Chapter 7

Door 3

One Year ago

Day 1

It took exactly two seconds for Mick, KT and Nina to realize they had been wrong. Wherever they were, it was not home. It took one hour for Mick to lose his shit after trying the door repeatedly. It took twenty minutes to convince him not to knock the door down.

Day 4

Mick was positive his stomach was growling. They were weak, they were tired, they were defeated. KT was looking out the window. Nina was laying down. They were in Anubis House. It was unrecognizable. They stayed downstairs because they were afraid going upstairs would cause the entire second floor to crash down. It was hardly staying up by itself, no need for their weight to make it worse.

"Hey, who's that?" KT said pointing out the window. Mick and Nina went over to her as some people came by. On was walking with a sack on his shoulder. The other one was on a horse. He had black stuff all over his face. The man with the sack looked fearful, his hands up.

"Maybe we can ask them for help." Nina said right before watching with horror as an one of them shot an arrow at the guy right in the neck and he fell down. The man on the horse ran off somewhere as if he hadn't just ended someone's life. They stared at the sight, trying to figure out what they just witnessed.

"He had food." Nina noticed the apples coming out of his sack. Slowly she went towards the door.

"Nina," Mick stopped her. "Don't be stupid."

"If we don't die with arrows in our necks we'll die from dehydration and starvation." Nina pointed out. She inched out, scanned the area, and ran to the body. Just as she was about to grab the sack, she heard someone next to her. A person, who had a bow and arrow. Nina's heart hammered, Mick was positioned to run and protect her, KT was hardly breathing. The person snatched the sack from her. They looked inside and gave her one apple, some nuts, and berries, and some water. Whatever else was inside the sack she kept for herself and she ran away. Nina stared at getting farther away, before scrambling to her feet and into Anubis House giving the apple to Mick, the nuts to KT and keeping the berries for herself.

Day 10

They found the old warehouse. It hadn't been touched. It looked more stable than the house. Mick used an old knife he stole from the Anubis House kitchen and was messing with the back wall. "What are you doing?" KT asked.

"When I first came back here I was going to write 'Help Me'." Mick admitted. "But I decided to mark how many days we've been here. I'm pretty sure it's been ten days. I've counted the sunsets."

"Hey, we'll get out of here okay?" Nina assured them. "We will."

Mick nodded and laid down. The night got cold, and the three moved closer together.

Day 35

People. Lots of people, running. KT was the only one awake to hear it. She slipped away and peaked out into the woods. She followed the people, they were moving so fast they didn't even notice her as she ran with them. She watched them run until finally another group of people, ones with similar markings on their faces as the man they saw a month ago, came into sight. They expected the others, which surprised them. Then fighting, so much fighting.

With horror, KT saw an arrow come right to her. Someone grabbed her wrist and pulled away, but the arrow swiped her cheek. "Are you crazy?" Mick said angrily. KT whimpered, sucking her teeth. It stung.

"How'd you know I was here?" KT asked trying desperately to stop the blood from running down her face.

"I saw you leave and I followed. Nina's going to wake up either to none of us, or to you being all bloody and she's going to freak out."

Nina did freak out when she woke up and saw that KT's face was bloody and demanded an explanation.

"I just wondered where they were going." KT said with a wince as Nina cleaned her off.. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know but I don't want any part in it." Nina said. "Whatever war their having, it's theirs. Not ours, we're just here surviving until we can get back."

The other two agreed.

Day 98

They had gotten good at getting food, and not wiping themselves with poison ivy. Mick was getting antsy. "Weren't they supposed to come back for us?" Mick asked.

"Maybe they're stuck like us." Nina said.

"Well at least they're stuck at home." Mick growled.

"Who do you think made it?" KT asked. "I think it was Willow and Mara and Eddie. Willow said she felt good vibes coming from the door, I remember. I trust her instinct. Well I should have."

"It was probably Fabian." Nina said and Mick agreed.

"Yeah Fabian, Amber, and Patricia." Mick said.

"But maybe we really were being stupid, and it was the obvious door. Maybe Joy, Alfie and Jerome were right and the voice really was just trying to freak us out so we'd choose the wrong door." Nina thought.

