Alone

Chapter 2: Answers

“How are you alive?” I couldn’t seem to force a sound out of my mouth. I stood, every inch of my body unmoving, frozen, stuck. I guess she started to comprehend my fear and so she lowered her gun and a calm instantly rushed throughout my body. It was easier to see her as an equal when there wasn’t a life threatening weapon positioned in her muscular hand, straight between my eyebrows.

“I-I’m not sure. I don’t know w-what’s going on.” I managed to spit out.

“I mean it’s impossible for you to be here right now.” Any fear she had towards me washed off her face and was replaced with wide, amazed eyes. “How did you do it?” She asked, placing her gun down and pressing her palms onto the gray metal desk. She hung her head as she leaned her weight onto her arms that relied on the desk to support her.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you please just tell me what’s going on?” My eyes were glued to her. Every millisecond that she hesitated to answer my question felt like a lifetime. After a minute of staring back at me, contemplating whether she should answer; she spoke.

“I can’t tell you.” My heart sunk in my chest. It felt like someone put a thirty pound weight directly onto my heart. “But I can show you.”

We had been driving for what felt like hours. I turned to look at her. She had chocolate brown hair that lightly graced the tops of her shoulders. It was messy, like she hadn’t run a brush through it in couple of days. Certain pieces were starting to stick to her tan, freckled face as her skin began to form little beads of sweat. She took large breaths, her shoulders rising high, as she focused intently on the road. Based solely on appearance, she seemed genuine and kind. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who was nervous.

After what seemed to be another hour, she pulled her brand new looking 2016 Mercedes into the parking lot of a random business building. We were in a town that I’d never seen before. She let out a deep breath and turned off the car. I kept my focus on the building ahead. It was fairly large, rectangular, what looked to be about four stories tall. The light brown brick looked fresh and new, as if built in the last year or two. What was this place? “You’ll get some answers here.” She said to me, taking the car keys out of the ignition, and getting out of the car. “There’s people here you will meet. Friends of mine. I already told them I found you. Don’t be afraid when they ask you how you did it, no one wants to hurt you. Not us at least.” Thoughts were flooding through my mind more than ever. How many other people were there? How did they survive? Did they cause the disappearance? Are any of them people I know? My heart felt like it was going to tear throw my chest, a bead of warm sweat rolled down the side of my face, and every muscle in my body was quickly becoming numb. “Hey,” She said quietly, opening up her car door to speak to me, “I know this is scary. I know you just want answers and to be back with your family. I need you to just take a deep breath and try to calm your anxiety. We will give you answers.” I nodded, still numb, but slowly moved out of the car and let her lead the way. I had to trust her. I mean, she could have killed me by now or left me behind to fend for myself, but she decided to take me along with her and help me get answers. At this point, I’d be a complete idiot not to trust her.

She lead me to the back of the large building and opened a door. It was pitch black inside. She pulled out her phone, turned on the flashlight and I followed her through the emptiness. The only sound to be heard was my black, worn out converse hitting the floor as I crept behind her. Soon, we reached a set of stairs and ascended up them. Muted chatter sounded in my ear as we reached the top and turned down a hall. The whispers became louder and louder until they became completely audible when we reach a door. She pushed it open and the room silenced. I stepped in. There, sat about ten people. Some men, some women. All young, early twenties. They stared at me, not moving a single one of their built muscles. “Everyone, this is Stephanie. I found her at City Hall...Well, she found me.” No one spoke. I tried not to look at any of them for more than a second, which was made hard due to the fact that I could feel every set of eyes burning into every inch of my body. Why wasn’t anyone saying anything?

“How did you survive?” One of the men asked from the back of the small room.

“I really wish I knew.” I replied shortly. Why did people expect me to know this? I don’t even know what happened!

“I’m sure Emily already told you what happened?” He asked me.

“No. She didn’t.”
“Well, then you should know that everyone is alive. But not for long. All of us in this room have been aware of this situation for a long time and found our way around it. Everyone else in the world wasn’t so lucky...the United States government chipped every person on this planet. They are being controlled by the government and we suspect that they will be led to destruct themselves. I have no idea how you survived, but consider it a blessing and a curse because you will now have to be part of our team. We must act soon.”