Yep, here's the second chapter! I would like to thank everyone who read the first chapter, and hopefully some of you will follow this one (hint, hint.) But I'm having fun writing this regardless, and I've had some time on my Thanksgiving break to put words down on my Google Doc.

As for the chapter title, it comes from a Skillet lyric. I couldn't think of anything more clever than that - you'll see what it means when you read. Enjoy!

It didn't take long before Leo found a series of buttons. Or rather, he stumbled into them.

He didn't know what he had been looking for, exactly, but he had found it here. Leo's fingers danced about the metallic object, looking for any sort of lever he could pull. Perhaps that would do something.

Of course, machines had to be worked with care. If you weren't cautious with what you pressed, there was every chance that you might get vaporized. And, having barely escaped this fate only minutes before, Leo wasn't eager to meet it now.

Still, as he fidgeted with the object he'd found, he was able to get a sense of what that object was. He thought it was a generator of sorts.

Good thing I know machines well, Leo thought, satisfied.

Wait a minute…why do I know machines so well? That doesn't make sense if I don't remember my past.

He'd figure out the amnesia later. Right now, the main focus was finding out what this machine did.

If you asked Leo how he managed to do this, he would have been utterly stumped. He would have looked at you, shrugged, and dropped his jaw almost to the floor. He simply wouldn't have been able to explain it.

But somehow, Leo knew exactly which buttons to press. If the machine had a passcode (which it might not have, given that he couldn't see the keypad), Leo knew it by heart even though he couldn't see the digits he was typing. He seemed to have a sixth sense for this sort of thing.

He kept pushing the buttons, pulling the levers, and hearing a few satisfying clicks. There was still the chance that everything might go wrong, that he'd end up blowing the whole place down, but he decided to look on the bright side.

Sure enough, the room soon grew brighter. It was a slow process at first, but then it shifted all at once.

Yay! Uncle Leo did something useful for once!

Leo found himself in a chamber of sorts that looked somewhat similar to a factory. There was a catwalk about ten feet above the floor, perhaps a similar distance below the ceiling, and also a conveyor belt.

The machine he'd just switched on was a generator of sorts, humming along and powering the lights above. The lights that allowed him to survey the room and search for clues.

Leo couldn't help but feel relieved, if not elated. For the second time since he'd woken up in that fiery tunnel, he'd gotten lucky. First that metal door had opened for him when he hadn't expected it to, then he'd managed to light up this room through sheer luck.

No. It wasn't luck. Well, maybe it was beginner's luck; I got that generator working, after all!

He took the opportunity to walk around the room, looking for any clues as to his whereabouts. Other than the machines all around him, which somehow made him feel better, nothing of interest was to be found.

That is, until he reached one of the far corners.

A dark-skinned girl with disheveled black hair sat slumped against the wall. Her eyes were closed, and she showed no sign of waking even as the lights came on. The girl's purple T-shirt was torn in several places.

For some reason, the sight of this girl tugged at Leo's heartstrings. He shouldn't have felt this way - after all, he had no emotion to spare for someone he did not know. Therefore, it was better to focus on himself.

But at the same time, Leo felt certain that he should know who this girl was. At a minimum, he felt that he should care. If he'd been lying unconscious in a mysterious room, Leo too would have hoped that someone would check in on him.

Something about her face…it looks familiar.

Regardless of whether or not he knew who she was, however, Leo knew he should try to revive the girl. So he walked over to her side and touched her forehead.

The girl's skin was cool and clammy, as though she'd just had a nightmare. Indeed, if you'd told Leo that she'd been dreaming about the boy's hasty escape from the burning tunnel, he would have believed you.

"Come on" the boy mouthed, trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice. "Come on! Wake up!"

He didn't want to shake the girl; that wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. But given the evident worry on her face, in spite of her not being awake, Leo didn't exactly think she was having a very restful slumber.

"Please, wake up. I can't bear to be alone here."

