The night was long. And the five travelers dragged on. Soon, the sun rose, and the small group continued up north after a thirty-minute brake. All were utterly exhausted, but it was Amber who kept encouraging them to keep moving. Dusty most of the while, turned his head to the direction to the south. He wore a tired, almost worried expression. Llamita was trying to pick up the pace, trying to walk on her sprained hoof occasionally. Cadens face was hard to read, because of the mask he continued to wear. But his teal eyes, which were furrowed and strong, kept looking towards north. And Rose was exhausted, she couldn't feel her feet. She felt dry, despite remembering to drink water and stay hydrated. She faintly heard Dustys voice.
"How much farther?"
Amber answered. "We should be at Sector Seven by this late afternoon. Look!"
She suddenly stopped and pointed forward. Up ahead was a desert. Wide open desert with sand dunes and rocks. Right against the green empty plains. Neither mixing with one another.
Finally, Rose felt it. She had just took two gulps of water, when she felt an unbearable wave of sickness. She clasped her mouth with one hand and used the other to grasp at her throat that was now closing. Rose suddenly couldn't breathe nor say something to the others. Her vision was clouding and darkening, she fell to her knees, her heart pounding in her chest! Rose couldn't hear anything. Then everything went completely black.
~
Slowly, Rose opened her eyes. Her body felt nice and cooled. And she felt something soft beneath her. Using her hands, she squeezed the material beneath her. Soft and fuzzy, almost like a cats fur. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and found herself staring up at... A ceiling? She sat up, her mind was blank, she didn't understand anything, nor remember any recent past events.
She found herself lying on a large bed. Around her was a bed chamber of sorts, with candles sitting on dressers. The candles gave the room a dim lighting, but enough for Rose to see, giving the rather big room a deep orange hue. There was a long window, which peeked Roses curiousity. Slid off the bed and made her way across to the window. Beneath her was a cold tile floor in the color of what seemed like white. The window had a deep red curtain in front, concealing what was outside. She drew the curtain back, and was met with, a desert. Rose saw that it was late afternoon, and the sun was about to go down, already halfway down the horizon. The land as far as she could see was all sand, cactus, and sand dunes. Rose then pulled the curtains until it covered the bog window. She turned around, not quite knowing what to do, her mind was still blank. She then saw a double-door, only other had no punnett square windows. Rose tiptoed her way to the doors, which were on the other side of the room, opposite of the large window. She put her hands on both handles and pulled back. The doors opened with ease, and Rose found herself looking out into a torch-lit hallway. She looked to the left, a long corridor, she looked to the left, same thing.
It took a moment for Rose to gather up the courage to step out into the hallway. Now, where should she go? After a moments thought, she decided to go left. Down the hall, she walked, walking rather quickly. Rose passed a few doors until she saw that she heading towards the end of the hall. Once she reached the end, she foynd herself in what looked like a lobby. There was a nook next to a large wide window, on tge far left was a table with stacks of papers on it.
Something touched Roses shoulder, causing her to jump and spin around. To her shock, it was Caden..
"C-Caden." Rose said, surprised that her voice came out so weak.
"Rose, your okay." Said Caden, giving what Rose thought was a small smile.
"Your mask." She said. Caden glanced away, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, I uh, took it off."
"Did Amber act the same way Dusty did? Where are they?"
Caden shrugged, "She didn't say or do anything. They're... Somewhere."
He then looked down at Rose, who couldn't help but look back up at him. There was an awkward silence, then Caden spoke up.
"Um... Come. Let's inspect this place."
Caden began walking down the hallway. And it was then that Rose realized, that they were in Sector Seven.
