"The Altered Essence: A Body Swap in the Apocalypse"

The chilling breath of dystopia wafted through the air, an unsettling silence blanketing the remnants of Boulder, Colorado. Through the wide glass storefront of River Dawns Grocery, 7-year-old Ben clutched close to his mother, Rebecca Wilson, as the undertones of dread reverberated within the store.

Ben was wearing his favorite blue hoodie and worn-out jeans that were slightly too long, a byproduct of being hastily chosen during grimmer days. His untamed chestnut hair peeked out from beneath a beanie that had seen better times. His vibrant green eyes darted nervously from aisle to aisle, betraying an innocence threatened by the horrors of their new world. Rebecca, a diligent mother of 36, stood at a height of 5 feet 6 inches and weighed about 145 pounds, her auburn hair tied back in a practical ponytail. Her pale blue eyes, always warm and reassuring, now scanned the shelves with accelerated urgency. She was dressed in a practical ensemble of a zipped-up jacket and cargo pants, her practical boots readied for the unpredictable challenges of the outside world. Her shoe size was a sturdy 8.5, a necessity for all the running they had been doing.

Rebecca’s birthday was on March 15, 1984, a milestone now buried under the weight of survival. As they placed cans, bottles of water, and a few precious grains into their grocery cart, the unmistakable groans of the undead crescendoed. Their grotesque forms, smeared in decay, began clawing through the shattered windows of the store, their hunger nimble and ceaseless.

“Ben, run!” Rebecca’s voice, though laced with fear, held a steely resolve.

They darted down the glittering aisles, the well-lit ambiance of River Dawns Grocery turning sinister. Suddenly, emerging from the corner of an aisle stood five Korean women, an unexpected sight amidst the chaos.

Leading the group was So-Yeon Park, a 45-year-old woman from Seoul, South Korea. She stood at 5 feet 2 inches and weighed 110 pounds. Her short bob-cut hair framed sharp features and expressive almond eyes, and she wore a meticulously ironed white blouse adorned with delicate ruffles, tucked into an elegant knee-length navy skirt. She wore platform sandals with a white glittery finish which had a towering yet graceful appearance. If that wasn’t distinctive enough, she had six pieces of feminine jewelry: a silver bracelet adorned with traditional Korean engravings, a jade pendant around her neck, a pair of delicate gold hoop earrings, a traditional Korean hairpin set into her bob-cut hair, a thin anklet with delicate chains, and a bejeweled ring on her index finger. Her nails were painted a soft pastel blue, contrasting subtly with her elegant attire. She wore a small shoe size 5, much smaller than Rebecca's.

With her were Ha-Yoon Kim, a vibrant 27-year-old who was barely 5 feet tall and weighed 95 pounds, her pixie cut hair dyed a playful lavender. She wore a fashionable floral dress, knee-length, and paired it with chic black wedge sandals. Then there was Ji-Woo Lee, 28 years old, 5 feet 3 inches, and 120 pounds, sporting a straight bob and a red pencil skirt matched with a white blouse and beige heeled sandals. Min-Ji Choi, 30 years old, 5 feet 4 inches, and 130 pounds, had an asymmetrical haircut dyed chestnut brown. She wore a polka-dotted summer dress and platform sneakers that bordered on quirky yet sophisticated. Lastly, the elder of the group, Seung-Hee Ahn, at 58 years old, 5 feet 1 inch, and 115 pounds, commanded a dignified presence with her graying hair in a short, practical cut. She wore a traditional Korean sweater paired with trousers and comfortable low-heeled shoes.

So-Yeon had come to Boulder on a humanitarian mission, hoping to aid those caught in the pandemic. She found herself in River Dawns in search of crucial supplies for their makeshift shelter at the community center and to check on the wellbeing of survivors, a risky endeavor in these dire times.

Spotting Ben and Rebecca, So-Yeon rushed forward, the delicate chain bracelet on her wrist jingling softly.

“Kaji gwaenchana?” she said urgently, reaching for Ben’s arm.

Not understanding the words but sensing her intent, Ben tried to duck away, but her fingers tightened around him. Dizzy and overwhelmed, he felt his vision blur and darken, the world collapsing into a swirling vortex of confusion.

When Ben opened his eyes again, everything felt wrong. “What happened?” he thought, reality crashing back with a jolt. He realized, to his shock, that he was in So-Yeon’s body. He could feel the restriction of the blouse and skirt against his skin, the weight of the jewelry unfamiliar and cumbersome. The platform sandals made his steps unsteady and alien.

“Mommy!” he called, his voice shrill and broken through unfamiliar vocal chords. “Mommy, wheare -- where are y-yuo?” Reality and fear collided as he stumbled out, the words escaping as, “Muh-me, we’re yu?”

He tried to run, the awkward height of the platforms making him trip repeatedly. His reflection in a broken glass shard startled him; he traced the new almond-shaped eyes with trembling hands, desperately trying to open them wider as if to reclaim his former identity. “I w-want to g-go home, I wan-nt mommy,” he stuttered, the foreign tongue making everything a struggle. “Iw wa t go home, I won me!”

Tears streamed down his cheeks, triggered by the sound of his own voice and the situation's sheer absurdity. He tugged at his short feminine hair, trying to remember the unruly locks he had once known. As he played with it, his painted nails glinted mockingly under the dim light.

Desperately, he tried to remove the blouse by tugging at the hem, but it wouldn't come off. He attempted to pull the skirt down, but it clung stubbornly to his new hips. He even tried yanking the clothing over his head, bending down, and twisting awkwardly, but the blouse and skirt refused to budge. He attempted to remove the platform sandals by unbuckling them and wiggling his feet, slipping his heels out, even by stepping on the back to slide his foot out, yet to no avail—they stayed glued on.

Piece by piece, he attempted to remove the jewelry, starting with the silver bracelet. The clasp, tiny and intricate, defied his trembling fingers. Next, he tugged at the jade pendant chain around his neck, but it felt like an invisible barrier held it in place. The hoop earrings seemed to mock him as they wouldn’t unscrew. The hairpin was embedded firmly within his hair, and no amount of tugging could loosen it. The anklet seemed welded onto his ankle, and the ring wouldn’t slide over his unfamiliar knuckles.

“I’m sc-ared,” he whimpered, his voice breaking with the weight of the new language barrier. “I’m sc-re,” he said, as the lingering horror overcame his will.

Suddenly, the group of Korean women found him. Ha-Yoon, grabbing his hands firmly, scolded, “Why you…go off alone?” the descriptive phrasing escaping in broken English. “Why you go ono?”

Min-Ji, with an air of reproach, tightened the blouse and skirt, whispering, “Remember yo-age - joung-at your o- age. Yu should...”

Sobbing and terror-stricken, Ben within So-Yeon's body was dragged out into the empty yet zombie-infested parking lot. The sight of the decaying figures made him gasp in disbelief and fear. His heart pounded, confusion clouding his mind as foreign words buzzed in his ears, and he was pulled into an uncertain future amidst the undead terror.

This story was generated by user manemansteve with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.

Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.

AI Prompts