The Beige Room

Chapter 3

          Nala woke up with her head pounding. Her throat was dry and her neck was stiff. She opened both eyes and stretched, extending her arms and legs out. Her vision cleared. Nala took in her surroundings. She was in a cell-like room, with cinder blocks painted beige and a huge mirror on one side. There were five other cots lined up next to each other and a large brown carpet that overtook half the room. It looked like a failed attempt to make the room feel homey. Nala stood up and turned, there were two men looking at her. One of them looked like he was in his forties.He had a plain gray T-shirt and cargo pants. Around his neck was a dog tag, he must've been in the military. He had cropped brown hair and stubble lining his jaw. The other man was younger with a mass of curly blond hair on his head. He was wearing a white polo shirt and had a necklace on with a leather pouch and many charms adorning the string. He had on sandals and flowy pants. They were both staring at her.

"Who are you?" Nala spoke her voice thick from sleep.

"We could ask you the same question." The blond one said.

"There is no 'we'," the old man said gruffly. "My name is Kalum and that's all I remember".

"My name is Nala," she said, "What are we doing here?"..."And how did I get here?"

"No idea, love, but the name is Archer," the blond man said.

          Nala took in everything. She ran to the door and tried turning the knob. It didn't budge. She could feel panic rising in her and she desperately hit at the door, trying to move it.

"It's no use," Kalum said, "the door is re-enforced steel"

"How do you know that!?," Nala said, desperate to find answers.

"I'm not too sure, but I did wake up hours ago and I tried everything," Kalum said.

          Nala slumped against the door, defeated. She looked around and caught sight of three people lying on the cots. Two of them were boys and one was a girl. The girl had bright pink hair in two pigtails and was wearing what seemed like a school uniform, with a navy polo and khaki skirt. One of the boys was Indian with a very thin and lanky frame. He had dark hair, and was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. The other boy was short and had brown hair and was wearing a blazer with a school logo emblazoned on it. Nala sunk down onto her knees and searched under the cots. Nothing but dust bunnies. Kalum was pacing up and down the room, lost in his own world. Archer was the exact opposite of Kalum, he was cool and collected, sitting on his cot and filing his nails with a file. Nala assumed it was in his pocket at the time. Nala eyes lit up and she searched her pockets for anything that could be of use. She only found a few wires, car keys, and a small flash drive.

          She heard the stirrings of someone waking up. Nala's head shot to the cot, with the Indian boy laying on it.

"I think he's waking up," she said.

          His head turned and his eyes widened. One eye was brown and the other eye was green. She could sense Kalum and Archer's presence behind her.

"What's your name?" Nala asked.

          The boy looked like he was about to say it, but something held him back and instead he said," Where am I?"

"Answer the question first," Kalum said roughly. His eyes narrowed at the boy in the cot.

          The Indian boy didn't answer and instead stared at everyone in the room. Who knew what was going on in his mind. Nala realized that when she woke up, she immediately trusted Archer and Kalum. I need to be more careful Nala thought.

"Ok! This is bloody ridiculous, this kid isn't going to talk". Archer paused, " But when you do start talking I just wanna let you know that my names Archer".

          Nala looked at the Indian boy, gauging his reaction. He only stared at Archer with unease. It seemed that he was not very trusting. Archer simply walked back to his cot and took out his file again.

"My name is Nala," she spoke up, trying to fill the deafening silence.

          The Indian boy's gaze shifted from Archer's to Nala, as he look at her with an inquisitive look on his face. Nala stared back at the boy waiting for him to ask the question, that was bursting to come out.