[WARNING]

  Life support systems are reaching critical levels of disrepair.

  Life support systems will be inoperable in [8.20] hours.

  User is recovered enough to ensure [26.5%] chance of survival.

  Beginning thawing sequence…

  These words were the first thing Jacob saw as he regained consciousness. Blue, flickering, and contained on a glitching screen, they stayed long enough for Jacob to read them and then fizzled out of existence. What… was that? the man thought as he felt the gel surrounding him pumped out and replaced with air. Did… did they find a cure?

  Something felt… strange about Jacobs body, but he couldn’t place exactly what it was. While the needles and tubes hooked into Jacob retreated, and the last bits of gel were pumped open, his mind raced. Will the cure be painful? Take lots of surgery? Or is it just a treatment and I’ll continue to die if I stop using it?

  So many questions for the doctors..

  Once the doors opened with a hiss, Jacob expected to hear people talking and hands to take him out. All he heard was a slight buzzing noise and the whistle of wind and after a few minutes Jacob became confused. Why is it so silent? The man raised his arms to the respirator, expecting to feel weak and trembling. Instead his arms moved smooth and strong, allowing Jacob to pull the mask off and see the chamber.

  Only one light in the room was working, though Jacob could see fine through a strange blue tint. Everything was well-worn, the other pods (which Jacob could now see looked like coffins) rusted over while there were heavy cracks in the rooms walls and ceiling.

  “H-hello?” Jacob asked. His voice sounded… normal. Not the rasping croak it’d been when he had been put in the pod. My voice… it sounds different. In a good way I mean. As he moved his hand into his vision, Jacob gaped. Gone was the withered flesh, sagging skin and twig-like fingers replaced with healthy, if average muscle and tight, spotless skin. My arms look different too… what’s happened to the rest of my body?

  The man looked down to see that the rest of his body had changed as drastically as his arms. Jacob looked like he was twenty-two again, no longer a scarecrow draped in sagging cloth. In fact he’d gained enough muscle mass to stretch his suit and even split some of the seams.

  It then hit Jacob. No longer did his heart feel like every beat was a struggle, nor did his lungs rasp as they attempted to breathe. The man felt… fine, healthy even. But there was one last test to see if… whatever had happened to him had done a full job.

  Jacob put his right foot out and placed it on the ground outside the pod. It felt stiff and a little numb… but it supported his weight. The same happened with the left and for the first time in years, Jacob Bentley stood on his feet without help.

  The man had one last test however. Jacob took one step forward. Thean another. This continued until Jacob had walked all the way across the room.

  Tears slid down Jacobs face, tears of joy. For the first time since he was twenty-seven, Jacob could walk without aid and the simple act of walking was as glorious as getting back his share of the family fortune. I do hope I get that back too… the man thought as he rested against the wall. Though why is everything so… dilapidated?

  I need to find a nurse or doctor or… somebody. Then I can figure out what to do next.

  With that thought, Jacob peered through the half-open bulkhead door and into the hallway. None of the lights were working but the man could still see… albeit with the blue tint he saw being everywhere. Why is that happening? Not that I’m complaining about seeing in the dark… but this is weird. He stepped fully into the corridor, seeing nothing but a tipped-over gurney and a pile of empty boxes. Like the pod room the corridor was dilapidated, with rusted pipes, cracked walls, and sand piled in corners and in thin layers on floors.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Where did all this sand come from? Jacob wondered, wincing at the unpleasant feeling under his feet. The ability to walk outweighed the unpleasant feeling, but the man still wished he’d been frozen with shoes on. His other problem was that his vision had been so poor he had no idea how to get back to the elevator. Or if the elevator even worked.

  Probably not… in that case, I’m even more lost.

  Jacob gritted his teeth in frustration and fear. He’d never been this alone before, with so little help. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and even as he died, people had been there to take care of him. Now he was on his own, with nobody as guide, ally, guard, or even just a companion. By the state of the hospital around him, perhaps nobody was left. What if I’m the only person in the city? In the state? Continent? Or even the world?

