After he helped Urien get up, Woodfield led the way to the exit of the building. Urien was about to sense the first breath of being free, outside. Seeing the pine trees up close, for some reason, was a real wish that he had. “Just follow me, and, we don’t have to talk at all, if you don’t want to, that is…” – said Woodfield; displaying how little interest in Urien he actually had (which was, when compared to John’s connection with Urien, oh so different).
They left the E.R. and they went down the ginormous set of stairs. On the floor below, no music was playing, and the vibe of the floor was drastically different then from when John introduced Urien to the floor and the other Testers (which had disappeared somewhere). All of this gave Urien an eerie feeling. As if he wasn’t meant to be alive, as if he was the only one alive in this building. All of the other people, including John, Woodfield, and the Testers as well, they all seemed so lifeless. Like their lives were drained out from them, as if they had no reason to live or to continue living. It all seemed so miserable, it all seemed like a big decoy, like a pair of curtains, meant to hide the even bigger evil which is happening behind them… There was a secret undergoing all of this, and Urien knew nothing about it. He knew that he would get to the bottom of this mystery, but his question was how? He has no allies here, and even Woodfield, who had just aided him in recovery, was probably being nice to him only because he felt bad for him for a moment…
Soon enough Woodfield had guided Urien through the hallways. All of this was being remembered by Urien so that he could finally make the map for this floor. No light conversation erected in between them. Only a couple of glances, which could be guessed, that they were not on purpose but on total accident.
After walking for a while through the building’s hallways, they arrived at a metal plated door. It was surely the door to the outside. If only there was a giant forest around this building, so that Urien could take the run for it as soon as Woodfield opens the door for him. Sure, there were pine trees and birds could be heard singing, but a fence that kills you just because you’ve touched it was sure to be the thing that tells you that, even though you’re outside, you aren’t free, and you are definitely trapped to live inside of the building and its premises.
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The door opened, and a ray of sunshine overtook their masks. For a second, due to the sun, Urien saw inside of Woodfield’s mask. One of his eyes was wide open, as if it was being held open by force, and his other eye was no where to be found. There was only, as Urien had made out, a black hole in the place where his right eye should’ve been. He was sure that he had lost the eye due to the axe he carries. “Imagine having your own initials on an axe. What, are you going to lose it? You carry it through the hallways to the E.R., to the outside and back…” – Urien tried saying quietly, but as he realized that Woodfield was right next to him he had resorted to saying the rest of his thoughts only to himself, inside of his mind… John didn’t respond because either he didn’t hear him, or he didn’t have the time for such immature comments…
Urien looked at the outside world. It was beautiful. Walkways through which you can take walks all day long, benches, and even the birds could be seen and heard. “Do you need me, or can you walk along yourself? I have some important work to do.” – Woodfield had asked. “No, I… I can do this myself.”
“Okay, ill be back in 30 minutes. Just don’t try touching the fence, if you even get that far… Wait for me here.”
Urien was free to run if he wanted. He could’ve screamed as loud as he wanted, he could’ve done whatever he had wanted to do. The only thing he couldn’t do though, was leave. In a sense, he was the freest he could ever be, with no one around to judge him and look down upon him, but also he was somewhere he realized he didn’t want to be. He decided to go with the “take a walk” route.
The trees were amazing. They were displaying such nice shadows from the autumn’s sunrays. Or, at least, it seemed as if it was autumn. A nice breeze in the wind could be felt and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. It seemed perfect, oddly enough: you would’ve expected worst living condition in a place that physically and mentally tortures you…
As he was walking along the route, he had noticed something pinned in between two trees. It was a note of some kind. The first thing which was on his mind was the idea that this was TEST#003, and that he was already being watched and tested upon. With a serious doubt, Urien came closer to the note nudged in between the two trees and what he saw shocked him, making him undecisive as to whether the note was a part of a TEST or whether it was as real as it could be.
The note could not be read. It was a letter of some kind, but it was written in a coded cypher. What... what was it? Was it a part of the next TEST he was about to undergo?