Labyrinth: Stranded The Series (bxb)

Escape - Part 2

(Joshua's POV) 

I open my eyes to a blinding light and the harsh sound of sirens in the distance. My body aches, every muscle screaming in protest as I try to move. For a second, I can't remember where I am, what happened. But then it hits me all at once: the labyrinth, the creatures, the fog, Dillon.

I'm lying on the ground next to the bus—the same bus that should've taken us to some basic field trip, not a nightmare we'd barely escape from. The world around me is eerily quiet, except for the occasional distant shout from a cop or paramedic. My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton, my thoughts sluggish as I blink up at the gray sky.

We made it out. We fucking survived.

I sit up slowly, my body protesting every movement. Around me, I see the others—or what's left of us. Only six. Out of everyone we started with, only six of us are here. A couple of frat brothers, Dillon, Matt, and Kim. Everyone else is... gone. And then there's Emily. Her body's gone, but I can still see her face in my mind, twisted with fear, her dead eyes staring into nothing.

I rub my face with my hands, trying to shake off the memories, but it's no use. The images are burned into my mind. I feel raw, like I've been hollowed out and left with nothing but the worst parts of myself. And the worst part? I don't even feel relieved to be out. Just... numb.

Dillon is talking to someone—one of the cops, I think—his voice low and hoarse. He looks wrecked. There's blood on his face, dried and cracked along his cheekbone, and his shirt is torn, but he's standing. He's alive. That's all that matters right now.

I try to stand, but my legs are shaky, weak, like I haven't used them in weeks. Maybe I haven't. The cops are saying something about how we've been missing for four months. Four months. How is that even possible? It felt like days, a week at most. Time didn't make sense in the labyrinth, and now, back in the real world, it still doesn't.

A paramedic comes over, asking me questions, but I barely hear them. I keep looking around, searching for faces that aren't there, for friends who didn't make it out. I hear Matt crying quietly somewhere behind me, but I can't even process that. The grief, the fear—it's all too much.

"We'll take care of him," the paramedic says, touching my arm, but I barely register the contact. My mind is still somewhere else, trapped in the maze, stuck with those creatures, with the memories I thought I could forget. But they're still here.

I catch a glimpse of Dillon's parents rushing toward him, their faces etched with worry and relief. His mom throws her arms around him, and for a moment, I look away, feeling a bitter pang of something I can't name. It's stupid. But as I sit here, with no one coming for me, the absence of any family—anyone at all—feels like a slap in the face.

No one is coming for me. Not that I'm surprised. I never expected anyone to.

The cops are swarming us now, questions firing left and right, but no one really has any answers. How could we explain what happened? No one would believe us. We're just a bunch of traumatized students who went missing in the fog for four months and returned with nothing but scars and dead friends.

"We got lost in the mist," Dillon says quietly, standing beside me now. His voice is calm, but there's something hollow in it. "We couldn't find our way out."

It's a simple lie. A necessary one. What else can we say? That we were trapped in a supernatural labyrinth, hunted by creatures that fed on our fear and despair? Yeah, no one's going to believe that. Not even us, and we lived through it.

The police don't push too hard. They nod, writing down what we say, but I can tell they don't buy it. Still, what are they going to do? Call us liars? We've been missing for months, and we're barely holding it together. The best they can do is block off the road, make sure no one else stumbles into whatever the hell we got caught in. But it won't fix anything. Not really.

The ambulances start arriving, lights flashing, and the paramedics move in, checking us over, loading us onto stretchers. I let them do their thing, not even bothering to fight it. I'm too tired, too fucking drained to care. They strap me in, asking more questions, but my answers are automatic. I'm not really there anymore.

As they load me into the ambulance, I catch a glimpse of Dillon again. His parents are hovering over him, fussing, and I watch as he shakes them off, looking around for someone—me, maybe. But I'm already being wheeled away, the doors closing behind me with a heavy, final thud.

In the back of the ambulance, it's quiet. Too quiet. I stare up at the ceiling, my thoughts racing, my heart still pounding from the adrenaline that hasn't quite worn off. I can't stop thinking about everything that's happened, about everything we've lost. About Emily. About the others. About what comes next.

And then there's Dillon.

I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do with everything I'm feeling. With the fact that we kissed in the middle of all that chaos, with the way my heart races when I think about it. About him. There's so much unresolved shit between us, but none of it matters right now. Not when we've just survived hell.

The paramedic glances over at me, her expression sympathetic. She doesn't ask any more questions, just checks my vitals, muttering something about shock and trauma. She has no idea. None of them do.

We reach the hospital, and the doors open with a rush of cool air. They wheel me out, the flashing lights from the ambulances and police cars blurring together as they push me through the doors. Everything feels surreal, like I'm watching it all from a distance, like I'm not really here. Like part of me is still stuck in that fucking labyrinth, lost in the fog, waiting for the creatures to come back.

They hook me up to machines, start running tests, but I tune it all out. My mind is racing, but my body feels like it's shutting down, like I'm finally crashing after being in survival mode for so long.

After a while, a nurse comes in, her expression kind but professional. "We tried calling your emergency contact," she says, her voice soft. "But... there was no answer."

Of course there wasn't. My mom probably didn't even notice I was gone. My brother's still the center of her world, and I'm just the kid she forgets about. Nothing new there.

I nod, not really caring. "It's fine," I say, my voice flat. "I don't need anyone."

She gives me a sad look, like she feels sorry for me, but I don't want her pity. I just want to be left alone. She leaves me there, alone with my thoughts, and I stare at the ceiling, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me.

Dillon. The others. The ones we lost.

I close my eyes, trying to shut it all out, but the memories won't leave me alone. The creatures, the fog, the endless corridors of the labyrinth... it's all still there, lurking in the back of my mind, waiting for me to close my eyes so it can drag me back in.

I don't know how we're supposed to move on from this. How we're supposed to go back to our lives like nothing happened. Because the truth is, everything's changed. We've changed. And I don't think we're ever going to be the same again.