A vast and terrible army has invaded America.
Lost in the very worst dream of their lives, the team can no longer remember who they are to each other, or if this nightmare is even real.
LOST
1.
~ Ariadne ran. The bitter cold in the air hurt her lungs as she sprinted out of the ally way and into the streets. She had never run so hard in her life as she could hear the shouts of her pursuers chase after her.
She could not be caught, her group, the rebels, were being hunted by the invaders and someone had sold them out. They had known right away that there was trouble that night. Entering Mr. Cobb's basement had felt different that evening. There was tension in the air and suspicion.
"There she is!" growled one of the invaders.
She chanced a look back and saw men in black riot gear chasing her. She ignored the pain in her lungs from the cold, the stitch in her side and the fear welling up inside her. She could not be caught. She would die first.
She turned into a cluttered alleyway full of trash. Garbage pick up was a thing of the past with the invasion. A stray cat runaway when she eased down the ally. Reaching a dead end.
She hit the wooden fence hard, lacking the time to slow down enough. Her hands climbing it with skill and ease as if she had done this all her life.
'Must be adrenaline.' she thought happily. Maybe she could outrun them. Maybe she could get away.
She heard the invaders reach the fence just as soon as she was over it. The snow on the ground giving a clear path to where she was running to. She needed to get to a place with a lot of people. A place she could hide in plain sight.
But with the curfew in place, the city streets were empty. What was once a crowded metropolitan area at all hours of the day, were now completely deserted. No one wanted to challenge the invaders when staying home was all they asked.
She stumbled out of another alleyway into another street. Hoping the confusing layout of the city would help her. It was a strange city, with narrow streets that cars could not drive down, more like a maze that an actual place.
The idea stuck in her mind and wiggled there uncomfortably.
'More like a maze. A very, very good maze.' she thought. 'Full of places to hide and doors that don't go anywhere.'
She searched each of the windows of apartments and store fronts. Almost all of them were dark. It wasn't so late at night, but people didn't want trouble from the invaders. A lighted window might provoke a raid. A raid meant trouble. It meant they came to your home, broke down your door, and you just… vanished.
No, no one could help her now. No one was willing to stick out their necks for a stupid girl who had been foolish enough to trust that they could overthrow their oppressors.
She wasn't watching where she was going and slipped on a patch of ice. Her legs comically going out from under her and she hit the ground so hard, she gave out a cry of humiliated frustration.
"Stop!" growled one of the invaders as a bright light was shone in her face.
She put her hands up, she was caught.
"You're under arrest!" growled the invader. She looked up at him from her position. Laying on her back in the snow. Her breathing hard and a cold gripping feeling like she couldn't run anymore.
'It's not so bad just to give up.' she thought looking at these men in their riot gear. 'Just stop caring what happens to me.'
The man who had ordered her to stop was a high ranking invader. He had the distinctive crest of one of their leaders. They all wore riot gear helmets, so she couldn't see their faces. Only black clothing, and large guns.
"Stupid bitch!" growled an invader, slightly out of breath. "Make us chase you down so you're little friends get away!"
"Stop!" the leader shouted, but it was to late. The out of breath man hit her soundly in the knee cap, and her world exploded in pain.
She couldn't even catch her breath enough to cry out. Instead rolling into the fetal position, embracing her wounded knee. The pain wouldn't stop. It kept burrowing deeper and deeper into her body and she couldn't stop tears from flowing.
She couldn't breath, couldn't think. The pain radiated and encompassed all of her. It would never stop. She would always be in this much pain, till she died.
"LAWSON!" growled their leader.
"She won't run now!" her attacker laughed.
"Jeffery! Moore!" the lead invader barked. "Get the truck!"
"Truck won't fit, sir. Streets are too narrow." the voices of the other invaders sounded worried.
Ariadne finally found her voice, and screamed a shrill cry like a dying animal as their leader picked her up.
"Lawson, you're on the shit list when we gat back." she thought he heard him saying.
Her knee hurt so much and it didn't help that her body was being moved. Her legs were thrown over his arm, and the pain was so awful she couldn't stop sobbing.
"Get to the truck!" the man carrying her barked. "Bring it as close as you can."
"What are you doing, sir?" one of the men asked.
"She's hurt, we're taking her to the hospital." he responded.
"Sir, she's a rebel. Her group bombed one of our barracks. They poisoned the drinks in the officers mess." one of the men said.
"I know that, Lawson, I was there. We could have interrogated her if you hadn't broken her kneecap!" the man carrying her said.
Ariadne couldn't focus on what they were saying just now. She hurt too much. It was all too much. She would go to sleep. She wanted to pass out, but the pain was so intense, that she couldn't.
