Trapped in a Fake Apocalypse

Three years into the Great Drought, my sister and the shelter commander, Lisa Crawford, made me stand outside the shelter just because my hand slipped from a palpitation and I spilled a little water. "Wasting water in the apocalypse?! It's time you experience the sun's fire in the apocalypse!" As soon as I was dragged outside, boils appeared all over my skin, my bodily fluids began to ooze out, and I started to suffocate. Even so, Lisa simply snorted. "Mom, Dad, and Hal died trying to get your heart medicine, and you can't stand being outside for a second?! No, you will only return inside after two hours!" I tried to tell her that the heat was burning my heart, but I couldn't breathe and hence couldn't speak. In just an instant, my soul floated out of my body and out of the shelter… only to see my parents celebrating Hal's birthday. Even Lisa was there, putting a birthday hat on Hal's head. "Happy birthday, Hal! We've punished Neil for three years now. Are you satisfied with your gift?" My adopted brother, Hal Crawford, pretended like he cared. "Is Neil going to be alright, standing out in the sun?" My parents clapped his shoulders, assuring him, "We lowered the heat to only 122°F. He'll live." So it was just a hoax of an apocalypse. My parents were alive, while I was just being punished for three years because I accidentally knocked Hal off his feet. They just didn't know that 122°F would put enough strain on my heart to kill me. Chapter 1 Behind the screen, Hal Crawford was pointing at me as I lay limply, exclaiming in shock, "Hey, Neil passed out! Is he going to be alright?" Then, turning to Lisa Crawford, he asked, "Didn't you say it was only 122°F? Is he playing dead?" Lisa glowered right then and grabbed her microphone. "Neil Crawford!" she bellowed, her cold voice thundering throughout the shelter. "Neil! You can stop pretending now. Get up! Mom, Dad, and Hal were burning under the sun an entire day just to get your medicine! You've already collapsed after only a few minutes have passed?!" Even so, I stayed silent and motionless under the burning sun. 'I'm already dead, Lisa. How could I do what you say?' Mother, watching nearby, shook her head. "He's been there for three years but he never learned." Father promptly agreed. "A leopard never changes its spots! He simply can't see his mistakes and refuses to correct himself even now, after being stuck in that shelter for years!" See my mistakes? What mistakes? - My parents were always doting on me, never letting me out of their sight. When I couldn't go to school as a child due to my heart condition, they adopted Hal to keep me company. However, he made me the scapegoat for everything he did and faked an allergy just to screw me over. When he taunted me that he would replace me and I pushed him, they punished me for three years with a fake apocalypse. Lisa's voice rang in the shelter again just then, clearly angrier now. "Neil Crawford! Are you trying to make me look bad, when you're the one who wasted our precious water?! Stop playing dead now! How dare you give me the silent treatment! Who made you like this?!" Meanwhile, the sun was still baking my corpse. If Lisa had looked, she'd see that my face had turned purple after I suffocated. However, she was snarling through her teeth, "Fine! Jimmy, put on a heat suit and go out there! Make sure he stands for two hours, or no one in the shelter gets to eat!" The 'survivors' in the shelter were at once groaning and cursing upon hearing her. "Get up already, Neil! We need to eat!" "How selfish! He wasted water just because Lisa is our chief, but he's making us pay for his mistakes!" "Does he even have a conscience?! So many people have died of dehydration! What an ingrate!" As their complaints sounded genuinely indignant like they were on the brink, I realized they were actors that my parents and Lisa had spent a fortune on, and it was why I never realized that the apocalypse was a hoax. In no time at all, Jimmy Smith had put on a heat-resistant suit and reached me, staring downward at me for a moment before kicking me. "I'm counting down from three! Get up!" "Three!" He kicked my limp corpse right then, hard. "Two!" He kicked me again, knocking me over and revealing my bruised and battered face. He paused when he saw that but soon snickered in disdain. "Well done! You're even better at playing dead these days, huh?! One!" With that, he arched his back and grabbed my arm, pulling forcefully. The coarse floor scraped through my skin, leaving a clear, lengthy blood trail. But I remained limp, not getting up no matter how Jimmy pulled. Chapter 2 That was when someone said gingerly, "Neil doesn't look right. His face is all purple…" "Yeah, and he was quiet the whole time Jimmy was dragging him and kicking him so many times." "He's really not moving at all… Maybe he's really hurt…?" The cameras captured the voices of concern so Lisa could hear everything clearly. As she frowned and about