Nightmare Diaries
A Foreign Feeling Condition

They ate each other's fingers. Their faces were all wrinkled and pale. Their bodies look thin until they are almost only visible bones, their movements are gurgling and look unnatural, unlike previous humans.

With their foaming mouths and blackish yellow teeth, they spoke to each other in a language that was difficult to understand. They're hideous.

Strange thoughts were milling around in my mind, about what was going on with them? Why are they all changing and not like humans in general? What caused all this? Are mom and dad okay? A lot happened during the three months of not going out of the house. Mah, Pah, hurry home!

Living alone in a house that others may not know about, really makes me lonely because I have no friends. Both my parents are researchers at the state research ministry.

Three months ago, my parents left for work while I was away at school. In the afternoon, my parents did not come home either.

“Maybe night," I thought. And they didn't come home, the next day, three days, I started to worry. I dare not go out of the house to look for them. To fill the silence, while waiting for the return of mamah and papah, I turned on the radio. My channel changed, until I stopped at the live broadcast of the research ministry.

“ada damage in laboratory.”,

“everyone is evacuating.”,

“.. potentially spread lab test results.”

I don't understand what's in there, but for sure, I want my parents back. But, baby, I dare not take action.

Exactly three months of that radio broadcast, I was almost crazy to make, trapped in a room without certainty. It caught me off guard and began to think skeptically, what should I do to meet my parents and gain enlightenment.

I was silent for a long time and daydreamed about it, until my daydream broke to hear a small knock on the door of my room. My body froze in horror, I haven't seen anyone in a long time.

“Who?” i asked.

Silent..

“Who?” ask again.

Still quiet..

“Tikus.." I thought

I didn't pay attention to it. Then, I continued my daydream, until it did not feel dusk had fallen in the sky. I looked at the window of my room that I had deliberately covered the curtains and I had never opened it again.

My stomach rang a sign of hunger, I set foot on the study table with the rest of the potluck, which turned out to be just enough for today. I brewed the instant noodles, and devoured them. Satisfied, I was also sound asleep.

The warm sun from the light shining on the window woke me up. And for some reason, my heart churned as my mind revolted so that I would immediately take action, and not be silent.

For a moment I stared at the radio next to the bed, I turned it on and I looked for the broadcast, but all I heard was a typical rumble of no signal, or maybe it was cut off from there. What the hell is going on in there? I became more curious. And most importantly, are my parents okay? I hope that.

I confirmed my determination to meet them and fulfilled my curious desire for what had actually happened all along. I change clothes and get ready.

When I thought I was ready, I stepped foot and I opened the door. Then, how surprised I was when I found the floor of the house covered in blood and many rat carcasses with their heads separated from their bodies.

What a horrible sight. I expressed my intention to leave the house, but my love for my mother papah is greater than this fear.

After seeing the condition of the house for three months was not taken care of just now, the strangeness began to feel. After three months, I finally ventured out of the house.

I walked slowly to the research ministry, where my parents worked and that was where they were supposed to be. As I walked, I realized that I was alone here, no other living being, I was truly alone. I didn't even see a cat.

“The situation is getting weirder," I said inwardly, confused.

The distance from my house to the research ministry office is quite far, usually I go there by taxi or ojek, but the situation is quiet like this, I have to walk.

I walked a long time as I spread my eyes around, I didn't meet anyone. The sun was already overhead making the afternoon very hot. I saw a stall open, I approached to buy a drink and hopefully someone was there.

Arriving at the stall, I looked for people selling but no one showed up. Then I decided to take a break, while I drank the cold tea bottle that I was supposed to pay for.

Suddenly I heard the sound of srek, srek, srek in the stall. I looked inside, only the darkness of the room was there, but when I looked carefully, there was someone sitting on a chair. Without a second thought, I approached the man. I slowly stepped into the dark room of the stall.

“Excuse me.” I said The person did not answer, but only cleared a small throat and occasionally coughed.

“This guy may be sick," I thought. The man sat behind me, I ventured to face him. I was surprised to see that guy.

I looked at this man's body, until my attention was on his wrist, I saw a barcode-like mark. Why is there a barcode on this guy's arm?

