I Get Jumped
The pit keeps breathing like its pissed that we got away. Neo and I lie on the stone for a few moments longer, not celebrating, not talking, just indulging in our… freedom.
Freedom, at least from the pit.
My chest still feels wrong and dense, like there's a furnace behind my ribs. Neo's breathing is shallow and shaky, like he's afraid the air might charge him rent.
Eventually, I roll over onto my side, and push myself slowly to my feet, glancing around at my surroundings. It's simple - a short passage lit with a dimly glowing chrona torch, blocked by a stout wooden door with no lock.
"Huh."
I wander slowly towards the door as Neo stays lying down, and notice a small bag fixed to a hook next to it.
Oh? Could this be… a reward?
I snatch it off the hook and tear it open.
What greets me is the most welcome sight I've seen for a whole week.
"Neo," I say, trying to contain my drool, "there's food."
Holding back rabid urges, we spread the contents of the pouch before us. Two small, hard loaves of bread, q flask of water, a roll of bandages.
"Shit," Neo says hoarsely. "Gimme."
No arguing here. We scarf down the bread and water instantly - it tastes heavenly, like the best food I've ever had. Afterwards, we improvise wrapping the bandages around the worst of our injuries, talk a little bit more, than make the decision to venture outside the door.
"We could get killed instantly," Neo swallows. "You sure about this?"
"There's only one road ahead," I say, and kick the door off its hinges.
The wood splinters and falls back, light spilling through.
The corridor in front of us stretches forever in both directions. Rock, but not natural rock. This is carved and chiselled, built by someone. Dim torches line the walls, their flames tinted blue by natural chrona, throwing an eerie glow over hundreds of identical doors.
Hundreds.
I'm assuming each door also hides a pit just like ours, and two people there too.
Neo pushes himself upright, wincing. "So there were other pits."
"Yeah," I mutter. "Lucky us."
"We're 007 and 008, right?" Neo asks.
"That was what the voice said."
"So… that means at least three pairs made it out before us."
I frown, realising.
"Less than I thought."
"I'm sure it's because no one's as brash as you to dunk venom like that."
"Maybe."
Then I freeze and put out a hand to stop Neo. Footsteps… not ours.
They're not frantic or desperate, but lazy. Like whoever's walking is just strolling casually down their road.
Two silhouettes drift toward us down the corridor.
As they come into the torchlight, my brain instantly sorts them into categories.
The first is a wall with legs. Huge. Thick arms. Thick neck. The kind of build that looks like it was designed to pick up other humans and use them as weapons. His face is a permanent scowl like he spends his spare time face planting on the sidewalk.
The second is slimmer, dancer-like, but his posture is… wrong. Relaxed, but unnerving. Like the world has never successfully threatened him.
He smiles.
Only his mouth.
His eyes don't.
One is warm brown. The other is pale yellow, almost glowing in the torchlight. Mismatched. Unsettling. The kind of gaze that makes my skin feel like it's being inspected.
"Hello," he says, as they approach and stop in front of us.
He extends a hand.
I take it, because I'm stupid and also because my pride refuses to flinch first. His grip is strong, rough and covered in dried blood from the climb.
"You can call me Sword," I say, forcing my voice not to crack. "I think we're the fourth group to get up here."
"My designation's Neo," Neo adds, nodding stiffly.
The mismatched-eyed guy tilts his head. "Numbers?"
"007 and 008," I say. "You?"
His smile doesn't change, but something behind his eyes sharpens.
"I'm 001," he says. Then he nudges the brick wall beside him with a thumb. "This is 002."
Neo freezes like he's been unplugged.
The first.
Which means he didn't just climb out before us. He climbed out long before us.
"We've been up here four days," 001 continues, like he's discussing the weather.
My stomach drops. "Four days?"
This guy made it up the pit in three days.
"What's… what happens after the pit?" I ask. "Do you know?"
He shrugs.
That shrug is worse than any answer.
001 steps past me, already moving down the corridor.
"Wait," I say, reaching to take his shoulder then thinking better of it. "Where are you going?"
He doesn't even slow down. "That isn't your concern."
"Wouldn't it be smarter to stick together?" I push, irritation flaring. "Four groups is better than one."
Now he looks faintly amused, like I've said something cute.
"Maybe," he replies. "But one word of advice."
He glances back at me.
"We lost some prey back there," he says softly. "Ferocious one. If you see him, watch your step."
The way he says 'prey' makes my skin crawl.
"…right."
They keep going, but before they can get away I ask them one last thing.
"If I ever see you again," I call. "What should I call you?"
"Airo," he says without looking back. "That's Avoma."
