Take my pain from me...
~•~ Chapter 14 ~•~
I heard heavy breathing and guns raised in the air, aiming at someone a few feet away from me. I was confused and scared, but mostly in horrific pain. My eyes felt like jelly and I could taste blood in my mouth for an odd reason.
"D-don't shoot! We need water!" A man stuttered, sounding panicked. My heart picked up with anxiety and hope. Men, alive men. That means that the rest of the soldiers sent here could be alive, too.
"Why is he blindfolded?" Louis asked suspiciously.
"The fog.. please, we only need the water! We are unarmed!" the man begged and it actually got my heart cracking up at the desperation in his voice.
"Go on." Harry urged lowly but I could still feel the tension radiating off him.
"My eyes!" Niall croaked, while I heard Thomas and Ashton both groan in pain. I was trying my best not to let any tears fall.
"The water.." I heard Liam say thoughtfully as heavy footsteps followed and the sound of something diving in the water came afterwards. I also heard low crying and I could tell it was not from my army group.
"It helps with the poison - hurry before they get harmed!" The man advised, having me gasping in shock. My eyes were still shut tightly, I could see tiny colorful dots around from squeezing my eyes so much.
"W-what?" Niall blurted.
"Get them closer to the river." Harry ordered and I felt his hands gently pick me up from my arms before I was led a few steps further. "Sit," he said softly and I sat down on a hard rock, fearing to open my eyes for a mere second.
I heard loud screams of pain from the unknown guy and my heart shook with fear. "It's okay - come on, you can do this." the man said lowly but loud enough for my ears to hear.
I heard the water splash beside me before Harry opened my mask. "This might hurt," he warned me and I bit my lower lip in anticipation. Just as I felt a droplet of water touch my cheek, I could sense my nerves going crazy with fear. A wet cloth was placed upon my closed eyes before Harry squeezed the cloth, letting the water pour all over my eyes. Instantly, strong jolts of pain were sent through my lids, making me groan loudly in pain before a scream escaped my lips.
Every drop of water felt like needles sinking through my eyes, but after a few painful seconds, I could feel the pain slowly fading away. Ashton and Thomas both cried out in pain but Niall screamed louder than the rest of us and I heard him kick his legs against the ground. My stomach churned at the sound. You could tell, he was tortured the most from the rest of us. Harry's breath was shaky as he repeated the action twice, me moaning and yelping in pain and agony.
"What now?" I heard Louis ask.
"Cover their eyes for an hour, they will be fine, they shouldn't be exposed to light after the poison." The guy explained, rushing the words. He sounded exhausted.
"How do you know this?" Liam questioned as Harry tied the wet cloth around my head, covering my eyes.
"You will be fine, babe." He murmured softly to me.
"Thanks." I mumbled lightly. I was shaking, like literally shaking because it was the most painful thing I have ever been through.
"3 of my friends died because of the fog. Only me, Tony and Ed survived the fog and we fell in the river because we couldn't see. It healed us." the guy replied coolly. His injured friend couldn't be heard now, I suppose he was calm and not feeling pain anymore.
"You are?" Zayn asked flatly. I sensed suspicion in his voice.
"I'm Cole." he replied easily. "That's my brother, Ed. We lost Tony, we don't know where he went, maybe you have seen him?" He sounded harmless and nice.
"No, we just came here." Louis said.
"You're soldiers right? Leo sent you?" Cole said. Harry lead me to the soft grass to lay down and rest my head against my camp bag for support.
"What do we look like?" Louis said sarcastically.
"Weird, Leo said he would only send one test team today, I don't know why he sent you, it hasn't been a week yet." Cole muttered thoughtfully.
"What?" Zayn said.
"First team of testing this? Come on, Leo must have told you. He told us he would sent another army group If he didn't have news from us in a week. But it's only been a day we left, maybe he changed the project." You could tell Cole was absolutely clueless of what is going on outside this shield and has lost sense of time.
"You are in the first test team?" Ashton huffed.
"Yes."
"Do you remember the date you guys left?" Harry asked, voice serious.
Cole chuckled, "Yeah, it was yesterday, September the 3rd, why?"
My stomach twisted upside down as I realized what is really happening here.
"That wasn't yesterday," I said, shaking my head gently.
"I know." Harry murmured beside me.
"What are you talking about? What date does your watches show?" Cole scoffed.
"Today is September 29th. You have been here for more than 3 weeks, Cole." Liam said lowly.
"Leo sent 2 more army groups before us. Nobody showed any sign, nobody returned. That's why he sent us today." Zayn said coolly.
"No. No - this can't be true." Cole argued doubtful.
"You haven't seen anyone else besides us?" Thomas questioned from my left, voice humble.
"N-no.. That's because I've been here for a day!" He claimed.
"You have been here for 3 and a half weeks, get it inside your head!" Harry snapped, making me slightly jump at his harsh tone. "You have lost sense of time - this place is a mind trap, that's why you're out of sense."
Cole sucked in a breath and I heard someone else sigh. "Maybe they're right, Cole. Maybe that's why we can't find Tony." the other guy, Ed, said flatly.
"Okay, I really couldn't give a damn about this stuff - all I want to know, is what the fuck was that fog and what the hell is going on with this place?!" Louis burst out, voice raising its tone with every word.
