Matt

It was a normal day for Matt. As usual, he'd open his eyes, blankly stared into the abyss of nothingness before getting up and headed for his daily routine of shower and breakfast. It was pin drop quiet, not even chatters could be heard, sans the occasional sounds made by animals. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and went outside.

    Cars were halted abruptly everywhere on the road, trash bins were overflowed and swarmed with flies, and stray animals were enjoying themselves without the fear of being chased off. After all, not a single person other than Matt was around.

    It has been 2 weeks since everybody else disappeared. He could clearly remember the day he last saw his beloved wife, Sarah. She was still asleep when he woke up, so he decided to surprise her with breakfast on bed. However, she was nowhere to be seen when he returned from the kitchen. He remembered searching for her frantically, shouting and even calling her phone. The call went unanswered, just like when he ghosted his ex after they broke up.

    After the initial shock, he realised that everyone else in the small town he lived at had vanished into thin air. There was no premonition, and they were gone in a blink of an eye. He freaked out and even attempted suicide, but it was unsuccessful. Thus, he decided to carry on living like a walking dead, alone and miserable.

    As he was taking his walk, he remembered that he ran out of tea so he headed to the nearest Econsave. Grabbing few cans of preserved food, he placed them in an empty trolley as he strolled down the aisle. The smell of rotting perishables was getting stronger. He wrinkled his brows at the stench and turned towards the drinks section. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a dark figure darting across the exit.

    "Hey! Stop!" He shouted excitedly and tailed after the figure. It seemed like a woman, or an adolescent, judging at the size of the body.

    He finally caught up to her as she was reaching the playground. Before he could grab hold of her, she turned and he saw her face clearly. His hand paused in midair and he stopped his pursuit. It was Sarah.

    She dashed towards the slide and hid at the small space under it. Tears sprang to his eyes as he was beyond relief to see his wife once more. He approached her and found out she was crying too, although for a different reason altogether. "Please don't hurt me," she sobbed.

    After consoling and promised that he wouldn't hurt her, he brought her home - their home. She had no memory about herself, nor Matt, so he tried his best to make her feel at home and comforted. However, she left her food untouched and locked herself in the room. He gave her all the space she needed.

    It was until midnight when Matt heard some weird noises coming from Sarah's room. He lit up a candle and went to check the source. The door to her room was slightly ajar so he curiously peeked in. He wasn't ready to see what was inside the room at all. He ran away in terror.

    She was mutilating a poor innocent rabbit. With an eerie smile on her face, she giggled as she hacked at the rabbit with an axe. When the light shone upon her, he could see the crazed look on her face. As he ran away, she started to cackle like a witch and chased after him. He threw the candle at her but it dropped, wiping out the only source of light he could use to see.

    Fortunately, he was familiar with his own house so he was able to navigate himself towards the door easily. He suddenly screamed in pain when he felt a blow at his shoulder. Collapsing near the kitchen countertop, he could see her approaching, as the moonlight shone through the windows. Sarah's face slowly morphed into his ex's. Shapeshifter, he thought bitterly.

    Pinning him down she raised the axe and attempted to hack at his neck. Before she could swing it, he whipped out a pump action shotgun and pulled the trigger. She threw her head back and laughed. "Fool! Guns do not work on me." She raised her axe again. He screamed.

    "Matt!" He opened his eyes. Sarah's face was inches from his and he scooted away in horror but restrained by some wires and tubes. As his mind cleared, he realised he was lying on a bed in the hospital. He breathed a sigh of relief and reached for his wife's hand. His shoulder hurt.

    She was grinning at him. Keeping himself composed, he quickly scanned around for weapon of some sort. His eyes landed on the axe in her hand. He shut his eyes and braced for the pain.

    "Matt!" He opened his eyes. So, it repeated.