"Well, it worked." KT sighed letting her head fall on the hardwood floors.

Day 100

"I can't do this." Mick said throwing the knife to the side just as he was about to draw the 100th tally. He started breathing heavily and finally he just ran out.

It took four hours to find him, and when he did his shirt was ripped, his head was bruised, and he lost a shoe. His eyes were swollen and red and he looked down. All he said was, "I tripped."

Day 128

Mick and Nina watched KT sleep, leaning on each other. They were using their body heat for warmth. Mick wrapped his arms around Nina and she leaned her head on him.

Day 158

"I don't know how much I can stay in here eating berries and nuts." KT said carving into the back wall. "I don't know how much more of my sanity can survive more days like these."

"Then let's leave." Nina said.

Mick and KT stared at her. "And go where?" KT asked.

"Anywhere away from here." Nina said. "We'll spend today gathering supplies and we'll leave tonight. We'll never have to come back."

Day 172

The idea was a good one. It just didn't work. KT laid on the ground. They had been walking, hoping they'd find something for ten days. They ran out of supplies incredibly fast. It was extremely hot. Nina and Mick were somewhere close. They had passed out. At least she thinks they did.

She closed her eyes and welcomed death as a way out of this hell.

Day 174

Mick blinked and looked around. He thought he died. Or say, he thought he was going to die when he last had consciousness. Now he felt like he was dying. He didn't know where he was. Something wet was on his forehead. A person, a blurry person, stood over him.

"Drink." they said. He stared at the water. His tongue felt like sand but he didn't exactly want to take a random drink from a stranger.

"It's ok, Mick." KT's voice said from somewhere. "It's just water."

Slowly he took a sip of water, feeling his headache creep away. Next she held out berries.

"Eat." the person said. "All of you, eat."

"I've never seen these berries before." Nina said.

"Eat." The person said again. Mick took a berry and couldn't help but smile from the flavor.

"I feel dizzy." KT said, and as she said it, Mick realized the room was spinning for him as well.

"You went several days without food and a few days without water." Came the voice again, a lot more echoey. "You're dehydrated."

Mick didn't remember much more. He had weird dreams about talking animals.

He woke up much later. The only light came from the moon. He saw Nina and KT sleeping.

The moon outlined a person in front of him. Mara. Mick sat up quickly. "Did you find the door? Did you come here to save us?"

Mara put a finger to her lips. "You can trust the people here."

Mick blinked. "What?"

"You can trust them." she said again.

Day 188

It took Nina a little while to figure out that the berries were what was causing her hallucinations. From there it didn't take long to figure out that the people were manipulating her and Mick and KT though she didn't know why.

She ran. She didn't have time to wake the other two up, but she'd come back for them.

Day 189

When Mick woke up he gasped. The woman who had been helping him laid dead and bloody on the floor. An older woman was in there looking mournfully at the body. He knew who she was. She was their leader. Anajah. Mick looked around. KT was there but Nina was not.

"Where's Nina?" Mick asked immediately. The woman turned to him.

"I don't know." Anajah said. "She's fled, and she's killed two of my people."

Mick looked down at the body again. "No way, she'd never do that."

Anajah looked at him for a long time. "Why would I lie."

Mick stared at the bloody body.

Day 228

Nina told herself she'd go back for her friends in two days. That was before she got chased by some large animal, lost her shoes in thick mud, and fell down a very steep hill. The hill was so steep and so high she couldn't climb it. She thought back to her old home. At home, the hill was called Death's Drop and it lead to a creek. Here the creek was dried out. She had to be very far away from Anubis, because Death's Drop was a bit of a drive away from school. She wasn't even sure how she got there.

She had to keep walking until the hills stopped being so steep and she could climb up to Penelope's Garden. That was what the Meadow was called, it was a little closer to the school. It had warmed up a lot. It had to be around June or July. She'd know for sure if she looked at the wall. When she finally reached Penelope's Garden it looked a lot different. It looked dead. There were people there as well. They looked sad.

