Survival

Skyrah

I wake up, sitting up quickly checking my body for any injuries. My head hurts so much. I remember when I was eleven my parents took me to a party, there were a few kids there, but not many. There were tables of glasses filled with a bright red liquid, I stole a glass and no one noticed until I threw up everywhere. It was alcohol, a wine probably, but when I woke up the next day my head stung and I felt dizzy and sleepy and all I wanted was a hug from my mom and sleep. That's what I feel like now, plus my limbs are achy and my neck and hip hurt from the thin mattress I seem to be laying on.

Where am I?

I look around, disoriented, I see a few people sitting against a wall, others standing by some crates, others just walking around. I see a man in a suit leaning up against the wall, he unbuttons his suit jacket and smiles at me, and pushing himself away from the wall he walks over.

Wesley Carter. I am going to die. I panic and search for a weapon, that's when I notice Alaric is gone. They've already taken him.

"Where did you take him?" I shout, my voice breaking with the realisation that he could already be dead.

"He's fine Skyrah, you're all safe, and no one is going to hurt you here" he says sitting down next to me.

"But it said in my file" I pause "that you were going to kill me that you needed to"

"I am with the government Skyrah, that is no mistake, but I am also part of the insurgent scheme set up here, I'm trying to save people, we are trying to save people" he says motioning to everyone around him. He explains to me the purpose of the programme and how Rick is going to be their leader and how I need to be trained. He also tells me there is someone that I need to meet. I look over at Astraea and the others. Astraea's mouth hangs open and her porcelain arm hangs down by her side, but I see her chest moving very slowly and I know she's okay. I drag myself up and stretch out, my muscles burning as I do so. Wesley gets up and leads me down a corridor, then another, then another until we get to a room. He opens the steel doors and I see a large glowing table in the middle with holograms hovering a few centimetres above. A woman with tanned skin and dark wavy hair stands next to the table, her hands gripping the edge as she leans forward. Alaric's brows are furrowed as he looks over the holograms, another man stands at the edge of the room, a phone in his hand, and a girl sits on a chair at the edge with a pad of paper on her lap, a pencil in her mouth. She looks too young to be here. Alaric looks up and spots me, eyes gleaming with excitement, he walks over and presses his lips to mine, soft and quick. I can taste him, salty and dark. I don't know if someone can taste dark, but I knew that Rick did. He pulls away smiling. I look at him unsure. He takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. He leads me over to the dark haired woman.

"My name is Gabriella" she says extending her hand, short but slim fingers wrap around my hand.

"I take it you already know who I am" I say confidently. The woman stands up straighter, flattening her shirt as she does so. She nods and leads me over to the table. Everything is dark, the lights flicker every so often and the thick concrete walls have started cracking in places, this room is old, this place is old. Flawless is not the word I'd use.

"Are we underground?" I ask taking in the lack of windows and the permanent dimness to the room.

"Yeah, it's not perfect but the government have no idea that we are right beneath them, this is literally underneath the basement of the city hall, they built it as a sort of safety bunker, were anything to ever happen to Creptium, but my father was in charge of the project, he told the other government members that the project was abandoned, that's why they have no clue" Gabriella says pulling a chair over from the side of the room.

"Gabriella" Alaric starts "how are you still alive?" he says looking at her, eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge.

"Ah the dreaded question" she says flopping back onto the chair. She takes a deep breath and begins.