?

  The main lights were out. The green and red lights that only activated during the night dimly shone across the halls. Though these hallways looked the same usually, tonight….they felt different. The colors intertwined to create eerie, shifting patterns on the wall. The familiar sight that I’ve been accustomed to seeing for two years now looked far more detailed. Each scuff mark on the metal, each dent in the plaster, each imperfection on the floor or ceiling became known to me.

  The hallways were completely silent; it was almost oppressive. The only company I had was my thoughts, which seemed to echo off the walls louder than any footsteps I could make.

  Am I nervous?

  Zero said she would be here when the lights dimmed, yet 40 minutes had passed, and I saw no sign of her.

  What if something happened?

  When this thought crossed my mind, the air suddenly felt thick with anticipation, and I felt my hands begin to tremble. My heart beat grew faster with each passing second, as my only sound of comfort was the low hum of the vent right above my room.

  I was preparing to go look for her before I heard the quick tapping of feet running from down the hall. I exited my room and looked left to see Zero running toward my room. On her waist was the katana she gave me during the fight with Zagra. She reached my room and immediately stopped in front of me to catch her breath.

  “Phew! Hooooo……phah! Sorry, I was so late; security is tight tonight. It took a while for me to get past all the facilitators. Wait….why do you look like that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re all stiff and meek. Usually, you look like you have the most confidence in the world, even though your face is usually boring.”

  “I….was nervous.”

  She stared at me in disbelief for a couple of seconds before stifling a laugh and punching me in the shoulder multiple times.

  “Ha….and here I was thinking I was the only one. I’m glad to know that even great fighters can feel nervous. Don’t worry, we’re in this together. I got your back, and you got mine, right?”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” I sighed. I felt better, but I could still feel my hands trembling.

  What am I doing? It’s not like me to be like this. I need to focus. I need to–

  My thoughts were interrupted by Zero grabbing both of my hands and squeezing them gently.

  “Trust me, this is a normal feeling. We both know this isn’t gonna be a walk in the park, but we each have our own reasons for getting out of here. The point is, this is life or death….for both of us. If we don’t make this choice, we’re guaranteed to die. I’ll die from my illness, stuck in this cage, and you’ll be used as an experiment and soldier for who knows how long. Tonight, we fight for the chance to live freely.”

  I agreed, yet my hands couldn’t stop trembling. Zero sighed, placing both of her hands on my chest and pushing me into my own room.

  “W-What are you doing?” I asked, catching my balance as she brushed past me. Zero sat on my bed with her eyes closed, patting the spot next to her.

  “Do we really have the time—?”

  “Shut up and sit down.” She scoffed with an annoyed expression.

  I begrudgingly sat down as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

  “Tell me about your homeland. About your family.” She said quietly.

  “There’s not much to say. If you were hoping for a nice reminiscing of the past—”

  “Then just say that small amount. Do you have to counter me on every little thing?” She chuckled.

  “....My parents never gave our homeland a name. I didn’t think it was particularly worthy of one either. It was a barren wasteland tinged with red. Toxic air attacked our lungs every single moment and corrupted anything that couldn’t handle it. Apparently, my family and ancestors have lived there for so long that their bodies adapted to it. So they have an innate resistance, myself included.”

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  “Mmm.” She grunted, making it clear she was listening.

  “Ever since I was four, and I could walk around on my own, my parents would drill into me various things. My mother would teach me mathematics, linguistics, and how to garden, even with the terrible soil. My father would teach me how to fight, hunt, and strategize. Day in, day out. By the time I was 7 years old, I had to mostly secure my own food unless it was a special occasion.” I continued, remembering all of my failed attempts.

  “Did they expect you to hunt Rusted monsters or something? I didn’t even know those were safe to eat. There’s no way the animals there weren’t corrupted.”

  “They were, but thanks to my ancestors, I suppose we can eat them just fine. I would mainly stick to hunting smaller game, like rabbits or deer. I would do this while waiting for the seeds I planted to grow into something edible. It was the same thing, over and over again. I hated it.”

