Limitless

Chapter 2

I wake up disorientated and extremely confused.

I can't remember most of what happened to me between the ages of 10 and 11. I was so traumatized that my PTSD suppressed my memories. I rarely have memory flashes, let alone dreaming of one, so why now? 

An alarm blares throughout the entire dormitory. We practiced evacuation drills every six months, but this one is different from the one that we're used to. Outside my door, a gathering of people sound like they're moving somewhere all at once, shouting incoherent phrases every now and then. That's when I hear it.

The monotone voice of Water is urging us to gather in the mess hall immediately, the short sentence repeated over and over until we have no choice but to follow the instruction. I rip the covers off me, thankful that I slept in my gym attire and don't need to change.

When I open the door, someone falls into my bedroom. I sidestep just in time to stop myself from plummeting down with her. She must've been leaning on my door the moment I opened it. 

"Hey!" I address the people who just walk over the girl, who is no older than 14, as they carelessly walk over her. I help her up as she caresses her shin, where someone carelessly kicked her.

"I'm okay. Thank you." 

Before I can say anything else, she's already joined the rest of the crowd. 

I pave my own path, opposite to where the people are going. A few seniors give me a couple pointed looks and I ignore them. Once I reach the west side of the dormitory, I rush up a couple of flights of stairs to reach the top floor. By the time that I'm already in front of her door, I curse Isla for choosing to stay on the top floor.

There's no reply when I knock on the door. There's no one in her room when I open for her. She never leaves her door unlocked so I know she must already be with the others. The corridor is empty when I leave her room. I rush to catch up with the others, running down 4 flights of stairs and sending a mental thank you for the Physical Training classes that we have regularly.

I barely bat and eyelash at the mini workout. Honestly, I'm just surprised evacuation training kicked in and I remembered not to take the elevators during emergencies. In my pursuit of the others, the automated voice still repeatedly tells us the same message.

A mop of blonde hair peaks over people's shoulders once I get outside, presumably trying to look for me. Isla's platinum blonde hair, luckily for me, has always made it easy for me to spot her within a crowd. She looks like she's about to be sick when I get to her. Her cheeks a rosy colour and her lips pursed in an uncomfortable smile.

"Are you okay?" I give her a once over.

Some guy shoves into her roughly, sending her toppling towards me and I catch her. I glare at the guy who's twice Isla's size. Thankfully, he seems to be genuinely sorry and insisting that it was an accident. I grab onto her upper arm and grip onto her tightly as we move in synch with the crowd.

I hear people's panicked whispers over what it may be as we fast walk to the other side of the base. It doesn't take a smart person to figure that whatever the reason may be, for us to get called this way, we all know it isn't good.

My hands are moist with a nervous sweat when we finally arrive. I'm not one to shake when faced with these types of situations, but I find myself balling my hands into a fist, letting go of Isla. All the tables and chairs have been moved over to one side of the hall and stacked onto one another hastily. 

Towards the front of the room, Water stands with his hands clasped behind his back and his feet shoulder width apart. From here, I can tell that something is off with Water. Something has spooked the general of our army and no one here knows him as well as I do to tell. His demeanor screams.