The New Beginning, I Died YAY

Chapter 1: The New Beginning, I Died YAY

What the F*** is this bullshit, I know there is no way that I died. I just sat down on the couch and started watching Star Gate Universe Ep 12, "Space". I have been waiting for this episode, like forever, why couldn't I wait to die after that, at least I would have been satisfied. I hate this, s*** like this always happens to me when I'm the happies. 

Like that one time I was at the store, and I finally got early due to finishing my work. I stopped a grocery store and was waiting in line, I was about to buy a scratch off lottery ticket, but I had got out of line to get a soda I forgot to get. And the guy that was standing behind me bought the same ticket I was about to get, and guess what happened. 

That bastard won, he got a paycheck of 2000 dollars for life every two weeks, the Motherf***er, that was meant for me. See, always when I'm happy it happens. And there was this other time, same thing happened but I would have won a brand-new f***en car. I was at a dealership that time, I was about to walk in the place when again I forgot to close my old cars' door. 

And that bastard that was walking behind me got a f****en new car the dealership was awarding to the millionth person that walked into their place. And yet again, I lost. And now this happens, I died, could have died after the show, but nooo, I somehow died when the show was about to come on. That is so unf***en fair, I wanted so much to watch that.

Now I'm here, Darkness. The endless f***en void, with no lights either, that is all that could see from everywhere to anywhere, nothing. Looks like I was in a ghostly figure, I appeared wondering if it was a walking dead episode or something. Maybe I'm sleepwalking and not really dead, yeah that's it. I'm dreaming and I'm still asleep. 

Well... even if it wasn't a dream, it wasn't surprised that there was no afterlife or no heaven to be granted or given after our deaths. I've never believed in God anyway, I never went to Church or believed in Christ or the Lors Jesus. I've never believed in anything but myself and what I could accomplish on my own. I sighed and refocused back to the Void... I mean nothing, really there's nothing here, just blackness. 

Really, no sound, no light, no sense, I know I'm here but that's it, and to top it all off, I'm see through, like some kind of Spector or something, a ghost. I stand here as a ghostly looking pale young man, I used to have black hair mid length that rested on his shoulders, bright sea blue eyes that could stare anyone to flinch, now I stand here looking into the distance called darkness. 

"I'm guessing this is Limbo or a bad version of the Twilight Zone. Damn, how the hell did I get here? I must have done some bad ass s*** to be here, maybe this is my own purgatory. No.... the afterlife maybe?" I said as I looked around the darkness. I used to be known as Alexandro Martinez at one time, but who am I now? 

I always had a calm logical outlook on life, always trying to figure stuff out to its simplicities... or rather, I'm someone who shows little to no emotion in any form, at this point I wasn't caring in anyway, I was just upset inwards. "Well, I can't just stand here and do nothing or can I.....naahh, guess I'll start walking in one direction, should be fun." I was being sarcastic, because in life I never did.

I started walking into the unknown, started to think about the events that lead to this moment and how I got here, but there seem to be a gap of time missing. I should be frustrated or be screaming by now, but I don't have it in me do it and out of realization I didn't care, "F***, what really happened to me… son of a… I'm dead and can't leave this s***hole, F*****!!! That, damn smoke... wait smoke?" 

I started to hyperventilate, breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. "Why would I talk about smoke? OHHH, I'm starting to remember, there was smoke before I died. Who f***ed burned down my shitty apartment? Why would someone do it in the first place? I don't have anything of value. So, it must have been for the... that Motherf***en owner of the place." 

I kept quiet for a second, thinking about the possibilities, if the owner would do that. "He must have burned down the place for the insurance claim. Or was it an accident? Mmmmhh... f*** I can't remember. I'm blaming the owner, sounds plausible in my perspective." 

After taking a few deep breaths before I started to hyperventilate again, there was still nothing but silence. And after surveying all around his darkness, his thoughts started to play repeatedly in his head. 

-oo00oo-

(Flashback) 

As I enter my apartment, I threw my things on the rotting old couch, and sat down as I started to stare at the ceiling. "Ughhhhh… Damn, I'm glad to be back home and get some peace and quiet. At least no one here is yelling, bullying, or fighting with me, love my own home, my sanctuary. Damn these fucken co-workers of mine, they always keep messing around with me." 

As I looked toward my clock that was on the wall, it's read 10:30 at night, and I finally realizing, what the hell he was doing at home so early? Then it hit me, oohhh yeah, star gate Universe time. "Well, at least I'm back home after another shitty work shift, now in my shitty apartment doing nothing but watching my favorite show." As I walked to my TV and turns it to the Syfy channel. 

