machines are not all bad.
You are blinded by the bright lights as cold metal pulls you upwards. Is this what heaven is like? You try to escape, not knowing whether the lights are good or bad. The metal holds you in a strong grip, not letting you go until you pass the lights. Cold wraps around you like a blanket until you are shielded by a real blanket. Strong arms lift you up, you see faces, all merging together until you shut your eyes to prevent nausea.
"Welcome." A voice greets you, rather unfriendly. "You are dead."
You fight to stay conscious but are rapidly losing. You want to ask what they mean by dead, and where were you. What was going on? And then you lose.