"This place is dangerous, there's no way out." Ed said, fearful. "This place isn't normal. Nothing is normal. Even the trees are different, the air we breathe is different, the water, the sun, everything. "
"Yeah okay poet, we need instructions on how to get to the lab safely," Louis retorted.
"The lab? Fuck no, you can't get near to that zone, it's deathly." Cole said sharply.
"That's why we are here, to get to the lab and get the cure." Zayn muttered, sarcasm evident in his tone.
"With four members injured, we ain't moving anywhere. We will stay here until they all feel better, the fog is gone anyways." Harry informed coolly, his hand gently grazing my forearm.
"Fuck yes," Niall was happy with Harry's decision.
"Listen to me, this place is not as peaceful as it looks, okay? We have seen terrible things-,"
"We have been trapped in half destroyed buildings on fire, surrounded by zombies and we survived." Louis cut him off sassily.
"Plus, we have survived through an underground cave filled with zombies. This place doesn't scare us." Zayn added proudly. My heart clenched at the mention of that cave as terrible memories flashed through my mind. The day I lost Kate...
"You don't understand - if I'm stuck here for 3 weeks and I think it's only been a day - then you are here for longer than a day as well. You will get lost." Cole insisted.
"He's right about that." Liam agreed.
"Can we just calm down and rest until we get to see again? You're all pain in the ass." Niall grumbled.
"Yeah, let's rest here. We'll see where we'll head to once you can see." Harry stated.
"But-,"
"Drop it, Cole." Ed snapped and I heard Cole sigh.
"I hate this place." Niall spat a few meters from beside me.
"And you haven't seen anything yet.." Cole muttered thoughtfully.
...
An hour and 10 minutes later, Harry ordered our eyes to be unfolded. The injured- me included - took a nap for the past hour and I didn't hear much from what the boys said. The sound of the river drifted me away to a slumber, since I couldn't see anything and having my eyes closed for too long only made me sleepy. I sat up straight, the anticipation already killing me. I couldn't feel any pain, just a soreness, as if I had been rubbing my eyes for way too long. I heard Niall groan in pain though, while Thomas and Ashton both sounded fine.
“Alright, let's see,” Liam said gently as I heard him take a seat in front of me. “Are you ready? Keep them closed for a few seconds.”
“Yes okay.” I nodded.
I felt him take off the cloth from around my head and held my eyes closed for a little while after like he told me. “Okay, open them up.” he said and I did as I was told.
Opening my lids felt slightly difficult and my vision was blurry. I blinked gently, the back of my eyes having a soft ache. When my eyes finally adjusted, I saw Liam’s confused face and Harry standing behind him, watching me worriedly.
“How are you feeling?” Liam asked, frowning.
“Fine, I can see clearly.” I admitted.
“Thank God.” Harry sighed in relief, giving me a small smile that I returned.
“All good?” I heard Zayn ask and I turned my head to see Thomas freeing his eyes too, blinking rapidly before he nodded. Zayn was crouched in front of him, staring at him intently.
“Alright Ashton, stay still.” Louis said before untying his cloth from around his head. Ashton cleared his throat, his eyes squeezed tightly in fear. “Open your eyes.” Louis ordered.
Ashton first opened his left eye, looking around before opening the other as well. “How does it feel?” Louis asked.
“Like I have been in the dark for too long.” He replied flatly.
“What about me?” I turned my head to see an impatient Niall having his arms crossed, laying against a tree. Right across from him, was Ed and Cole. Cole was checking up Ed’s eyes with a flashlight and they didn't seem suspicious. They both had dark blonde hair and green eyes and parts of their faces were covered in dirt.
“Stop whining you asshole, I'm coming.” Louis rolled his eyes, moving towards Niall.
“Shut the fuck up and untie this shit so I can see.” Niall grumbled.
“Talk to me better, ungrateful bas-,“
“Louis.” Harry cut him off with a warning look. Louis rolled his eyes again and crouched down in front of Niall, keeping his mean remarks to himself.
“Alright princess, don't move.” he sassed, making Zayn and Ashton laugh lightly.
“Don't fuck with my patience Lou.” Niall warned and you could tell he's had enough.
Louis gently took off the cloth from around Niall’s head and placed it beside him. Niall opened his eyes and looked blankly ahead. I sucked in a deep breath when I saw the red veins in his eyes being too evident and the blue irises looking light white. Louis even slightly cringed at the sight but worry flashed through his face.
“Are you going to take it off or do I have to punch you?” Niall snapped, making me exchange shocked looks with Liam.
No.
“What ?” Louis scrunched his eyebrows.
“Don't play with me Lou, take it off so I can see!” Niall yelled, making shock and sadness clench my heart.
“Niall..” Louis murmured, realization hitting him hard.
“What?” Niall scoffed.
“Niall...It's off. You have nothing on your face.” Zayn said coolly, face showing concern.
Cole turned to look at Niall with a frown before his face dropped. “Oh no.” he gasped, seeming disappointed.
Harry turned and glared at Cole with a bewildered expression, Cole gulping.
“You find it funny playing with me - I'm done play-“ Niall raised his hands to pull off the cloth from his head but he only touched his skin, causing him to freeze in his movements. “What..” he whispered, fear and confusion evident across his face. “No.. No.”
Oh God no.
His eyes fell, tears appearing, “I..I can't see..” He mumbled, breaking my heart.
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A/N: yep.. this is not a fairytale. And many more are to come. Please vote and comment. Thank you all ❤