  “Did you tell them?” Zero asked, staring up at me.

  “Of course. However, they would always brush me off. It felt like they were rushing to teach me everything as soon as possible, yet I never knew why. I could only assume it was because of the life expectancy of the people in my homeland that they wanted to prepare me before they died. But when I suggested we leave, they scoffed and laughed at me, telling me other lands are far more dangerous than our home. With how strong they were, it didn’t make sense to me. Every single day, just hardship after hardship after hardship, with our only purpose being to survive the next day. Creatures roamed the land as if it were theirs. It took us over a day to purify a pitcher of water; it was basically a hellscape. But...at least over there I was free to do what I wanted.” I said, unconsciously clenching my fists.

  “Do...you have a family to return to?”

  “No. They both died shortly before I was abducted. Despite how confident they were, the illness that takes everyone who stays there for too long grasped their hearts. They died peacefully, leaving me behind to fend for myself. So you’d imagine my surprise when foreigners came onto the mainland and swarmed me before I could do anything. They took a couple of other people, too, but neither my family nor I ever spoke with the other residents of our homeland. I just wish my parents had listened to me. If they did, maybe they’d still be alive.” I said, hearing slight static in my head.

  “Does thinking about it make you sad?” Zero asked, placing her hand over my own.

  “No. There’s....there’s no use dwelling on the past. Me being sad about it won’t change anything, especially when I have far more pressing matters to deal with.” I affirmed. “Although....it’s strange,” I said, holding my head, the low static sound still persisting.

  “What is?”

  “I can’t really....remember my last day with them.” I said, searching my memories for even their dying expression, yet nothing came up.

  “Maybe you were so hurt by it you pushed it down or something. I’ve....done that before.” She said, clenching my hand tight.

  “Do....do you want to talk—?”

  “Hah! Hey look, your hands stopped shaking!” Zero said, quickly standing up. She wagged her finger in my face with a smile. “Talking about the past will always take your mind off the present! And looking to the future always gives me the hope I need to go forward! Don’t you agree?” She asked, holding out her hand.

  I couldn’t help but smile as I grabbed her hand. “Yeah, I can’t argue with that.”

  “Ooooh! Was that a smile? Did you just smile?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You totally did!” She teased, smiling warmly before stiffening her expression and looking toward my bed.

  “Alright, we’ve used up a bit of time. There’s no more to waste. C’mon, let’s gear up.” She said, closing her eyes in resolve.

  We both turned around and started walking toward the bed, pulling out the gear and weapons from underneath.

  “Is that katana really all you need?” I asked, eyeing her katana.

  “I’m not an all-mastery weapons user like you; I stick with what I’m comfortable with. Besides, this katana is pretty special, so I’ll be fine.”

  We put on the green and black combat jackets, and I put my diary in my left chest pocket.

  “Hey, turn around.” Zero said.

  “You don’t even need to take off your pants, just put the gear over–”

  “Shut up and turn around!”

  I turned around as I began putting my pants on over my gown. I heard Zero struggling and grunting behind me for at least a minute before she gave me the ok.

  “Why, though?” I asked.

  “It’s not comfy. It would make my legs feel super stuffy.”

  I slung the bow and arrows over my back and strapped on the knife and katana. I adjusted the belt around my waist until it felt comfortable to move in, before patting it down.

  “You ready?” She asked, briefly inspecting her katana before sheathing it.

  “Hey, I know we don’t have much time, but are we... just not going to speak of what we saw? In the Forbidden Area?” I asked, slightly gnawing on my thumb.

  Zero stiffened and didn’t respond. I could see her hand trembling as she averted my gaze.

  “What would talking about it even do? We’ll just expose it all with the flash drive when we get out.” She whispered, turning around to face the door.

  “Right….Right, let’s go.” I said, looking back at my room one last time.

  Our escape from this hell begins now.