to zoom in for a look, Hal suddenly stopped her, holding her arm and pouting. "See? He's throwing a fit now over being punished. I'll talk to him, okay? I'm sure he won't be upset if he sees that we're alive." Lisa nodded, no longer concerned and patting Hal's head. "You're really much better. If only Neil is half as nice as you." It was a familiar gesture that hurt my heart. My parents were always busy, so Lisa was basically my guardian, attending parent-teacher conferences in their stead. That was the same way she patted my head when I scored well on my exams, smiling as she told me that I was amazing. When I was bullied by classmates, she would protect me even after Hal came, until she saw me push Hal. She slapped me and then favored Hal ever since while treating me as an unruly bully. - Soon, they were at the shelter, and they had Hal put on a heat-resistant suit before letting him come over. When he reached me, he jammed his foot on my hand, plunging it into the burning ground. Then, leaning beside my ear, he whispered, "Stop pretending, Neil. I know you just want to put up a show and win pity points from Lisa." He then pulled away and said out loud, "Mom and Dad are alive too! Get up—you've already been here for two hours. Lisa has already forgiven you." However, my body stayed on the ground and didn't move. Hal scowled and suddenly dropped on the floor. "Why'd you push me?! I'm just trying to be nice!" Lisa promptly rushed over, kicking me on the chest and sending me flying. I crashed into the scalding pole behind me, and I felt the agony even in my perished soul. My parents appeared too, but they were only checking if Hal was hurt before turning to glare at me in disappointment. "You really disappoint us, Neil! You couldn't go to school because you have a bad heart, so we brought Hal in to keep you company, but you made him eat food he's allergic to!" "That's right! He's being nice now, but you still pushed him?! What, are you disappointed to see him alive?!" Seeing them looking so disappointed in me left my chest hurting. I never hurt Hal. Why wouldn't they believe me? "Fine! Have it your way, Neil!" Lisa snapped, glowering further. "Jimmy, get the rope and tie him to the pole! Let's see how he's going to play dead now or hurt Hal!" Jimmy soon arrived with a thick bundle of nylon rope, while my soul screamed up in the air. 'I'm already dead, please! Stop desecrating my body and let me rest in peace!' However, no one heard. The rope was eating into my body, layer by layer, and holding me tight. Even so, Jimmy forced me down on my knees as he tied me to the pole, which was smoking from the heat. I could hear the skin on my back sizzling as I was pressed against the pole. Chapter 3 Seeing that I stayed on my knees, Lisa finally stopped scowling. "You would've been fine if you had just behaved, but you had to cause a mess! It's what you deserve!" She then told Jimmy, "Watch him! He pushed Hal—he's staying there the whole day for that!" With that, she left with everyone, while my soul followed them and noticed the back door of the shelter. They clearly knew their way, as they soon emerged at the luxurious Crawford Villa where I had lived for over a decade. I stared at them blankly, floating in the air while my chest hurt. Three years ago, the Great Drought scorched the earth, killing all plants and causing countless fatalities. My family was worried since I had a bad heart, and they quickly packed everything and took me to this so-called shelter. I had forgotten my medicine, and they didn't hesitate to rush home for it with Hal. Soon, we were informed that they had died of 'spontaneous combustion'. I cried so much that I was choking and went three days without food, and I lived the next three years riddled with guilt that I had caused their deaths. But there was no apocalypse, let alone sacrifice. And I really didn't know how I should react to that. - Hal was nestled on the living room couch, and it was clear it was his favorite spot. He smiled with sweet innocence as my parents sat by his side. "It will be three years tomorrow, so I've made an edit of the video of Neil's time at the shelter. Check it out—do you think he'll like my present?" Mother tousled his hair, her smile at once content. "You've always been such a good kid, Hal. You're even thoughtful enough to get Neil a present after what he did to you." Lisa snorted coolly, her eyes devoid of warmth. "Hal is just so kind. If Neil keeps throwing tantrums, then we can keep him at the shelter. Don't enable him." I floated in front of them, feeling chills despite being just a ghost. 