Chapter 2 - Discovery
Sen
Things could be going better.
First we wake up in this... place, surrounded by unknown people, no one to explain what happened, nothing that could explain either, nothing at all helpful.
And then we can't even remember our names. I've been trying for the last minutes to remember but every time I force it my head starts hurting again. What happened to us?
We don't know where we are, following someone we don't know to a place we don't even know whether or not it exists, for all we know, we could just be moving towards a dead end, then what? By the time we make our way back to where we started there could be something there already.
But it could be worse, I could be alone, or we could be prisoners, that's if we're not prisoners already but-
"I can't take this anymore, we've been walking for a some minutes now and nothing has changed! It's all rock and fire, where are we even going?"
Someone's not doing so well huh? Well it was bound to happen, considering the situation, he sounds angry, but maybe it's panic.
"Yeah, what if we're moving something worse? Maybe we should have waited where we were until someone arrived", This one sounds more defeated, we can't think like that yet, we may actually leave this place, better to try to do something than to sit by idly waiting for something.
"Listen, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather do something than stand around waiting." Someone agrees with me, that's good.
Our "leader' doesn't seem to pay much attention to this, being near the head of the group myself I can't see much of him, he just keeps walking and looking forward, as if he can see something, he could at least look behind him to see if everyone is still here, I would do it by my head hurts from just thinking, it may hurt more if I move it, hopefully the commotion on the back won't escalate.
"Even then, we're moving without a clue as to where we are or going."
"We've been walking for a while too, can't we rest?"
"Maybe we could call someone? Any of you have a cellphone?"
Thinking about it, we could use a cellphone...
"What is a cellphone again?" Everyone stopped, at least the few in front of me did, some clutched their heads, either because of the pain that I hoped wasn't only in my head or just out of confusion, I could also hear some groaning behind me, possibly others had the same pain.
"You guys don't know what a cellphone is?"
"You don't know?" I asked, you where the one to tell us to use it, how come you don't know what it is?
"I... I did, I knew what it was, why... can't I remember? Urgh my head..." Well then, this is certainly not good, thankfully we've stopped, I'll grab a part of the wall and rest a bit. Might as well see how the rest of the group is doing.
We don't seen to be in the best condition, most of us were being carried, and the ones moving on their own seem to be doing so with difficulty, male or female, at least they're all sitting down right now, it should help them recuperate, thinking about it, might as well sit down myself.
"We have to keep moving" the leader is calling us, but honestly, we need this rest right now, not all of us can keep going like he can, nor is anyone else built like a truck.
"Mate, we can't keep moving like this, half of us isn't in condition to move, and the rest is hanging by a thread, we need to rest for a while, regain our strength." Someone near the back said, I think he was carrying someone else too, so he seems to know more about their situation than the leader or I do.
"We can't stay, the longer we wait the more danger we could be in." But we can't keep on like this, don't you understand this?"
"And the more we move the worse they get, we need to rest, even if for a little" Listen to him for a bit will you?
They just keep at it, this leader still doesn't understand what is happening?
"If we stay here we risk getting caught if someone is following us" That's enough.
"And if we keep moving we risk losing some to fatigue." I had to say it, he's just getting in my nerves. The guy on the back seemed to like my help however, he nodded at me.
And while all of this is going on, my head keep on working.
What even is a truck?
Ashlyn
They've been going on for a while now, Ashlyn thought, sitting down, watching the group argue over whether they would keep moving or rest a while, We need the rest, the others may not be able to keep up with us if we keep up like this, but we can't just stay here either so...
"Why not send some people ahead to see if there's anything?" I didn't say that out loud did I?
"And how would you suggest we do that?" Ah crap I did. The leader had asked her that. Mild panic hit her, it seemed like the whole room had started looking at her, not that that was the problem, the problem was the fact that she had no real explanation on that. Just a vague idea.
"Well... we could send the faster ones here", not that we have any way to know who they are "Or we could send the ones that are on a better condition." Looking around, she could see some people nodding and whispering about it, they sounded positive even.
"What if the group finds something and leaves without us here?" The leader asked, it seemed like he didn't want to take any chances.
"If you're so worried, choose who goes yourself" The same guy who had chimed in during the earlier discussion said that, he didn't seem that happy about the situation.
The leader kept having a glare contest with the other guy, in the mean time, she assessed the situation, on one side, it would be better to have a group go forward so the others could rest a bit, on the other side, if the group found anything and left without warning them, or even worse, didn't find anything, things could get even worse for everyone.
"Very well, any volunteers?" Some hands were raised, most of them from up front, including the guy that was glaring at the leader, and a few from the back, including the guy who was arguing with the leader and herself, better to do something rather than stay here. He looked at all the volunteers carefully, before choosing a few of them, in total there were 5, so the arguing guy, the glaring guy, and two guys from up front, but why not me? Well, maybe i could help the people around here while they're out.
"We'll be back soon." One of them said, though she didn't know which one it was. She started moving to help the others, maybe that would distract her from the other thoughts in her head.
Some people were having some problems standing up, so with the help of others, they were put leaning on the walls, so that they could rest better. Everyone was worried, some thought that they would find something, but whether or not they would leave was not something people talked about, they just hoped they could leave this place. Just hoped that no matter how long it took, they would be able to leave this place and be safe.
And with that thought in mind, she turned to the others, offering help wherever she could.
Paul
Pain still rang through my body, but if I had stayed there I'd be restless right now, even if I were to go around helping the others, I'd have to talk to them, and that's not as easy as some think. So here I am, with four others I don't know, moving towards who knows where, hoping to find something.
The group was divided in the Leader up front, apparently doing better than us physically, two other guys on his sides, and me and the other guy on the back just following. I had asked their names for easier communication but only the guy near me told me his name, the rest either didn't hear or didn't care. This guy was named Sen, so I likewise, told him my name, he didn't seem that keen on talking though and frankly, I preferred it that way.
This idea did looks better than just moving everyone, I remember at least 4 people close to falling out of exhaustion and the same pain I have, only it seemed they had it worse. Maybe I'll thank whoever gave this suggestion later, if I remember who it was anyway.
So onwards they went, looking all around, hoping to find some sign that they were getting close to someplace safe, signs on the walls, a larger flame, anything at all.
We came into a right turn some minutes in, I think it would be better to bring people here to wait, but if we were to send someone back we would either have to wait for them or keep moving without them, and that could generate more problems, so we kept on going.
Some more minutes another turn, this time a left one, but still the same thing, a corridor with flames on the walls, so, we kept going, looking for something else, at least these turns meant that there could be something in the end, maybe people even.
No one even talked, it was just silence for a few more minutes, no-one said anything at all, just looking forward and around, trying to find something, when...
"Are those... stairs?" I turned to the voice, one of the two guys with the lead, he was pointing some ways forwards, I tried looking that way, but could only see darkness, still, if he said there was something, there would be no reason for him to lie.
And indeed, there they were, with flames near the first steps, but not going up, even then, there was a chance, the hope that these stairs, they could be our way out.
We might be able to leave this place after all...
