Seven (Completed)

CHAPTER 19 ~ Not fine ~LAST CHAPTER!

CHAPTER 19

Not fine 

They think I'm asleep. They actually thought I could be sleeping. I just wanted a moment alone. Maybe I was supposed to be sleeping but I just can't. Is it because I'm so nervous? Or is it because I never seem to get enough sleep with others around me? Either way it's tiring. And it's beginning to show. Carlos and Pierre insist that I sleep more. Is it possible that I'm sometimes too tired to fall asleep?

I overthink a lot though I never used to.  The more I analyze things the more complex the whole situation becomes so I will try to keep my words and thoughts as simple as myself allows me to.

The hunger has really gotten into me. My hands are weak; they seem so frail, so fragile. I feel like the bones in them are going to break with the slightest pressure, snap in half. The bones all over my body are becoming more and more visible every day; my collarbones are popping out and yesterday I found out I actually have ribs. Starvation. Near-total starvation, to be scientifically correct. Apparently humans can last up to three weeks without any food at all but today is the second day of food deprivation and I think my body has started consuming itself in an attempt to keep me breathing. I'm also losing muscle tissue. I noticed that three days ago when I could barely lift a log. I tried exercising but it hurts too much and I have no motive to keep moving.

Tomorrow, we're going to start digging. Losing our backpacks was a critical hit but losing our lives would be the worst alternative when we escaped the guards. The boys have only managed to make a couple of tools so far so that we don't have to dig with our hands and I'm really hoping we are not wasting our time. This plan could fail so easily. Maybe the guards will spot us again tonight. Living with fear has become our latest routine.

Right now, I'm longing for a good meal and a bed. It's become such an important goal that it's the only motive that gets me through the day.

On another note, Lucas is an amazing leader and friend. I couldn't imagine myself coping with all this without him. I guess I should tell all this to him instead of scribbling it down on some old journal but he is truly inspiring.

Yeah, I should definitely go to sleep now.

***

Anne could not see around her. There were some sounds she could not identify because they were muffled by something extremely familiar, another sound. The sound drew nearer and nearer and she tried her hardest to make out what it was.

She smelled it before she could hear it, before she could feel it. Water. Anne's eyes suddenly opened. She had somehow returned to the lake she had loved so much from the first time. She smiled. She smiled as the water touched her bare feet, splashing cool against her warm ankles. The lake was spreading across the horizon, wide and crystal clear. She took a step inside it, then another one.

The coolness of the water soothed her aching feet, making her feel relaxed, making her wish she could vanish inside it. She took a couple more steps.

The lake was serene, like when she had first swum in its waters, however something felt out of place. There was something off about the silence that spread all over the place.

'I'm alone,' Anne thought. And she was absolutely right. Her friends were not there when her eyes scanned the whole area. But there was no other sign of life either. There were no bugs chirping, no birds singing, no little fish splashing around her feet or biting on her toes. Anne looked around her more carefully.

'There are no trees.' And trees were not the only things missing. The bushes were gone, the tall grass was ripped off and the big rocks, the slope, the ground had vanished. She looked above her head in terror. There was no sky.

Anne concentrated back to the lake. She would let the fear take over her for a few seconds before she could act again.

'One.' She was alone. 'Two.' The trees had vanished. 'Three.' Anne walked further inside the lake. 'Four.' There was no ground. 'Five.' The sky was white and empty. 'Six.' The water had leveled up to her waistline and her clothes were stuck on her body. 'Seven.' She walked toward the deepest spot inside the lake and the water climbed up to her neck, causing her to shiver. 'Eight.' she did not stop walking and took a last breath before diving her head in the water. 'Nine.' It was not real. 'Ten.' Silence ruled the place.

Anne woke up.

***

After half an hour of digging into the burning sand and just as their exhausted bodies were ready to collapse and give up on their mission, Pierre's roughly made shovel hit something hard that produced a loud metallic sound.

Everyone gathered around him just to peek above his head as he dug up a small doorway that led underneath their feet.

Minutes later, the seven travelers were slowly making their way underground.  Thick, rocky walls created the tunnel above and around them, and their only guide through the darkness was Lucas' flashlight; one of the very few supplies they had managed to smuggle from the guards' possession before escaping.

The air inside the tunnel had an unnerving smell that Sonia identified as the unpleasant smell of a deceased body but most of them decided to ignore her prediction. Mold and moisture ruled the tunnel and the only sound that broke the eerie silence was the sound of their feet stepping on the muddy ground and the occasional drop of water coming from somewhere near them.

'I see a light!' Lucas announced after only a short time of walking. 'Uh, Pierre, can you head to the back of the group?' Lucas asked him. 'Just for safety reasons ... and take the matches with you,' he added while handing him the wet packet of matches.

'Sure,' he whispered and headed at the back of the group where Carlos and Sonia were walking close to each other, but only looking straight in front of them.

None of them had any idea on what their next step would be. They were all hoping that their journey would have an easy and happy ending, that the next surprise they would stumble upon would be a rewarding one.

Sonia saw Lucas step out of the tunnel and go into the strangely warm light. Victor, Felicity and Anne followed. Carlos was next and then her.

'We're going to be fine,' Carlos whispered to her moments before exiting the tunnel.

'No, we're not,' she answered but only Pierre was there to listen to her words before she vanished into the light as well.

Pierre left the darkness behind him with determination as he closed his eyes to prevent them from burning. It was not the sun that hurt his eyes. It was a white light coming from a floodlight.

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