Anomalies

Chapter 3: Refuge

Chapter 3: Refuge:

The louds sounds of banging and crashing stopped after a few minutes, and the buzzing of the drones fades away as well, concluding the pursuit. Artur and Stell are still laying on the ground, sweat runs down their body as their breath slows down progressivly, they don't say a word, simply taking in the moment of peace they finally reached after an extremely movemented experience.

"We should get going" says Stell, finally controlling her breath, slowly getting up. Artur does the same but before he can respond, he puts his hand on his chest, feeling a slight pain, like something was stabbing his chest. "That fall left you with some broken bones, you probably didn't feel it at first because of the adrenaline" she explains, helping him stand up, carefully, looking for other injuries at the same time.

"I'll get you something to feel better when we get to the refuge, try to not move your chest much while you walk, you might pierce one of your organs with your rib" says Stell, still holding Artur by the shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, i can walk, but... your hand, we need to get something for that" says Artur pointing at her bleeding arm,  trying to hide his pain, feeling like he's already much of a burden to her. "I'll find something when we get to the refuge, I definitely wasn't planning to invite you but I can't let you leave without doing anything with your wounds" says Stell with a sigh, annoyed. "What you did there was definitely a risk, I thought that was it for me. The least I can do is help you back." she says in a more gentle tone. "I wasn't the only one, if it weren't for you, those drones would have shred me to pieces. You didn't have to do that for me so... Thank you" says Artur genuinely. "Yeah if I knew all that would happen after I pulled you out of that tree, I would have thought twice before saving you. In the end I am glad we were able to get out of there alive" she says, releaved. "Alright, follow me, the path ahead is safe" she says holding her bleeding arm firmly to stop the blood from spilling.

Artur agrees and follows Stell through the sewers which are comparable to a maze with all different pipes and paths you can explore, most of the lights are faded and too somber to show the path, Stell takes out her lamp out of her belt and shows the path forward, multiple small rodents and insect crawl around noticing the light, with each step, the sound of thick, polluted water alerts the rats of the humans presence. 

Stell confidently guides Artur through the different pipes and canalisations, he knows that she already walked this path countless times and trusts her, he wanted to finally be able to join a place of safety and maybe even rest.

After half an hour of slow roaming through this maze, Artur notices a door, with warm light behind it. It was a hand made door, built with differents planks and scrap, seemed solid enough to stop a person from entering. 

"This is it?" says Artur, still holding his broken rib, "Yeah, this place is safe, but don't relax too much, I'm still keeping an eye on you" warns Stell, giving a glance at Artur, "You might have helped me there, I won't give you my trust so quickly" she continues, with a cold tone. Artur stays silent, he still feels some tension with Stell but understands her concern, he too isn't totally aware of her intentions. She approaches the door and knocks in a distinct pattern, ressembling a rhytm of music, "Probably a code" thought Artur. Behind the door, sounds of rushing closes in, a metal lock clicks before the door opens. 

Stell steps through giving a sign for Artur to enter as well, as he enters the room, still holding his chest, he looks around: it's a wide, well light room, some old, eroded furniture is carefully placed to give the impression of a living room. On the ceiling, glass shards are attached with threads making a rudimentery shandelier, wich is lit up with lamps laying around the room, giving an impression of warm fire-place lights.

On the walls, multiple old, dirty posters showing images of space are hanging next to some childish drawings, some old coats are hanging on the greyish walls, a few hammocks are hanging beside each other next to a handmade swing. A few wooden and cardboard boxes are used as tables, with napkins on top of them.