Writer Games | Death Wish & 51

Task Two: It Came From Space - Males

Dylan Cole

     Mysterious disappearances. We technically haven't even entered the  Area yet and shit had already hit the fan. The twelve us had woken up to  find that the three that hadn't woken up weren't there are all. So...  Scorpions. Called it.

But  sad as it is, they're not actually what I'm irritated about. Sorry,  what I'm really mad about is the other mysterious disappearances, two to  be exact. Our bags, and the apocalypse-proof door.
    I knew I couldn't trust that bus driver.

     But after mourning the loss of our bags for probably longer than we  should have, one of the other ladies takes charge of the situation. A  cheery girl by the name of Sarah-Kate, which I know only because she  made a point of telling us so, was instantly planning our next move. I'm  not saying I don't like her, but she's just a little too much of a  starring role, everybody-look-at-me kind of girl and to put it bluntly, I  think Arcanum is hotter.

     But while she was asserting her authority, -getting into more than a  couple arguments with the older ladies of the group while she did so I  might add- I had already taken a step through the opening in the cave  wall where the cement door was now open, scanning my eyes around the  dimly lit path beyond. There were four hallways heading in different  directions from this point, all of them a bare moist cement, only  furthering my impression of an underground bunker. There were different  numbers marked on the hallways, and unsurprisingly they were just 1,2,3,  and 4.

     From where I was standing, all four pathways lead into darkness, and  even with the dull yellow lights stationed on the walls in intervals of  one per meter, I could not see the end of any of the hallways. Squinting  my eyes, I take another step onto the damp corridor, only to gasp as I  see something quickly dart from one side of the end of three to the  other side, disappearing again just as quickly as it had appeared.

     I stumble backwards in surprise, my heart rate accelerated, and I let  out a sound of alarm as I bump into someone behind me. Whirling around  quickly, I was about to hit the person when I see that it was only one  of the others in the cave with me; a man by the name of Gardner.

     The two of us stare at each other with wide, surprised eyes before he  suddenly chuckles, breaking the tense mood. "Dang, what did you see in  there, a ghost?" He asks good naturedly, cracking a smile, and I let out  a breath.
    "Yeah. Yours." I reply in a surly tone, and the smile  freezes on his face, the side of his mouth twitching in a way that  implied I had struck a nerve. Oops.

     All of the others were staring at me now and I can feel yet another  flustered blush creeping up my cheeks. Goddamn it, this is why I don't  like being social, I never get it right. "It was a joke." I quickly add,  desperately hoping the blush wasn't noticeable.

"What  are we going to do again? I wasn't listening." I ask bluntly after a  second of awkward silence passes. Luckily they weren't staring anymore  and luckily, a nice looking black lady seemed to be taking pity on me.

     "Sarah-Kate has decided we should split up and explore those hallways  behind you, dear, we're all going to come back here in about an hour."  She explains, and I quickly glance down at the name on her uniform, it  reading Washington.

     I give her an awkward smile and a half nod of understanding, and the  guy I think I offended pipes up, talking as if I hadn't just implied he  was going to die in there. "Yeup, you're with me and David, we're going  to explore that hallway there, four I think. Us dudes can-"

     "Excuse me, but you're blocking the entrance and some of us would  like to actually explore this damned place."  A voice behind Gardener  comments irritably and sassily, and I'm not surprised to see it was  Calypso. She must still be aggravated her Ipod disappeared with the rest  of our bags; she's acting more pissed than yesterday.