Part 3
"ISABEL!" Tess yelled, as she was the first to see her, lying on the ground in front of the Jeep. The seven of them came running along the dome. The girls were in front but the boys soon gained speed and were right behind them. All wore the same look of panic on their faces.
They reached Isabel just a few seconds later. Her face was very pale and her eyes were shut tight. They soon saw why. Her right ankle was a bloody mess, dripping on the broken glass pieces, some still embedded in her skin.
"Is, what happened?" asked Maria urgently.
"I... dropped the bottle... fell out..." she explained, the pain searing through her entire body making it harder to talk clearly, the words feeling like someone was jamming the glass in even further.
"What do we do?" asked Tess, feeling like she was about to throw up. She had a small fear of blood ever since she'd injured herself when she was nine and this was NOT helping.
"Max, can you heal her?" asked Liz slowly. He stepped forward and crouched before his sister.
"Alright, this is gonna hurt... I have to remove the pieces of glass first, okay?" She nodded slowly. The other guys moved behind her for support, knowing how much pain she would feel in a few short seconds.
Max looked around. Liz and Maria stood watching him. The guys waited calmly. Alex held Isabel's hand. Tess stood back just a bit keeping her back turned so that she wouldn't have to look at the blood. Isabel was still a bit weak, but was bracing herself for what was to come.
Max sighed and put his fingers on either side of one of the pieces. Isabel shut her eyes. He hesitated, then finally pulled it out quickly and throwing it aside. The moment he began to pull, she let out a scream. Her face, her entire body was shaking at once.
"Sorry," said Max shyly.
"N... no, it's... it's okay, but just give me a few seconds to recover maybe?" she asked her brother slowly.
"Maybe not a good idea. If you recover, it will only extend the pain," said Max.
"If... if you say so," she said, strengthening her grip on the guys. "Do it," she said shakily. Max nodded and repeated his action, with the same result. Three pieces later, he found no more large pieces, leaving his hands covered in her blood.
"Alright, you ready for..." started Max before he was interrupted.
"Wait!" called Tess, still looking away, "Look!" They turned to see what had caught her attention. The door was sliding open.
"But... how?" asked Liz slowly.
"What do we do now?" asked Maria.
"I'll heal Isabel and then we can go inside," Max suggested. But Isabel shook her head.
"The door could close again, it could be our only chance to enter." They didn't wait long.
"Okay," said Max as he rose back to a standing position. The guys helped Isabel to get up as well. It took three tries, the first two ended in her falling back down. Her face was tense as she finally found her balance on her good foot.
"Alright..." she said, "Let's go." They walked to the dome, Tess, Liz and Maria were in front, Alex, Michael and Kyle helped Isabel right behind, and Max walked in the back. All of them could feel their hearts pumping in anticipation and they didn't speak at all as they came nearer and nearer.
Once again, Tess was the first there. She put her hand on the door frame and looked inside for a few seconds, then turned to the others and nodded. They entered the dome carefully and stopped just beyond the entrance, which still stood open. This definitely wasn't what they expected. But then again, they really didn't know what to expect.
It was just one room from what they could see. There was barely anything in it. There was a table and a chair pushed against the wall, about five feet to the door's right. There was a ladder to their left, which lead to a walkway that circled the room. They noticed that somehow, above the 'upper-level', the structure was transparent.
It didn't take long for each and every one of them to come to the very same conclusion. This place hadn't been built by humans, there was just no way. Did anybody live here? If there was one or more residents in this dome, they didn't appear to be anywhere around.
"This... can't be it, can it?" asked Michael incredulously, "Maybe there's a room... underground somewhere here." Max turned to Isabel, as if to heal her, but she held up her hand.
"We have no idea how long the door is going to remain open for us. If it closes, we could be stuck here forever. If there's something in here, we need to find it before that happens." She was right, and they all knew it.
"Will you be okay?" asked Max.
