Survivors

Chapter Twenty: Reasons Why

Author's Note: So from here on out, Sierra is narrating once again but as you'll see this time, it's in present tense. It's to be assumed that she's finally caught up in recording her tale and perhaps she's been in present tense for a while but whatever it is isn't that important so it's not going to be included. So really, she's technically narrating from what's going on at the moment and that's why it's really weird. We're also going to assume that the timeframes between both portions of  "A New World" ("Liora's Awakening" and "My Awakening") are the same. So essentially, both storylines are happening at once, like both portions of "Our Apocalypse". I tried to make that apparent with the whole same-breakfast thing but once it evolved to the same menu plan every week... the reference kind of fell apart. Now, without further ado, let us continue.

Tyler and I are standing, looking over the balcony. It is midday. The sun reflects its light over the water beautifully. We don't say anything to each other; all that can be heard is my voice to the recorder and a gull's distant cry. Maybe it means we're coming to the end. I don't know what exactly but in some stories, ahem, Lord of the Rings, the cries of gulls are pretty significant.

Suddenly, we hear the door being unlocked and a man in black enters. Since he is wearing a mask and hood, we cannot see his face. Soon, more men shoot out from the door and bind our hands. We are led out of our room into a large, white corridor that looks like it goes on for miles. Today had to be the day I decided to wear the gown again! For the past few weeks, I've been wearing my usual clothes but today, I just had to be wearing the gown from Christmas Eve! Of course the men in black hear everything I say and demand in a foreign language what sounds like I need to hold my tongue, so I lower my voice.

As Tyler and I are being led out into the corridor, he grabs my bound hands with his own and the men in black start to flank us on either side. I look behind me and see two of them behind us and two in the front leading us to our destination.

"Where are we going?" I ask. ... I am answered with silence. We are led down the endless corridor until we approach a turn, which start getting more and more frequent as we go along. If Tyler and I had to somehow make our way back to our room, I'm sure it would take us eternity to find it. Finally, after what seems to be an hour of walking, we reach a large set of double doors.

The two men on either side of us open the huge doors for our group. We march outside, in the real fresh air, no longer trapped in our prison. Here, the wind howls and a blizzard rages, so very different from our "paradise" next to the ocean. I want to warm my arms which are slowly decreasing in temperature but my hands are bound. Tyler and I are led up a metal-and-rubber ramp that goes into some sort of aircraft. It was larger than any vehicle I have seen of late. Of course, I haven't seen any vehicle lately.

The much-warmer interior of the aircraft looks like a cross between Captain America: The First Avenger and the hovercraft interior of the first Hunger Games. The men in black make signs with their hands as they shout angrily at Tyler and me to sit in the seats lining the walkway. We sit, our hands finally tearing apart so that we can allow ourselves to be latched in by the men in black. After being strapped in, I look around and I see Liora (who oddly looks fuller in the middle), Adrian, Ali, Rex, Helayna, and Gigi.

The ramp lifts itself and the door closes; we take off. Through a small window, I can see that we are leaving a base, relatively compact in a region of snowy mountains. So we really weren't by the ocean at all; it was all a ploy, a mind trick. I look over at my friends.

"Where are Luke and Louisa?" I ask, my brow furrowed.

"They were killed as soon as the hall was invaded," says Ali. She looks skinnier than I remember, perhaps prison wasn't the same for her as it had been for me. The change in weight is actually saying something, since Ali is already very thin, or was, I suppose.