He knew he should be panicking right now, but Dale simply wasn't awake enough to have emotions. Unconsciousness left him slowly, making it hard to think straight at first. It also made it hard to gauge how much time was passing as he returned to the waking world.
The first distinct thought he had was that his head hurt a lot. He then began to realize that his entire body was sore. That's when he realized that he was leaning against a cold wall, but luckily his hands and legs weren't bound.
Eventually he regained enough sense to notice that it wasn't dark where he was. He was tempted to fake being asleep still, but being unable to hear voices made it clear that he wouldn't gain anything from it.
Dale opened his eyes, but had to blink for several seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light. He was surprised to find himself in what appeared to be some kind of bunker. The walls and floor were made up of a dark stone. Bright industrial lights hung from the ceiling. Shelves with weapons, books, and other items took up much of the wall space. Two tables spaced a good distance apart occupied the center.
"He's awake," a female voice said from out of view.
"The boss said to bring him as soon as we could," a male voice responded.
"He'll probably need a few minutes to be fully functional," the first voice said.
Dale tried to speak, but found his throat too sore to do so. Swallowing whatever saliva he could find, Dale tried again.
"Wher-" he started, but had to take a few moments to clear his throat. "Where am I?"
"The meeting location," the second voice replied. A short and sturdy man stepped into Dale's view.
"Meeting location…" Dale struggled to figure out what the man meant. "Oh. For the mission."
The man rolled his eyes before nodding. "Good job genius. I guess ya weren't hired for ya brain." Only now was Dale awake enough to notice his heavy accent, but he still couldn't quite place where it was from.
"Give him a break." A new voice piped in. A child walked over to Dale and offered him a hand up.
"Um. Thanks," Dale said as he grabbed the girl's hand.
"No problem. I'm Jazia by the way and that jerk over there is Jameson," she said. Her two yellow braids screamed ten years old, but her eyes looked much older.
"Well at least I'm no freak," Jameson said pointedly to Jazia.
"You're just mad because I was chosen to be the leader and you weren't."
"Why should an eleven year old be in charge of me? Or anyone on this team?"
Jazia quickly turned to face him. "You will show me the respect I'm due as the designated leader, is that understood?" She walked close to him, and Dale noticed a knife in her hand.
Jameson's face lost some of its color. "Yes, Jazia. My apologies for my outburst."
"Good," Jazia said with a smile. She turned back to Dale. Let's get the new guy acquainted with the work area and then Kelly and I can take him to see the funder."
"Whatever ya say, boss," Jameson said. "I'll show him around." The man turned to Dale. "What's your name?"
"I'm Dale. Jameson right?" Dale responded. He watched as Jazia stepped out of view.
"Yep. I'm the wilderness expert on this venture. Jazia is the leader, as you might have figured out, but she's also our weapons person," Jameson explained while leading Dale to the first of the two tables.
"And I'm the girl in charge of medical needs," a woman said while walking up to the pair. Dale recognized her voice as the first one he had heard when he woke up in the bunker.
She stopped just a couple of feet from Dale. "Call me Kelly," she said, extending her hand. Dale took her hand and shook it. She smiled, and Dale felt she might be the first person to actually want to be his friend.
"Ahem," Jameson interrupted. "Are ya done flirting with the new meat yet Kelly?"
She scowled at him. "Just because you don't know a thing about being nice doesn't mean I'm not going to make friends with others on the team." She dropped Dale's hand. "Dale, we can get to know each other a different time when this brute's not around to ruin it."
Dale watched as she haughtily walked in the same direction Jazia had gone.
"Well that was dramatic," Jameson sighed. "Don't mind her. She's Jazia's niece, and the two share a wicked temper."
"Wait, she's Jazia niece?" Dale asked, the confusion obvious in his voice.
"Aye. But that's Jazia's tale to tell, ain't it?" The shorter man gave Dale a friendly pat on the shoulder and then guestered to the table before them. "Now, on to the official tour."
Dale tried to pay attention to Jameson's thorough explanation of the room and its contents, but his mind was still caught up in everything that had happened since he found the empty lot. Had it really only been earlier that day that Warren left? He simply couldn't focus on his new friend's heavy accent as he rattled on about the bunker, especially with the lingering effects of whatever drug they used to knock him out.
Kelly's return snapped Dale back into focus. "Haven't you finished the tour yet Jamie?" she asked, clearly annoyed.
"We're almost finished. Hold ya horses," Jameson chided. "And don't call me Jamie. Ma name is Jameson. Always has been and always will be."
"Whatever. Jazia is waiting to introduce Dale to Ms. Moneybags. You can finish boring him with your long winded explanations after."
She motioned to Dale to follow as she turned back around. "Let's go. We don't want to keep our boss waiting."
Dale started towards her, but stopped for a moment. He turned back to Jameson. "Thanks for the tour. It was really, uh, informational."
"Aye. No need to lay it on so thick, laddie. Just head up with Kelly. Hopefully I'll see ya after." The older man shooed him away.
Dale smiled and gave a quick nod, before turning away. He resumed following Kelly as more questions swirled around his head than ever before.