Everything had gone dark. A sharp prick woke him up. His eye lids slowly opened up and his pupils began adjusting themselves to the surroundings. Everything was blurry at the beginning, he blinked a few times to adjust himself. His head started to ache terribly. He placed his hand on his head to ease himself from the pain and tried to get up.
"You must rest." A sweet female voice commanded.
Colin looked around and saw where he was. He was in a room made of concrete and windows of glass - materials which were long lost to mankind.
At the corner of the room a lady was preparing a tray full of equipments. She was a nurse. It looked like the tray had a few medicines on them.
Colin was completely perplexed. He tried to remember the last thing that happened.
"I was at philosopher's road we received the message, we trekked ...then the barrier of poisonous bushes and... Nectra!" He was now alarmed.
"Excuse me miss but where am I? And what happened to me and my friends?" Colin interrogated the nurse.
"Your friends are fine they are in a different room and as for your location, you know where you are." She said smiling.
"Where am I?" Colin asked again he was irritated by now.
The nurse just looked at him as if the answer was obvious.
The answer immediately struck his mind like lightning.
"We made it!... This is the cult." Colin said ecstatically.
"How are Edna and Lily? Do they know we have reached?" Colin had never been this delighted.
"Mr. Colin your friends are fine...they woke up an hour earlier and yes they know that they have reached their destination." The nurse replied keeping her medical tray beside Colin's bed.
"Alright sir, these are your medicines. The gas you inhaled at our frontier is damaging for the lungs. These medicines will improve your condition but you must take them everyday in the morning." The nurse said strictly pointing at the medicines.
"Okay!" Colin replied immediately.
Saying this the nurse left the room leaving Colin alone.
"I'm here at the cult!! I did it... I must see how the other two are doing!" Colin spoke to himself excitedly.
After his medication and a long bath which involved grooming his beard and moustache, Colin wore a new set of clothes and rushed out of the building which was called hospital.
He was awestruck at what he saw outside. The cult was situated on the top of a mountain range. There were tall buildings all made of concrete, steel and glass. The roads were made of tar and there were vehicles everywhere. He had pictured the cult to be a primitive group whereas in reality they were highly advanced. The knowledge of the ancestors still prevailed in this land. They had managed to continue life the way it existed even after an apocalypse. Colin simply couldn't get enough of what he saw. Throughout his life all he knew was navigation, the forest, Nectra, surviving and his new friends. He was deeply admiring the architecture and he did not realise a man standing next to him. Colin jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry! I am the head of this place. My name Jeffrey you can call me Jef. Welcome to the cult."
Jeffrey was a man almost as old as Colin himself but had a clean shaved face and a bald head, he was of average height, he wore a suit and looked like a friendly man.
" I believe you would have some questions?" Jeffrey asked trying his best to make Colin comfortable.
Colin just nodded and looked around.
" This place is marvelous... The architecture is splendid... but I am pretty sure I would have seen this from down below the mountain range. How come none of this was visible?" Colin was genuinely surprised.
"Mr. Colin.." Jef began
" Please just call me Colin." He replied.
"Of course... Colin as you can see our city highly advanced in every possible way. So security is our top priority. Our engineers call it the illusion barrier or IB. We project an image of trees and rocks and what not, to make it look like a forest. This way we aren't easily accessible."
Colin kept nodding, bewildered by the kind of the things he heard.
" And Jef... That smoke we encountered at your frontier what was that?"
" It's a defence mechanism. It smells a lot like the deadly Nectra but instead of mind manipulation it triggers sleep. We did this so that we can examine people who seek refuge here in the cult for any disease."Jef said indicating Colin to walk along with him.
" But the nurse said it damages the lungs." Colin said immediately.
"Oh yes it does but damage is not the word I would use. I would say temporarily weakens your lungs." Jeffrey said uncomfortably.
Colin found it weird but he just nodded along.
"Please don't mind but I have a few more questions." Colin said politely.
"Don't bother. I understand you ought to have questions." Jef said laughing.
"Okay... So are you going to destroy Nectra?"
"Colin it's not that easy we have been designing weapons to destroy it and antidotes to cure the infected for years. There is nothing that can be done. Nectra cannot be fought. That's why we take in refugees."
" Jef we encountered a ...a messenger in the forest ..he called himself that. He told us something about Nectra." Said Colin
"Colin... Your friend Edna asked the same question and I am going to tell you the same thing. There are many people in the forest who hoax travelers so that they don't reach the cult. People who believe them get into trouble. So I suggest you forget about your past troubles and lead the life of your choice here in the cult." Jef said patting Colin's shoulder.
"Anything else?" Jef asked with a smile.
"No, thank you!" Colin said returning the smile.
A young boy almost as old as Lily walked towards the two men.
"This is Derek. He will help you with your new residence and answer your every query." Saying this Jeffrey left the two.
Derek guided Colin to a small villa.
"This is your new house. Edna and Lily live in the first floor left corner room you can choose any other room." Derek said
" Okay!" Colin replied.
Derek pointed at a device attached to the wall with numbers on it.
" This is called the communicator. If you press the number 7, I will answer. If you press the number 1, headquarters will answer. You must call them only if it's a complete emergency."Derek said.
" Okay!"Colin said not knowing how to respond.
Just as Derek was about to leave he turned around and said in a serious tone.
"I heard your conversation with Jeffrey. I would appreciate it if you met me by the riverside today, outside the colony around 5 in the evening. We need to talk."
Colin was surprised by the sudden tone of seriousness and nodded at the young man.
