The Ascent

Chapter 52

Boom.

A loud bang snapped Jasmine out of the restless sleep she managed to fall into once she calmed Isaac down and went back to sleep. Under normal circumstances, she would have ignored the noise and gone back to sleep as she lived in a building, and strange sounds were an everyday occurrence. However, as it was, any change in her surroundings, no matter how small, could mean the difference between life and death.

Her heart rate increased when she noticed she was alone in the bed, and when Jasmine saw that the other bed was also unoccupied, she went into a full-on panic mode.

She almost tumbled in her hurry to get up and investigate what was happening as the blankets got entangled around her feet, tripping her up a few times. Still, the dread of being left all alone in the horrid place that was their world now was terrifying enough to keep her going as many crazy ideas ran a marathon through her mind.

Some of them were that the others were captured by the aliens or eaten by the human cannibals lacking food. Others were that they abandoned her for being less worthy, but all of them were negative ones, the ones filled with fears that stemmed from her past life, from her unloved existence.

She opened the door quickly and almost tripped on Isaac, sitting cross-legged in front of the door. They were both startled by the encounter as Isaac was about to doze off even though he was in such an awkward position.

"Whoa, whoa," Isaac said in a hurry. "Relax, it's just breakfast time, and since we've eaten so little in the last few days everyone hurried off to fill their tummies. Asher felt his children would be safer if he went with them as he doesn't trust these guys completely, but he also thought you might need more sleep because you didn't sleep well last night. Oh, and these guys seem to have some great food!"

Jasmine took a deep breath to calm herself now that the danger had passed, but there was no stopping her hands from shaking. It was the involuntary dance they performed each time her heart was in turmoil.

"Then why are you here?" Jasmine asked, surprised.

"Because I knew you would freak out," Isaac said knowingly, sounding like an old sage. "But they said no, she'll be fine."

He said the last part mockingly, making Jasmine smile, surprising herself that she had been smiling a lot, considering their whole worlds had ended or were at least irrevocably changed.

"Then why are you waiting out here and not inside?" Jasmine asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "And what was that loud noise right now?"

"You snore," Isaac said, shrugging his shoulders as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I do not!" Jasmine exclaimed offendedly, not entirely sure if that was the truth or not.

"You sure do," Isaac insisted, trying to imitate her snoring and sounding like a chainsaw cutting through the wood.

Jasmine's face turned crimson red from the embarrassment or anger she wasn't sure, but Jasmine chose not to say anything else, thinking he might be telling the truth. After all, she had never slept in the same room with someone and couldn't know for sure what kind of a sleeper she was.

"As for the noise, I'm not sure," Isaac said, looking around eagerly. "I was just about to explore... In the direction of breakfast."

"You know the way?" Jasmine asked as her stomach rumbled loudly, any talk of food reminding her how utterly ravenous she was.

"Yeah, one of the goonies told me how to get there. Follow me," Isaac said with the confidence Jasmine wouldn't have had even if they had told her the directions a million times over, her memory being as bad as it was.

"Oh, and you probably shouldn't call them goonies," Jasmine chastised Isaac hesitantly as she followed close behind him, unsure if she even had the right to tell him what to do or not do.

"I know, I know, and I won't call them that to their faces," Isaac said, taking a sharp left turn in the seemingly endless hallway.

The familiar smell of cooking hit Jasmine's nose like a wave of goodness, and for a moment, she just stood there, overwhelmed.

She never thought she would get to eat a homemade meal again, not after everything that had happened. For that reason, just smelling all those flavors seemed impossible, like a lucid dream.

There was way too much for her senses to pick up on, and having always been a person who received way too many stimuli from her surroundings, it tended to cause her headaches. So, Jasmine hurried towards the delicious food, needing some sustenance to better deal with her usual issues.

She didn't even notice she was sniffing the air and following the scent like a dog hot on a trail until she heard Isaac giggling merrily.

"And I thought I was hungry," Isaac said, following her, curious to see if she would smell her way to the canteen where Asher and the others were having breakfast.

When she stopped in front of the door marked 'canteen' with eerie precision, Isaac couldn't help but be impressed. After all, no matter how hungry he was, he could never smell his way to food.

They entered the canteen, their stomachs rumbling loudly in the room, oversaturated with many mouth-watering smells wafting around.

"There you are," Asher said when he noticed their entrance. "I was starting to get worried. I'll get you guys some food."

He said all that without waiting for a reply, so Jasmine sat at their table next to cheerful-looking Ariyana happy to let him choose her food as she felt like she could eat anything.

"How are you feeling today?" Jasmine asked Ariyana, taking a closer look at the healthy-looking girl.

"I feel great!" Ariyana exclaimed enthusiastically. "The food here is amazing! I could eat it every day!"

"I mean, yesterday..." Jasmine started to say but wasn't sure how to proceed for fear of bringing up the bad memories for the little girl.

"Oh, that," Ariyana replied cheerily. "Daddy told me I was sick yesterday and that I have to tell him if I feel strange at all but I don't remember not feeling well, and now I feel fantastic! Isn't that odd?"

Jasmine was shocked by her answer but thought it was for the best that she didn't remember, and that she found it all hilarious that she couldn't recall not feeling well or anything that happened the previous day.

"No way she smelled her way here!" Jasmine could hear Arman exclaiming in the silence that followed her and Ariyana's conversation.

"She sure did!" Isaac yelled back, sounding proud, as if he taught her how to do that.

"Here is your breakfast," Asher said moments later, putting a large tray filled with food before Jasmine. "I got you a little of everything as I didn't know what you liked."

"Thanks," Jasmine said quickly, immediately stuffing her face with food.

Asher put the second tray in front of Isaac, who started eating it but not as enthusiastically as Jasmine. Also, he didn't let out small happy sounds as those Jasmine seemed unable to stop from coming out.

Soon enough, their plates were polished up, which was lucky for them as one of the guys who kidnapped them ran into the room.

"The generator just exploded. One moment, it was working just fine, and then boom!" the guy exclaimed overexcitedly.

"Go get Melissa and the others. We need to move out," Plague barked out the orders, jumping up from his table in a hurry.

All Jasmine could think was why she left her backpack in the room and planned their running route to the door, get their things, and then they were to run to the town.

With plans made, they went into a spring.

Once again, they ran for their lives.