Experiment: Apocalypse (Reddit Crew AU)

chapter 1

Henry turned in his bed, eventually sitting up with a sigh and leaning over to flick his lamp on. He was regretting his decision.

When the advert popped up, asking for brave volunteers to aid experimental virtual reality and test out scenarios for 300 grand, who was Henry to deny? He filled out the form, skimming over some legal work that he really should've read, and within 20 minutes he was signed up and told he would receive an email if he was chosen.

He scrolled through his emails, clicking on the one from the lab for the hundredth time and reading it back over.  He could've had it memorised by now from how many times he had read the words.

He clicked his phone off again, placing it down and staring back at the ceiling. It will be fine, it's all fine, he attempted to reassure himself.

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"You're a fucking idiot."

Henry knew he must've fucked up if Flinders, of all people, was telling him that he was an idiot.

"They don't offer that kind of money unless there's high risk, you know." He said, scranning a chip from the box between the two boys.

"But 300,000 quid? Anything is worth that. It would fix everything." Henry pointed out.

"Money doesn't create happiness." Flinders replied blankly.

"Ah, but it does fix a house falling to pieces." He pointed above his head, where duct tape was sealing a leak in the roof. His whole ceiling was turning damp now. "And buys me shit that I can't afford right now. And that would make me very happy."

Flinders rolled his eyes.

"What do you do then?" He asked. Henry shrugged.

"I don't even know. The advert was pretty vague. Some kind of testing, or whatever."

"Din't you get anything else when you got accepted?" Flinders asked, leaning back in his chair. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Just as he did, a droplet of water fell from the ceiling onto his forehead, making him jump. Maybe Henry really did need this money.

"Some terms and conditions. I never read them properly." Upon saying it out loud, it did sound incredibly dumb that he hadn't read the terms and conditions to a shady experiment but who has time for all those words?

"Just don't die, okay?" Flinders replied.

"I won't die, don't be stupid." Henry smiled a bit, picking up his tea and taking a sip.

And then before he knew it, Henry was sat on a train heading towards London with a backpack full of shit. Some sort of lab there was where the 'experiment' was.

He looked down at his phone to see where he was supposed to be going. He was currently in the train station, waiting for his Uber to come and pick him up. He received the text and stood up, looking around for the car.

He slung his bag into the footwell before sliding into the passenger seat and greeting the man.

Henry yawned, leaning his head on the glass. He wasn't particularly worried, more so everything felt surreal. He didn't often travel much, due to no money and no real need to travel, so it felt odd to be somewhere he barely knew.

The car pulled to a stop, and Henry glanced up at the building they had pulled up in front of. It was tall, quite large and had an important feel to it. If Henry's wasn't nervous before, he definitely was now.

"Thanks, mate." He said to the driver as he opened the door. He nodded in response, waiting for Henry to get out.

Henry walked into the building, pushing open a glass door. There was a receptionist desk first, and he noticed a hallway leading off, protected by a locked door. He felt a bit intimidated, he could see people dressed in white coats and other sophisticated clothes and here he was; long hair poking out from under his beanie, sleeves of his black hoodie rolled up and black jeans. Not to mention his scratty backpack hanging off one shoulder.

The lady at the desk raised an eyebrow at him. Her hair was nearly tied up, a perfectly trimmed fringe spanning across her forehead. Her white blouse seemed to have no wrinkles in sight, somehow, and even her land-yard hanging around her neck seemed professional.

"Are you supposed to be here?" She asked, looking away from her computer.

"Uh, yeah. I signed up for some kind of experiment." Henry said, rolling forward from the balls of his feet to his toes. She didn't seem pleased with his fidgeting. He pulled out his phone, searching through his emails to find the right one, before placing his phone on her desk, showing the email.

"Alright. Name?" She said with a dull expression, beginning to type on her computer.

"Henry Morten."

"Confirm your date of birth." Henry furrowed his eyebrows. Could she not just look at his phone and see it right there?

"18th of October, 1998." She glanced at his phone before nodding, sliding it back to him.

"Go through that door, take a right and wait on the seats. Someone will pick you up shortly." She told him, pointing to the door.

"Okay, thank you." He said curtly, going through the door. He did as she said, following the directions and found the seats. There were three people there already, and he scanned their faces quickly before taking a seat.

He first noticed a girl, with white circle glasses on and curly, pinkish hair. A boy sat a few seats away from hair, with fluffy blonde hair and a moody look on his face, and then another boy, probably the youngest, with black hair and a blue beanie on.

Henry wondered if these people were part of his experiment or not. They didn't look too cheery. No one was striking up a conversation and the atmosphere felt quite tense.

It wasn't like waiting in a hospital, where everyone's quiet but at least they're playing some music, as shitty as it might be. But here it was dead silent. The only noise were people walking past, shoes clacking on marble floors.

Henry slumped down, pulling out his phone and earplugs. If no one was talking, he might as well entertain himself.