When my attention was still on his arm, suddenly the man woke up and shouted so much, causing an echo in the room that really shocked me half to death. The man cried, screaming like pain with blood starting to flow from his ears.

Had glanced at me and tried to pull me, showing gesture like asking for help, but I was scared and away from that person. A moment later, the person fell silent and fell to the floor, he died. I'm more confused, what's going on here. “Fuck!” ketus.

Feeling that things were not safe, I decided to leave the shop, and went back to the office of the state research ministry, find out what really happened and look for the existence of mamah and papah.

Long story short, when I arrived at the ministry, during the trip I still did not meet anyone other than the strange person in the stall earlier. The sky was getting dark by then. The situation on the street near the ministry is very chaotic, the office building is destroyed with broken glass everywhere, the walls have been porous and make the building seem to want to collapse.

Still, no one was there. I wish there was something to ask about the situation here and about my parents. Without long thinking I decided to go into the building, to find my parents.

The atmosphere changed instantly as I entered the building. Cold, damp and foul smell came over my nose. It's dark here, plus time has shown at 5 pm and the sun is almost sinking. I open my backpack, then I take a flashlight to light the way.

And how shocked I was when I realized, that my flashlight was highlighting a collection of humans whose bodies were hanging on the ceiling of the office room. Little by little I stepped back, while my gaze could not escape what I saw.

Those people were like maggots in a garbage can, clustered with the same color, pale. They're not dead, maybe half dead, obviously creepy.

I watched and I remembered, the situation of the people in front of me was similar to the situation of the shopkeeper earlier, or maybe exactly the same.

I then guessed, “what made these people suffer from the same symptoms?” and one more thing, they all had the same barcode mark on his arm.

Among the crowd of strange people, I recognized some familiar faces. I saw Mr. Joni, a neighbor of three houses on my left who worked here as a security guard.

Then there's Susan's mother, my two right-hand neighbors are technicians here. And they look weird and horrible. What happened to them? Besides, there's a question that's really bugging my brain,

“WHERE ARE MY PARENTS?!!”

I continued my search deeper into the building, which I was afraid would collapse at any time. But, for the sake of meeting my father, I don't care about that.

I entered a hallway with an elevator at the end. Looking around, I found directions to each sector and room.

"Lab down yeah, floor B1," I muttered. However, I saw that the elevator had broken even though the indicator light was flickering. I finally decided to find a ladder to go downstairs, to the lab, where my parents worked.

Arriving at the lab, I found the floor covered in blood mixed with chemical liquid and produced an unpleasant smell.

I went through every inch of the room, and there were still a lot of half-dead freaks with barcodes on their arms that further strengthened my negative thoughts that my parents were experiencing the same thing. But I try to stay optimistic that they are okay.

In the laboratory room, many files and equipment to test chemical fluids. Without me knowing, there are also many signs that read “VIRUS” everywhere.

I gasped for a moment in shock, I then thought, maybe they were testing a virus and maybe the test failed so that the virus spread.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” I'm yelling. I'm still trying to read the files there and I'm trying to understand this research. I found a list of experts who took part in this research. The names of Bobi Satria and Sulistiawaty were there. Knowing mamah and papah were in the study made my hopes almost dashed.

Negative thoughts returned and strengthened with the evidence I found here. But I still believe even a little, that mamah and papah are still there and survived.

My daydream about mamah papah was suddenly distracted by the sound of a glass crack behind me that I had noticed contained water with humans inside.

“What a savage,” I thought. The sound of the glass crack was getting bigger and finally two aquariums at once broke and humans inside came out, with skin that is as pale as those people but the difference on the back of the neck they are given a barcode that until now I do not know by whom.

Two humans from the aquarium came out of the aquarium and stood their backs to me. They're men and women. Until they finally turned towards me. And my guess is right, they're my parents.

...—...

I woke up from my nightmare. Fear enveloped me more than the blanket itself.

“No way," I said repeatedly. Suddenly a little knock on my bedroom door blew it all away.

“Who???” sahutku

No one answered.

By: Andian Yuliawan Putra