Chapter Six: Discovery Day two; 8:10 a.m.
The lake is vast and dark. The crimson sun paints a glare across the still water. The sand remains settled, to the bottom of the lake, where hands of the dead stretch forth. Light mist rises from the cool waters. The mist quickly becomes a dense fog, swallowing the sun and consuming vision. Through the fog, a figure forms. A small boat, comes drifting through. Standing in it, a slender figure, holding something at it's side stands in the centre of the boat. The face looks up and swirling red eyes glare.
Migel snaps out of his day dream. He finds himself running through the forest. The swamp is back quite a bit now. He starts walking, tuckered out from running for so long. He checks his gun, ensuring that it's loaded, then looks up. When he resets his view, he finds himself looking towards a building in the woods. He continues toward the building, finding it to look like an old house or cottage. Rotting wood planks form walls. A scattered layer of fungus coats the building. Termites have obviously eaten at some places on the house.
Migel steps up to the entrance to the house. The wood beneath him creeks, loudly. He reaches out to the screen door. Pulling it open, releases a loud screeching. Migel is about to knock, when he rethinks about doing so, and just takes the knob, letting himself inside.
The door opens up into a small hall. To the left is a living room, the right is a bedroom, then stairs. On the further left side is the kitchen and dining room. Migel steps in, slowly releasing the creaking door. He looks around, finding little more than a collection of dust. Migel walks to the kitchen, where it has been cleared out. Knives, silver-ware, pots, pans, and other things of the sort, are all gone. The cupboards reside in dust, half open. Migel doubts any life having existed here for quite some time, if ever. Suddenly, a noise comes from upstairs. A sound like, a heavy footstep, almost. Migel instantly holds up his Desert Eagle and walks over to the stairs, cautiously.
Coming up the stairs, the floor squeaks under Migel's foot. He then hears a gasp from a room up ahead. Migel instinctively holds out his gun, ready for something to come out and attack him. He stands there a moment, almost waiting for something to throw itself out at him. A soft whimpering sound comes from inside the room. It sounds human, like a girl crying, lightly, to herself. Migel lowers his handgun, but holds it ready. He steps forth and turns around the doorway of the room.
Sitting in a corner, with her back turned, a girl has her face buried in her hands, crying. Her shoulders shaking with each gasp. Her long, light-brown hair, laid out on her red shirt, above a light pink skirt. Migel puts his gun away, sensing that no harm would ever come from someone like this. He steps in further.
"Excuse me, I ... " Migel starts, but stops when the girl quickly snaps around, with a terrified look on her face. Dried and moisturized tears remain on her face. Her eyes looking extremely tired and puffy. Her face red, as well as some white from fear. Beneath the tears, the girl seems of a relatively young age, possibly twenty years old, and quite pretty. Her red shirt is opened over a light pink shirt. She freezes there, staring at Migel. "No. Don't worry. I'm a normal person. I'm Migel. What's your name?"
The girl seems relieved to hear him speak. She doesn't even say anything, before running over to him and throwing her arms around his body, tears of joy dropping from her eyes. Migel stands there a moment, surprised at the girl's reaction. He places his hands on her waist and looks down at her. Her head lifts up, a smile creaking through the tears on her face.
"What's your name?" Migel asks again. The girl seems looks up at him with a peculiar look, almost as if she has never been asked for her name before. Finally her mouth opens.
"...Lilly..." Her soft voice manages out of her throat. Migel just looks at her and smiles, which then turns to curiosity.
"Are you alright? How long have you been here, Lilly?" He asks. Lilly seems like she is overwhelmed with the fact that someone has inquired to who she is, and how she is.
" ...Yes. I'm fine. I was just ... just, crying. I was afraid that I wouldn't get out of this place. I've been around here for I don't know how long, because I lost count of the days a little after a month. I can't really go anywhere, because there's things out there. They're out there, trying to get me!" She stops, clutching Migel tighter, and seeming a little more anxious, "But ... but now that you're here ... now I can find a way out. Now there's a chance. Right?"
"Of course. I'll get us out of here. I've seen what's out there, and I've found ways of dealing with them. Don't worry about it." Migel gains a sarcastic kind of look, thinking about how he's completely lost, and has been since he woke up in the wasteland. Lilly looks up at him with such a huge smile that he can't help himself from gaining one. Migel realizes then, that this is about the first time he has smiled in what seems like must've been at least a few years.
"Do you know what's happened here, at all?" Migel asks the, seemingly, lost girl.
"I have no idea! I was just on a bus ride to go see some friends. The bus stopped here, and everybody got out, except for me. After about half an hour, everybody was gone. Like they all just vanished. When I went to look around, I found that the pedals for the bus had been removed. I went outside to look around more, and ... just ... ended up here I guess." She gained a worried look, then asked: "Do you know a way out of here? Those woods got me really lost, and I don't know where anything is anymore. It's almost as if they've changed on me or something. Like some dream or nightmare that just won't end." She buries her face into Migel's chest, tears beginning to roll down her face again.
"Hey, " Migel says, as he lifts her chin, "Don't worry 'bout it. I'll get us out of here. Those things out there haven't posed any significant threat, yet. So you shouldn't get worked up." He takes a small step back, and takes her hands from around him. "C'mon, let's go. I don't think it's gonna be doing us much good, if we stick 'round these parts."
Migel takes hold of Lilly's hand, and leads her outside, into the woods, with shadows residing everywhere. In one hand, Migel has Lilly's, in the other, the Desert Eagle. They glance around, spotting no threats, just before moving on to travel through the woods.