I wiggled my toes and fingers carefully. The pain wasn’t terrible but, I was sore. My eyes only opened a sliver, letting the harsh white light in carefully. I was laying on a hard bed, a spring protruding from it, digging into my back. This was not my bed. I couldn’t remember much of what had happened before.

I tried to sit up and felt my chest heave for air, the effort extraordinary. Panic filled my lungs and I began to struggle to breath, forcing air in and out of my lungs. But, I couldn’t inhale easily, my lungs only taking in so much, like a lifeless balloon. I glanced around quickly, sitting up. Black spots filled my vision and I blinked them away, glancing at a bright green bag that caught my eye.

I was in a hospital bed, in a hospital room, hooked up to a bag of green liquid that almost radiated bad energy. My eyes followed the bag’s tube down to my forearm, where it was taped into my skin.

I didn’t quite know what was in the bag but, I tore the needle from my arm anyway, making sure to throw it. My hands flapped for a moment before I took a shuddering breath, curling up on the hospital bed. A chair beside the bed had all my things on it, including my normal clothing. A hospital gown like what I wore as a kid covered my skin and I stood up, a wave of dizziness hit me. I held onto the bed and slipped my shoes on. I couldn’t find my other clothes so, I sufficed with the gown and tiptoed to the door, where it was already cracked open.

I peered out the door to find that the hallway was nearly vacant. A woman wearing a Palm Tree uniform and beret marched past. The quick turn on her heel skidded and she walked into the room beside mine, closing the door behind her. I escaped into the empty hallway quickly, deciding to make a run for it. In my case, it was a stumbling walk as I couldn’t help the dizziness in my head.

Windows in the halls were boarded up, making it almost impossible to see what was outside. I assumed I was in the city, but, my effort to peer out of the cracks between boards was in vain. I could only see grey. I remembered that Jackson had tasered me but, I couldn’t pinpoint why exactly he did it.

I wandered in the hallways aimlessly for hours it seemed like. My head couldn’t tell which of my surroundings I had seen already and all the white began to slowly blend together. I began to get dizzy again and sat down, trying to remember where I had last seen an elevator or staircase sign. I was tired and dizzy, but I stood and began to walk the halls again.

Another half hour of walking ensued before I became curious. I wasn’t the only one in this hospital right? I mean, that officer before had walked into a room which meant that someone had to be in here, right? I stepped over a strewn wheelchair and looked around, trying to find an open door. My question was quickly answered as a shrill scream filled the air. I jumped out of my skin, spinning around to the noise. A door swung open violently and I ducked behind the wheelchair, watching a new officer pull a patient from the room by his hair.

“Let me go, you don’t know what you’re doing,” the man screamed, kicking and biting at the officer, who had a flimsy hold on the man’s gown. I heard the officer sigh and he took his gun out. For a mere second, I panicked, wondering if he was going to shoot the patient. Instead, he smacked the butt of the gun into the man’s head and let him drop to the ground. The officer slid the gun back into his holster and walked away, moving down another hallway.

I hobbled over to the man on the ground, seeing how injured he was. A deep gash in his forehead, bleeding profusely. I knelt down beside him, about to try and help him but, his hand wrapped around my wrist with an iron grip.

“Hello.”

I tried to let out a scream but, his other hand slapped itself over my mouth and I was disgusted at the grime on his palms. He shoved me over, my back hitting the ground before he was on top of me, pinning me to the ground. “You’re going to help me,” he told me, showing a crooked smile. “I’m Charlie, nice to meet you.” He slid off me and stood, extending a hand to help me up. I took it cautiously before standing, watching Charlie with hesitation.

“What do you need help with,” I asked. This kid looked crazy. His smile was more of a snarl and it scared me. He took my hand I shuddered in disgust, walking along the hallway with him. I wasn’t sure if I should help him with whatever but, he obviously wasn’t going to hell me what we were doing so, I followed. It was silent as we walked through the hallway and every so often, Charlie would let go of my hand and wipe it on his hospital gown.

He stopped in front of an old elevator door, clamped shut. Only a sliver showed the dark inside and I was really hoping that he wasn’t going to make me open it. I didn’t have the strength to open the shaft. Charlie let go of my hand and told me to stay, prying the doors open himself. The elevator sat in the shaft, creaking as the man pried the doors open.