'There's no need to wait, Lisa—I'm already dead, and you're all just punishing a corpse.' Lisa pulled out a tablet in an instant. I wanted to rush up and stop her before I knew it, as I didn't want them to see me being a mess. But it was too late, as Lisa tapped into the camera feed to see me lying limply. - Whenever I was given little scraps of food and supplies, I'd quickly find myself mobbed, punched, and kicked all over endlessly. Even as the mob did it, they'd be laughing. "Take what you want! He is the chief's brother, and she has a lot of good stuff! She wouldn't care!" "Don't worry about him! Do whatever you like!" "We have the chief's permission! Hit him!" I curled up and begged them to stop. When I complained to Lisa each time, she'd just frowned and snapped at me, "It's your fault. You can't even protect what's yours, and you're always complaining." I thought she blamed me for our parents and Hal's death, so I never argued hard. It was only now that I realized she was just punishing me for Hal. - Even as the video of me kept playing, rowdy laughter rang from the shelter. Soon, the camera angle changed to show Lisa standing on the balcony of Crawford Villa, holding a stack of hundred dollar bills and throwing it to the actors in the shelter. The cheers were thunderous and fawning. "Thank you, Ms. Crawford! We make more money working for you than working an honest job for three years!" "She really loves her brother, spending a ton just to fake the apocalypse and get even for Hal's sake!" "Those three years are so worth it! Neil won't ever bully him again!" Chapter 4 With that, all the actors left the shelter through the back door, leaving me alone inside. - I used to curl up in a corner of the shelter, trembling from hunger and eating rats just to survive. Naturally, I was still bony, but everyone else kept the act going to convince me that it was an apocalypse. After the video was over, Hal's eyes were wide with feigned surprise and concern. "Neil was eating rats? Poor Neil… Those three years must have been hard on him." Lisa, however, simply locked the tablet screen and said coolly, "It's what he deserved for always bullying you. If he was suffering, it's only right. At worst, I'll just tell him and throw him a homecoming party—he's always loved parties, and it's more than enough to make it up to him." So she did remember that I loved parties. When we were kids, she'd throw surprise parties if she got me upset. It was such a shame that I couldn't attend this party. With that, my body stayed tied to the pole, baking under the sun for an entire day. Early next morning, the villa was decorated grandly. Lisa whipped out her phone and called Jimmy on video, smiling as she said, "Set him free. Put him on the call." At the shelter, Jimmy freed my rigid body, which collapsed limply on the ground. It was already rotting and stinking, with flies crawling all over my purpled skin. Jimmy pinched his nose in disdain, holding his camera at me. "How long has it been since you last cleaned yourself? You stink." On the other end, Lisa was frowning. Before she could speak, Hal pushed his way before the camera, laughing smugly. "Good news, Neil! There was never an apocalypse—those three years were just your punishment! It's over now, and you can come home! How about that? Aren't you happy?" However, they could only hear buzzing flies, leaving Lisa glowering and snapping, "Enough is enough, Neil! You pushed Hal! We're already letting you off easy by teaching you manners at the shelter for three years! "Now what—you're giving us the silent treatment?! Giving us hell?! Are you still not going to stop?!" Jimmy, reading his cue, kicked my body. "Neil Crawford! Your sister is talking to you, do you hear?!" Naturally, my body remained motionless and silent. Lisa's expression darkened further, and she snapped, "Fine! You have thirty minutes—come home on your own! You're never coming back after that!" I remained floating in the air, thinking to myself that she already had her wish as she furiously turned off the monitor. I was never coming home ever again. - Thirty minutes passed in no time at all, and the homecoming party at the villa was lively, with all the actors at the shelter present. Standing on the balcony, Lisa spoke into her microphone, "Thank you everyone for teaching my unruly brother a lesson over the last three years! I'll have him thank you all personally when he's here!" Hal was laughing as he stood nearby. "Thanks everyone! It must've been hard dealing with my brother's silly temper!" The claps, laughs, and cheers were endless and sycophantic. "You're too kind, Ms. Crawford! Neil will definitely be very grateful!" "Hal is so kind and understanding. He's so much better than Neil!" "It's an honor to help you, Ms. Crawford!" However, thirty minutes had passed, but I remained dead at the shelter. Not seeing me naturally made Lisa furious, and she was squeezing her microphone as she hollered, "Fine! Since Neil isn't going to change, then I'll only have one brother from now on! Neil doesn't matter anymore!" She had barely finished when patrol car sirens blared outside the villa, and soon, several cops rushed inside, their looks grim as they turned to a shocked Lisa standing on stage. "Ms. Crawford, we just found a male corpse at your private shelter. We need you to come with us to identify it."