Echos of Amnesia

Chapter 3

As I walked through the dark musty tunnels I was reminded solemnly of waking up in that dark apartment basement, only difference was the piercing cold that touched the walls, small echoes of frost touched the crease between the wall and floor. This place had never been touched by sun and only few people knew about it.

After a couple of hours of walking I stopped at a fork in the path, I knew which way to go, Mora is due east of Heightstin, the right tunnel. I just needed a rest after walking for so long.

I sat down against the cold wall and closes my eyes. It's times like these I love, no running, no EOA, just silence where I can collect my thoughts and dream of who I was before this whole mess began.

And that's exactly what I was doing before I heard heavy footsteps and shallow breaths coming from the left tunnel.

I threw my hood over my head hoping that in some way I would match the darkness and wouldn't be seen.

The EOA couldn't have found the tunnels, not so soon, they are secure with very little knowledge about them around, only rumours about the tunnels underground that have no entrance, hence why no one had found them yet but us that knew.

A couple of moments later I heard the footsteps slow and the breathing become more regular.
I could assume it was a guy due to the tone of breathing and heaviness of the footsteps, not to mention every once in a while he would mutter something uncatchable under his breath.

I heard him slump down against the other side of the wall and lean his head back.

I contemplated peeking around the corner to see who he was, but kept my suspicions to myself and closed my eyes again praying he would catch his breath then leave the way he came.

"You heading to Mora too?"

Well, shit.

I looked up at the man leaning against the wall behind me.
He couldn't have been much older than me, 19-20 I think. He wore casual jeans, his jacket unzipped showing a casual tee underneath, he had blonde hair from what I could see and deep blue eyes. Honestly he didn't look half bad, not to mention he wasn't wearing that stupid EOA uniform.

After scanning him over I simply shrugged and closed my eyes again.

"Maybe, what is it to a stranger though?"

To this he replied by sitting next to me casually and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing really, but if you were then surely some company would be nice."

"Company from someone I don't know? What the hell makes you think I can trust you?"

He shrugged. His calm tone starting to piss me off more than the fact he was treating me like a friend. I only trust the people I know, the people that people that I chose to speak to.

"Maybe you can't, just a suggestion. I'm Fox by the way."

"What the hell kind of a name is that?"

I brushed away the hand he offered me and instead got up. I'm not rude, I just have places to be and people to run from.

"I know you're running from the EOA Ashley."

I paused for a second contemplating whether or not to go back. How much does he know?
I looked back over my shoulder.

"Are you a part of the EOA?"

He shook his head and got up, still leaning against the concrete wall that had suddenly made the scene a whole lot colder.

"No, I'm running from them, like you. You woke up in that apartment right? The one that was burnt up. I was there when it happened, I was across the road. The EOA isn't just looking for you Ashley, they're looking for anyone who was there that day."

I sighed and walked back over.

"How much do you know? About all this?"

He shook his head and for the first time I saw him look uncertain.

"Not much, enough for them to want me taken though."

I leaned against the wall next to him head down and hands in my pockets.

"What could you tell me about the accident? About why they're taking the people who know?"

"How about I tell you on the way to Mora? That is where you're heading, so we're only going the same way anyway."

He looked at me and I wasn't completely sure, but I could have sworn I saw a slight flicker of uncertainty and even fear flash through his eyes.

I studied him a couple of seconds longer before pushing off the wall and starting to walk down the stone corridor.

"Fine but you tell me everything you know. Who was there, What they looked like, When it started, Why you were there and how that damn fire started! And for gods sake, my name is Ash, not Ashley!"

Slightly startled, Fox followed to my right and began to explain everything.