Tarun groaned as he opened his eyes and blinked at the sight of the light above him. The side of his head pounded as if someone was beating a jackhammer inside his skull while the rest of his body seemed to ache everywhere. He took a few deep breaths, then rolled over on his side with a grimace.

Where am I?

The room itself wasn't much larger than his bed. There was enough room on the left side for a small table while a cabinet took up the wall space on his right. A small nightstand on his left contained his personal effects.

On the wall straight ahead, a yellowing posted with a distant seascape took up a large portion of the wall. To the immediate right of the poster, a door with window led out of the room.

What is this place?

He resisted the temptation to call out for help. Instead, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Immediately, the room began to spin at an alarming rate and he grabbed hold of the bed frame as he closed his eyes and attempted to prevent himself from passing out. After a few moments, as the nausea passed, he opened his eyes. He spotted his shoes next to the bed and wasted little time putting them on, careful to not move too quickly.

I need to get out of here.

As he rounded the end of the bed and approached the door, it struck him that the room itself was clearly not a medical room of any kind. The lack of medical equipment told him that much. Perhaps it was some sort of recovery room? Considering he still wore his clothes and only the one bandage around his head, it was unlikely to be a hospital room.

A quick glance through the window in the door revealed a dimly lit corridor but no movement. Tarun tried the door handle and found the door unlocked. Moments later, he shut it behind him, careful to not let it slam shut.

The corridor continued in both directions. To his left, another corridor appeared to intersect about twenty yards from where he stood. An emergency exit was visible another twenty yards in the opposite direction. Doors just like the one behind him were spaced evenly on each side in both directions. There was no light visible from any of them. Whatever this place was, it was quiet and empty.

Hugging the wall, he moved towards the emergency exit as quickly as his aching body allowed. He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he tried the door handle to the emergency exit. It wouldn't budge. Even with two hands, it didn't move. He leaned closer to the handle and felt a chill run down his spine. It had been welded shut. Someone didn't want this door opened. Was it to prevent people like him from escaping or from people outside from entering?

Tarun turned and shuffled in the other direction. As he approached the intersecting corridor, he saw unintelligible, faded blue signs that pointed left and right. In either direction, a short branch of the main corridor ended with a closed door.

He approached the door on his left and found it unlocked. As he stepped in, the ceiling lights flickered to life, revealing a small dining area complete with four rectangular tables and half a dozen chairs. On the far side of the room serving stations and the adjoining kitchen made it clear that at some point in the past, groups had gathered in this area for meals. A rumble in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten in a while. However, considering that each table was covered in a thin layer of dust, he doubted he would find any fresh food laying around in the vicinity.

The door on the other side of the corridor turned out to be locked. He heard a muted humming from inside the room but with no sign on the door, there was no way of knowing what was inside. Instead of forcing the door open, he continued towards the end of the corridor, casually checking each room as he passed them.

As he reached the final door, he paused to catch his breath. On any other day, exploring a building like this would have been no big deal. Today, his body was already protesting and he felt as if he had hiked a mountain since he got out of the bed.

Behind the door, another corridor ran left and right. As he closed the door behind him, he heard distinct voices somewhere on his left. Two voices arguing about something. Instinctively, he moved in the other direction. He tried the handle of the first door he encountered. It was open.

The lights flickered on as he entered. A large rectangular table in the center of the room was covered with piles of papers, some strewn across the surface of it. A couple of chairs were randomly placed around it while chest-high filing cabinets lined the far wall. Against the wall on his right, a set of computer terminal stared silently back at him, a variety of computer hardware stacked neatly around them. Tarun recognized a variety of storage devices among them, some small and portable, others intended for permanent installation into terminals like those on the table.

