Chaos echoed around him, smoke billowing into the sky above the buildings. Teary-eyed, Caspian stumbled forward, people running in every direction. The sound of car horns was loud in his ears, a never-ending chorus.
A shove from behind caused him to stumble to the ground. Throwing his arms up to save himself, pain racked his body. His hands felt raw, as a shadow loomed above him, before passing over him. The large man who had knocked him down, without even turning around, carried on running.
Trying to push himself up, another jolt of pain coursed through him. Holding his hands out, blood leaked out of them, the skin torn to shreds. Holding back a sob, he tried to brush the gravel that stuck to him. Failing, he managed to get to his feet, his whole body swaying.
An ear-piercing honk whizzed by his ear, as a semi-trailer ploughing straight through traffic. Cars were scattered like toys as the massive truck barreled right through them, opening a path through the gridlock. Screams of pain joined the chorus, numerous drivers trying to claw themselves out of crumpled vehicles.
More smoke started to fill the sky, as cars began to ignite. Loud booms would erupt every few seconds, causing his hair to dance and his eyes to hurt.
Dragging himself forward, Caspian small eyes relentlessly searched for his parents. For safety.
Out of the smoke a figure appeared before him, a hand outstretched. He tried to focus on the face but his eyes worked working properly. A blur encased the figure's face, its mouth moving as it spoke words he couldn’t understand.
Reaching forward, he tried to grab the outstretched hand, desperate.
As their fingers met, the very earth shook, buildings groaning in protest as cracks spiderwebbed across the road. Screaming in fear, Caspian threw himself forward, into the waiting arms. The sounds of chaos only increased in fervour, but he couldn’t see any of that. Only the darkness.
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Caspian woke with a start, his chest heaving rapidly. Not knowing where he was, he looked around panicked. After a few seconds, his vision cleared, his mind telling him that he was in the lobby of a building. Expedition. He’d fallen asleep.
His mind caught up with his body, the journey to the expedition tryouts coming back to him. Trying to take long deep breaths, he sat up, trying to calm himself down. Beads of sweat dribbled down his face. Reaching up to wipe his brow, his hand touched his skin, a thick sheen of sweat coming off.
Dismayed, he looked down to see his shirt was stained, damp patches everywhere. Leaning forward to try and air it out, he realised that his back was just as bad, the shirt stuck to him like a second skin.
Letting out an irritated sigh, Caspian tried to air it out, unbuttoning the front. His efforts seemed to be futile, the slick coating of sweat stuck to him like a glove.
It had been ages since he’d last had an episode. Just his luck a nightmare would strike at the single worst time. Shaking his head, he tried to forget the contents of what he saw, the images of burning bodies, destruction consuming everything he had ever known.
Just thinking of that day caused his fists to curl up. He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t need this. Why was his mind trying to sabotage everything? He was so close. So close he could feel it.
“Why can’t it just leave me alone,” he murmured under his breath, his head dropping.
Looking at his hands, deep indents from his nails on both, he let out a pained smile. Flexing them, he took a deep breath and held it onto it, quietly counting in his head. When his count reached ten, he let it out, before taking another and repeating.
After a minute of focusing on his breath, he felt his heart and mind relax slightly. The tension slowly evaporating. Out of his head, he looked around the lobby, realising it was now full of people. To his surprise, there were dozens of people milling about, a soft chatter echoing through the stone room.
No one was near him, his isolated spot and the fact he’d been asleep keeping them away, but he did catch a few people looking at him. When he focused on them, they quickly looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze.
The momentary thought that he’d missed it, sprung up, causing him to grab his watch. 9:54. He sighed with relief. He hadn’t.
Careful not to sit back, he dropped the watch back in the satchel, returning to his attempts to clean himself up. The shirt was much too wet to salvage, a lost cause. “Should have brought a spare,” his mind supplied unhelpfully.
An idea popped into his head, as he reached into his bag, hopeful he hadn’t removed it the night before. Pulling out a long white scarf, he let out a little triumphant laugh.
Whipping the sweat off his face and neck onto his shirt, he buttoned his shirt back up. Placing the scarf over his shoulders, he tried to position it in a way to hide as much as he could. He succeeded to some degree, the fabric covering most of his front and sides. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much for his back.
Racking his brain, he tried to think of a solution but came up empty. Shrugging, he tried to be satisfied with what he’d managed.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
While he had been distracted, something must have happened, because now people were gathering in the centre of the room. Of them, he did notice a few familiar faces from other expedition tryouts, but no one he was especially close with.
Grabbing his satchel, he stood to join them, momentarily glancing back at the couch. There was a damp imprint from where he had slept, blood flowing to his cheeks as he quickly turned away.
“Hope no one notices that,” he prayed.
Throughout the crowd was a soft murmur, people talking in hushed tones. Not wanting to miss a thing, he skirted the crowd, positioning himself at the edge. He spotted Emma still behind the desk, deep in conversation with another woman.
Her eyes seemed to drift towards him, her face taking on a look of concern. Excusing herself, she walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, you ok Caspian, you don’t look so good?” she whispered.
