A massive hole had been punched through the floors above the basement, a pile of collapsed steel, concrete, and other rubble partially blocking the tunnel. Jacob could see light shining through the wreckage, enough to see a huge, hulking object at the center of the mess. What is that? After Jacob slid his bag through, the man squirmed out of the corridor and into the open area only to gape.

  A massive ballistic missile had broken through the floors above before embedding itself into the ground. It looked stripped to the bone, with even most of the exterior removed and those parts were almost rusted through. Jacob was lucky the thing hadn’t detonated. Judging by the size of the missile, the entire hospital would’ve been blown to bits.

  Who bombs a hospital? Jacob thought before looking up at the giant hole. He could see twenty floors up and into the sky where he could see a strange grey tint to the sky. The same smell of exhaust and metal tinged the air as well. Also, how do I get to the top? He looked over at the jagged walls, complete with exposed pipes, rebar, and rough sides. If I fall, I’m not getting another chance. But the main exit is supposed to be here. Who knows if I can find another stairwell. And there’s no chance in hell that the elevators are still working.

  This… this is the best chance I’ve got.

  Jacob gulped before putting the steel pipe in his bag and tested his footing. The rubble shifted in some places, but most seemed to have settled. Semi-stable at worst. The man walked over to the side of the hole and grasped an outcrop of concrete above him. He then pulled himself up and grasped a pipe and then onwards to a protruding piece of rebar. Come on, here we go.

  The path continued onwards, with Jacob making an almost corkscrew trail around the pit as he shifted from area to area and finding a way out of the pit. Ten feet became fifteen, then twenty, and so on until Jacob was almost fifty feet up the wall and only eight more to the top. The man’s hands were raw and cramped, while Jacobs whole body hurt. Despite this, the man pressed on. Almost there… he thought. I’m almost to the top.

  [WARNING: LOW STAMINA]

  The blue box popped into the man’s vision right as he pulled himself up another foot. What? he thought, before Jacob realized his grip was slipping. Oh no…

  The man scrambled for the next handhold, all attempts at a methodical climb gone. He could feel his strength fading fast and blood stained every piece of rubble and rebar he grasped. The edge of the hole was approaching fast, but so was the end of Jacobs rope. Come on… the man thought as he reached within ten feet of the edge. Almost… there…

  [WARNING: CRITICAL STAMINA]

  Jacobs body was cramping and slowing down as he got within three feet of the edge, and right as his grip slipped. NO! the man thought as he began to fall backwards off the wall and to his death.

  I’m… not… DYING TODAY!

  With a torturous, adrenaline-fueled grab, Jacob reached up to a protruding pipe and pulled himself up over the edge to solid ground. The man laid there, wheezing as he felt the pain course through his body and eventually started crying. This… this isn't fair. Yeah, I can walk now and I see in the dark… but there’s nobody around and I just almost died climbing out of a damn pit.

  I was supposed to get my inheritance back, get girls again, be able to party again. Now I’m stuck wearing this disaster of an outfit, my hands hurt like hell, and… and I’m alone. I- I don’t want to be alone…

  Jacob sniffled, rubbing his eyes to get the tears out and leaving a slight smear of blood on his face. I need to get my hands bandaged, or they’re going to get infected. I hurt so bad though… I just want to lie here and-

  NO! I need to get out of here. I need to… I need to get to my feet.

  The man stood up and looked at his surroundings for the first time. The hospital was in poor repair, with sand and grit everywhere. Paint was bleached and peeling, signs and posters were worn away, and giant holes were ripped into the walls where wiring and piping had been stripped out. Even the lights were gone. Someone’s been looting this place, Jacob realized. But who?

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  As Jacob looked around, a sound like a generic text notification sounded in his ear, and another box appeared in his vision.

  [CHALLENGE COMPLETE!]

  You have successfully survived a near-death experience!

  +50 XP

  +1 Vitality

  +1 Ego

  You have gained a new Perk! [Limit Push] at Rank [I]!

  Continue to gain XP to reach Rank 1 and unlock full DUST usage

  With that, the message disappeared.

  The man blinked. What the hell are those? What does any of… that mean?