A woman spotted her, and held a blade to her neck. "Who are you?"

Tears spilled out of Nina's eyes. "My name is Nina. Please just kill me."

The woman stared at Nina and lowered her blade.

"I've lost everything." Nina cried. The woman got even closer, stepping on grass that crunched.

"So have I." she said. "They set our meadow on fire. They burned our sklonište and they've ruined us."

Nina looked around at the dead plants and ashes. "I know where you can stay. It's not very big, but I believe you may make use of it."

Day 230

She was back in the warehouse. Maya was grateful, and welcomed Nina. She provided Nina with food, water, and gave her fur to sleep on. Nina stared at the back wall. Who in the world could have continued the counting?

Day 238

Nina didn't know when she decided to help the rebels, but it was probably after thinking of her friends and what was being done to them.

Day 279

KT & Mick

"They've come back!" a woman said coming to Anajah. She rushed outside. It was so late in the night, it was hard to see in front of them without torches, like the pobunjenik trupe had. Mick and KT followed Anajah out to see chaos. The two sides were fighting each other.

Someone attacked Mick, nearly beheading him. His neck bled freely and he punched the attacker, sending him down.

"MICK!" KT said helping Mick with the bleeding. He was groaning, he fell to his knees. "What the hell is wrong with these people?" Then there was screaming and suddenly there was bright orange light in front of them. A koliba, went up in flames. Women and children ran out screaming, but it collapsed before they could all get out. People tried to save them, pulling out their loved ones who were bloody and burnt. On the other side of the flames was Nina. There was a dead man at her feet. She was covered in blood. In one hand was a torch, in the other was a bloody knife. Her eyes met theirs, before she ran back with the rest of them

Day 279

Nina

The plan was to attack at night while they were sleeping. Maya had been teaching Nina to fight now for weeks, and deemed her ready.

Predictably their arrival caused chaos, they expected nothing less. But things got out of hand. Nina stood with a torch, when a man attacked her. She tried to fight him off, and dropped her torch. When he kicked her the wind was knocked out of her. He stood over her with a spear and brought it down, she rolled to the side, the blade catching her hair. Breathing rapidly as the man removed the spear from the earth ready to plunge it again, she took her own knife and quickly sliced his stomach. Blood fell onto her just before he did. She did what she had been trying to avoid. If he wasn't dead yet he would be soon. But she realized it was either him or her. Dazed, she pushed him off of her. She looked for her torch, and found it in the hands of an older woman. She knew her to be Anajah.

It was so fast, she hardly understood what happened until it happened. Anajah set fire to the hut, and then threw the torch at Nina. Luckily Nina caught it by reflex of something being thrown at her, but quickly dropped it when it burned part of her hair and her hand. Afraid of setting something else on fire, she picked it up again with the other hand and held the cold blade to the burnt one, which gave her some relief. The flame on the torch was low, starting to go out. She watched the small home collapse, and then she saw them For the first time in weeks, she saw KT and Mick. They looked horrified. Nina knew what they were thinking, but she couldn't really set them straight with the truth. With their looks showing their feelings clearly, she couldn't bare to look at them anymore, and ran.

Day 281

Seeing the heartbreak on the civilians and on Anajah was enough for KT and Mick to decide to help. Anajah looked relieved.

Day 328

The face to face meeting Nina had with KT and Mick was not what she expected. Especially because she could hardly see their faces.

They were angry. They wouldn't listen to her. But at least they looked guilty when they threw her down the well.

Day 330

Nina just got lucky. Apparently they do a big cell spring when they can. She happened to be in there just a couple days before one of them. Some people died down in the well.

Day 340

Nina was a gatherer. Winter would be coming soon. The trees were almost bare, their leaves were on the ground. Nina guessed based on the back wall of the warehouse that it was around October, which meant it has been almost a year since they came here.

On the other side, KT helped with healing. Mick helped with hunting, which he got the hang of very quickly.

But all three of them fought when needed for battle.

Day 357

Nina held her sword tightly and cut the man's knees so he crumpled down. It was her go to move, so she didn't have to kill but she was sure they couldn't get up again any time soon.