“Ye-a,” he coughed, his throat hoarse. “Yeah I’m all good,” he said, forcing a smile. “Just didn’t sleep too well last night.”
Emma raised an eyebrow at that, concern still written all over her. “You sure, do you need a drink or something?” she said.
“No no, it’s all good,” he said. “Just excited for the expedition is all.”
“Well alright, jus,” she was cut off as one of the doors on the back wall swung open, catching everyone's attention. The chatter cut off immediately. “Just don’t push yourself too hard alright,” she finished, returning to her desk.
Caspian didn’t have time to thank her as a large man stepped through the door. His heavy-set figure seemed to be made of pure muscle, short black hair, chiselled jaw, and sunbleached skin painted the image of a man you did not want to mess with. Caspian went a bit starry-eyed upon seeing him. He was a famous explorer after all.
An invisible pressure seemed to envelop the crowd, the heavy footsteps ceasing, as the man examined the group through a pair of worn old sunglasses. His face remained unchanged, expressionless.
“Listen up. You should already know me if you’re here, but if you somehow don’t, I’m Duke. This little expedition you’re all here to join is mine, so what I say goes,” he said, his voice deep and bassy. “Now, this expedition has been in the making for a long time, and almost everything has been finalised. What we're going to need from you,” he said, a grin forming on his face, “is some good old grunt labour.”
“It’s not gonna be fun I can promise you that, but you’ll be paid well, and, should we strike it rich, I can guarantee a bonus to everyone who does their job. That is, if you survive,” he said chuckling.
The crowd seemed to swell with energy at the mention of money, greed filling everyone's eyes. The faint warning did nothing to dissuade anyone. Death was a common thing in the new world, even in New Broome, and everyone knew the risks.
Caspian too had greed in his eyes, but not for money. “This is finally it, this is the one,” he cheered in his head.
“Now, I must warn you. This expedition is set to take us far beyond the borders of our maps. We will be traversing deep into the Abyssal Desert, further than any have gone before,” he said, scanning for any inkling of weakness. The crowd's mood did drop slightly at his mention of the Abyssal Desert, but not by much. What was a little danger when there was money to be made?
“My team and I will be interviewing all, one-on-one, and should you be deemed good enough, you will advance to the next stage. Be warned, dead weight will not be tolerated. If we get out there and you start causing trouble, I will leave you behind,” he said, the threat lingering in the air. “That’s all. Emma here will get you when you’re needed.”
With that Duke’s huge frame paused to lean down and whisper something to Emma before he left. Almost as soon as he did, the crowd broke out into an excited chatter. Eavesdropping the various conversations going on, Caspian got the consensus that everyone was sure they were a shoo-in, and some were already planning on what they’d do with their earnings. Boozing was the main choice it seemed.
Emma cleared her throat, pointing towards himself and five other people. “You lot are up first. Follow me please,” she said, leading them out of the lobby. Stepping through the threshold, Caspian found himself in a long hallway ending in another large room. Unlike the lobby, this one was full of tables, maps, equipment, and notebooks completely covering every inch. Doors with glass windows were scattered across the room, and when he peered inside one, he saw a simple office.
“Just wait here and Duke will be with you in a second,” Emma said. “Don’t touch anything.”
The group made sounds of affirmation as Emma left the way they’d entered. Shifting from side to side, Caspian felt restless, the anticipation killing him. “I wonder who’ll be interviewing me,” he thought. He hoped he wouldn’t get Duke, the man was intimidating.
One of the doors opened, and Duke walked out, followed by five others. All of them shared one thing in common, they all looked like they lived under the sun. The woman he had noticed Emma speaking to was among them.
Duke finished speaking to them and turned his attention to Caspian and the five others. “Nice and simple, we interview you, and if you’re a good fit for the expedition, you get to come topside with us. If not, you’re out of here,” Duke said. “No complaining if you’re not accepted, or I’ll toss you into the street myself, got it?”
Everyone nodded, not wanting to get on the bad side of the expedition leader early.
“Good good. You, follow me,” he said, pointing at one of the larger men in the group. He opened one of the doors to an office, not waiting for the man to reply. The man rushed forward, closing the door behind him. The rest of the expedition team examined the rest of the applicants.
“Anyone catch your eye, Percy?” the broad-shouldered man asked grinning. His hands looked to be the size of dinner plates, scars crisscrossing his exposed arms.
“Fella two from the left looks like he’d be good at carrying don't cha recon Rich,” a thin wiry man replied.
“Enough fooling around you two, get to work,” the woman Emma had been talking to said, her tone leaving no room to argue.
“Just having some fun Val, no harm in that,” Rich said, putting an arm around one of the men, “right pal, we're just playing around.”
The man could only nervously nod, as he was pulled away into a room. Percy waved the man he had pointed out into another room, having to duck his head slightly as he entered.
Shaking her head in exasperation, Val pointed towards Caspian. “You’re with me.”
“Come on get a move on, we ain’t got all day,” she said seeing him not moving immediately.
“Sorry sorry,” Caspian said, following her into one of the offices and closing the door behind him.
“Well then, let’s get started then,” Val said with a smile as she sat down, causing Caspian to think maybe he hadn’t gotten lucky after all.