I expected a bright light to blind me when I opened the door, something dramatic or unpredictable.
However, I was surprised to see a poorly light hallway. The hallway seemed almost endless as very few lights lit it. I couldn't see if there were any turns in the hallway, thanks to my sightless left eye.
The walls were a depressing gray; it seemed to be contructed from an aging cement.
"Do we go...?" asked Faye's shaky voice. I grabbed Faye's hand and nodded in response. We all slowly walked forward, not taking time to think about it.
I could hear the echos of our breaths and footsteps that travelled through the hallway. I was in the front of the group, Faye travelling behind me, then Max, Jed, and then the rest of the Conquerors. Something seemed oddly comforting about the hallway. There was some sort of certainty of being safe.
Thoughts of the Mutators and Planks began to make their way back into my mind. I was still horrified. Images of the Will's dead body. The corpses of Conquerors lying mixed with the decaying bodies of the Mutators.
I slowed my walk and came to a hault. I couldn't imagine how much pain everyone else must have been in. If I was in pain, they had to be too. I wouldn't know however, I hadn't checked to see how bad the conditions were for us.
So I turned around, facing them. When I turned around, Max's eye was the first thing I noticed. His right eye had lost all pigment, leaving a white hollowness. The veins outside of his eye had grown bluer, bulging under his skin. I knew my eye must have mirrored his. It must have been bad too, for my sight was horrible at this point.
Behind him, I saw Jed's blood stained shirt. Jed's arms also hid behind the blood that fled his body. His faced seemed paler and lesser of the Jed that I knew from that morning. Jed's blue eyes pulsed pain and exhaustion.
The other Conquerors reflected his expression, feeling the same pain and exhaustion. Some Conquerors had bruised eyes. Some had cuts. Others wore blood like clothing. A certion realization hit me.
I wanted to blame myself for everything, but I couldn't, not yet anyways. We hadn't seen the Outsiders yet. I didn't know what damage could be done at that point but I knew it could be done.
I nodded at the Conquerors and continued to walk down the hallway. We dragged our feet instead of walking. We had grown sluggish and slow. I was sleepy and needed rest. We all were.
"There's a turn... But we can keep going straight," Faye said as she stopped me. I knew that I wouldn't have seen the turn if it weren't for Faye.
"What's around the corner?" I asked openly.
I felt Jed makes his way to the front. I saw him turn the corner slowly. Jed's footsteps grew quieter as he walked away and then louder as he reapproached us. Something in me grew calmer knowing that he did reapproach us.
"There's a door not far away. There is a sign hanging from it. It says 'Section 124,' " Jed said in a low tone. A memory of my past dream hit me like a bullet.
"Mutator 124," Dr. Hugo had once said. I knew that we had to go there. That that part of the dream had to mean something, and this was it. This is what it meant.
"We go there. Trust me," I said, my voice shaking. I heard the sounds of agreement around me. No one energetic enough to do otherwise, making my job easier. Slowly, we made our way around the corner and to the door.
We all stopped, minutes passing before I reached for the handle. I noticed that a familiar symbol was engraved bellow the handle. It was the same symbol from the "clue" I had gotten from Dr. Hugo. The familar octagon with a circle in the middle and arrow seemed carved out of the metal with something sharp and thin.
I clenched my jaw as I paused, giving some Conquerors the chance to pull out their weapons. I held my breath as I opened the door, knowing that the other Conquerors were doing the same.
Then I wish I hadn't.