  A second later, Jacob doubled over in pain as something cold and electrical awakened under his body, a combination of circuits and veins that he’d never felt nor had before the Deep Freeze project. These circuit-veins raced through the entirety of his body, doing… something to his physique and mind, involuntarily making Jacob better. For a solid minute, the pain of being forcibly improved had the man unable to move and letting out pained wheezes.

  After the pain subsided, the man was left breathless as the circuit-veins subsided and another box appeared.

  Characteristics successfully upgraded to user.

  Your Stat File has been updated.

  Jacob wanted to cry again, but something forced him not to. I need to get my hands bandaged or I’m likely going to lose them, he thought. Then I’m going to have to get out of the hospital and find… other people I guess. Crying on the floor’s not going to fix anything for me.

  Jacob was surprised at his sudden burst of drive, but… welcomed it. If there’s medical supplies left, they’re going to be deeper into the hospital. This part looks stripped to the bone.

  The wing Jacob found himself in looked like it had been torn apart; all that was left being useless junk and trash. However, the deeper Jacob got in, the more intact the building became, though still in poor shape. Here and there was a trinket or two. A rusty scalpel. An empty pill bottle. A dismantled gurney. The walls also were less stripped-down, and a few (nonworking) lights were still in their place. That blue tinge that signaled Jacob's low-light vision was kicking back in, for which the man was thankful. After all, the only flashlight he possessed didn’t even have a battery.

  Eventually the corridor stopped at a pair of rusted and dented metal doors, the security glass on them cracked and chipped to the point nothing could be seen beyond it. GENERAL STORAGE was painted above the doors. General storage. Not as good as ‘medical supplies’ but there should still be something inside that might help me. To the man’s dismay, the door's keypad was dangling and torn apart where someone had unsuccessfully tried to hot-wire it. Fucking great. Jacob thought to himself. Well… it looks like I’m going through the glass…

  The man winced as he pulled the pipe out of his bag. Something felt… different about the pipe. It felt… lighter. Or I’m stronger. Jacob thought back to the blue screen. +1 Vitality… Did whatever’s in me make me stronger because I climbed out of the hole? That’s like a video game or… something else.

  Whatever the case, I need to get through that glass.

  As he gripped the pipe with both hands, Jacob wound up like a baseball bat and swung at the security glass. If it were new, the glass would’ve maybe chipped a little and held firm. However, it was old and brittle, alongside the heavy damage it’d sustained over the years. Thus, when Jacob hit it, the glass dented and cracked even more. It still took the man a solid ten minutes and his hands hurt even worse, but the glass finally broke inwards and created a small hole. Jacob let out a yell of triumph before realizing he still needed to get all the glass out of the way to get inside.

  After another five minutes, Jacob finally cleared all the glass out and hopped into the interior room. General Storage was boring-looking but was in much better shape than the outer parts of the building. Inside were rows of mundane cleaning products, bedding, vital monitors, surgical tools, and more. Nothing however that could help with Jacobs hands. First aid kit… First aid kit… Where the hell is a first aid kit?

  As Jacob rounded a corner, he saw another skeleton slumped against a wall, this one dressed in the remains of a doctor's coat and sensible clothing. An empty pill container and a drained bottle of alcohol told the rest of the story. That’s heavy… Jacob thought as his night vision spotted a white box on the wall with a red cross on the side. Finally.

  The man practically yanked the rusted cover off the box and pulled out a red canvas bag. Jacob squatted on the floor, unzipping the bag and sorted through the contents. There were the usuals: gauze, bandages, alcohol pads, etc. However, there were some newcomers the man hadn’t seen in a first aid kit before. Among the newcomers was a large bottle of painkillers, a trio of hypodermic needles labelled STIMM-A, a bag of blood and a needle that surprisingly still looked usable. The most unusual find was a device like the vital monitors Jacob had seen in the hospital, only more rugged looking, smaller, without a hookup, and seemingly solar-powered if the flip-out panel said anything.

  I’ll figure out what that is later… Jacob thought before he put it away and pulled out an alcohol pad. Tearing it open, he hissed in pain as the man cleaned his wounds and put gauze over the raw parts. Using a bit of medical tape, he secured the gauze and sighed in relief.

  Okay, Jacob thought as he put the kit into his bag. My wounds are dealt with and I’ve got medical supplies, plus weapons—no gun though. If I can find some food, I’ll be able to get out of here and find somebody. I hope. Just have to keep going and hope for the best.