Previously:

You must be so scared, what happened to you?

     Sam put her pillow down on the ground and turned her flashlight off. Wrapping her blanket around her she hoped they were both hidden enough to avoid detection and laid on the floor, too worked up to sleep she stared in the dark vent where the boy was wondering where he came from. Tomorrow we’ll figure out what to do together yeah?

     She didn’t sleep a wink and all hell broke loose when her alarm, which she forgot to silent, went off the next morning.

Present:

      Yeah it was a mistake, a very big mistake. The moment it went off Sam shot right up and quickly reached in her pocket for her phone to turn it off. She heard a crash from the vent and heard a short cry, followed by a scuffle that led deeper into the vent. Sam managed to turn off her phone and quickly turned back to the vent that was too dark to see anything in. Thinking how to approach this Sam could only mumble down the vent. "I'm sorry, that was a pretty shitty way to wake up." 

     Sam knew every nook and cranny of her section. She had spent hours exploring and knew that the vent the kid was in, went deeper for about 10ft then made a direct 90-degree vertical shoot up. She got no response as she struggled to hear anything down the vent. She heard a faint sob and her heart instantly crumbled.

     "Hello," Sam said gently down the vent. "My name is Samantha, and I'm sorry I scared you like that. I found you yesterday after you took my lunch and I was hoping I could help you out." No response and only silence. Sam sighed and scooted herself by vent to sit up against the wall staring at bright tiny LED lights on the engines.

     "Yeah, I wouldn't trust a random stranger either, pretty smart not to." Sam stared off into the distance, hypnotized by the blinking LED lights in the darkness. How do I reach him? I don't want to force him, I was in his place almost once. Thinking back to her childhood Sam was unbelievably lucky.

     "I was almost where you are, I lost my mom at birth, and my father when I was 8. Luckily, I had a friend who I was around constantly growing up and my dad was good friends with her parents. As soon as my dad passed they scooped me up and claimed me as their daughter. I was lucky and wasn't taken away. No one questioned it and I grew up with them as Samantha Green when my actual parent's name was Quinn. Can I ask where are your parents? I just want to help in any way that I can."

      Sam was hoping she could reach the kid and wasn't willing to give up. After waiting what seemed like forever she heard light thumping on the metal vent getting closer to the entrance. She didn't move a muscle till she felt a small hand touch the side of her arm. "I'm not from here, I want to go home." cried a small voice from the darkness.

"Ok, let's get you to the light and we'll make small steps there. Do you mind if I grab your hand and lead you?"

"No."

"Ok."

      Sam reached for the hand that was still on her arm and grasped it. Standing up she reached for her phone and turned on the flashlight. Out of the corner of her eye, the glow from the flashlight lit up the kid's face and she saw a small trail falling from the top of his head. dammit, he must have hit his head when he woke up and that's what the crash was Feeling pretty guilty Sam turned to the kid and shined the light on his face. He squinted in reaction. "Sorry, it looks like you hit your head, can I take a look at it?" Sam spoke getting on her knees in front of the boy. The boy nodded, his hair hiding the top of his face. Aiming the light to his forehead Sam reached up to his hair and brushed it aside to see a small cut right at the hairline.

      "It doesn't look too bad, we'll clean it when we get to my toolbox. I have a first-aid box there."

     The boy only nodded and Sam gave a weak smile, "Let's go." Standing up, Sam turned around and offered her hand. He grabbed and together they made it through the maze that was her section and once they got to her lit area she put her phone away and led the kid to her toolbox. Once there Sam let the kid's hand go to go get the first aid box, returning Sam got her first good look at him. He was pretty dirty, his oily hair was clinging to his face and covered a film of dirt and oil.

     Walking over Sam got an alcohol wipe and cleaned the area of the cut. Besides flinching from the initial pain, the boy didn't make a sound. Sam apologized and stuck a band-aid to the area. Leading the boy to a makeshift stool made out of an upside-down bucket and a pillow she sat him down while she sat on the concrete floor.

"Let's start with your name?" Sam asked.

      The boy stared at the floor holding his hands together "Marco," he timidly said. 

     Same nodded. "What floor are you from?" The boy looked up and tilted his head to the side. "I'm not from a floor in this tower."

     Sam's eyes widened, "Then where are you from?" Somehow already knowing the answer but wishing it wasn't.

"Outside on the planet," Marco said calmly.

Fuck 

     Sam pondered the reliability of the boy and if he could be lying. As far as she knew it wasn't possible to live outside the tower. The elements and wildlife would kill anyone within a few days. But the boy doesn't have a reason to lie, and you can breathe out there. Sam looked at the boy "How did you get here?"

"Through the vents..."

     Sam laughed to herself Yeah, that would be the way. The tower vents were connected to the outside world to let fresh air in but she was under the impression that they were monitored. Maybe there's one that isn't working properly, you could go anywhere through the vents. After asking many, many more questions, Sam learned that he was actually 10 years old and his family was alive. There was a whole civilization leaving in a mountain a short distance away from the tower. He ran away from home after some conflict and knew of a vent that his people used to get inside the tower. According to him, they came for supplies like everyone else. But in hiding with fake ID's and stolen phones.

     Hearing about all this shook Sam to her core Mysterious people walking around who are from the outside? PEOPLE FROM THE OUTSIDE! 

      Sam shuddered at the implications this could mean. I wonder if the ghost is part of their group? Speaking up Sam asked the question that was building in her mind. "Do you guys have ill will towards us in the tower?" Sam watched Marco's face looking for whatever intent she could get from his face and watched as his downcast eyes looked to the side, in a defensive manner.

      "Not that I know of, it's told to us that you'll all just blind to what's really going on and to not interact with you at all. We call you the blind citizens because of that."

     Sam sighed, "Yeah, I can agree that we are probably kept in the dark about a lot of things. But if you guys are coming to us for supplies, we can't be doing all that bad in terms of providing for ourselves. So we got to doing something right?"

     Marco didn't say anything and Sam leaned over to get in his eyesight. "Hey, let's get you cleaned up and we can discuss how we're going to get you back home." Marco straightened up surprised, "You'll really help me get back home?"

    "Of course," said Sam with a smile. "Like you said, we're pretty blind here, so no one will question you being with me. If anyone asks you're my friend's kid. K?"

     Marco nodded and stood up, Sam followed suit and grabbed the boys hand smiling down at him. He just kinda stared back up at her with a confused face. Sam led him back to her floor and completely ignored the cheerful tone coming from her phone. Probably Robin with her morning message, I'll respond once I get Marco cleaned up.