Project Genesis

CHAPTER THREE.

On the ground in front of them was a skeleton. It was partially covered by the dry sand, a few of its ribs protruding slightly, but what Orion found most troubling was the skull. The entire skull was black and looked as though somebody had poured acid over it, with parts of the skull caved in or missing entirely. The empty eye sockets seemed to stare directly into Orion's soul, giving her an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"I'm sure that's just what happens when a body decays, there's no need to freak out. It's just a skeleton." Corvus tried his best to sound confident, but the wavering in his voice betrayed him.

Although nobody said it, the underlying truth was evident in everyone's minds. If this is what midnight did to one person, what could it have done to the world?

Lupus had bent down and was examining the body closer. Orion looked over the body, a million thoughts reeling in her mind. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what it was, but something inside her didn't feel right. As she looked at the body, a small piece of paper caught her eye; it was peeking out of the sand near where the skeleton's hand was.

"Lupus, look at that." She pointed out the corner of the paper, barely visible in the sand's covering.

Lupus pulled at the corner and revealed a small, tarnished piece of paper inscribed with a few words.

"What does it say?" Corvus questioned eagerly.

Lupus looked up from the paper, a grim expression on his face. Corvus' eager face fell as he realized that whatever the paper contained, it wasn't good.

"It says, 'abandon all hope,'" Lupus said solemnly, watching as the other's faces contorted to ones of fear and confusion. Orion couldn't help but frown slightly. Whoever had died here clearly had seen the horrors of Midnight, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to see them for herself.

"Look, over there!" One of the girls shouted out, pointing in the distance.

It took Orion a second, but then she saw it. It didn't look like much, a hulking black shape in the middle of the desert sand, but at that moment anything seemed more promising than where they were.

Carina, the girl who had spotted the shape, looked at the others expectantly.

"Well? What are we waiting for? We should go over there." She motioned her hand to the distance before crossing her arms.

"We don't even know what that is," Crux said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I for one know that whatever that is, it is a hell of a lot better than being stuck here in the sand, so please, feel free to stay here with the empty room with no food or water," Corvus was quick to retort, still angry from the comments Crux had made earlier.

"Guys, I think we are missing an important thing here," Lyra timidly interrupted, her shy demeanour increasing as the other's turned to look at her.

"Like you said Corvus, we don't have any food or water. How are we supposed to cross a desert without any food or water?" Her logic was sound, several people nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, I'd rather not starve thanks," Leo joked lightly, a few in the group forced sympathetic smiles. Orion's face remained stoic. If the creatures in the video still existed, they were going to have more problems on their hand than starvation.

"You're right, there has got to be something in that room that we can use." Corvus began to walk back towards the now empty room, stepping up slightly to get inside. Orion watched as he looked around and then cocked his head in confusion.

"Uh, guys? I'm not going crazy, am I?" Corvus questioned, yelling back to the group behind him.

The rest of the group jogged over to see what he was talking about. Orion stepped up beside Corvus and looked inside. At the floor of each pod, there were backpacks that Orion was almost certain hadn't been there before. She watched as Corvus walked forward to the pod he had been in and grabbed the backpack in front of it.

"They have our names on them," he said, crouching down to open it up.

Orion strode over next to him and found the bag that had her name on it, the others following suit. Everyone except Crux seemed eager to find out what the bags contained. He stood at the door and watched the others apprehensively.

"Unlike you, I'd rather not trust some random bag. We have no idea where those came from," Crux said, crossing his arms.

"Well, let's see," Corvus said rummaging through the bag.

"Food, water, shelter. I don't know about you, but unless you want to sit here and starve, the creepy random space bags seem to be our best bet if we want to reach whatever it is that's out there," Corvus smirked as Crux's expression faltered slightly. Rolling his eyes, Crux walked over and scooped up the bag, not bothering to look through its contents.

Orion lingered with her hands in her bag, looking over what it contained. She moved through the contents slowly, mentally categorizing each of them. There were a bunch of silver packages that seemed to contain various dehydrated foods. If they rationed them long enough, they would be able to get through a few weeks before they needed food.

Along with the food, there was a large metal bottle filled with water. Water, on the other hand, was another issue. She knew they would be in desperate need of more water before they ever ran out of food. The bag also contained a few other necessities like a small compact blanket and some matches. Orion was about to zip up the bag when she noticed something metallic glinting at the bottom. Her eyebrows furrowed as she reached her hand in and pulled out a small handgun. Her stomach felt uneasy as she placed the gun back into the bottom of the bag before quickly zipping it up; her mind reeling with thoughts and uncertainties.

What was out there that was so bad that she needed a gun to protect herself?