Obscurity

Chapter 70: Confusion

Sierra

The quiet silence of the unit is broken by a weird buzzing sound and two loud bangs. I sit up in my bed and listen closely to try and figure out what I'm hearing. The two loud bangs closely resembled the sounds of doors being flung wide and smacking the walls behind them. I'm unsure if that's what it was, though.

I strain to listen for any more noise. I hear heavy footfalls out in the hallway. I begin to hear shouting. I can't make out what's being said or yelled, but it's loud. I'm startled by the noises, but I sit still on my bed and keep on listening.

The sounds reverberating down the corridor sounds like several of the doors to the rooms being opened. The sounds come closer with each loud bang and I still hear muffled voices shouting in the hall. My brain can't quite compute what it is that could possibly be going on in the hallway.

I wish my room had a window in the door like my room on the other unit does. I wish I could see what is going on out there. I can't make heads or tails of the sudden commotion. This unit never has any noise but now it sounds like there are several people out in the hallway raising hell.

I wonder for a moment if it's Alma fighting back against Chris. Somehow, my brain doesn't allow that train of thought for long. The shouting in the hallway didn't sound like Chris. The voice was deeper, I know that much. Even though I can't make out what's being said with each burst of shouting, I know it isn't Chris's voice that's producing the sound.

I sit tight. I don't know what to do. I'm scared but more curious than afraid. I listen to what I imagine is someone coming down the hallway systematically opening the doors to the rooms. It seems with each door bang I hear, there's always an accompanying shout before the next door bangs. By this thought process I figure it won't be much longer before my door swings open.

When the door to the next room over bangs open, I hear someone shout the word "clear." I briefly wonder if it's just the staff searching the unit for someone that may have run off and hid from them. The thought brings my next succession of thoughts about whether or not I should hide. I think for a moment maybe I should slink my way under my bed. I don't know who's out there and I'm starting to be more afraid than curious now.

The idea to hide wasn't hatched soon enough. I don't have time to hide. My door bangs open and two people dressed in all black with their faces covered burst into my room. One of the men shouts over his shoulder "one in five!" before immediately retreating out the door. After those two back out of my room a small woman enters it. She's wearing a white coat and is flanked by what seems like two officers.

"What's your name, dear?" the small middle aged woman asks in the a warm voice as smooth as honey. She doesn't proceed into the room any further than a few steps. The officers hang back behind her. They all look at me expectantly.

I consider whether or not to answer her question for a moment. The shock plastered across my face is evident. She takes the opportunity to break the silence, "I'm Dr. Forester." She says sweetly.

I nod. I'm finding it hard to form words. The surprise and shock rendering me speechless.

I can still hear the black-clad men going through the doors down the hallway. Each bang is followed by a shout. "Clear" seems to be the most common phrase I'm hearing.

As I look past the doctor towards the door, she senses my wonder.

"We're here raiding this floor." She offers a short explanation.

"Raiding?" I ask.

"We'll get to all of that. Right now, I need to know your name Miss." She says while still not closing the distance between us.

"I'm Sierra Roberts." I say meekly.

"Nice to meet you Sierra." She says with a smile on her face. "Would you mind coming with me?" she asks.

"Where?" A sudden fear of the unknown enveloping me.

"Just to another space where we can talk." She attempts to put me at ease.

"I don't know." I say as tears begin to well in my eyes. This is all too confusing. Part of me wants to get out of this room and be anywhere but here but the other part of me doesn't know whether to trust this doctor. I wipe my eyes and stare at the doctor as if it will give me some sort of insight as to whether or not I should trust her.

Deep down, I don't know if she's some sort of colleague of Chris's or if she's here to torture me some more on his behalf. This whole situation is all too confusing. It seems as though she's giving me a choice in the matter, that's different.

Typically on this unit, we don't get choices. We have to go with the flow, and there's no choice when it comes to anything. This small woman standing before me is asking if I'd like to go with her. That's completely foreign to me being on this unit.

"Sierra, would you like to leave this wing of the floor? Perhaps go back to your regular unit?" She asks softly.

I don't think twice. I immediately nod. She motions for me to follow her. I can't wait to be out of this hell. I want to race for the big heavy door at the end of the hall that leads back to my unit but I refrain when I round the corner of the doorway to my room and enter the hall.

I stop short when I see the several black-clad men occupying the hallway. There are at least ten of them. Behind me, further down the hall, a loud voice shouts "all clear." And I jump in surprise. My mind can't make sense of what I'm seeing. The doctor notices my feet aren't moving, and I've stopped following her.

"It's ok Sierra. They're the good guys." She says reassuringly as she walks and stands beside me. She threads her arm through mine and coaxes me to continue to walk down the hallway past and through the large group of men that remind me of some sort of soldiers.

My eyes wide and unsure, I follow along with Dr. Forester. My steps are quick. When we reach the heavy wood door that leads to my unit another soldier-looking individual opens the door without a key or key card. That's when I look down at the side of the door and realize the key card and locking mechanism is completely cut out of the door.

"Alright, where would you like to sit and talk?" The doctor asks as we pass through the doorway into my unit.

I shrug. "I don't know."

She smiles warmly at me and rubs my shoulder in a reassuring way.

"It's quite alright. We'll figure it out." She says leading me through a group of several uniformed police officers toward the nurses station.