"Well, I got a few minutes before it starts, let's count and see how much money I have left for this month's bills and how much I can spend on some real food." I walked over to the table near my couch and sat down. As I pulled out all of my money from my pocket to count it, 'first bill, $5 bill y'all' just joking.' I punned in my head. 

"Not a very good pun Alex, you suck." I said to myself as I collected all my money and laid it on the table. "Ok getting serious, let's see how much money I made so I can go pay my rent and light at least for another month." As I started counting.... I looked depressed at the cash I counted, I just had enough to cover both for this month. "Haaaah, I have 30 bucks to waste on some tasty food today. Not much, but hey, it's all I got." 

As I prepares to leave to pay my rent, I put my money for the utility in my pocket and turned on the VCR just in case I don't make it back in time to see my show. I walked out the door, locking it right behind me and headed toward the manager's office at the front of the building complex. Since he lives in an apartment complex on its own, I have to walk a few buildings further down a long row of alleys to get to the manager's office.

[- 2 hours later -]

After I left my apartment, I decided to pick up the pace, didn't want to miss my show, and went jogging through a small path that was near my apartment building and the alcove where the managers building was. I usually never leave my home, so, I frequently stays at home alone. I find that daily exercise is the most important and necessary way to remain healthy. 

So, on occasion, I try to at least run a mile or two a day. Well, the path I took was still wet and damp due to the rain that had passed a few minutes ago, a classic random downpour in the UK herself again. You could take a good guess of how I was a closed off reclusive person or for lack of a better term, a shut-in of our society, not wanting to be around large groups of people was not my thing. 

So, I usually found ways to avoid said large groups and sometimes I find these small paths that most people tend to avoid, and here I am, avoiding again. That isn't to say it wasn't very smart at time either, hell, I'm what would say a genius in my own right. It's just that the cards that I was dealt with weren't the best at the start and had to live with what I had. 

I usually try to hide it in public because I knew what would happen if I showed otherwise, my school is a public school, and they would announce that hey built up a genius of their own and would take all the credit from me. I don't want that, for I built myself from long-term studying all alone with no help whatsoever from that school that let bullies rain the halls of its school. 

Well, getting low scores and staying under the radar was also not the best choice either, for when I left school, the jobs that were open to me only reflected on how well I did at school. Finally, even after graduating both high school and college with mediocre grades, I always showed at least decent grades, never advertising what I really could have done. 

Well, life just makes it next to impossible to have a good life or finding a good job with the grades I put out. As I sighed, thinking out loud, "is this really all life has to offer for me? I grew up in a failing educational system, just to be cast aside instantly. I'm barely surviving on the benefits from the government." 

I stopped my jog mid step to take a breather and whip the sweat off my brow, taking another deep breath, as I continue on my way. "Maybe I should just start anew somewhere else, another country maybe? No that'd probably cost me more just to move than I can afford. Just getting there let alone live in an entirely different country." 

Mmmmhhh.... Alex started to contemplate my options closely as I continued thinking about my past choices I've made in life. "I need to focus, this is all I can afford for now, it's all in the past anyway, can't change anything now, can I? Let's just live with what I have done to myself by myself and keep moving forward." I was scolding myself for loosing himself in self-pity as I made my way to pay my bills.

A few days later... Third person POV...

We see a young man, Alexander Martinez, 23-year-old, born Mexican American in Houston, Texas moved to United Kingdom at an early age of 10 years with his parents, born from a military raised family from Laredo TX. Alex has always loved his family but sometimes he just wishes that life would give him more. The day he finished high school and left home to try and make it on his own. 

He had chosen the worst time to leave and separate himself from those he loved, due to too many viruses going around in the country, He lost his parents at a young age. There were mostly flu viruses, 'The COVID viruses' to be exact that affecting the country the most. After he was left alone, he was never good at making friends, always known as a loner. 

Even though he had a few good friends, they were considered troublemakers to those who knew them, but friends, nonetheless to him. At age 18, Alex was stood on his own two legs, and for the first time in his life, things were getting better for him. He had managed to get a job, not a great job, but hey, who's complaining, right? 

Working at a small convenient store as a re-stocker, that paid well in the beginning, but things always change. He also managed to find an affordable one-bedroom apartment for himself, not a great one mind you, but it was his. School was never a problem for him, he graduated high school, not at the top of the class mind you, but that didn't say he could have done better, which he could have. 

