PsyCHOtic AwaKE

Fresh Air

At the back of the cafeteria two double doors were opened by an armed guard which caused people to race to the doors and flood out into the open air. Anon and Abbie got up simultaneously and walked towards the door, discarding the syringes on the table. As they got closer to the door they were both stopped by a guard wearing a bright yellow hazmat suit. He didn't say anything, he just gave them both two red dust-mask type things each and walked off. They both put one on, shoving the other one deep into their pockets. They exited the door. Wind suddenly lashed at them and threw their hair into tangled knots. Anon and Abbie backed away to the side of the fenced off area to get a better view of their surroundings and to wait for Alice, Christine and Luis. The outside area was around the size of a football pitch, half of it had a tarmac floor for ball games and the other half was grass. The grass was not cared for and was ankle high, there were muddy grassless patches dotted around the place, luring people to slip and fall into the mud.

At the very back were small round wooden huts, six of them circled something in the middle, unable to make out from such a distance. The whole area was walled in by other wings of the asylum, all surrounding the area with no possible gaps. Their was roughly three to four meters between the asylum and the rickety fence. Anon turned around at the sound of Christine and Luis's voice.

Christine and luis ran towards them both slowing to a stop when they reached their destination.

"Whats with the thing covering your mouth?" Asked Luis, pointing at the red mask they were forced to wear.

"I don't know" Said Abbie. Anon shrugged.

"Probably because we're infected" Anon said, looking at the floor. He quickly glanced up and stared into thin air, looking dazed. His eyes darted back to the others. "Alice said we should go to the huts at the back. It's more quieter."

"Sure?" Shrugged Christine taking the lead for once. She stayed at the left side of the area and ran her fingers along the towering metal fence as she walked. The group followed, automatically single file. They passed fights that ended in the participants collapsing and quiet people reading. Some people were in straightjackets sat down on the floor with a guard watching over them, some of the people were also tied to a metal frame on wheels as if the straightjacket would no stop them.

They reached the huts, now closer they could see that the wood was rotten and falling apart, making only four out of six usable. All four of the half collapsed huts were occupied, in the first hut sat a large group of 8 all reading a different book. In the second hut three young children were playing with sticks, hitting each other and marching up and down with it. The third hut was occupied by guards, all smoking large cigars and drinking watered down beer.

The fourth hut, however, sat only one person. The girl that sat in the corner of the hut looked around the same age as most of the group nearing her. She looked average height and had long dark hair which ended a few inches past her shoulders. She sat with her left leg down and her right leg up, she had headphones in and wore black skinny jeans accompanied by a green long-sleeved hoodie. The group entered the hut and sat down. The girls music blared from her headphones as she took them off to introduce herself.

"Hello" She said, sweeping her hair behind her ear, "I'm Sam"

"Hi Sam" Said Abbie, her voice muffled slightly by the mask, "I'm Abbie"

"I'm Christine" Said Christine smiling her best I'm-Not-A-Psychopath smile.

"I'm Luis" Said Luis, looking up at her as he talked.

"Anon" Said Anon, "And Alice is sitting next to Luis"

"Alice?" Asked Sam, confused but not in a 'I'm-Judging-You' way.

"It's a girl that only he can see" Said Christine, trying to sound believable.

The six of them chatted for a while until Sam fell from her seat and onto the floor. She landed on her hands and knees, squeezing her eyes open and closes. Christine jumped down and knelt down beside her, worried of what could be happening. Sam's eyesight blurred into reality and fiction, she wheezed and coughed collapsing onto the floor.