Broken World Book 1 - The On Coming Storm

30

Gasps float across the row of people as Ethan sets off his own nuclear bomb. You've got to be kidding me! I think as a flurry of questions explode across the room. "Look I don't have time to explain because we need to get going. Now!" he says as he shuts everyone up, and after that he open the door. We all casually walk out of the room.

Surprisingly, there aren't any guards surrounding the door. "Why aren't there any guards?" I ask.

"The supply drop off," Ethan responds in a hushed whisper. I reach behind me and wrap my hand around the pistols grip along with hovering my finger over the trigger. We all walk slowly down the halls and I find myself glancing behind me every now and then. "Stop that," Ethan says. "Act like one of them." All of his words are said through gritted teeth as he tries to not look at me. I turn my head around make myself look emotionless like everyone else is, and I force myself to let go of the grip. My hands clasp behind my back as I walk with everyone else, and we walk with Ethan in the front because he's the highest-ranking person. With the rest of us standing in two rows of three. I'm in the front row with Jaye and Bree. While Sam, Marlene, and Jacob are in the back.

This all feels too easy to me, and I'm about to say something when I see someone up ahead. I clamp my mouth shut and force myself to relax a little as we walk past them through the white and barren hallways. The man we walk past is just a robotic statue of a man. He looks similar to Ethan in almost every way. For the exception of dark hair, grey eyes, and he's pale. The man is also shorter than Ethan, and through the entire thing there isn't a single word exchanged at all. The entire time! This is too easy; I think as we walk past the soldier. I want to wave or something more human, but I know better. If we do one thing human, we'll be caught and if were lucky we'll be separated and prisoners. If were unlucky though we'll be too dead to tell.

I feel my legs start to shake in anxiety along with the fact my body is flooding itself with adrenalin. I'm preparing to act even though I can't because of plan. I'm starting to think this is stupid, I think as we keep walking down the white hallways. Ethan eventually takes a left then a right leading us further into the labyrinth that is this citadel and towards the only two exits of the floor. I can see in Jaye's eyes that she's getting nervous, and I know why. Everything that's happening is too easy. It doesn't feel right. First the change in the date, and now the empty halls. Something is off, but I can't put my finger on what. Suddenly lights emerge from the corners of the walls as alarms start blaring. The lights dim and the ones that have emerged from the wall start blinking red. The alarm rivets through me as the sound blares down the corridors. "Shit," Ethan says along with a few other swears under his breath. He glances behind him at all of us, and his eyes linger on me but only for a millisecond so I can't be sure on that. He turns around and picks his pace up a little bit.

Guards come out of nowhere and the halls are suddenly bursting at the seams with life. My hand falls down a little as I take hold of the pistol's grip and hover my finger over the trigger. My eyes scope the area out in heightened detail, and the world hasn't slowed at all. But the red haze that usually comes at the edges of my vision appears. Something's going to happen, I think as I nearly glance behind me. I feel the tension rise like a heat wave through the air as everyone, including me, tries to not panic. Well this is going about as wrong as it can, I add to myself.

The once white walls are blinking from their normal state to this ominous red hue that I can only compare to the Hellfire Plague. The patter and stomp of uncountable feet boom like ceremonial drums, and the even and slow even breathing throughout the compound seem like a ceremonial chant. Ethan suddenly steps back and takes a right turn, but we need to walk another meter before we make a right turn.

The right Ethan took us leads into a small room, and once we're all inside I say, "we need to walk another meter before the right turn. What were you thinking?"