"Owe!" she yelped when she felt her body make contact with a wooden bench. The man carrying her had laid her down and was ordering the driver to take them to Rosewood. A hospital that had been taken over by the invaders and limited the people in the city to little better than home remedies.
In the four months since the invasion, there had been so many deaths, not just in the first few weeks of battle over the city, but in the neglect of it's oppressed. People went without medical care, without food and is caused the most delicate of them, the old and the sick, to waste away and die.
"We're gouging to get you help." the man was saying.
"Don't!" she cried as the truck lurched and drove down the isolated streets.
"It's okay." he was saying pulling off his gas mask.
Ariadne looked around her. She was in an Army truck. One of their own trucks was being used by these monsters. She was laying in the back with only this invader and his comrade.
"Don't touch me!" she cried as he was trying to examine her leg.
"I apologize for Lawson." he was saying as he brandished a large knife and cut open her pants at the knee.
"Stop!" she cried. Were they going to rape her? She was in such pain now, why would they do such a thing? Still, the invaders had proven themselves to be nothing more than sadists. Why wouldn't they take advantage of a severely wounded woman, have their fill of her then slit her throat, dump her body in the street. No one would punish them for it. Her death would be forgotten, her life, meaningless.
"No!' she cried.
"I'm not going to hurt you." he was saying. "Jones, get me the first aide kit. The morphine."
She felt him take her arm, a cool, damp swap touch her skin.
"Something for the pain." he was saying.
"Don't…" she stammered. "Please… don't hurt… don't hurt me."
She looked at her captor for the first time and saw his face. He was much younger than he sounded. His voice was deep, articulate and calm.
His hair was closely cropped to his head, and he looked at her with concern.
"I'm Arthur Castus." he said gently. "No one is going to hurt you. I promise."
Then, she left herself go. Let herself fall into dreams where nothing was real. Nothing could hurt you and she was safe.
~ Yuseff was powerless. He watched his friends, Ariadne, Arthur, Cobb and Eames sleeping in the front row in relaxing chairs. Hundreds of people were behind them, all of whom were sound asleep as well.
"Building on the idea of collective dreaming." the general was saying. "We can simulate any environment we wish. This one is giving us a lot of information on what would happen if an invading army were to take over an American city."
"Sir, suppressing their memories, is not a good idea. By now, they've forgotten they are even in a dream. That this simulation isn't real. They most likely won't even recognize each other anymore. They will think this simulation is the real world." Yuseff argued. "You didn't tell them that going in."
"We didn't tell our own people." The general shrugged as the two men looked out at the mass of people sleeping. All of them connected to one large device. White lines snaking down their arms as they dreamed of a ravaged city.
"Why not? They deserve to know the danger." Yuseff asked.
"It makes for an untainted study." The general said. "See, we've already seen members of your own team split sides. Your Point Man, Arthur, has joined sides with the invading army. Most likely because he finds commonality with their very structured like rules. Don't feel bad, that's a good thing, and not unexpected based on his personality tests. Our top military officers have also joined the ranks in this simulation. It's the rebels, and the sheep we want to know more about."
"Sheep?" Yuseff questioned.
"Yes, the ones who refused to fight back. Or who thought fighting back would get them killed. As you see, we have ordinary civilians here along with our own army personnel. Most of our army has joined the occupation force. We felt that would happen and we wanted to study how they would act. But it's the civilians who really show us more." the general said.
Yuseff sighed.
War games. How stupid was were war games. Real war, was never fun.
"You see, we like to think, because America was forged in revolution, that we are fighters. But this simulation proves opposite. When the invasion happened, there was fighting, but as soon as they realized they could die, or worse, have their food and electricity taken away from them, they quickly complied to the simple rules of their occupying army. They stay indoors, huddled in fear, and hope they get buy unnoticed."
The general gave a little smile.
"Now, we hoped there would be a bigger rebellion. But it seems that your Architect and Extractor have formed a small band of trouble makers. They squat in abandoned buildings and make small terror attacks on the enemy. Real 'Red Dawn' style stuff. We had hoped more civilians would take part, but they're too scared."
"What about Eames?" Yuseff asked.
"Eames?" the General scoffed. "He's a ghost. Can't find him anywhere."
"Look, let my team out. They didn't sign up for this." Yuseff argued.
"Your extractor did. He's leader of the resistance. Your architect designed the city herself before joining the rebels. Your point man is a high ranking officer on the invaders side. You yourself designed the compound for this simulation. No, there is too much to learn from them. The simulation will go on." the general said with a smile.