The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 40: Cell Escape

Gladiola put her face nearer to Joshua's while giving him a narrow stare. Joshua was taken aback that he stepped backwards to keep her face on the same distance. He could tell that Gladiola was trying to look into her eyes- that or she just wants to make him take the situation seriously. "You're kidding, right? Wait?! Don't tell me, you really don't remember anything at all?"

Joshua looked up at the dark ceiling of the cell as he tried to remember his past. His mind is quite the machine since he could recall every second of his life. Every knowledge that he gained is easily recalled as well. In simple terms, Joshua has a photographic memory. However, he couldn't remember the first five years of his life and it quite bothered him since he feels that something important must have happened during that time line. "Wait, did I meet you before I turned five? My memory is quite hazy along those years."

Gladiola's eyes brightly lit up. "Yes! Yes! You did!" She brought her face closer to Joshua's once again, she was too excited since maybe Joshua remembered even just a little bit of his childhood days. "Do you remember anything now?"

"No, I still don't remember anything."

"Too bad." She sadly muttered. "You still don't remember anything, huh. I hope you could recall even just a little bit of your memories. I mean, even just a little bit. You even forgot about the promise that we made to each other." She murmured.

"Promise?! What promise? Did I promise anything to you? If I did, what is it?" Joshua asked. What's with this over-the-top cliche? He told himself.

"Just kidding! That was just a joke!" Gladiola told him while forcing herself to smile. "Anyway, we need to go now. Time is running out!"

Joshua averted his gaze from Gladiola as he forced himself to remember the first five years of his life once again. It makes him frustrated that he couldn't remember something important in his life since it's the first time that it happened to him. Gladiola seems trustworthy and she doesn't look like she was lying when she mentioned that promise, whatever it is. But man! This is the first time that I tried to remember something since I ignored these missing memories the moment I realized I couldn't recall them. Joshua thought.

"Joshua! Joshua! Are you listening?" Gladiola asked. "We need to go! And you have to pick the lock again in order for us to be able to get out of here." She hoarsely whispered while shaking his head to get his attention.

"Alright! Alright! I'll do it! Stop shaking my head already!" Joshua told her as he tried to stand up.

"Okay!" Gladiola smiled.

This girl is so troublesome! Joshua shook his head.

Click!

One minute and five-and-a-half seconds- it took that long for me to unlock this one according to my mental clock. I need to train harder in lock-picking faster. Joshua told himself. Anyway, that's bridge under the water. I was able to escape in the nick of time through lock-picking, fortunately.

"Let's go!" Gladiola cheerily said as soon as Joshua opened the door.

"Where are we going?" Joshua questioned.

After heaving a sigh of relief, Emma stretched herself as she got out of the cell. "Whew! I've been cooped in there for so long. Thanks for getting me out of there, by the way."

"No, it's thanks to you that I was able to escape. You help me first so I should return the favor, you know." Joshua smiled. "So, where are we going?"

"To the power source, of course! We have to stop it before the world takes on a new shape. I mean, we have to stop the P.U.L.L. before this world comes to an end. Now, let's go!" Gladiola answered.

.....

The Great Storm.

It was greatest storm ever to occur on earth. The storm has been confirmed to exceed Signal number seven and its wind speed just kept on increasing and increasing as time passes. A few hours ago, the storm was just above the United Kingdom and is moving towards the direction of the mainland of Europe. The weather forecasters have announced that the storm would slowly dissipate as it approaches and arrives at the mainland.

But they were wrong.

The storm just kept getting larger and larger like its wind speed. As it reached the mainland, the storm was as big as Europe itself. It covered the entire area of the continent, making it a danger zone in the whole world.

The governments and analysts of the countries of Europe began to investigate on the matter. This was the first time that a storm broke the law of physics. The momentum of the storm didn't seem to decrease but it continuously increased as time passes. Even the weather forecasters don't know if the storm would ever stop nor could they figure out a way to stop it.

Thus, it was nicknamed, The Great Storm.

A few analysts theorized that the storm was an artificial one and someone might be behind all these. But the government put their theories down, thinking that it was just another made-up conspiracies. But little do they know, those analysts were much closer to the truth than they are.

It's only a matter of time before the great storm crosses the border towards the Asian Continent and it looks like the storm isn't likely to stop. At its current rate and speed, the storm is predicted to reach Asia in less than half an hour minimum.