koury in the backrooms ; sinjin drowning

twice in the backrooms

Now Playing: Basics by TWICE

The two siblings woke up from the sleeping bags they had set up. They'd gotten a couple of hours of sleep in (as much as they could while sleeping in the backrooms). They cleaned themselves up and made their way towards the main tarps set up in the area, backpacks ready to go.
"Morning, you two!" Sinjin greeted them with a bright smile, "We're off to loot for more materials. We're hoping you can join."
"What d'ya think, Weston? Should we go?" Kalynn asked, turning to her brother.
"Let's freaking go!"
Weston wore his bomber jacket, his butcher's knife (the one he had obtained from one of the wooden crates the day before) adjusted in one of his pockets. Kalynn, on the other hand, wore a trapper hat, cargos and a bomber jacket similar to her brother's. On her back was a satchel that held a sturdy bow and arrow which she intended to make good use of.
"Take these. They'll come in handy."
Sinjin tossed the two a bottle of almond water, rushing off to lead the squadron of people.
"Alright, troops! We don't know what'll be out there, but you'd better be prepared!" Sinjin shouted loud enough for the people in the back to hear, "Be careful and help the newcomers out, yeah?"
Sinjin gave the siblings a triumphant look as the siblings returned an excited one back.
The pack of armed people started to make their way out of the camp area and into the hallways of Backrooms Level 1 ( if you'd like to see it: <meta charset='utf-8'><img src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/backrooms/images/d/dc/Level_1.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20220801002748&amp;format=original"/> )
The lighting out there was dim and inconsistent. Some areas were more lit than others, and some lights flickered.
Fog coalesced into condensation, forming puddles on the exposed concrete flooring.
"Careful not to slip, newbies." Said a voice from behind the siblings.
Kalynn and Weston turned to see a familiar face; Momo of Twice.

"Momo?!" Weston exclaimed, shocked to see the k-pop idol in a place like this.
Her attire was rather tactical. She wore a military vest, biker shorts, and a tank top and carried a machine gun by her side. Her face had become aged—tired.
"...Oh. You know me from the real world." She sighed; her voice was soft.
"It's so surprising to see you here," Kalynn commented, "You still look good."
"Thank you..." Momo gave the two a lighthearted smile.

At that moment, a series of aggressive noises could be heard from a distance. It sounded like a struggle, or as if some kind of monster had been caught up in something.
"Jeez Louise, what's going on down there?" Weston murmured, peeking his head over the crowd of people.
"Stand guard, troops," Sinjin shouted sternly.
Then, suddenly, a pack of hounds made an appearance. They rushed from the end of the hallway rabidly, running towards the gang at an incomprehensible speed.
"Attack!" Sinjin exclaimed, leaping into action.
Weston stood guard, whipping his butcher's knife out of its sheath and waiting for the exact time to attack. One of the hounds leapt forwards, allowing Weston to slide down onto the slippery floor and dodge the attack.
"Skidaddle outta here, you beasts!" Weston cried out, hurling himself towards the hound and smacking the blunt end of his knife against its head.
The hound fell to the ground, having been knocked out by Weston's blunt knock to the head.

Kalynn leapt into the air, quickly loading her bow with an arrow and taking a shot at the pack of hounds. The arrow made contact, piercing through one of the hounds' legs and causing it to yelp.
"Koury?! How'd you do that?" Weston shouted, running across the hallway while dodging the commotion.
"Was bout to ask you the same thing!"
Kalynn quickly reloaded her bow and shot another arrow.
By the time the siblings had taken down the hounds in their area, the battle had ended.

"May you go in peace," Sinjin whispered, his eyes closed as he knelt down by one of the hounds.
Weston and Kalynn decided to pay their respects as well, kneeling by the lying hounds and whispering the phrase.
"Okay. Troops, now we loot." Sinjin announced, getting up from the ground.

The soldiers began ransacking the hallway they were in, looking for wooden crates.
Kalynn kicked over a barrel, revealing a wooden crate sitting behind it. Inside the crate was an assortment of items: batteries, a tarp, socks and loose change.
"Found some things. Do we just pocket them, Sinjin?" Kalynn asked, walking near the leader.
"Yep. We trade everything when we get back to the main camp." Sinjin responded.
Weston managed to find a box of crayons, a pack of cheerios, a pocket knife and a roll of cloth bandage.
"Well, well, well," Weston wiggled his fingers, "What the jackpot!"

Weston couldn't help but wonder how good of a soldier Sinjin was. I mean, if Sinjin was the leader of this entire group, he'd have to be pretty darn good at hand-to-hand combat, no?
"Weston, earlier today I managed to get a tarp," Kalynn said, walking alongside her brother as they made their way into the main tarps of the camp, "We can have our own little Koury tent!"
"No freaking way. That's what I've always wanted to do at a sleepover." Weston exclaimed, eating a bit of the cheerios he'd pocketed from earlier.
"You two!" Sinjin called out from a distance, "Got anything to trade?"
The Victorious-star-looking guy approached Weston, taking a cheerio for himself.
"No, not really. We wanna keep a lot of our stuff today." Kalynn responded, grabbing a cheerio.
"Well then, make yourselves comfortable," the guy smiled, "Oh, and today, one of the troops managed to find a jukebox and speaker set. We're gonna be playing some songs. Join in if you please."
The siblings shared a glance, smiling.
"Of course, we'll show up." Weston offered him a last cheerio before going back to their sleeping bags.

Kalynn began setting up a tarp to hang over her and Weston's sleeping bags, just to ensure that no leakage from pipes or something like that would drip onto them.
Her brother was preoccupied with doodling on a scrap piece of paper he'd managed to find somewhere. It didn't surprise Kalynn, knowing how much Weston liked drawing. It made her remember the times back in the real world when they didn't have to fight for their lives, which made her feel slightly sorrowful.
Sadness was the last thing they needed, especially in the backrooms. Kalynn quickly brushed the feeling of dread away, as she unloaded her jacket with her loot and placed her bow and arrow down next to her sleeping bag.

The weapon she'd used to slaughter, she thought.

Kalynn could relive the feeling she had felt when letting go of the arrow, letting it fly in the air and pierce through the wind. It felt freeing; as if she could shoot the world down. Or maybe she should've taken Sinjin's word more seriously — don't let the backrooms get into your head.
Kalynn's thoughts were interrupted by the loud melody of pop songs being played at the main tarps.
"Let's go, Kalynn! They're playing Twice!" Weston rose from his sleeping bag, leaving his crayons and paper behind in a hurry.

The two hurriedly rushed towards the source of the music. Amongst the crowd of dancing folks, Weston could spot Momo standing idly. Her expression was sad as if she were reminiscing the days she spent as an idol while in the real world. Weston wondered how long she'd been in the backrooms and how her face was tough, even though you could see remnants of her natural, kind look to her.

Tell me what you want, tell me what you need!

The music played loudly, with all of the soldiers dancing to the rhythm. How often could these people, who were stuck in a place that could be compared to hell, celebrate like this? Had they excepted that they were stuck here?
Nevertheless, Weston slept soundly that night. He remembered, before drifting to sleep, remembering his old life.