Well, This Wasn't Expected

Alternate Title: "Unfortunately, This Isn't Chapter 42"

This is my entry for @Contests Weekly Wattpad Contest #49

Character: Perth

Location: The Camps

Mods: Lone Wolf + Life, the Universe, and Everything

----

The sound of wind beating against a canvas was unceasing and, in all honesty, rather obnoxious to wake up to. Perth opened his eyes, head throbbing, likely from the bat that had been swung at his head during the ambush. He found himself in a tent made of rather worn out canvas, with nothing in it aside from the old cot he was laying on. If this is where they keep prisoners, it's not very secure. He snorted to himself, continuing to survey the area. A small scurrying down his right arm indicated that Kinderspinne was still with him. The small arachnid waved her forelegs at him in greeting. "Hello, little one. Care to fill me in?" He raised the palm of his hand closer to his face in order to see her response. His glasses had fallen off during the ambush and his abductors either hadn't noticed, or simply did not care.

"Oh good, the freak is awake." A voice dripping with sarcasm arrived along with a figure in the doorway. Sighing, Perth sat up, analyzing the newcomer. She was a rather well-built woman, likely in her late-thirties to early-forties, with choppy black hair and heavy-lidded eyes. "Get your butt off that cot and let's go. The boss wants to talk to you." Perth complied, slipping his hand into his coat pocket so Kinderspinne was safe. As they walked, the woman unfortunately decided to attempt conversation. "Welcome to Camp Eden. One of the few still-functioning homes of living human beings. You probably know there are camps scattered across the nation. Well, now you're in one of 'em. Congratulations. We're some of the few who're smart enough to actually try and survive, rather than go on a suicidal quest to find the mystical 'Haven' everyone talks about." She let out a dry laugh before continuing. Perth, naturally, tuned her out, turning his head to the sky where several crows had decided to explore the space above him. Reaching out a hand, he let one of the crows rest there.

"Greetings, Bruderkrähe. Have you seen my people?" He murmured softly.

"Hey, hey, you listening to me, weirdo? Are you talking to a bird?" The woman asked incredulously. Perth simply stared at her balefully before nodding to the crow and letting him fly off. "Ugh, anyways, boss is in here." She knocked on the door to what seems to be the only intact building within the camp. The door cracked open slightly before closing again, the sound of a bolted chain being undone as it swung wide open.

"Ah, you've brought the strange one. Good, good. Come in!" A tweedy man with inappropriately bright blue hair and glasses which made him appear owl-eyed ushered Perth and his guide inside. The building in question was made up of a single room consisting of an unused fireplace, four run-down lounge-chairs, a desk piled with papers and shoved into a corner, and several dusty and rather sparse bookshelves. Once they were all seated in the chairs, the man continued, "Now, you are likely wondering why we brought you here." He paused, clearly expecting Perth to confirm or signal for him to keep going. When Perth made no such indication, there was an uncomfortably long pause before the man went on, "Ahem, anyways. We believe that we have discovered the cause for the apocalypse. The only difficulty is, there is only one way to confirm it." Again, the man paused, only for the woman to speak up.

"The creep doesn't talk, Cal. Just explain it to him." She drawled, leaning back in her chair. Cal nodded, nostrils flaring a bit. He seemed rather antsy, as if time is of the essence for him to get his point across.

"As I was saying, we have reasons to believe that the virus was created by a higher being, or beings. Not a god, necessarily. Just, someone or something which is beyond our dimensional plane."