He was really smart, always used to study, never made time for sports or socializing. He always made time for his friends, that in one form or another always landed him in trouble. Sometimes he missed his parents and always worried that he never made them proud. Time had passed very quickly for Alex, at age 23 things went rock bottom for no reason. Everything for him just went wrong. 

While he was waiting to pick up his weekly check at the convenience store, he worked at, suddenly two people barged in with guns and started robbing the place. Alex at that moment was at the back of the store waiting for the manager to come out, he was standing by the microwave wearing earphones with his back turned at the robbers and didn't hear what they had said. 

When one of the robbers saw him, he started yelling at him to drop to the ground and give him all the valuables he had with him. Alex couldn't hear him and was just about to turn around when the robber next to him accidentally slugged him, Alex was surprised at what was going on. The robber hit him in the stomach full force with his gun. 

Alex fell to the ground crunching over, while the robber was telling him to give him his money and anything else he had on him. Alex was still unable to hear the robber, because of his headphones, the robber got too anxious and shot Alex accidentally. He was hit in the stomach and lay on the floor bleeding until he blacked out from the pain and woke up hours later at the hospital in the I.C.U, or so he thought.

-oo00oo-

(Six months later... First person POV...)

After yawning for a second and stretched out my limbs, for some reason they hurt, I woke up from a well-rested sleep and was confused as to where the hell I was. As I blinked many times to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I found myself in a what it seemed a hospital room. The last thing that I remembered was getting shot at my workplace. 

"Hel... llooo... hhheelllooooo." I called out to whoever would listen from my bed, when the door to the room opened, and a nurse came in. She rushed to my bedside to check on my vitals as the machines were going off. The nurse then realized that I was awake and was surprised because apparently, I was one of her long-term patients that have been in the Coma Ward for the past few months. 

She showed him a happy smile and asked him if he was okay. "Awake, are we? How are we feeling today? Everything working? You look confused, are you alright?" I started to speak, but I was still too groggy, and my voice was raspy and hard to listen to. Then I asked, "Ahhhh... where am I? What is this place? Why am I in the Hospital?" 

The nurse got a little nervous, as I started to get agitated. She calmed me down as she told me what was going on. "When you were brought to the hospital you were unconscious, so after you got treated, you were placed in this ward and been here for the past six months." She said as she backed away from me, she looked worried I get violent. 

"I'm sorry for being agitated miss, but last, I remember is getting shot at my workplace and suddenly waking up in a hospital, in the long-term ward no less. Please forgive me if I worried you." I was confused and angry about what happened, but I still apologized for my actions to the nurse that only took care of me. 

She looked relived after apologizing, then said, "you know that the day they brought you in that one morning, you almost died that same day. You had gone into shock and your body stated to shut down. It took the doctors almost 2 hours to stabilize you, you're very lucky to be alive or so they said." Not very happy with my situation, but nothing I could do about it, can I?

A few days passed by and in that time, I tried to contact the remaining family I had which were my friends, so I could let them know where I was and that I was ok. Just to get no response from them, days kept going by and a month went by. I was getting more worried about my friends and wondering why they haven't put effort into contacting me. 

Four days later, I was discharged from the hospital because the company that my hospital bills for workers comp wouldn't pay to stay any longer, my f***en health insurance wouldn't cover it. Apparently, I was saddled with an enormous $250,000 hospital bill due to the store's company health insurance did not cover anything after 10 days I was in the hospital, critically injured or not. 

Though that was not what worried me the most, it was the fact that my friends never answered my calls. When I was released, I went straight to his friend's house only to find that their house was burned down. I had dropped to my knees and just started at the charcoaled remains of the building that used to stand here. 

'Were my friends in there when it burned down? Is that the reason I haven't been able to contact them or them me?' I started thinking of the worst. I tried to find out what had happed to my friends by asking the neighbors, but what they said scared me. They told him that his friends were having a party that day the fire occurred, many people lost their lives when the fire was put out. 

I was blown away about what I had just heard, all my friends were dead, and I wasn't even here for them. "The police has been trying to get a hold of you all this time, they came around a few times after the fire, but we had no way to contact you. We told them that we just didn't know where you were." The man at the door said as he entered his home again. 

I started crying right then and there, broken and alone, that feeling I dove in when my parents died came in full force. I started thinking of all sorts of bad conspiracies, of what had happened, did it happen to my family as well. Extremely saddened about the situation, I wandered the streets aimlessly for hours before I stated to head home but chose to detour for the moment. 

Saddened due to my parents' death, and now my friends, I went to find the friends of my family to see if they knew anything on what happened that night, and who would want my friends dead. Searching all afternoon, not being able to contact or find anyone, I had to find a place to stay for the time being, the streets were not safe at night. 

