Chapter 37: The Worst Pain You’ve Ever Experienced

I had spent more time than I would like to admit resting in the stairwell, waiting for my foot to recover. I had a few weeks of resources, but I had no idea how long I would spend on these last few floors. Going back up to the second hub was potentially an option, but it just didn’t feel right.

There was a simple door in front of me, almost stopping me from continuing into the next floor. I had yet to open the door, but it was reminiscent of something you could find in an older hotel, a flat brown color with a simple push handle. What stopped me was the small burning pain that flooded into my mind when I touched it.

It wasn’t as if the handle was hot, as when I first touched the handle, I checked my hand for any signs of burning. Thankfully, there weren’t any signs of damage from the pain that I felt, but that just meant it was probably some sort of effect from the floor itself.

I checked my injured foot one last time before I reached for the door. It was wrapped in a few layers of shirts and then a sweater, all just to add some padding. I had an extra pair of boots, but unless I chugged back a morphine every hour to stop the pain, that wasn’t going to happen. It hurt to walk on, but it was bearable with all of the padding that was around it.

The wounds had long closed after letting my foot heal for two days along with the cauterizing. It wasn’t ideal and if I had to run, the wound would probably open, but that was just a risk I was going to have to deal with if I wanted to push through these last few floors.

I held my breath and opened the door, ignoring the burning pain I felt from my hand touching the handle. The door opened easily and revealed a long hallway, there wasn’t a single window or door in the hallway that was wide enough to maybe have two people walk side by side. At the end of it, I saw another door identical to the one I had just walked through.

The door that was now behind me closed quickly after I walked through it. There was no way to open it from the side I was now on. The only way to go was the end of the hallway, so I started to walk.

While I was walking, the burning pain from opening the door hadn’t stopped. My hand felt hot, but there was nothing to indicate any kind of injury. The air in the hallway was dry and stale, but it wasn’t hot, almost cool even. Nothing stood out to me in the bland hallway dimly lit with quiet lights.

The burning pain slowly started to spread through my whole body as I walked through the hallway. The air felt cold, yet my skin was telling me I was hot. I was reminded of nasty fevers that I’ve had in the past, the kind that sends you to the hospital where you can’t stop sweating and feel so hot that nothing helps.

This floor was trying to make me feel pain, and even just at the halfway point through this hall, it was almost unbearable. I wanted to sit down and take a break, but something inside me told me to keep moving, stopping was only going to make it worse.

I listened to my instinct as it had yet to be wrong, as long as I wasn’t under any control effects. I wasn’t sure about any control effects; I didn’t feel any which left me a bit confused on how I was feeling this pain despite there not being anything. But perhaps it was completely different from the control effects and was just an effect.

With deep breaths to calm myself, I kept walking through the hall as the burning increased. I felt like I was on fire roughly three quarters of the way through the hall. It almost felt like my flesh was melting. The pain was at a similar level to when I cauterized the wound on my half a foot.

I was breathing heavily, everything felt like fire. My lungs hurt, the pain in them almost unbearable. It felt like I was breathing large amounts of smoke, clogging my lungs. I staggered through the hall, doing my absolute best to remain standing through the intense pain.

Sweat was forming on my skin and leaving my body faster than I think it ever had before. I was doing my best to stay hydrated but touching even plastic made it feel like my skin was going to fall off.

My mouth was dry as I reached for the door at the end of the hallway. My eyes were probably bloodshot, with each raspy breath burning my throat and lungs alike. I felt like I was in hell, this feeling of agony and torture, repenting for my sins.

The door opened and the pain subsided, clearing my head almost instantly. I could actually hear myself thing again, however, just like the first door, this one shut behind me as another hall of similar length greeted me. It was identical to the first, with another door at the end. No exit was in sight yet.

The slight hot feeling of the burning pain was still there, but it had lessened to what it was like before I had started my walk through the first hall. There was also something else, but it was hard to tell what it was while it was still so weak.

I wondered how many of these halls there were going to be and if every type of pain was going to be stacked here, or just a select few chosen to try and ruin my life even more than these floors already had.

As I continued to walk down the hall, I noticed that the burning pain was building just like it had before. I finally started to notice the new type of pain that had wonderfully been added on, it was currently similar to the pain you feel just after a light workout. I slight stiffness and an ache from well used muscles.

I knew that it was only going to get worse, as by the halfway point, my mind was already starting to go numb from the two different pains added together. The burning that made my skin feel like it was going to combust and the pain of overused and tired muscles. Tired muscles were something I was used to at this point, but it was still uncomfortable and still had a chance to double in intensity.

I kept walking while trying to distract myself, but as if to cause me more pain, the pain would always bring its way to my attention. This wouldn’t normally be an issue other than the fact that the pain seemed to be multiplying stead of just stacking like the first hallway.

I was suffering at three quarters of the way into the hallway. The burning pain was already more intense than the first hallway and the aching was making my muscles not respond the way I wanted them to. The aching was causing my muscles to twist and cramp. I kept walking though, it was slow going.

Eventually as I felt like I was going to die, I made it to the door. My vision was blurring, even after clearing the door and the pain mostly subsiding. My brain was struggling to process the information it was being fed. I kept pushing though.

I wasn’t going to stop until I died.

As I walked, I felt the new addition to the bunch. It felt like sandpaper was being continuously dragged across my skin. Right now, it was just a slight scraping, but if it multiplied again, I was going to struggle staying conscious.

I pushed forwards. I would drink water as needed. I was chugging it back, bottle by bottle, whittling away at my resources faster than I wanted to. I pushed, and I pushed as the pain multiplied together, forcing thoughts out of my head before they had even formed, but I managed to keep walking as my skin felt like it was melting my muscles cramped and it felt like rough sandpaper was being ground against my skin.

I kept walking as my mind started to shut down. I was walking purely through determination and without a single thought as my mind was completely clouded by pain. All I could think about was the pain and how much it hurt. It felt like only a few seconds had passed and I made it to the final hallway. I could see the exit of the floor.

I walked. Determination filled my mind to the point where I actually forgot about the pain I was feeling. The sight of the exit in front of me pushed me forwards and caused me to walk forwards without thinking. The pain was pushed from my mind with thoughts of escape and freedom.

I was already standing in the stairwell before I even knew it.

The door looked like one of those you’d find in a padded cell.

I was covered head to toe in a thick layer of sweat. I would need to clean myself, but after taking a quick inventory, I had gone through two weeks worth of water in under two hours. I had two weeks left if rationed.

I was definitely going to ration my water now.

Two floors remained.