The Disbanders

Chapter 14: Confessions

"What's wrong?", asks Alexa. We all gradually enter, including Evie, to see what's wrong. Hayden's standing in front of his miniature closet door and looking up at the ceiling.

"Look!", exclaims Hayden. "How have we never noticed this before?" He moves out of the way, allowing the rest of us to see what he's talking about.

There's a perimeter of a trapdoor on the ceiling. This could mean that there's some sort of attic up here.

"Oh...my god!", I exclaim.

"This is huge!", says Will. "I can't believe we found this!"

"We need to check this out! Where's the ladder?", asks Alexa.

"It's right outside," replies Evie. "I'll get it."

"Check the toolbox as well," says Chuck. "We could use a crowbar to get it open!" Evie comes back with the ladder, with her and Will carrying it in. We all help to prop it up. Hayden begins to climb up with the crowbar in hand. He tries a few times to bust it open. The rest of us stand quietly in anticipation, with Alexa carefully holding the ladder. Eventually, a loud bust is heard. We got it.

We all celebrate for a moment, before Hayden crawls up the rest of the ladder.

"Oh my gosh!", he exclaims, although his voice is now slightly muffled.

"What do you see?", asks Alexa.

"Well, nothing yet. It's too dark." I then remember something critical.

"I brought a flashlight! I just never used it!", I exclaim.

"That's good! Go get that!", grins Chuck excitedly. I squeeze past everyone, careful as to not knock the ladder over. I practically run to my backpack and pull it out.

"Yes!", I mutter to myself, as I pull it out and click it once. It still works.

I bring the flashlight back a moment later, where it gets passed up to Hayden. We hear the click of a button, followed by the sight of a small glow.

"Do you see anything now?", asks Evie.

"Yeah, it's kinda empty.....and dirty," he says, as he moves up the ladder, eventually stepping off of it. I grow slightly nervous.

"Be careful. The ceiling might not be entirely stable!", I say. "We don't even know how old this place is....do we?"

"I'd say it's pretty old," replies Will, "but we'd have no real way of knowing."

"Just make sure you don't crash through. That's the real trick," mentions Alexa. Hayden pokes his head through.

"Yeah, thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he snarks back. "Guys, you gotta get up here! I think it's stable enough."

The rest of us all shoot each other a look. When you live with a limited amount for people for a while, you all end up being able to practically communicate telepathically with each other, all by looking at each other. Should we go up?, I ask in my mind. We all shrug.

"Let's do it," says Chuck.

We all take turns climbing up the ladder, single file. As I reach the top, I sit on the floor of the attic and move my feet off the ladder, curling into a ball. I then start to crawl around.

While there's not much space up here, to find anything new and undiscovered is almost unheard of when you live out here. This find is truly incredible, something I wouldn't have thought of.

"This is impressive," says Evie.

"I know! This seriously has me wondering who built this place!", exclaims Chuck. "It's amazing!"