Then 001 and 002 leave us behind, torches sliding over their backs as they disappear into the corridor like they own it.
Neo exhales sharply. "What was with that guy? Who does he think he is?"
I don't answer right away.
Because I can still feel the way 001 looked at me.
Not like an equal.
Like something on a list.
"He got out four days ago," I say finally. "And he's 001 for a reason, I suppose. I wonder what he did to get out that early… with 002's huge frame at that."
"He gave me a bad vibe," Neo says.
"Same here, but don't poke him."
Neo mutters something rude under his breath, but he doesn't argue.
We start walking the other direction from them, and as we do we pass other doors blown off their hinges. I count them. One… two… four… five…?
I pause.
"Isn't that too many?"
"Look at that," Neo pulls the sleeve of my torn shirt. "It's smashed in from the outside."
He's right. Someone's clearly smashed the doors in from the outside. I wonder who it was - Airo…? Or maybe another of the four people up here? Were they targeting the food pouches…?
"Let's not stay here," Neo decides, and I agree.
We pick up the pace and it isn't long before we find someone else.
He's slumped, standing upright against the wall under a torch, eyes closed, shoulders hunched around his body and arms folded, chin tucked into his chest.
For a second I think he's dead.
Then his eyes snap open and his body moves.
Fast.
He drops into a stance, flint blade already between his fingers, aimed like he's about to open my throat.
I jerk my hands up. "Woah. Not enemies."
He studies us with cold green eyes, scanning from my face to Neo's, then down to my hands. He doesn't relax, but he lowers the knife a little.
"If you climbed out of that pit," he says quietly, "you should know most things that come out don't stay human."
Neo, because Neo is allergic to survival instincts, goes, "…you don't look very human yourself."
I elbow him hard.
The guy's covered in dirt and blood. Not just climbing-blood. Fighting-blood. Scratches, gashes, a long red line down his face like someone tried to erase him. His messy black hair is matted with dried blood and grime. He looks younger than me, but he carries himself like he's already lived through a war.
"Were you attacked?" I ask.
He nods once.
Airo's words crawl back into my brain.
"We lost prey back there."
"Was it… 001?" I ask carefully. "And 002?"
The guy's jaw tightens.
"If I wasn't alone," he mutters, "They wouldn't have got away."
Neo's eyes widen. "Alone? Didn't you have a partner?"
The guy looks away for half a second. Then back.
"He killed himself on the fifth day."
A cold weight drops into my chest.
I'm about to speak, but he cuts in like he's bored of emotions.
"You haven't come to terms with it yet," he says to me, meeting my eyes.
"Huh?"
He gestures at my hands, looks me up and down again, and rests on my face, like he's inspecting me.
"You caught a pale viper," he says. "You have an elixir. You have a friend. If one thing went different…"
He doesn't finish.
He doesn't need to.
"This place is hell," he adds. "A hell where you could die at any moment."
He pauses, then finally introduces himself like it's a formality.
"004," he says. "Elemental."
I blink. "Elemental?"
He shrugs. "Assigned."
Right. Of course. Like Sword. Like Neo.
I ask a few questions. He answers with as few words as possible.
Project Pharo? "Don't know."
The voice? "System."
Other people? "Yes."
Escape? "No."
And then he says one more thing, quieter.
"We're being watched."
I glance up.
For a split second I catch a faint glimmer in the ceiling corner, like glass. A lens.
My stomach sinks.
Eventually I swallow my pride and ask, "Would you… stick with us?"
Elemental looks at me for a long moment. Then nods once.
"…Alright."
I shake his hand. It stings, but it's worth it.
We walk again, three of us now, me leading, and then Elemental and Neo lagging behind slightly.
"Don't you have an elixir?" I ask him. "You climbed up after all."
"No," he says.
"Ah, ok."
We keep walking in silence.
"WAIT WHAT!?!?!"
I whirl around, almost smacking him across the face.
"You- you what!?"
He climbed up that… 300-feet pit with his bare hands and a human body?
"Yes," he says grimly, holding up his bloodied hands, wrapped crudely in bandages, stained red through and through.
"…damn."
I can only imagine how hard it must've been for him.
"Uh, Sword," Neo says, looking past me, interrupting us. "Behind you… uh?"
I turn, and see what's he's looking at. Someone is moving towards us from the other end of the corridor.
Fast.
Too fast.
Neo takes a step back. "Uh… is he… sprinting at us?"
The figure grows in the torchlight, and for a heartbeat I just see a kid. Pale. Sweaty. Sickly. Blood on his face.
Then I see his eyes.
Wide not with confusion or fear, but with hunger.
Before I can come to my senses he's in front of us, sailing through the air at me like a wild animal, mouth wide open and screaming. His hands tear through the air like claws.