Well, I found out since I hadn't shown up to work for a long time, I was fired and lost my job. Even after showing them that I had been in the hospital for so long, they care very little. And since I was gone from my apartment and hadn't paid the rent or bill, well, I also lost that too. Believe me that I was so pissed off they told me about my stuff. 

When I went to find about my manager of the apartment, he said that all my stuff was either thrown away or sold off due to not paying the rent for so long. Do you know how bad it got for me afterwards? Since I had an enormous hospital bill, my credit rating went down, and I eventually had to settle for a lousier job than before. 

Which didn't pay nearly half as much as his old job and a I had to settle in a barely livable and functional apartment that was infested with tons of cockroaches and or bugs. With a very lazy landlord that overcharged me on rent because of my bad credit rating, things were at their worst. I have lost my parents, friends, and decent way of life in less than a year, can things get any worse?" 

I said sarcastically to the sky as it started to rain again, which made me run indoors. "F***, how the hell am I going to pay the $225,000 to those f***en vultures from the hospital, and to top it all off, that goddam landlord has raised my rent again for this month. Sometimes I think it would have been better off if I had just died that day instead of all this bullshit." 

After reading the hospital bill one more time, I got up and left my small 5x7 bedroom. I thought that I should go to the only place in the world where I could have some peace and quiet and escape the misery that is my life. I headed to the nearby bookstore for some good reading and escape this false reality that I am living.

I have always been a closet shut-in, ever since I started to live alone. It had started from my parents' house; I had closed myself off to any people contact except a few which were my friends I had made in school. Now, I find myself fully alone, the epitome of a loner and its' lifestyle was perfect for me, well since I'm fully alone in this world. 

Since the time of my parents' death, I have always loved my books, anime, manga, web novels and even those movies and series that were shown on the Syfy channel, my favorite being Stargate. Ever since the first time I saw anime, like Naruto, One Piece, Dragon ball, I immediately could relate to the MC, and I started rewatching more and more of these until I was rehooked on everything loner related. 

Some of my favorite animes included Naruto, DBZ, the Fate-series, and Fairy Tale, and for my favorite movies and series shows such they were Harry Potter movie series, Marvel's Captain America, Iron man, for the TV series they were the Stargate AU, Supernatural, and a few others. Shoot, I would wait in line at the local block buster when the new series came out on DVD. 

Some of my favorite fanfic novels were Against the Gods, Marvel fanfic, and Harry Potter fanfics with crossovers into other series or movies, and I read every chapter that was released when they came out. I was fascinated by the willpower and drive of the MC to keep pushing, despite all the odds, and all the horrible people that inhabited those worlds. 

But at the same time, I also hated the verbal blatant banter that the MC would endure during his or her time in front of his or her enemies, why not just kill them or ignore them. No... the MC would just fall into the main characters' path of glory, and they would let them rise. Sometimes I wished that I was one of those reincarnated people that went to different worlds. 

Becoming an MC character that would meet and comfort the most beautiful women and become an unstoppable force into those worlds. After going through my thoughts as an MC, I was too tired to do anything else, so I got ready to leave work and try to face another bad day, tomorrow. After arriving from a hard day's work, I settled in for a good night's sleep. 

That night after I had paid my rent and electricity bill, I was ready for bed, as I laid there ready to watch my show, I had not noticed that electrical sparks were going off in the kitchen, and a short circuit was occurring within the faulty wiring of my apartment building. Since my landlord had never bothered to get the wiring to the building fixed. My apartment caught fire, shortly after. 

I was still in my bed when I had passed out due to all the smoke that started to creep into my bedroom from the building catching fire. Slowly I started to choke on the smoke that had already filled my apartment. "Cough, Cough, Cough. What the fuck is happening? Where did this damn smoke come from? Is there a fire somewhere? Shit can't see anything." 

Berating myself as I tried to get up. I tried to get up out of my bed but failed as I collapsed by the opened door to my bedroom. Managing to peak out the door, all I could see was my living room had become an inferno. I lay on the ground only thinking of my parents, and friends, wishing to see them one more time. 'Is this how I am going to die like a fucken smoked jerky. 

After all those years of this shitty life, I had finally met my end of some fucken smoke inhalation instead of a gang war or something spectacular. I just hope where I end up is with my parents and not some weird place. "If there is a God out there..." I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence when I died. My last thoughts as my life slipped away was, 'maybe I can have my wish fulfilled and kick some ass, if I wish hard enough. Hahaha.' 

And darkness took me...

(Flash back ended)