Chapter 2

I awoke abruptly to a sharp shaking sound at the door. The adrenaline began to race and I reached for my crowbar and gripped it tightly. Trying not to make any noise I crept slowly towards the door. Kneeling down I peered under the partially opened blinds. A man stood there. He appeared to be normal looking. He wore no mask, he seemed to be coherent and he did not have any odd features. He looked like a perfectly normal, perfectly healthy human being.

In my haze and astonishment, I turned and removed the chair from under the doorknob. With a few swift movements, the door was unlocked and open and I was staring into the face of the first human being I had seen in a long time.

"Are you alright, can I come in, there is a band of splicers after me." I simply nodded, still in a dazed shock. The sound of running feet and incoherent conversation snapped me out of my thoughts.

Swiftly and quietly, the door returned to its previous state. With a movement of the hand I motioned for him to kneel. He quietly complied as I peeked out the window. A large group of splicers sprinted past. The sounds they made were inhuman. A shiver passed over my body at the sight. The yells and clamors grew quieter and quieter. A sigh of relief passed over my form as I slumped against the wall.

"Who are you and why the hell are you here," I questioned.

"I'm Jack. I have no idea why I'm here. My plane crashed near a lighthouse that led me here. Been stuck here ever since. Who are you?"

"I'm Dagmar. I came with my parents when this place first came into being. I was 11 years old. It was 1946. We were one of the first waves of citizens who came here. I'm 25 now."

"Why would anyone want to come down here?"

"You didn't see it in its hey day. When it was new, it was beautiful. Everything a Utopian society should be. Until Fontaine and Ryan and the Plasmids and Adam and then the following civil war. Rapture went from a blossoming Utopia into a living hell. Monsters roam these halls. Anything human is long dead. You are the first living human I have seen in a good long time. How did you get down here?" I asked, a sudden realization slapping me in the face.

"I came down in what looked like a small submarine. It was round and came from the lighthouse above."

"A bathysphere?! How in God's almighty name did you manage to get a bathysphere to work? Ryan has had them on lockdown for months?" I sat bolt up filled with curiosity. How in the hell had he managed it?

"I just pulled a lever on the inside of the sphere. Nothing special."

I took a good long look at him. He looked like Ryan. A younger, clean shaven version of him. It was like seeing a ghost and I felt the blood leave my face.

"Are you alright? You're pale as a ghost." I nodded lightly and sat back.

"Yeah I'm fine. You just like nearly identical to someone." He stared at me with a burning curiosity. I kept my mouth shut. An awkward silence filled the room.

"So," he continued, trying to break the quiet, "What are you doing holed up in an office?"

"It's how I survive. I run like mad around Rapture collecting what small amount of food is left around and then I find a place I can hide out in as long as possible. For now this is my home."

I watched him look around the room with a small smile on his face. He didn't seem to notice me staring at him. He really was a handsome man, despite the shocking similarity to Ryan. I found my eyes wandering, looking up and down his form. He was at least 6'2". Most of him was hidden beneath the white sweater he wore. He was built like a strong man. The kind of man my father would be proud to call a son in law.

His gaze suddenly shifted back to me. He had caught me staring. The small smile he had spread across his face. I could not help but smile. The smile made him even more handsome. A small flush had filled my cheeks.

"It's cozy. I hate to ask this of you, but ever since I have been in this hell hole, I have been on the run, chasing one thing after another. I would really love to take a break, even if it is for a couple of days. I need to relax. I want to get out of here fast as possible, but my body physically can not handle all of this."

I looked at him with a serious expression. On my own I had enough food stored up for a month. If he stayed with me too long, he would cut that ratio in half. Looking at him again, he looked so tired and battle worn. It was tough surviving in Rapture, even for a hardened veteran such as myself. He had just gotten thrown into this mess. Who knows if he had even picked up a weapon before he came here. I sighed.

"You can stay but you have to find your own sleeping things. There is a sleeping bag in the room across the hall. If you get it you can stay. You will have to sleep on the floor though. "

He smiled like a little kid and nodded.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Did he just flirt with me? I shook my head in disbelief and stood up. I watched him walk out as I sat on the desk. For the first time in over a year, I wasn't entirely alone in this world.