Come on, Leo. Don't sound all sappy like that. You don't care about this girl at all, and she certainly doesn't care about you. There's no need to be so sentimental.

And yet, he'd be doing her a disservice if he didn't at least try to get her up. That's what he believed, anyway.

Just when Leo was about to give up, maybe to conclude that the girl was dead, he saw her eyelids flutter open.

"Hell yes!" Leo exclaimed as he saw the girl awaken. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"I wasn't dead," the girl moaned. "Just deeply asleep. Don't ask me how I fell asleep in the middle of this place."

"Hey, you're safe with Uncle Leo" the boy responded. "I'll look after you. I'll make sure nothing bad happens."

The girl raised an eyebrow, glancing at Leo warily. "That's a bit of a leap when you're talking to someone you just met, no? If I were you, I would word that differently."

"Whatever" Leo muttered. "I'm just trying to make you feel welcome."

"Look, I might be only fourteen, but I can take care of myself" she responded flatly. "At least…I think I'm only fourteen."

"How could you forget your age?"

The girl shook her head, wagging her right index finger at the same time. She didn't give a verbal reply.

"Well", Leo continued, "I made sure…that no monsters got you. I turned on the lights here. You should be grateful, quite frankly."

She frowned. "That use of the word monster? It makes you sound childish, and yet you look older than me."

Leo was about to concur with her about his age, but then he realized that he'd forgotten how old he was. He felt like a teenager, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, but come to think of it, he hadn't been able to access a mirror. He hadn't seen his face - perhaps after however long in this factory, he'd ended up all disheveled.

"So you said your name's Leo?" the girl asked, peppering him with another question.

Leo nodded. "Yes. Leo Valdez. I don't remember anything else, I just know that's my name."

The girl's eyes, which had dark circles beneath them, suddenly became just a little brighter.

"There seems to be a lot of that going around" she told him. "All I know is my name, and that I'm looking for something."

So she has amnesia too. We're both wandering around this factory with no memories. It's the blind leading the blind.

Subconsciously, Leo had hoped this girl would give him answers. However, he'd only ended up with more questions instead.

"So who are you?" Leo asked. That might get him somewhere, at least.

"I'm Hazel Levesque" the girl responded brusquely.

Hazel.

That name rang a bell. Whether that was a celebratory bell or an alarm bell, Leo wasn't sure. But he'd heard it before - that much was certain.

"But," she continued, "that's not going to get you very far. Like I said, everything before this is a giant blank for me. And by the sound of it, it's the same way with you."

"Yeah" Leo agreed, nodding in assent. "But on the bright side, we get to puzzle everything out together!"

Hazel gave a slight groan. "I don't know if that's something to celebrate" she responded, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"But it is," the boy said, opening his eyes more widely. "Look at it this way: At least we have each other. And I'd rather not be alone in this situation."

The girl cast her eyes around the room, perhaps looking for any excuse to say no. Leo hoped he hadn't turned her off from wanting to work with him.

Fortunately, Hazel didn't scoff at him. Instead, she replied with the following:

"So you want to align?"

"I mean, that's a pretty formal way of putting it, lady," Leo replied.

Hazel frowned. "Lady?"

"Whatever" Leo responded. "The point is, I think it makes sense to work together to figure out what's going on. Even if it is the blind leading the blind, two sets of eyes are better than one."

"I mean, you're right," Hazel said. "I just don't know, though."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You just admitted I was right."

"Well", the girl told him, "if someone's looking for us, we might be an easier target. I feel like both of us together could be quite dangerous."

In the back of his mind, Leo wondered the same thing. He didn't voice that concern, though; instead, he shrugged.

"Well, do you want to be stuck in a burning maze for the rest of your days? Hey, that rhymes."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "In all seriousness…burning?"

Leo's hair stood on end, and despite the implication that came with the word burning, he shivered. He nodded as well.

