[ WP ] When you die the afterlife is an arena where you face every insect and animal you killed in your life . If you win you go to heaven , lose you go to hell . Your job was an exterminator on earth .

I could n't breathe, the smoke from the fire was too much. I could n't even move the pain was so intense. I lost all control of my body, my vision blurred, and all the screams slowly came to an echoing halt. When I came too, I had full control of my faculties, I could breathe, I could talk, and I could feel my heart racing. I got up and found I was in a dark room, but my clothes were still the same, seemingly unscathed from the apartment fire that seemed to happen only seconds ago. I wandered around aimlessly until I heard the clicking of what sounded like a lock, and then a door opened with a piercing bright light welcoming me. `` Alright ya poor sap, wake up.'' 
 
 I stood confused as to how to react, but then I saw it; a strange silhouetted figure with a what seemed to be a New Yorker's accent. But that could n't be right, I have n't been to New York in years, and I live in Maryland. What was going on, I wondered. `` Hey, pal, move it or lose it. Ten more people got ta use this room and your holding everybody up.'' I quickly exited to room to be greeted by a rather large person wearing a completely black robe. It covered the top half of his face, leaving what appeared to be a very skeletal mouth, with no teeth in it. He held a clipboard in one hand and a black marker in the other and he seemed to be crossing things off a list. `` Alright now you got ta go to the judgment hall, and that's over in purgatory floor 669. Take the elevator to the right and do n't make eye contact with anything in the cages.'' I was still bewildered by my surroundings and hesitated to ask the man any questions. Then he looked up. 
 
 `` Look, pal, I got ta people to get through, so could you please move it along? Elevator. Right. Floor 669. Go. Now. Please.'' The raising of his hood revealed a fleshless face with empty eye sockets and the palest complexion I have ever seen. I was completely frozen, my face as pale as the skeleton creature's. He did not seem surprised at my horrified reaction and gestured towards someone behind me. `` Hey, Frank, escort this guy to the judgement hall please, could ya? He's holding up the line. I felt a firm grip around my shoulders as I was lifted a foot off the ground with heavy breathing beating against my neck. I was turned and carried to the rather decent looking elevator that opened its door to reveal a mirror on the inside. In the reflection I saw a red giant with devil's horns and tusks coming out from beneath the creature's upper lip, its glowing yellow eyes meeting mine in the reflection. As we enter the elevator, he sets me down in a corner, then he turns and pushes three buttons on the wall, which I can only assume is the floor number. The doors close and the elevator strangely descends, slowly. Terrified, I decided it would be best to just stand there for the remainder of the trip. 
 
 After what seemed like an hour, we arrived at floor 669, and as the doors opened, we were greeted by a short creature in a suit and black top hat who took a rather flamboyant tone with us, `` Oh hello darlings! Welcome to floor 669! Frank, good to see you my friend, how are the wife and kids?'' Frank stood there, unamused. `` Oh, just kidding. You do n't have a wife or kids. No, a face like that is a face only a mother could love. God, I'll dread the day you ever reproduce, ugh!'' Frank's breathing slightly intensified. `` Relax baby, I'm only joking. Now who's this we have here?'' As he turned to me, I realized that he had the face of an ant. When he saw me, he let out what seemed to be a rather exasperated gasp. `` You!! I know you! You're the bastard that killed little Timmy! Heartless bastard.'' At first, I was confused, but then I realized he's an ant. I'm an exterminator full-time and I did kill a lot of bugs, so perhaps this ant was related to one of them? For some reason, I could n't really be surprised by anything anymore, what with everything else that has happened so far today. `` Well, we'll see how you like it when you enter the judgement hall! Take him away Frank!'' As the ant-man trotted off, I was once again lifted off the ground and carried to my destination. We passed by many bugs in suits and dresses; ticks, spiders, termites, and other various humanoid looking creatures that eyed me as I was being g carried around and I felt a sense of unease. 
 
 Eventually, we reached a large wooden door. Frank dropped me right in front of the door and for the first time in the whole trip, he spoke. `` Proceed.'' He then turned and walked back down the chamber. I looked at the door, my heart once again racing with anticipation as I extended my hand out to the door handle. But the door opened on its own and beyond, I heard a voice call out `` Come in man, I ai n't got all day.'' It was the skeleton from earlier. I slowly entered the large room, pillars larger than Frank reaching up to a black abyss that I assumed was a ceiling. The hall was spacious, enough to hold a football stadium full of people. As I stepped the door slammed shut behind me, letting out a huge echo across the room. 
 