"Yes, now hurry. We're wasting time as we speak." He nodded and they headed further in. Isabel hopped over to the table and raised herself into a sitting position on it. It still hurt a lot but she preferred suffering shortly, if it meant finding an actual, real clue.
She raised her ripped ankle and placed it on her knee. She pulled back the leg of her pants that covered it. It wasn't a pretty sight, not even a tiny little bit. She could see minuscule little pieces of glass still sticking in her blood-covered skin.
So she started pulling them out one by one, throwing them aside with a disgusted look. She did so for about a minute or two, then looked back up to see how the others were doing. The seven were spread across the room, all with their backs turned.
They were slightly funny to look at as they searched. Alex and Kyle, figuring, she supposed, that they'd already been crawling around before entering the dome, had resumed their positions on their knees. Unknowingly to them apparently, their butts were sticking out as they crawled.
Max was walking slowly, looking around the floor, sometimes stealing a glance towards Liz. She stood to his right doing the exact same thing. Whenever they happened to look at each other at the same time, they quickly looked aside innocently. Of course, being caught never stopped them from continuing this action. Isabel grinned as she watched them.
Michael looked at the ground immediately before him, sometimes running his foot in circles around the spot, then shaking his head when he saw there was nothing out of the ordinary, and then moved on.
To his right, Maria did much the same as Michael, only instead of circling her foot, she crouched and ran her hand on the ground. When SHE found nothing, she stood up and continued.
And Tess looked as well, but Isabel could see she was still a bit wobbly from seeing the blood on Isabel's ankle. She imagined her face was pale and having trouble regaining its color at the moment. As a group, the seven of them just looked ridiculous.
"Guys!" called Maria suddenly, snapping Isabel out of her thoughts.
"Did you find something?" asked Michael hopefully as the other six ran over to her.
"I'm not sure," she said, indicating what definitely had the appearance of a small door on the ground. Of course, there was no handle.
"How do we open it?" asked Liz, "I mean, supposing it CAN be opened."
"I really don't..." started Maria, before stopping short at the distinct sound of the only door out of the dome sliding shut.
"ISABEL!" Tess yelled, as she was the first to see her, lying on the ground in front of the Jeep. The seven of them came running along the dome. The girls were in front but the boys soon gained speed and were right behind them. All wore the same look of panic on their faces.
They reached Isabel just a few seconds later. Her face was very pale and her eyes were shut tight. They soon saw why. Her right ankle was a bloody mess, dripping on the broken glass pieces, some still embedded in her skin.
"Is, what happened?" asked Maria urgently.
"I... dropped the bottle... fell out..." she explained, the pain searing through her entire body making it harder to talk clearly, the words feeling like someone was jamming the glass in even further.
"What do we do?" asked Tess, feeling like she was about to throw up. She had a small fear of blood ever since she'd injured herself when she was nine and this was NOT helping.
"Max, can you heal her?" asked Liz slowly. He stepped forward and crouched before his sister.
"Alright, this is gonna hurt... I have to remove the pieces of glass first, okay?" She nodded slowly. The other guys moved behind her for support, knowing how much pain she would feel in a few short seconds.
Max looked around. Liz and Maria stood watching him. The guys waited calmly. Alex held Isabel's hand. Tess stood back just a bit keeping her back turned so that she wouldn't have to look at the blood. Isabel was still a bit weak, but was bracing herself for what was to come.
Max sighed and put his fingers on either side of one of the pieces. Isabel shut her eyes. He hesitated, then finally pulled it out quickly and throwing it aside. The moment he began to pull, she let out a scream. Her face, her entire body was shaking at once.
"Sorry," said Max shyly.
"N... no, it's... it's okay, but just give me a few seconds to recover maybe?" she asked her brother slowly.
"Maybe not a good idea. If you recover, it will only extend the pain," said Max.
"If... if you say so," she said, strengthening her grip on the guys. "Do it," she said shakily. Max nodded and repeated his action, with the same result. Three pieces later, he found no more large pieces, leaving his hands covered in her blood.
"Alright, you ready for..." started Max before he was interrupted.
