The stench of rotted flesh and sweat strong enough to be used as elephant tranquilizer wake me. The eye opening knockout gas.

It’s nearly pitch black less for the horizontal slit of orange flickering light across from me. Shadows walk through the flickering light and faint voices whisper about. Laughter from children and women off in the distance. My eyes adjust to the room I’m in. I get up. My feet slap bare on the cold floor and I head for the source of the light to be met by a door. My ear against it I hear the the other side with more clarity.

“That’s check mate, mate. Guess that means I’m the better man after all!”

“That was luck. I got distracted. Best two out of three.”

“Don’t be a sore loser, mate. Take your loss like a champ and give the next person a chance to lose to the master.”

They sound like normal people.

I feel around for the doorknob and twist. Through to the other side it opens to the hallway of an abandoned hospital. Candle lit far down the sight line until it’s swallowed again by the black void somewhere off in the distance. More people packed into this one hall than I’ve seen in months. The place turned its attention to me and sank into complete silence.

“Guess he’s not dead,” one of the men at the chess table says.

A woman walks over with a tray of food. Cooked canned…