  The man wanted to cry. To just lie down and never move again. He’d never had to go through something this challenging before, so dangerous and strange. I… I can’t give up now. Not with this new body. There’s got to be people nearby. People are resilient. There might be bunkers or nomads, or settlements nearby. Besides, I’m in a city. Theres got to be supplies everywhere; food, water, weapons, survival gear. More than I’d need in a lifetime.

  I just have to get out of here and figure out what the hell happened.

  In Jacobs rationale, there would be some sign towards where the exit would be and he just had to find it… wherever the hell it was. It's got to be here… somewhere. I just have to find it. The man pressed on through the almost liminal-feeling corridors, which were strewn with random junk and nothing useful. Who stripped all of this down? he wondered, peering under a box to see only a very large, dried-out dead spider.

  Jacob yelped and backed away before calming down. At least its dead… but still gross. He shuddered and put the box back over the thing before continuing his search.

  As Jacob continued away from the pod room, he could hear the whistling of wind, the sand got thicker, and the walls got more worn. Somethings open up there… he thought. A hole maybe?

  As the man got closer to the sound, the blue tint got fainter and Jacob realized that there was light somewhere up ahead. That’s got to be good… right?

  As he walked forward faster, Jacob almost tripped over the skeleton slumped against the wall. The man yelped, dancing away and staring at the body. Its clothes were almost rags and was decayed down to the bone. In its withered grasp was clutched a rusted pipe and slung around its shoulder was a battered synthetic fiber bag.

  Stuck in the skeletons chest was a knife made out of rebar showing how the poor soul had died. That’s got to be a horrible way to die… Jacob thought as he pulled the pipe out of the skeletons grasp and felt the heft. It was weighty and had duct tape wrapped around the bottom where one would grip it. Not much of a weapon, but it should do… hopefully for nothing. Still, these should be useful.

  Jacob winced as he yanked the rebar shiv out of the skeletons ribcage. Like the pipe it was slightly rusty and used tape as a grip. It was rather unsophisticated, like something used for a ‘one-and-done.’ A disposable killing weapon, not something one would use more than once.

  Still it would help, even if Jacob had nowhere to put it for easy storage other than the bag. “Sorry, but I kind of need this…” he muttered as he pulled the bag off the bones. Inside were a rope, canteen, an old book, some mismatched clothes, and a handful of what looked like shotgun shells. There was also random junk stuffed inside, like a television remote and a flashlight without a battery. Scavenger perhaps? The clothes are welcome however.

  Jacob practically ripped the hospital suit off himself and put on the ‘real’ clothing. It consisted of boxers, a pair of patched denim jeans, mismatched boots, a stained t-shirt, a tan bandana and an olive green jacket. Jacob now looked like he lived under a bridge, but at least he was in something warmer and more comfortable than the damn suit.

  Of course if he’d had any other option, Jacob wouldn’t have even looked at what he was wearing. However Jacob was spoiled, not stupid. He knew he needed something to wear other than the suit. This was all he had; this was what he wore. The man slung the bag over his shoulder and looked at the skeleton. “Thanks,” he said in a sarcastic tone, before continuing down the hallway towards the sound of wind.

  Eventually, the light got bright enough to wash out the blue tint completely and Jacob found himself almost blinded by the light. He winced, holding up a hand and continued forwards. Where there’s light, there’s got to be a way out. At least I hope… The man could also smell something unpleasant, like smog and ash mixed with dust. He coughed before pulling the bandana up around his nose and mouth. What is that?

  Jacob almost missed the sign reading EXIT, thanks to the rust and paint flaking off it. The white arrow was unmistakable however. Finally, he thought before picking up the pace. The smell got stronger, the light brighter, and the sand thicker until Jacob reached a spot where the sun bleached out everything. The man squinted, attempting to block out the glare until his eyes adjusted. As the environment came into view, Jacob gaped as he saw what had become of the hospital.