 I kept walking, and as I walked I once again saw the silhouette of the skeleton that greeted me here. He stood, hood down with his arms hidden in his robe. I halted my advance ten feet away from him, as the tension in the air shook my entire body down to its core, and I awaited his next words. `` Look kid, I do n't know if you've followed what's happened so far, but you're dead. You died in the fire when your neighbor's stove caught fire above your apartment. Somehow, it ended up exploding and took out the ceiling, collapsing on you and pinning you to the floor, leaving you to die by asphyxiation from the smoke that followed soon after. But believe it or not, that's not what's important right now. What's important it what happens after.'' For a moment, I could not believe that I had died. That meant that this was the afterlife, my friends, my family, my job; everything I had known and worked for up to that fire... it was all gone. But now the question remains: what happens next? 
 
 `` You may have noticed the bugs outside in the chamber when you passed through. Those little guys are either the bugs or the relatives of bugs that you've exterminated during your career. Whether you killed them or not, all deceased bugs go to Harboring Floor 669; every creature has its own unique harbor to go to after it dies so we can decide if they can go through the reincarnation process. But that's not important. What's important is what happens to you right now.'' For a moment, it all started to make sense, and I had a feeling I knew what was happening next. `` Now look, regardless of your perspective on insects, they're still a living part of the world and they do their part in the Natural Order of things, and as such, killing them is a disruption of that Order. And anyone who kills, at all, has to go through the judgement hall to be, well, judged for their crimes. Now, I'm the judge, and the jury is n't too thrilled to have you down here, so they will now serve as your executioners. Now listen, I have no personal bias on the subject, I'm just doing my job. I'm not judging ya, but, well, I'm judging ya. You understand how this works?'' I finally realized what was going on, and I knew what had to happen next. `` So, that means in going to hell right? I murdered those insects.'' The judge shrugged for a moment, saying `` Now that's the real kicker. You may be a killer, but even killers can go to heaven if they have a righteous cause, or if it was self-defense. Uh, unfortunately that rule does n't apply to all killers, obviously. Some people kill for the thrill of it, and they go straight to hell, no trial, no jury, just eternal damnation. But others do it for a paycheck, and that's where the lines tend to blur a bit. You are standing in that blurry line, which is why you're here.'' 
 
 I looked back on my life and told myself that I needed the paycheck to earn myself a living, that it was harmless work. Those thoughts seem stale now, but who could've imagined killing bugs would ever come back to haunt me? 
 
 `` So this is how we do things now: rather than debate about the philosophical intricacies that blur that line, I'm gon na have you fight the jury. You're gon na go up against all the insects you killed in their now humanoid forms, so that they have a fighting chance, of course, and if you win, you get a pass straight to heaven. If you lose, you go to your own personal hell that you've created for yourself, and trust me, it's not something that everyone looks forward to. This way the bugs get their shot at vengeance and you have an opportunity to stand up for the cause you believe in. Now, you do n't have to fight, obviously. If you feel like you deserve this punishment, you can get killed and go straight to hell, but if you believe in your reasons, you'll fight for them. Ya with me so far, kid?'' 
 
 I stood in horror if the thought of fighting the bugs I've exterminated during my time alive, because, I mean, there were a LOT of bugs that I've killed, most likely more than the entire Earth's population, but part of me understood what had to be done. I had a chance to fight, but I knew there was no chance in Hell that I was ever gon na survive the encounter. Nevertheless, I accepted this challenge. `` I understand. I'm ready to get this over with.'' 
 
 If it was possible for a skeleton to smile without lips, this creature was doing just that. `` Well, that's good to hear bucko, but I do n't imagine you'll get very far with that tone. Ah well, fuhgeddaboudit, I'm sure they'll give ya a fighting chance, after all, you did the same for them, right?'' I could tell that my silence amused him. `` Alright buddy, well goodbye. I wish ya luck with wherever this takes ya.'' He disappeared through the floor as the doors behind me opened, releasing the ghosts of my past. Alone and afraid, I turned to face my judgement and charged into the hell I had created for myself. 

