I open my eyes.

Darkness envelops my vision, the agonizing smell of rotting corpses fills my nostrils, and the burning air began to scorch every cell in my lungs.

My muscles are frozen stiff, and no matter how hard I try, they refuse me.

There is a unsavory taste of copper in my mouth - was it blood?, Had I died? I slowly began to believe that I have met my final and eternal destination.

Is this hell? I think to myself, while the black abyss slowly engulfs me.

Why would someone like me be anywhere else? , but soon after I can sense it.

The endless galaxy of eyes glaring at me through the darkness, the emerald green eyes that can only stare, the pain filled eyes of prisoners begging forgiveness.

I didn’t move nor could I, only looking away was feasible.

No panic manifests inside me. I am dead and this must be hell, such a dreadful situation would surely instill a dense terror to anyone else, yet I remain unmoved.

The endless galaxy of eyes tainted in green pierce into me, trying to dissect my soul, piece by piece trying to understand.

The abyss stares deep within me, surrounding me, my pair of eyes join the thousands of pairs around me, and I stare back.

Only then, I can hear the agonizing screams and wails of desperation, which echo around me.

They are all prisoners of this ominous hell, begging for liberation from their metal prisons.

Screams of their pains deafening, their cries for help will not be heard by the living.

The desperate voices lead me to assume that they are paying for the sins of those who had sent them to war.

There is a sorrowful irony in these dejected souls. Being punished in death for the actions of those still living was beyond unjust to me, yet they were here .

I can see my reflection in the glare of these poor souls, and a lingering question is left in my mind. .

‘Are these prisoners truly dead?’

In the seemingly never ending space I find myself in, I pray to God for the first time in my meaningless life, hoping the ones I value are not here with me.

As my vision begins to adjust to my new reality, I realize that I am hanging in the air.

Through the darkness I can just barely make out the silhouette of my weak arms, outstretching on both sides of my body.

I was crucified, just barely held up by the wires coming out of my palms like veins, slowly and painfully slipping out of my flesh. My weight is too much and gravity allows the cords to rip out the connected veins slowly - more with each passing second, gradually dropping while the unimaginable burning sensation of my muscles ripping inside my arms is vividly felt. Indescribable pain shot through my body reaching my head as my skin, veins and muscles were torn bit-by-bit from within.

Pitch black darkness still surrounds me, but I can only focus on the pain above my waist, yet there is peculiar group of presences that can be felt.

I lower my gaze, and there they are.

My comrades.

Thoughts begin to recollect and the vicious sounds of the battlefield ring in my ears.

In my vision their bloody corpses stand on display for me, my mouth opens and a soundless scream fallows, the pain of remembering that moment when I found their corpses resurfaces, suffering now both in mind and body.

Now I now for sure,

This is hell.

They had all died in front of me, like lambs to the slaughter.

People hailed them as a phantom power, almost a myth- elite, skilled and tactical. But no myth, they were only real.

They were super soldiers, considered by many to be invincible. I too thought of them as unbeatable, until they were reduced to mortals. mangled corpses, laying on the blood soaked battlefield.

The honor and privilege to be a part of their team was given to me, but it was not deserved. I had nowhere near the drive and skill that was required to be appointed.

I didn’t belong with them. I simply was not good enough for them, and all I can do now is blame myself for their deaths.

Killing my comrades, it must be the sin that sent me to this hell.

In the end, It was my fault they died.

Their cold dead eyes make a wave of guilt wash over me.

‘What have I done?’, this question cannot leave my mind, slowly digging into my head every second.

They were the chosen ones, the ones who tirelessly took on the plethora of obscure missions demanded by those filthy tyrants who only ever sat in their thrones, built by the blood of the working class they enslaved long ago.

It’s my fault they are here.

Their dreams to form an army strong enough to begin a revolution in America died along with them.

I was greedy for wanting to be part of them, and although they accepted me, I could not accept myself.

Now in hell, I will receive my punishment for letting them, the only ones who ever cared for me, die in vain.

Although I love them, the comrades who I saw die before me will be the chains that keep me here, to be tormented eternally for my own incompetence.

However I will forever curse that one person, the one responsible for appointing me to this nameless team.

I clearly wasn’t prepared.

So it had to be his doing, and for the rest of my existence, I will curse him while I wait for him here, because that is all I can do.

The hands of my dead comrades reaching out to me wanting to fully envelop me start from my swinging legs, and I can only close my eyes in anticipation.

‘It was all his fault that Earth became this way’, this single thought now ingrained in mind.

He was the reason why war had begun, their arms now reaching up my ankles. He was the reason why the bombs dropped, their hands now grabbing my waist. He was the reason why it was impossible fix the world, their fingers climbing up my chest. He was the reason why mom died, their nails finally digging onto my neck.

As I cannot carry out my revenge now I will forever wait here. But for now I am just happy to receive my punishment.

The hands get a hold of me and covering each part of my body, I expect to be dragged into the depths of the abyss, but instead I feel myself being raised up along with my worries.

I try to open my eyes, but I am ashamed and afraid of meeting the now emerald like eyes of my fallen comrades that look exactly the same as the abyss of emerald eyed prisoners.

But instead of being pushed down and having my veins ripped from my palms, instead I feel myself slowly rising, rising up from the abyss, rising up away from the suffering prisoners, and rising up from the emerald eyes.

And I feel myself being freed from my sins, they have given me the chance to be his punishment. My mission is now clear, I will bring him with me this time, to the deepest parts of hell, and accomplish the dreams of my dead comrades while doing so.

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I open my eyes

Brightness strikes my view, and a pleasant smell flies in the room kidnapping my exhaustion, dancing away with the salubrious aroma in air healing my long gone wounds.

From the deep bellows of my chest, I become aware, feelings awaken soon after.

Negative emotions such as sadness, despair, agony and sorrow are being ingrained into my brain. I wasn’t able to understand them, but I simply knew what to call them, like they are already registered within my head.

These feelings seem so alien to me, yet there existed more familiar feelings such as hope, relief, happiness and joy.

And some that I could not comprehend, complex and indescribable feelings of loved ones slowly dying, trying to enjoy the last few moments with others or alone.

But the warm feelings were far more familiar to me, they felt like home.

‘but what is a home?’.

My squinted eyes adjust to the light that fills the room, the environment surrounding me became clearer but not any easier to understand.

I was on a clean, soft bed with white sheets, around me were many more beds some had others within, closed cabinets all around the room and windows displaying a beautiful view tainted in white.

I stare at the vibrant white colors of the room that reflects that of the snowy outside, ‘But what is snow?’. Light penetrating the room in a indescribably delicate yet dazzling way.

There, by the side of my bed, stands a figure in blue clothing fixing something atop a metal rod, but coincidentally the figure looks my way, our gazes meet, and soon after, the sound of something hitting the floor was heard across the entire room, yet no one else was woken up from their slumber in the beds beside me, and quickly after, a rhythmic beeping sound releases in my ears like waves.

I open my eyes a little wider and my surroundings begin to clear slowly.

The panic in the eyes of the figure was not visible to me with my blurry vision since the figure was no longer besides my bed, yet I could still feel the panic within it, and an unknown color had begun wash over the insides of the figure that now stood next to the door.

What came after was a scream,

“SOMEONE CALL DR.PARK, SOMEONE HAS FINALLY WOKEN UP !”

I could not yet make out her words, but as I look at the figure longer, the word nurse is born within my head.