The man Mick was fighting was overpowering him, until KT stabbed him in the back. They exchanged looks. Neither wanted to kill.

Nina avoided Mick and KT, and they avoided her as well. But they all constantly looked out for them to make sure they were okay. Mick once thought about throwing his blade at the man who had almost gotten the best of Nina, but Nina was strong and didn't need his help.

Day 365

Word was the Tribe was coming to attack them in their shelter, the warehouse.

If their army was planning a sneak attack on theirs, Nina wondered how Anajah twisted this into making Mick and KT think she and her army were the victims. Nina crouched down in the overgrown grass as they looked out for The Tribe. When Elyon, who was in the trees, gave her signal they'd attack. It had to be very quiet. Which was why Nina couldn't understand who was walking so incredibly loud. She looked to her side, and had to stop her heart from falling out of her chest. It looked like... It couldn't actually be... Fabian?

She saw out of her peripheral that the signal was given, so she did all she could as the first arrows were shot.

"GET DOWN!" she yelled.

Fabian looked shocked but fell down just as an arrow went over her head. The battle began but she was only worried about Fabian. She crawled low under the arrows and spears, avoiding getting trampled on by her fellow fighters. She reached for Fabian's wrist and pulled him away back to the warehouse for safety.

"Stay down." She whispered as they got out of the fighting zone. It took a little while to lead him to the warehouse, especially because he was slow.

When they finally got there, she turned around and his face fell. She couldn't imagine why, she thought maybe he'd be happy to see her, until she realized how she must look to him. Her head was bleeding a bit from falling on the way to battle.

"Nina..." he said sadly. "What happened?"

What hadn't happened. They got roped up into their drama. She stared at her ex. He looked exactly how he did in her memories. Down to the last detail. Same hair, same clothes, as if no time had passed. She was beginning to wonder if he was even real. Finally, he answered his question. "I was caught in a fighting zone like you, but no one was there to tell me to get down."

He just kept staring at Nina as if she were a broken doll, and she got annoyed.

"How did you get here?" Nina asked, she sort of figured since there was no way out, the way in was closed off as well. She found her lighter and lit a torch. She couldn't manage to make fire out of nature, it was just so lucky that Mick had brought a lighter, and then accidently left it for her to use.

"I went through the third door." he said as if it were simple.

"I'm guessing your door was the correct one?"

Fabian nodded.

"And you came here?" she asked. His response was another nod. She scowled. She doubted he'd be able to get back. "That was dumb of you."

"I wanted to get you. And Mick and KT, where are they?" Fabian asked. Nina should have known he'd ask about them. She couldn't look at him, so she began to wash her face.

"Last I saw them was a week ago." Nina said. She doubted they'd even been told about the attack that was supposed to happen today.

"A week ago?" Fabian asked. "It's only been like an hour."

Nina's eyebrows rose. An hour, yeah she wished. "I suppose time moves faster here than it does back in the other world."

"Well are they okay?" Fabian asked. "Did you separate as soon as you got here?"

"Physically I'm sure they're in a much better shape than I am. Mentally... I can't speak on." Nina said. She could speak on it. They'd made them think of her as a monster, and as the rebels as savages in order to get more help with fighting and any other ways they'd be of service. "It's been a year since we went through the door."

"A- A year?" Fabian stuttered. Nina nodded.

"And when we first got here, we were very much together." Nina said closed her eyes slowly, pushing away the threat of tears. "I'm going to show you something."

She lead him to the back of the warehouse and put the torch close to it, close enough that he could see clearly but far enough that it wouldn't be a fire hazard. She showed him the year. She felt it told their story, at least a portion of it."

"Mick started it after the tenth day. But then he was really upset when we had been here for 100 days, and he quit keeping count. So KT continued. Someone kept doing it while I was away for a while," Nina pointed from 158-228. "Don't know who. I do it now, since Mick and KT aren't here anymore." Nina put the last talley of the year in.

"Where'd they go?" Fabian asked.

Nina stared at 279 talley. "It's been a long year, Fabian."