55

Chapter 1

Nick awoke with two things on his mind. The first was water.

He arose from the ground from where he was sleeping and began to look for some. He couldn't really find his way, because all of the blood was rushing back into his head. He lifted his arm to catch his fall and only inches from where he stood he fell. His arm planted onto the nearby wall, mere inches away. The cold metallic surface alarmed him slightly, but he couldn't move anywhere else. Finally when his eyes reopened and he could see again, he couldn't recall where he was. Or rather, how he got there.

He stood back a couple steps and could clearly see where he was laying before he had awoken. He looked down and saw a mattress with one blanket, grey colored. He made a full rotation to see the total area of his room and he realized it was smaller than an elevator. Nick noticed that there was an open doorway in front of him directly, with no doors attached or hinged anywhere. He turned himself around. There was a window, nearly 5 whole feet above his head.

He noticed that the window was closed off, and that there was no sunlight being let in from it.

Sunlight, Nick thought to himself. He remembered his initial mission. Nick slowly took a step out of the open doorway. One. Two. Three steps out. The first thing he noticed was another room just like his. And another. Side by side in a row for miles he could see. And on his side, they lasted for miles as well. It was dark but not pitch dark, as there was one flickering hallway light just outside of his room. He could see all these open rooms and nobody in them.

Nick heard a crackling noise from down the hall. Then he heard the same noise amplified in his room. "Last call for all Block C subjects, please report to the commons in the main wing". The man's voice that spoke the words was deep and grumbling. It seemed almost habitual for him and that it was just part of his job.

Nick started to feel a headache coming on and his nausea kicked in. He could feel his head pulsating at every eager thought for a drop of water. Nick made his way fully out of his room and realized that there were more lights down only the left side of the hallway. The right side was pitch black. Nick assumed that travelling the lighter side was a better idea and would probably help him find his way.

He started following the trail of lights above him, gleaming in a bright but also somewhat dim fashion. These lights were dimmer than he remembered seeing. He walked and walked for what felt like ages until he finally met a set of double doors. He glared at the obnoxiously large doors. They were barred and seemed like they had windows in them once before but they were broken out and covered in trash bags. Nick tried pushing the door open and it didn't budge.

After a few tries, he attempted pulling, and it wasn't working either. He took a step back and examined the contents of the door. It was 8 feet tall, barred, and had no handle. The middle of the door contained the small vertical broken window, and he could see nothing through it. As Nick went to attempt to open the door again, the crackling noise reimaged.

"There's a button, 55." Nick looked up, confused. He looked all around because this time the voice sounded more realistic and a lot closer than the first one. He shuddered. "Where?" Nick yelled back in a feeble, cracky voice. "Bottom right." Nick approached the door with caution and noticed the small yellow button towards the bottom of the door. He hadn't even noticed it.

He bent down to push the button and the door compressed out of it's area. Even though there were no hinges, the door was opening as if there were, but very slowly. "Thank you!" Nick yelled as loud as he could, which wasn't very. The doors continued to open and Nick was a little weary of just bursting straight in. The door opened all the way, and before he could enter, a gleam of light pierced his eyes. These lights were most definitely brighter and more magnified than the ones in the hallway behind him. Nick held his hand up to his face and let his eyes adjust to the new setting. He lowered his hand to reveal that he was in a tunnel of a sort, and the exit was only a few feet in front of him. Nick turned around to see that the large door behind him had completely vanished, and that now it was just a white wall. Nick scratched his head.

"Welcome, 55". The man's voice from earlier penetrated Nick's eardrums and even made him jump. Nick was in awe. He wasn't sure if he was to speak as he did before or just stand still. After a few seconds of silence, Nick began getting antsy. All he wanted was some water. "I have a name you know." he said feebly. "Beginning decompression process". Nick assumed the voice was just waiting for a response from him. The tunnel began releasing fumes and spraying them on Nick. He held his breath. The fumes were red and were being released into his facial region.

After a minute or so the fumes had stopped, and the door in front of him opened slowly. "Process complete. Welcome to the commons, Nick." Nick looked up in awe, but was too sick to be bothered by it. He walked out of the front door and heard a noise he hadn't heard in quite some time. People. Nick walked into the commons area where there were multiple other people. Everyone around him had on white jumpsuits, and in the blatantly white, spot-free room, they almost radiated. He looked down at his baggy red t-shirt and black pants. Nick was obviously confused, but couldn't ponder it now. He was beginning to feel dehydrated. He quickly bolted to a table where one of the many people were sitting. "Hi, I'm Nick. No time to explain, bu-" "55."

The voice rumbled in his eardrums behind him. Nick was afraid to turn around. This was the closest proximity the voice had ever been. He spun slowly from the table he was at and the crowd of people fell silent. The man was a very tall and large, who had a darker complexion and a muscular tone. Nick looked up to talk to him, but was too afraid to speak. The man had one hand behind his back and began pacing slowly toward Nick. He began to back up to the table until he was leaning on it and the man had almost been within inches of his face. He swiftly pulls his hand from behind his back to reveal a small, fragile pitcher of water. "You requested this, did you not? Why are you running?" The voice seemed to shake the entire area.

Nick was confused. "How did y-" "Take the water, Nick." Nick snatched it out of his hand without hesitation and began drinking willfully. After consuming the entire pitcher, he handed it back to the man and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He then looked back up with authority and glared at the man. "Who are you, how do you know me, and where am I?" The large man took a few steps back. "Follow me." The man then took off with haste and Nick turned to look at the crowd of people. They were all trembling in fear and confusion. He spun back around and noticed the man had already turned a corner without him. Nick ran towards him at full speed. He had no idea where he was going, and 1 of the 2 problems on his mind have been resolved.

Now for the second one.