The Haven Project

Chapter 8

The sudden jostle of the truck brought me back to the real world.  When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see much.  The only light came from the small key hole of the trunk, illuminating Sydney's face.  She was still passed out, so I shook her just a little bit

"I don't wanna get up yet," she said groggily, obviously unaware of where we were.  She slowly opened her eyes, and they became wide with fear as she did so.  "Oh my gosh, we're gonna die," se said, her face draining of its color.

"No, I'm not gonna let that happen," I said, trying to keep an even voice to reassure her.  A sharp turn flung me on top of her, and I could hear her groan.  "Sorry."  I rolled back on to the bed of the trunk, my mind going a million miles per hour.  I knew that we had to figure out where we were, so I started looking around for the tail light.  A soft red glow appeared as we began to slow down, letting me know I had found it.  I positioned my foot over it and wedged my head and shoulders against the back of the trunk, giving me more leverage.

I lifted my foot and came down hard, feeling the light give way.  I rolled around to where I could see through the hole, peering through the opening.  Outside, I could see nothing but a dirt road and trees going for miles with no other cars in sight.  I sighed as I moved back over by Sydney.

"Did you see anything?" she asked, a slight tone of optimism in her voice.

"Nothing.  Just dirt and trees.  I don't even know how long we've been out."  I reached to my pocket, hoping that they had forgotten about my cell phone, but I came up empty handed.  We were in a trunk in the middle of nowhere, being taken to who knows where, and with no means of getting help.  Basically, we were screwed.

We began to slow down again, this time coming to a stop.  I heard the doors open and footsteps coming towards the back.  The head honcho opened the trunk and said, "Rise and shine.  Welcome to your new home."

************

When we emerged from the trunk, I had to shield my eyes from the blinding sun.  Once I could see, I almost laughed at the structure that stood before us.  It looked to be a sort of log cabin, with wooden pillars holding up a porch.  The house itself was rotted and caving in on itself.  A porch swing sat on the ground, the chains long gone from rust.  Walking up the steps, one broke in half and my foot fell through. A sudden burning told me that I had been cut, but I kept moving as the men ushered us forward.  When we reached the door, I realized that there really wasn't a door.  It was leaned against the wall to the side, filled with holes and covered in what looked like soot.

When we walked inside, Sydney and I instantly began to gag at the stench.  It smelled like raw sewage and decomposing roadkill.  I leaned over and vomited, making the already disgusting house that much worse.  They led us towards the back of the house where the smell only got worse.  Whatever was causing it was very close.  We reached a door covered in padlocks and deadbolts.  Looking to my right, I saw what was causing the smell.  What I thought was just another room was really a pit, filled to the brim with bodies.  There were probably hundreds of them, some looking to be years old, and some looking like they were alive yesterday.  Sydney looked over and finally lost it.  Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, vomiting all over the place.  One of the men pulled her up and made her stand, even though she looked like she could pass out at any moment.

The leader unlocked the door, seeming like he didn't even notice the pile of corpses just feet away.  Either that or he just didn't care.  Behind the door was a staircase that led down a long ways.  I couldn't even see the bottom.  They continued to make us walk forward, sandwiching us between them so we couldn't run.  When we finally reached the bottom, it was pitch black.  I couldn't even see Sydney, only squeeze her hand tight so we wouldn't get separated.  One of the goons hit a light switch, and we could finally see.  We were standing in front of another door, this one much more sophisticated than the last.  It had fingerprint scanners and voice recognition, and there were security cameras on both the door and the walls.  Whatever was back there must be really important.

We stood there for a few minutes while the men unlocked the door, passing all the security blocks.  A loud click let us know we could go in.  On the other side, Sydney and I gasped at what we saw.  We were on a platform above a giant room, filled with desks and people.  It sounded like a beehive with all the commotion.  Above this was a glass ceiling.  On the other side of the glass were cages filled with people.  Each cage held probably seven people, and they stretched as far as I could see.  Some of the people just sat there, others were banging on the glass.  It must have been really thick, because it was the only thing holding all those people up there.

We were escorted on to an elevator to our left, and we went up towards the cages.  We walked past hundreds of them, the people seeming oblivious to us, almost like it was normal for more people to be brought here.  We got to an empty cell and they pushed us inside.

"Who are all these people?" I demanded.  I had so many questions and needed so many answers.

"What," the leader said, "did you think you were the only one?"  And with that, he shut the cell and left us alone with our thoughts.