"Wait!" called Tess, still looking away, "Look!" They turned to see what had caught her attention. The door was sliding open.
"But... how?" asked Liz slowly.
"What do we do now?" asked Maria.
"I'll heal Isabel and then we can go inside," Max suggested. But Isabel shook her head.
"The door could close again, it could be our only chance to enter." They didn't wait long.
"Okay," said Max as he rose back to a standing position. The guys helped Isabel to get up as well. It took three tries, the first two ended in her falling back down. Her face was tense as she finally found her balance on her good foot.
"Alright..." she said, "Let's go." They walked to the dome, Tess, Liz and Maria were in front, Alex, Michael and Kyle helped Isabel right behind, and Max walked in the back. All of them could feel their hearts pumping in anticipation and they didn't speak at all as they came nearer and nearer.
Once again, Tess was the first there. She put her hand on the door frame and looked inside for a few seconds, then turned to the others and nodded. They entered the dome carefully and stopped just beyond the entrance, which still stood open. This definitely wasn't what they expected. But then again, they really didn't know what to expect.
It was just one room from what they could see. There was barely anything in it. There was a table and a chair pushed against the wall, about five feet to the door's right. There was a ladder to their left, which lead to a walkway that circled the room. They noticed that somehow, above the 'upper-level', the structure was transparent.
It didn't take long for each and every one of them to come to the very same conclusion. This place hadn't been built by humans, there was just no way. Did anybody live here? If there was one or more residents in this dome, they didn't appear to be anywhere around.
"This... can't be it, can it?" asked Michael incredulously, "Maybe there's a room... underground somewhere here." Max turned to Isabel, as if to heal her, but she held up her hand.
"We have no idea how long the door is going to remain open for us. If it closes, we could be stuck here forever. If there's something in here, we need to find it before that happens." She was right, and they all knew it.
"Will you be okay?" asked Max.
"Yes, now hurry. We're wasting time as we speak." He nodded and they headed further in. Isabel hopped over to the table and raised herself into a sitting position on it. It still hurt a lot but she preferred suffering shortly, if it meant finding an actual, real clue.
She raised her ripped ankle and placed it on her knee. She pulled back the leg of her pants that covered it. It wasn't a pretty sight, not even a tiny little bit. She could see minuscule little pieces of glass still sticking in her blood-covered skin.
So she started pulling them out one by one, throwing them aside with a disgusted look. She did so for about a minute or two, then looked back up to see how the others were doing. The seven were spread across the room, all with their backs turned.
They were slightly funny to look at as they searched. Alex and Kyle, figuring, she supposed, that they'd already been crawling around before entering the dome, had resumed their positions on their knees. Unknowingly to them apparently, their butts were sticking out as they crawled.
Max was walking slowly, looking around the floor, sometimes stealing a glance towards Liz. She stood to his right doing the exact same thing. Whenever they happened to look at each other at the same time, they quickly looked aside innocently. Of course, being caught never stopped them from continuing this action. Isabel grinned as she watched them.
Michael looked at the ground immediately before him, sometimes running his foot in circles around the spot, then shaking his head when he saw there was nothing out of the ordinary, and then moved on.
To his right, Maria did much the same as Michael, only instead of circling her foot, she crouched and ran her hand on the ground. When SHE found nothing, she stood up and continued.
And Tess looked as well, but Isabel could see she was still a bit wobbly from seeing the blood on Isabel's ankle. She imagined her face was pale and having trouble regaining its color at the moment. As a group, the seven of them just looked ridiculous.
"Guys!" called Maria suddenly, snapping Isabel out of her thoughts.
"Did you find something?" asked Michael hopefully as the other six ran over to her.
"I'm not sure," she said, indicating what definitely had the appearance of a small door on the ground. Of course, there was no handle.
"How do we open it?" asked Liz, "I mean, supposing it CAN be opened."
"I really don't..." started Maria, before stopping short at the distinct sound of the only door out of the dome sliding shut.