Neurodiverse

Episode 3: Out Of Sight

"What are we even doing man?" I asked out of concern for his plan and the reason we were sneaking around a place that I was welcomed to. Gary was quiet for the first time, it almost felt like I was the one blabbing this time, asking question after question because of my interest in all the goings on around here. There were square pieces of metal for walls almost too perfectly shaped, and long hallways filled with rooms almost like one of those fancy hotels but dirtier.

Much, much dirtier than the fancy hotels. "Gary was in front of me crouched down all sneaky. I was just following along trying to imitate him since he looked like a pro at this. That's when I had the feeling we were being watched. Right after that came the chills, when I turned around a shadowy figure was following us. "Someone is following us" I whispered quietly to my Gary but he didn't  hear me for some reason.

Grabbing his shoulder I got him turned in my direction. Looking into his eyes I saw something that I didn't have. It was an absolute focus on the task at hand unlike any other. "Stop talking Zero we have no time for that and why is your name Zero, isn't that a number," he said, even after I thought he had absolute focus. We reached the end of the hallway and stood in front of the elevator but we weren't taking that so we walked up the stairs. Reaching to the top of the building I noticed right away how tall it was.

Placing my hands on the cold steel rails, Gary looked at me and said: "look, really look". Raising my head and opening my eyes widely in shock I saw it, finally. A broken down city with no electricity, some buildings had holes torn through the bricks like it was paper. "What do you think about this sight young men?" a very well spoken deep voice said. It was Sarah who was somehow great at an impression of a man. "You two are really good at sneaking around but really easy to follow too". But behind her stood Wendy like a quiet little shadow and she said her first words that were "Do any of you know the name of the man with red hair?"

When I thought about it I realized that I didn't know his name and he never once said it to me. I will ask him next time we meet and where does he even stay inside this weird contraption. Wendy looked at Gary and then at me, moving away from us by a few steps but Sarah grabbed hold of Gary's arm and he barely even noticed a girl was holding onto him. All four of us stood there and I just looked down upon what's left of my home town, gripping tightly onto the railing with a slight teardrop falling from my right eye.

Gary placed his hand on my shoulder and without a word turned me to him and smiled. Other than overcoming being trapped in a basement for years by my own father I realized I knew nothing and could do nothing but yet I wanted to know what was happening and still try to fix this mess. Along the way probably making some new connections and having a cheeseburger.

We eventually walked down the stairs and through the hallway again but this time as we came down all the doors in the hallway were opened. Staying close to each other we huddled together, I wasn't exactly scared since staying in a dark basement with only a small beam of light was the best way to get used to being afraid of the dark. Walking slowly together and looking in each room, there was only darkness and nothing to see on the inside.

The hallway seemed to get longer with each step we took then my face hit something warm. It was our local redhead general guy. "What are you doing here?" he said in his welcoming voice. "Yo, we were wondering what your name is bro!" Gary shouted, breaking his past silence and causing the mood of the room to change drastically. The redhead looked down at me seeming taller for some reason and suddenly people were coming out of the rooms "You new guys shouldn't worry about a thing!" and it was made even weirder because they spoke all at the same time.

We woke up in our beds the next morning and all got around a table in the morning for breakfast. All agreeing that we saw the same thing and Wendy spoke more, "Came here looking for a friend because she came here and I'm looking for her". I didn't want to admit that I just came here randomly and that was the briefest thing ever. Redhead came in the room.

Everyone else got up and left so we got up too. Leaving the room, redhead placed his arm in front of me and asked me "What do you want to know?" and I answered, "Your name". He opened his eyes as if he was shocked I asked that. We sat down, he glared at me and it made me feel chills down my spine. Openly he asked, "how can you ask that question?" I was like (isn't it a standard to know someone's name when you stay with them) and someone else was standing to the left of me without me noticing. "Heya I am Raj, nice to meet you" putting his hand to me for a shake. I didn't want to because he was very dirty, covered in oil. "I built the chair you sit on and the entire building" I was amazed but didn't believe him. "You can join our circle, boy and then I can tell you what's happening here". As Interested as I was, I had to decline because Wendy's eyes glared at me as if she was reading my lips at that exact moment to know my decision.

Suddenly the door closed and I couldn't see her anymore. "What are you guys doing?" I asked with concern. Out came a cold breeze that changed the temperature of the room immensely. "This is Michaela, the ice princess," said RedHead. She stood behind me and when I finally got a look, she was very short with sky blue eyes. (She is the reason this place stays cool I guess). "Now I'm giving you and your friends a mission because staying with someone isn't free" these words came from the mouth of a man without a name but I figured if we went along with it, I might get some answers as to what's going on. Not even I could calculate what was coming.