All I can truly remember is waking up in the morgue. Not in one of the body things, but on the floor, next to them. The smell was horrid, like how everyone tells you what a dead body smells like. I got up, and looked out the window. It was almost night. I was so confused when I saw all the trees were gone. I had a weird memory of looking out a window like that, with the exact same image of everything, but there were trees there. I walked away from the window, and looked to the door on the opposite wall from mine. There was a door with padding on the bottom, and a small glass panel in the middle. I saw a shadow dart across it. I slowly approached the door, making sure I didn’t make any semblance of a sound. I saw the shadow dart the other way now, going right.
I knew the room to my left was the surveillance room, and I knew there was a camera in here. It was probably a worker, and an emergency was going on somewhere downstairs. It had to at least be a human, right? My thoughts made me forget that this place was dead silent. There was no sound coming from anywhere, apart from a slight hum coming from the large lights above me, and my bare feet lightly pattering on the floor. I grabbed the door handle, and began to open. I had to stop myself, frozen with anxiety, and decided to try and climb into one of the compartments for the bodies, and just wait.
I put my foot in through the small door, and felt it graze a plastic bag. I shivered in disgust, and decided to jump in. It was freezing, and reeked. At that moment, I heard the handle to the door start to open. Maybe someone was here for me? I still couldn’t move, I was frozen still. I wanted to move, but just couldn’t. I was fighting myself to fully close the small door, but I decided to leave it slightly cracked, as it was. I heard the door fly open, and then footsteps, like that of a large dog. Only it breathed like a man. It took large, piercing inhales, and its exhales were shaky, and wispy. It sounded like someone trying to breathe after having a lung punctured.
It took a heavy step forward, then took another large, scattered breath. I saw a brief glimpse of a hand. It was a human tone, only more bony. I held my breath, waiting for it to go back. It took another step forward. I saw its arm reach up, and rip off a door. It flung into the back wall, and made a large crash. I was certain no one else was in this place; I was doomed. Unless it willingly spared me.
It took another step, to the window. I saw its head. It looked like it was malnourished, and it stood hunched. It looked like… me, but the bones of it protruded, stretching its skin out. I could even see it tearing through it, like it was in constant agony. It looked out onto the empty space, the one without trees. It screeched, nearly deafening me. It sounded like a dying banshee, only it was loud enough that the echo still hurt to hear. It collapsed onto the floor. I wonder what it saw. Only I saw it now, too. A tree. It was just through the window. It wasn’t there before, it couldn’t have been. It was the only thing I remember. No trees. Why were they back? Where was I even?
I looked down to my feet, into the dark abyss of bodies. I felt everything go cold. Someone, or something, looked back.
Then I woke up. I stood up, and looked around. I ran up to the window, and saw something I vaguely remembered. But, I remember there being trees there. I look down, at my bony, stretched hands.