Elemental moves before me, snapping an unexpected brutal kick into the side of his head.
The attacker crashes into the wall, hits the floor, then just gets back up like he hasn't just been clocked with the cleanest head-shot I've ever seen.
Blood and foam bubble at his lips. He grins, wide and broken.
He lunges again, but we scatter and his hands snatch at air.
"Get ready," Elemental warns. "He's dangerous."
"Yeah," Neo agrees, rolling back on his feet. "No kidding."
The attacker's eyes lock onto mine.
"Numbers," he rasps. "What're your numbers?"
"007," I say.
"004," Elemental replies.
"008," Neo adds.
The guy's grin widens like I've given him a present.
"Right," he breathes. "That makes you weaker than me, right?"
My skin goes cold.
"003," I realise out loud.
He laughs.
Not happy.
Not sane.
He crashes into Elemental first, and a cracking sound echoes down the corridor. Elemental tries to keep it clean and controlled, but 003 fights like pain is optional. He eats hits and keeps moving. 004's clearly skilled as heck, but his injuries catch up with him quickly.
Elemental gets clipped in the ribs. He coughs hard and drops to one knee.
"004!" I shout.
I step in.
003 turns and swings at me.
I block.
And for the first time since the venom, I feel it.
My strength.
His fist slams into my forearms and my feet skid back… but I don't fold like a paper house. The pain is there, but it's distant, like it's arriving late to the party.
003's eyes widen for half a second.
Then he smiles wider.
He's loving it, and it makes me sick.
Neo darts in, strikes his throat, tries to create space for me.
003 ignores it.
He throws Neo aside like he's a bag of wet clothes.
My chest flashes hot with anger.
"Get away from him," I snarl, drawing back my fist, and with all the strength in my body from the roots of my legs to my hips to my shoulders, I swing my fist.
It collides with 003's jaw and I feel the force travelling through me into him, driving him back, and he gets blown back into the rock, rolling along it like a ragdoll.
I stare at my fist.
"Damn."
Unfortunately, he wastes no time and gets right back up, blood pouring from his lips and down his chin, but his eyes still glare at me like a beast's.
003 laughs maniacally again and sprints again.
Three people rush in my direction.
Three?
Before I can collide with him two new figures slam into 003's flanks from either side of him.
One has spiky black hair and a small scar on his upper lip, grinning like this is a sport.
The other has soft silvery hair and calm grey eyes.
003 snarls and skids to a halt, trying to face the two new attackers, but they don't give him time to rest. They dance circles around him, beating him down with brutal coordination.
A sweep to the knee.
A punch to the face.
An elbow to the neck.
003 roars, lashes back, clips them both, but Elemental dives back in and tackles his waist, dragging him down.
For a second, it looks like we've got him.
Then 003 explodes off the floor, snarling, eyes wild.
He drops to all fours and gallops away down the corridor like an actual animal, trailing blood.
The silvery-haired guy starts to chase.
I catch his arm. "Don't."
He yanks against my grip, then stops, breathing hard.
"We need to kill that feral bastard now!"
"Who's to say you can 1v1 him an win!?" I demand.
"No you don't get it!" he replies. "He's been breaking doors and stealing food for the past three days - he's a real menace."
The spiky-haired guy wipes blood off his lip and grins at us. "He's 003. Exqua."
Elemental's eyes narrow. "Did he kill his partner?"
The spiky-haired guy's grin fades slightly. "Well he goes around alone like that so…"
Neo swallows. "Cool. Love that."
"We won't be able to catch him anyway," I say, and the silvery-haired guy finally lets it go.
"Fine… but if we get another chance no stopping me then. Got it?"
I pause. He means that he wants to kill that… Exqua guy.
"…alright," I say heavily.
We pause for a bit, catching our breaths, before the two newcomers introduce themselves.
"005," he says. "Artee."
The spiky-haired one salutes. "006, Ronin."
More names. More designations.
Artee looks at the three of us, then at the corridor, then back again.
"So," he says, "we sticking together or…? I mean you guys seem normal enough to be worth hanging around so…"
I glance at Neo. Neo glances at Elemental. Elemental doesn't react, because Elemental seems allergic to reacting.
"Yeah," I say. "We stick together."
I reach out.
Artee shakes my hand.
Ronin bumps my shoulder like we've known each other for years.
And for the first time since I woke up in that pit, I feel it.
A sort of slightly warm, glad feeling, like a weight's off my chest. People I've just met, someone I've known for a week… but I feel a strange comfort and confidence.
I suppose that's a given.
In a place built to drive us insane, being alone is a death sentence.