“Go in,” he said, obviously struggling with holding the door open. I look at Charlie, bewildered but he simply nods and tries to keep it open. Sighing, I crawl in through the sliver and sit in the dark elevator, suddenly overwhelmed by how dark it was. At least when I was in The Womb and the forest, the moon illuminated my surroundings. I had never seen pure darkness like this before.

Charlie slid into the elevator and with a click, a light filled the elevator. In his hand was a flashlight that I hadn’t noticed him holding. He stuck it between his teeth and reached up to the ceiling of the room, pushing a panel back to reveal the shaft above us. With a jump, he caught the edge and pulled himself through the hole in the ceiling. The elevator shifted, creaking, a cable above snapping. We dropped a few inches, a scream escaping my throat. I noticed Charlie roll his eyes and I huffed, standing up. He extended a hand yet again and I gripped it, my arms aching as I pulled myself onto the top of the elevator.

As I sat on the top, I watched Charlie look around, flipping levers and pushing buttons. I was worried he was going to pull a cable loose and let us fall to our deaths but, obviously, he knew what he was doing. He made a cord strong enough and began to climb up it. I was astonished and watched him climb carelessly, getting two more floors up before hitting the side of the shaft. I didn’t realise what he had done until a ladder fell from the wall, locking into place on the edge of the shaft.

“Climb,” he told me.

I climbed the bars, my body weight becoming too heavy. I had still been sore from the tasering and my legs shook as I climbed. Something that was in the green bag earlier was making me sick. I followed Charlie up this ladder until we reached the top of the shaft, a small hatch sitting on the top. Charlie pushed the hatch open and crawled out of it, helping me up. Light invaded my vision and I blinked, squinting to adjust to the light.

We stood on the roof of the hospital. Three sides of the hospital were surrounded by crumbling buildings and houses. The area was residential, crumbling, and extremely dilapidated. The last side of the building pointed to a forest but, I quickly noticed that it wasn’t my forest. The trees had teal and grey needles, their trunks a dull brown. The smell of pine didn’t waft into my nose but instead a burning plastic smell. I wasn’t right, that wasn’t a forest. It was artificial.

“I never caught your name,” Charlie said, pulling me over to a second hatch on the roof. He squatted down, observing the padlock on it before pulling out small instruments to begin picking the lock.

“Annie,” I responded.

“Okay, Annie. I need you to go down this hatch with me. It leads to the garbage, which was taken out yesterday. Aim for the newer garbage sacks to avoid smacking into the metal and becoming a human pancake,” he told me with a smile. I stopped and looked down the shaft and inhaled sharply. I still wasn’t sure Charlie was sane but, I had to get of here. There was no other option.

I began to climb down the ladder, getting down several stories before suddenly, the rung below me snapped. I slid down the ladder, hands clinging to the rusty metal desperately. My palms stung and I observed them quickly, noticing the rug burn across my hands. I tried to climb down more careful and finally hit the ground gently.

“Alrighty,” Charlie announced. He placed his hands on his back and arched backwards, taking a large breath in. I glanced around to see hazard bags and bins full of medical supplies. Red fluid coated the floor and I had guess it was a mix of blood and other bodily fluids. My stomach turned and I bent over, trying not to inhale the sickly odor. A door on the far right of me showed a glowing EXIT sign. I began to lurch over to it, avoiding needles and anything too questionable. Charlie followed me through the hazardous waste, finally reaching the door.

We opened the door and saw the miles of forest in front of us. It was covered in an eerie fog. It was the plastic forest. Charlie sprinted from my side into the faux forest, laughing and screaming in glee, shouting something about Monet and escaping.

“Charlie, it might not be safe,” I called. He continued to jump and laugh before something zoomed through the air and lodged itself into Charlie’s neck. It was an orange feathered dart. His body fell to the ground with a chilling crack and I took my chance to run. I sprinted towards the forest, feeling the darts whiz past my head. I ran faster and faster, my legs burning and my lungs burning to stop. But I couldn’t, this was obviously not where I wanted to be.

{to be continued in the next chapter}