Nepal wakes

Nepal Chambers was having a dream. It felt like a dream, but one of those ones you couldn't wake up from. There was a nebulous monster, dark and hazy, with many limbs. It reached out and smashed things. People were jumping out of the way, trying to avoid the crashing arms of darkness, but they were unable to avoid the crushing blows. One of the arms came toward him, and he raised his arms crossed over his head in defense. There was a brief pain, and the lights went out.

Nepal felt something cold crawling on his skin. He opened his eyes and squirmed about in a fit, slapping away creepy crawlers. There were no bugs on him, Nepal realized, and chill ran down his spine as the cold crawling on his skin increased in intensity. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. Like a light switch, his mind turned toward the source of his discomfort and lashed out with a mental swat, imaging a huge hand flicking away an annoying insect.

The crawling sensation stopped at once, but the coldness remained. He looked around for signs of an intruder into his bedroom and found he was not at home in bed. He was on the floor at work, behind the admissions desk. He was at the Mental Health Center. He got up, as wakefulness reinforced reality into his mind.

Looking around the admissions area, five people were laying about as though they had collapsed. Nepal rushed around the desk and over to the closest person. He checked for a pulse. When he found none, he moved to the next and found no sign of life. When he reached the 5th person, he noticed down the hall in laying in and out of doors were other collapsed people.

One of the bodies was Tim Brady, a guy he'd come to like despite they guy's annoying laugh. "What happened here?" Something told Nepal that Tim was dead. They were all dead.

Suddenly, Nepal's senses got deceptively sharper. He could hear the tiny electronic sounds coming from behind his desk. This place sounded deserted, empty in a way he'd never imagined. He felt the need to seek out anyone that may need his help. He went back to the desk and dialed out to reach anyone in the building. First, he tried office by office, but then thought he'd try the intercom. Pressing "#901", he announced, "Anyone in the building? Please call the front desk." But he suddenly knew that no one would answer. "Please, anyone. Pick up a phone and dial Zero." He denied the thought that everyone in the building was dead.

He was right to deny everyone was dead, for he felt someone's presence. He knew someone else in the building was alive. "Please, if you can hear me. Pick up the phone and dial Zero," he repeated. He got the feeling this person was watching him, and turned around to look.

No one living in sight. What was going on here? What happened to everyone? Poison? Gas? He tried to recall the last thing he could remember before he'd passed out.