Writing in Style

Character Driven Short Story - Escape

NOTES: This one isn't any sort of fanfiction per say, but I was reading the Maze Runner books at the time. I ended up taking some inspiration from that, so if you see similarities that's why.

~~~~

Wake up...

Wake up.

Wake up wake up wake up!

His eyes finally shot open. His breathing was quick and heavy like he had just finished a long sprint to the finish line. He was covered in a cold sweat, and he realized that he felt like he had just had a nightmare. There was that lingering fear in the back of his mind that normally came to him after his nightmares, but he couldn't think of what exactly had scared him like he normally could. The absence of something to grasp onto almost scared him more.

He knew he couldn't stay questioning and wondering what had scared him for long or else he would go down a spiral of never ending fear. So, he forced himself to sit up and take a look at his surroundings. Just from the uncomfortable floor he was laying on he knew that he wasn't anywhere familiar, and one quick glance around the room only confirmed those thoughts. The room was small and dark. The only light came from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling shining down on a table in the middle of the room. From where he was sitting he couldn't tell if anything was on the table or not, though he supposed there would be something if it was the focal point of the room.

After pondering on the positioning of the light and table for some time, he looked around some more to see two other people on opposite sides of the room, both of which were also waking up. To his right lay a girl with blond hair messily strewn about, nothing to hold it back from her face. To his left was a boy. He had curly brown hair that was shaved shorter on the sides and back, and a pair of black-framed glasses rested surprisingly straight on his face after having been asleep. They both looked young, the boy probably in his early twenties, the girl likely eighteen or nineteen. The two were both wearing what looked similar to white scrubs, and as he looked down at himself he saw that he was wearing the same thing.

He tried to think about what he looked like, how old he was. After some time, having more difficulty recalling the simple information than he knew he should have, he was certain of a few things: he had dark brown hair, blue eyes, and braces with bright red bands; he was 17 years old; his name was Kristopher, specifically spelled with a K instead of a C.

"Oh, good. Other people."

Kristopher was shaken away from his thoughts as he heard the girl speak. There was almost a hint of relief in her voice as she spoke. He turned his head and watched as she got up from where she had been laying and began to make her way over to him.

"Hi, the name's Aliyah Honeysette! It's really nice to meet you. What's your name?" The girl, Aliyah, asked with a hand stretched out as an offer to help him up. Kristopher couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by her presence looming over him. At the same time she seemed kind and friendly, and she was stuck in the same place as him after all.

After an awkward pause with the two sitting there, he slowly reached out and grabbed her hand. She was able to pull him up with ease, but as soon as he was standing he realized that he was at least an inch or two taller than her, making him feel at least a little more comfortable around her. Aliyah, seeming to have forgotten that she had asked a question, then made her way over to the other boy, giving the same introduction and same offer.

"I'm Ekene Langley," he said, also accepting her offer to help him up. "I guess it's nice to meet you too."

Kristopher watched as the two of them now fully took in their surroundings. He noticed Aliyah's hands begin to shake slightly as she looked between the walls. She must have noticed it as well, because she squeezed her hands into fists, probably in an effort to stop them from shaking. Ekene looked more so confused than anything. Confused with a wave of curiosity as he turned to look at the table.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," Aliyah exclaimed. Kristopher tore his eyes away from the table to see that she was looking at him again, making her way over again. "I totally just walked away without letting you answer my question. I'm Aliyah Honeysette! It's really nice to meet you. What's your name?"

She stuck her hand out for him to shake, but he folded his arms across his chest instead, hugging closer to himself to try and calm his nerves. Being around new people wasn't his favorite thing ever. He had a close group of friends - or at least he knew he did at one point; try as he might he couldn't remember now - and that's how he liked it. But, given the circumstances, he was going to be around these people for a while.

"Kristopher," he said, still not shaking the girl's hand, but his voice louder and steadier than he had expected.

Aliyah dropped her hand back to her side, but she continued to look at him as if expecting him to say more. "Do you not have a last name?" she asked, finally voicing the question ringing around in her head.

Did he have a last name? He searched his brain for any resemblance of a surname, a family name, anything, but he couldn't find a name. Not even a letter. As far as he knew, he didn't have a last name. Why didn't he have a last name?

"Maybe he doesn't want to share, ever thought about that, Alyssa?" Ekene questioned over his shoulder as stood at the table.

"First off, my name is Aliyah. Aliyah Honeysette. And no need to be so rude about it. It's perfectly fine if he doesn't want to share." She turned to look back at Kristopher. "It's perfectly fine if you don't want to share. I just love making friends, and if we really are all stuck in here, then what better way to feel more comfortable than getting to know each other?"

Kristopher shrugged. She had a point. If they really were going to be stuck in this room, it would be better to be stuck with people he knew than complete strangers, even if that did mean meeting new people.

The girl then turned around to face the older boy and voiced the question that had been on his mind since he had first looked around the room. "So, what's on the table?"

He followed Aliyah over to the table. Sitting in the middle of the table was a singular piece of paper with only one word written on it.

Escape

"So we really are trapped in here, aren't we?" Aliyah asked. There was a slight shakiness to her voice that Kristopher noticed as she spoke, looking around the room as her breathing began to quicken.

Kristopher walked over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was nervous, probably claustrophobic, and it seemed like she just wanted people to be around. He just wanted to help, and if that meant stepping out of his comfort zone a little bit, then so be it. Aliyah looked over to him with a smile and gratitude in her eyes.

He looked back over to Ekene who had finally reached out to straighten the paper, something that it seemed he had been itching to do since first noticing that it was crooked. The older boy looked over at the other two. A wave of realization and empathy crossed over his form as he took in Aliyah's growing fears.

"I wouldn't say we're trapped," Ekene said. This piqued Aliyah's interest, gave her a spark of hope. "I mean, if whoever put us in here expects us to escape, then logically there has to be some way out of here. If there is a way out, there we're not trapped. Saying we're trapped would mean that there is no way possible for us to get out of here. They've already told us that escape is possible by giving us the objective."

A smile appeared on everyone's face. There were so many different variables being thrown at them all at once. They didn't know each other in the slightest, they were stuck for the time being, and Kristopher felt like he was missing half of his memories. But despite all of that, despite being forced into something that they had no information about, they had already come together to form a team. They had already bonded, figured out a way to bring all of their differences together to meld them all into one functioning machine, albeit a bit squeaky and not the most efficient.

They were all stuck in the same room, all dressed the same, all faced with the same task: escape. And you could bet that they were going to do it together.