4- Hallucinations (hypnosis / sensory deprivation / you're still alive in my head)

TK followed his guide through the amusement park to a ghost train, in which the man entered without hesitation. The rescuer paused for a moment, but the other man behind him beckoned him on. He entered the train tunnel and was plunged into complete darkness, tattooing the walls and shivering as he wondered what he was touching. The echoes of their footsteps reached him, but also others he couldn't identify. He was frightened, having put his life in the hands of two complete strangers, and began to imagine what they might do to him in this pitch-dark place. He clung to the idea that if they were going to hurt him, they'd have done it already, nothing could have stopped them.

The minutes in the dark seemed like hours. With relief, he discovered a dim light coming from the stairs. The man who had been guiding him was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, and entered as soon as TK reached him. The young man realized that the door to the staircase was designed to be hidden in the stone wall décor of the place. The staircase, on the other hand, was made of wood and the walls of concrete, in stark contrast to what little he had seen of the ghost train tunnel.

TK took the stairs, heard the man behind him close the door behind them, and descended, taking deep breaths to calm his stress. Twenty steps down, he came to a large room bisected by overloaded shelves. On the right, the walls were covered with mirrors and make-up tables. To the left, numerous screens hung above tables laden with computer equipment. Everything was switched off, but three men were tinkering with a computer tower, chatting in low voices.

"You can sit over there and rest," said his guide, pointing to the mirrors. "I'll go and get you something to eat."

TK went where he'd been told, and realized it was the attraction's actors' dressing rooms when he discovered the scary costumes on the shelves. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw masks, some of them animal.

"Here."

"Thanks, ...?"

"Danny."

TK took the outstretched sandwiches and bottle of water, reassured only by knowing the name of his interlocutor.

"The Neanderthal man who was with us is Steve. The other three are acquaintances of his. We were having a party together when the first explosions occurred on this side of the riverbank."

"What are they doing?"

"We're trying to find out what's going on and on what scale the country has been affected."

"I'd like to know too."

Danny gave him an understanding smile and encouraged him to eat and rest. The rescuer nodded, understanding that the conversation was over. He opened the sandwiches as his elder pointed to the toilet and joined the rest of the group. TK ate, refreshed himself and went to bed. Exhaustion got the better of him and he fell asleep in a few minutes.

But he couldn't rest. The animal masks came towards him, grabbed him and tried to kill him. Carlos yelled at him to run and save himself before he was shot. TK would wake up with a start, tears welling up in his eyes, his heart racing and his breath short. Each time he opened his eyes, he realized that the nightmare was real, that the attacks had indeed taken place, that Carlos had indeed been arrested by the masked men and had yelled at him to run away.

After five such awakenings, he abandoned the idea of going back to sleep and went to see if he was welcome on the other side of the shelves. He was surprised to find only Steve, Danny and another man. All seemed to be asleep, but Steve and the man whose name he didn't know sat up, gun in hand, as soon as he passed the wall of shelves.