placebo's machine

Frighten 4

Frighten

“That- what was that?”

A shiver raced through her body, making her curl into a tight ball. Evangeline cast frightened eyes to the ceiling. Little flakes of dust drifted down, settling in the folds of her clothing, her eyes, her nose. She resisted the urge to sneeze.

A hand came over her mouth, and the body attached to it pulled her across the floor. Evangeline kicked her feet, propelling herself to the wall Gabriel was tugging her towards faster.

She huddled next to him, wringing her hands. Evangeline looked at him with wide eyes, and he pointed up and mouthed Patroller.

She was shaking, she realized. Fear, no doubt. She wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything, but that was in theory. Now, she wondered how anyone could feel the trembling of the earth beneath them and not be sick.

Evangeline clamped her eyes shut. She wanted it to go away. But the machine seemed to have stopped, like a dog smelling the air. Cold sweat beaded her forehead, trickling down to her chin.

A whirring sound came and it took all of Evangeline’s will to not whimper. More bits of rock floated from the roof, but now some of them seemed to be larger, like pebbles.

“This way,” Gabriel whispered into her ear. Evangeline jumped a little. “Quietly, please.”

He tugged on her sleeve, directing her to another corner of the cave. This was the one where the baskets of food and supplies were stored, and seemed to be one very large, flat rock balanced at an angle over two, smaller boulders. The cracks where the outside would have been visible were sealed with stones the size of her fist. Out of them all, it seemed to be the place with the most secure infrastructure.

Gabriel pushed several baskets out of the way, one spilling over and sending dozens of potatoes rolling across the floor. He pressed himself against the wall, motioning for Evangeline to sit opposite him.

Tremors shook the cave. There seemed to be multiple Patrollers outside, the sound of their bodies moving sending the sound of a thousand drills piercing the air. High pitched beeping filled Evangeline’s ears, and the sound of footsteps came closer.

Evangeline’s wide eyes met Gabriel’s. He didn’t seem quite so frightened, but his lips were pressed together as if a rather worrisome topic had been presented to him.

“I…” Evangeline felt like she had to say something. “Thank you.”

He held a finger to his mouth, indicating for her to be quiet. But he gave her a slight smile.

The whirring and beeping sounds came ever closer. Evangeline closed her eyes again and put her hands over her face.

Ever closer.

Closer.

There.

And they continued past, completely walking past their hideout. Slowly, the sounds of drills and mechanic parts faded, replaced with the sound of trees rustling in the wind and Evangeline’s own quiet breaths.

“They’re gone,” Gabriel stated flatly.

Evangeline didn’t move.

“Please leave so I can get out, too.”

“What if they come back?” Evangeline knew it was a rather silly question, but she still felt worried.

“They might, but later. They sort of…well… patrol. That’s why we call them Patrollers.” Evangeline decided to ignore the fact that Gabriel had said ‘we’ and not ‘I’.