The Backrooms: Descent into Madness

Chapter XVIII - Stars Shining Bright Above You...

Morgan quickly took to understanding the new world she'd ended up in, but she was having a hard time coping. "So there's seriously no way out? At all?" She asked me. I looked at her with grim eyes. "Not that anyone has ever seen and come back to tell. It's a myth." She looked downcast, realizing everything she left behind was likely gone forever. She dried her tears with me earlier, for now she was simply tired. "Well let's get her registe-" A guard began, walking up to us, before I shot him a look. "No." He looked perplexed. "It's her decision to be registered and penned here, let her decide." I said decisively. Morgan fell into thought. I had explained the MEG to her already and why I was not a part of it, but that doesn't need to be her opinion too. "I'm going with you, Logan. You can't shake me off after all this time, not even here." I grinned and sighed, "Of course."

For the past three months since I left the MEG, I've been busy rescuing wanderers every now and then but I haven't gone into any new levels for fear that I wouldn't be able to handle them. Morgan has always been like a sister to me, I remember now, I remember it all. She gives me confidence and strength just as I do for her. Maybe there is a chance in this bleak abyss that we can find an exit. We stayed one more night, to allow her to rest, and we set out again into the halls of Level 1. Normally, I would've teleported, but I can only teleport to places I've been. As we walked I lit up a cig, causing Morgan to give me a look that seemed content and familiar. Before we'd left I made sure she was supplied with all the necessary exploration equipment to survive. We roamed the halls for hours, talking about old times and memories long past, until we came across a rusty, heavy door. "That leads to my own personal hell, Level 2. It's infested with Smilers, luckily I can make them listen to me." I said, staring at the door. Morgan nodded, turning on her flashlight. I approached the door and tried to pull it lightly, which didn't work. Morgan started forward to help me, but was cut off when I rip the door completely off of its hinges. "Lady's first." I said with a grin. "That was so lame, Logan." she said with a laugh as we proceeded into the dark, pipe filled halls. Valves hissed and sprayed as we walked the corridors, avoiding the superheated steam that burst from minor pressure induced releases. We turned to one of the hallways and saw a silhouette at the end. "Hello?! Thank god, more people! I thought I was all alone!" The person called out. He began his approach from the end of the hall, and I allowed my arm to form a blade. Radio static crackled from my jaws. "Shoot Him." I said, eyes locked on the approaching figure. Morgan looked confused, until the figure began to twist and shift. Two red glowing eyes became visible and a wailing resounded through the chamber. Morgan reached for her newly supplied Beretta, until a violent wet rip pierced the air. The sound of flesh hitting the floor echoed throughout the hall. "H-Holy shit." She said in shock. "Skin Stealer." I said plainly, pushing it to the side with my leg and walking through the hall with her in tow.

We traveled for a few miles, until we came across a large storage room with tall racks and shelves. "We can make camp here." I said. "Sounds good, this just has me so shocked. All of it." Morgan responded. I nodded in understanding, setting up my tent as she set up hers. "It gets easier... you just have to die a little... I guess. It's the same way in the regular world too." She nodded, finishing her tent. A pallet of firewood in the corner of the area allowed us to make a campfire.

We shut off the lights and sat around it, watching the smoke rise. The embers and ashes lit our faces and made the air smell natural. "It's just so hard to soak in... everything. All of it... it's all gone... was it all for nothing?" She asked me with empty eyes. I sighed. "This place... it's a distorted monolith to humanity. To endless progress that makes us forget ourselves, leaving us cold and alone in a world of our design. I don't know where it came from... but there is purpose, even here. There are still people to help. People to Save. It's hard... it's so unbelievably hard... but nothing worth doing is easy. Think of our pasts, what we went through. Hell, I've lost my arm, my fingers, my legs... my humanity... but I'm still here driven by a purpose I cannot abandon. That the innocent... are free. So no... it wasn't for nothing, if anything it was just the beginning." I said with remorseful hope. She gave me a very sober look. "But what about everyone else back home?" She asked. I sighed. "This is home now... we got unlucky." Tears reached her eyes again. "Do you need to rest?" I asked. She said nothing, and leaned into me in a tight hug. She cried into my shoulder for a long time, and I held her just as tight. Thank god I was used to this place or I would've broke too. I'm already broken. When I pulled away, she'd cried herself to sleep. I put her in her tent and zipped it behind me, before lighting another cigarette and looking at the fire again. I wish I still knew how to sleep. Maybe in my dreams, the dreams that no longer come, I can see her one last time.