SOJOURNER (III): tmr gally

05: I should be not okay with this

Leo 5

I wake up, and the universe is still and quiet. Only the soft huff of Dawn's breathing fills the morning air. Even Ella has stilled to a quiet. Since there is no window, I can't tell if it is night, or morning, or sometime in between. I think I misplaced my watch.

The world has come to a still. I exist in a place that no one else has existed before and will ever exist again.

It's odd. As I crawl out of bed, I realise my arms are sturdier than they've ever been before. They tense, lifting me out of the scratchy sheets. My feet shuffle along the ground as I walk to the next room. The doorknob is cold in my hands, colder than my bare feet. I turn, the sound awakening the day.

In the room next to ours, there is a man, who wasn't here before, sitting at a desk, that wasn't here before. He's reading a book.

I slink into the wall behind me trying to blend in with the shadows of the dimly lit room. He cocks an eyebrow at the sound of me shuffling.

"Take an apple," he instructs, without lifting his eyes from the page. Carefully holding it closer to his face, he inspects the words.

There is a table in front of him, loaded with food. I take a step forward towards it, and the bowl of fruit in the center of it. There are bags of nuts, granola bars, and all different kinds of food I've never seen in the Glade but recognize from the time before it. Not that I remember those days. My mouth waters at the memory of chocolate.

"I thought you would be early risers. I planned on being here an hour early, but you're the first awake with only half an hour to spare." He still doesn't look up, not even to glance at the silver watch on his wrist. It is thick, and heavy, and nothing like the watches we have.

I take a step closer to him, but he interrupts me. "Just take an apple. Don't try to grab the desk. There is an invisible forcefield. Eat something and wake up your friends."

I back away, turning to head back into our room. My hand wraps around the doorknob.

"Try to see if Ella is awake," when he says the words, I feel myself shudder. "I've missed her."

I run into the bedroom, glancing over at Ella. She continues to turn in her bed, sleeping. Untouched. I climb up to the top bunk, grabbing Dawn's shoulder and shaking her awake.

"Lee," she groans, stirring. She slowly sits up, shoving her hands at me. I climb back down to the ground. "Can't I sleep in for shucking once?"

"No," I tell her, my voice firm and steady. She can't sleep in.

I hear Michelle shifting in her bed, and when I look over to Teresa, she is already completely upright, staring at me. Her hair is a mess around her head, but her eyes are wide awake.

"There is a man here," I tell the girls, peering around at them. I wait for them to freak out, or react or anything. "He's waiting in the next room. He brought food, and he's going to tell us what's happening. I think."

"Who is he?" Dawn asks, finally shuffling around in her bed. She leans off the bunk bed, trying to get a better look out the door.

"He's got to be with WICKED," Teresa chimes in. "He's going to help us."

Michelle scoffs. I expect her to be rolling her eyes, but instead she is rubbing them, trying to peel herself out of bed. Every movement is agonizingly slow.