Humanity: Project X - 160

Chapter 18

It had been exactly one day, since they had all gotten into this horrid mess. Skye was sitting by herself__that is, until Gabriel decided to sit next to her. Through this whole day, he had seemed deep in thought. Almost as if he wasn't comprehending anything that was going on around him. As he sat down, Skye found herself asking him, "You okay? You seem really distant today."

Gabriel nodded, but then asked Skye, "Have you been getting... well, have you been getting any dreams lately? About... about your life before now? Do you have any random flashbacks or anything?"

Skye thought for a moment. Had it really been that unobvious, or was he just oblivious? And since he didn't realize it, should she really trust him and tell him that she does remember a couple things? What would that accomplish for him, anyways? Why was he asking her the very bizarre questions all of a sudden? Was it really important, or was he just asking out of curiosity? She finally decided:

"Yes," she said, interrupting the silence of the room. She waited for him to give an explanation for his questions, to explain what he was going through at the current moment. However, he offered none. Instead, he continued with his questions.

"What were they like?"

Skye didn't want to revisit the flashbacks, so she just simply stated, "They were... disturbing."

After thinking about it for a while, she soon realized that she didn't remember much about what happened. They were all very faint to her. Like a dream that was just out of her grasp, or a word at the tip of her tongue.

"So, since I've answered all your questions, it's your turn to answer mine. Why in the world did you ask me those questions? Did you have some flashbacks or something? Some memories of the past? What happened in them, if you remember?"

Gabriel smiled half-heartedly.

"Let's just say," he began, and looked at Gloria for a moment, "that what people, or should I say, creatures, tell you, isn't necessarily true. If you want a truthful answer, you just got to figure it out by yourself. And anyways, then you will get the full experience."

His answer left her with even more questions. However, she did not push him to explain. Instead, she grabbed her journal out. It had been quite some time since she had written in it. Usually, she would feel very excited to write in it. However, now just looking at the journal made her nauseous. How could she write about such a horrible thing? It made her scared and anxious, especially since this was actually happening. Her journal was like a wakeup call, telling her that this was her reality. And there was nothing she could do about it besides write.

No, she would just have to wait to write. She was too jittery and anxious, anyways. If she wrote now, everything would seem like an odd crumble of words later on. So, she put it down next to her and decided to count each breath she took. It was kind of like a calming exercise, especially since it seemed to her like she used to do it often.

After reaching around two hundred and fifty-two, the figure's voice began to hiss into the room:

Hurry up, humans... don't test my patience. You have already seen what I can do, so send one out. I will not bother you anymore if you send someone out. Now hurry up.

The kid, 23, immediately began to scream, "Sacrifice someone already, you cowards! Sacrifice someone so we can all get out of here alive, you freaks! Come on, come on! Friends don't matter in this maze. Only survival does!"

Skye got up from her seat, and although her leg was throbbing, kicked the kid in the knees. Then she grabbed his shirt, dragged his face closer to hers, and spat, "Shut up now, before I kill you myself. None of us are going out there, whether you like it or not." She paused for a moment, and then continued with her statement. "Or if you would like, you could go instead. After all, you're so desperate to get us all killed. So why don't you just get out and leave us all alone to at least live in peace for the small amount of time we have left."

After letting him go, she punched him in the face. He slumped to the ground, his now limp body crumpled up in a heap. The realization that she had made him fall unconscious made her dizzy. Had she really done something that... that bad? Well, come to think of it, according to her flashbacks, this was one of her least serious crimes that she had ever committed.

"You know what?" she said after spitting at the boy's figure. "That felt good. That felt really good. He's a good mat."

She went back to her seat, plopped down, and sighed with relief.

I probably shouldn't walk on my leg for a while, she thought. It could just make the recovery rate decrease. But still, how am I supposed to just sit still and watch? Ugh! This is impossible...

"You know what," Gabriel whispered. "All hope isn't lost. There's still another way to get out of here, if you guys are daring enough."

At this, pointed upwards to the hole in the ceiling. "We can just grab what we need really quick, use a couple blankets as a rope or something, and climb up there. Although... the hardest part would have to be somehow getting it up there without it falling back into the room."

"That idea isn't half bad," she whispered back. "I'm just wondering how we'll tell the others. And Joseph will probably want to bring that wimp along, so how will we bring him too?"

Before they could continue their conversation, the figure's voice began to hiss,

I can hear you conversing to escape. There is no escape. I will always find out. Now, you will all be punished, ignorant humans.

The stove suddenly turned on, the fire seeming to flash before Skye's eyes as she panicked and began to shout in order to warn the others.

And that was when it exploded.