"The tunnel I just came through - I escaped a wall of fire. It almost got me - in fact, I think a bit of flame nicked my ankle."

The girl gasped. "You got burned? That's really not good."

What Leo hadn't mentioned is that the oddest thing had happened. His ankle was no longer in agony, and he didn't think this was because the burn had become so severe that he couldn't feel pain. Of course, there was still a slight sting, but the discomfort was far less than it could have been.

"I did, but I'm fine now," Leo replied. "I swear."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "You're sure about that? Most people wouldn't just casually wave off getting burned!"

"I am. Anyway, do you know anything I don't?"

She didn't seem eager to continue the subject of Leo's injuries when he clearly didn't seem hurt anymore. So Hazel appeared to think for only a few seconds before responding.

"I don't know?"

"Whatever" Leo said. "So that door over there, the one with the triangle on it - that's the one I came through. We can't use it on the way back."

"Makes sense."

Leo smiled. "I'm glad we're on the same page, sister."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "I'm not your sister, you know. I think that's pretty obvious."

"It's a figure of speech. Anyway, here's the deal: We're both here together, so we might as well make the best of it. How long have you been in this room?"

"Well…" Hazel began. "I'm not quite sure."

Leo frowned. "How can you not be sure?"

"Because there are no windows to the outside world. For all I know, we could be deep beneath the surface of the Earth! The point is, there is no day or night. Time is difficult here."

"Perhaps it is," Leo responded. Then, for the first time, he noticed the backpack next to Hazel. "You got something in there?"

Hazel nodded. "I've got some juice boxes, granola bars, and beef jerky. Though I don't know if I should share them with you - I don't have much food."

Leo must have been staring pretty hard, because Hazel looked away with a sigh.

"Okay, that's fine. You can have some - just don't hog it all."

At that, Leo's heart rose. He didn't let his hopes get too high, because the higher they went, the further they might fall. But something about Hazel's agreement made him think that maybe, just maybe…

"Are we going to travel together?"

Hazel nodded with a frown. "I mean, it's not like we have any better options. But you'd better not call me any variation of lady again. Because let me be clear: The name is Hazel."

"Fine."

"There we go. Anyway, help yourself to some provisions."

Leo took two granola bars and a box of apple juice. The granola bars were rather stale, but beggars can't be choosers, and the growling in Leo's stomach begged to differ. It wasn't long before he'd polished off both of them.

As he ate, Leo thought about how he'd gotten here. There wasn't much to reflect on, of course - that much was clear.

And yet, something else occurred to him. There was a girl somewhere…he needed to find her. But looking at Hazel, he was quite certain she wasn't that person.

It's a shame, too. The universe couldn't be bothered to give me an easy time. But down here, I guess it makes sense that I have to work for everything.

"Who's going to take the first watch?" Leo asked eventually. "If any monsters come, we'll have to deal with them, and it would be better if we're awake."

"Monsters? There's that word again - I'm not sure if it means what you think it means."

"It doesn't matter, Hazel," Leo replied. "We'll have to make sure nobody hostile shows up."

"If that's the case", Hazel said, "you can sleep first. I just got some sleep myself, even if it wasn't very restful. My dreams were…".

Hazel shivered, and Leo was tempted to ask what the girl had dreamed about. But he elected not to, simply because it was likely to make her angry. And if they were to work together, it would really be best for them to have an amicable partnership.

So he didn't ask that question. Nor did he want to question the fact that Hazel had offered him rest - for some reason, he already felt exhausted.

"Do you have a yoga mat or something?"

Hazel nodded. "I don't remember packing it, but yes, there's one in my backpack. Only thought I'd need one, but take it. I'm not tired."

The bags under the girl's eyes suggested otherwise, but Leo took the yoga mat nonetheless and spread it out. He then laid down on it and closed his eyes.

Fortunately, his sleep was dreamless. But in hindsight, this was Leo's last real respite before the chaos began.