What is this place? Tarun took a step closer to the table and picked up a few papers from the table. Most of it appeared to be technical jargon, yet others seemed almost ritualistic in nature. He was just about to leave the room when he spotted parts of a map underneath the piles of paper. Carefully, he moved a few piles and leaned in closer. What do we have here?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

~~~

"You're an idiot, Shea, you know that? An idiot. Why else would you bring anyone down here?"

She pushed Randee away from her and wiped the spit flying from his mouth from her face with her sleeve.

"Get out of my face," she growled and sat down in a chair as she reached for a freshly brewed cup of coffee. "What else was I supposed to do? Leave him there to die? Did you even see the weather out there?"

"If you want to keep this place a secret, yes, that's exactly what you should have done. We don't know this guy. He means nothing to us."

She shook her head. "I can't do that, Randee. That's not the kind of person I am."

"We might have to kill him then." Randee leaned against the wall as he crossed his arms. "We can't allow him to leave here and tell others about this place."

Shea stood up and stepped to within a couple of inches of Randee's face and held up a finger in front of his face. "You're not killing anyone, ok? Don't you dare touch him."

Randee raised his hands in the air as he backed up against the wall. "All right, all right, have it your way."

Shea held his gaze for a few moments, then return to her cup of coffee.

"You know I'm right though," he continued. "We can't just let this guy waltz out of here."

"I know that. I'm not stupid. We'll patch him up, sedate him and drop him back at the parking lot. He'll never know where this place is."

"Just like that?" Randee sat down across from Shea and sighed. "Everything is so simple to you. No big deal."

She shrugged "I brought him back here to save him. As long as he survives, I'll put him back."

Randee shook his head and walked over to the coffee machine. He poured a fresh cup, then sat down at the large desk towards the back of the room.

"I always wondered what it would have been like to sit in this chair when this place was operational and staffed," he said as he swept his hand across the room.

"That's what we're trying to find out though, right? What this place was for? We just don't—"

She was interrupted by a distant squeal from somewhere outside the office.

Randee jumped to his feet, a frown on his face. "What was that?"

Shea held up her hand. "Slow down. There's only one other person down here."

"What if someone else saw you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Randee. At the bottom of a ravine in a storm?"

"Even so," he said and picked up a large wrench from a toolbox on the floor, then headed for he door. "Follow me."

Shea followed him out into the hallway. They both moved quietly in the direction of the sound. Randee stopped a short distance away from a closed door and pointed to the light seeping out underneath it as he put his finger on his lips. They stayed closed to the wall and moved closer. A groan escaped from the room just as Randy put his hand on the door handle. He looked at Shea, nodded and swung the door open.

"Don't move," he yelled as he pushed the door open and rushed inside. On the other side of the table stood the man Shea had brought back, massaging his elbow. When he saw them, he immediately threw his hands up in the air and took a step backwards.

"Ok, ok," he said, his eyes wide in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Shea said with concern as she stepped towards him. "You should be in bed."

"What is this place?" Tarun said and made a sweeping motion around the room. "These papers? The map? What is this?"

"It's—" Shea began. Randee held up his hand and shook his head.

"What happened?" Tarun continued. "Who are you?"

"You fell on the last stretch down to the parking lot. Do you remember?" Shea said.

Tarun blinked. "The parking lot?"

"Yeas, by the hiking trail?"

"Oh." Tarun fell silent for a moment. "I fell?"

Shea nodded. "I think so. I found you at the foot of the trail, unconscious, all banged up."

"That's about how I feel."

"I couldn't leave you out there."

"You should have," Randee said with a grunt and leaned onto the table with his hands as he stared at Tarun. "Now you can't leave."

"Can't leave?" Tarun said, his eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"

"We can't risk that you reveal this place," Randee said and made a sweeping gesture around the room.

Tarun shook his head vigorously. "I wouldn't. How could I? I don't even know where I am."

Shea put a hand on Randee's shoulder. "He's got a point."

Randee glanced at Shea over his shoulder ans sighed. "Still, what do we do with him?"

"Listen," Tarun said, "I don't know who you are, I don't know what this place is. None of that matters to me. My ceremony is tomorrow. I'll be gone after that anyway."

Shea raised her eyebrows. "Ceremony? You mean your Departure ceremony?"

Tarun nodded.

Randee sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head. "Look what you did," he said to Shea. "You kidnapped a Candidate."

Shea smacked Randee's shoulder with her palm. "I did not kidnap him!"

"What difference does it make? He can't leave but he has to. A missing Candidate is the last thing we need." Randee pushed Shea aside as he left the room in a hurry.

"Where are you going?" Shea shouted after him. There was no response. She turned to face Tarun, who now was leaning over the table, his face visibly more pale than just moments ago.

"I'm not feeling well," he said and looked up.

Shea walked around the table but before she could reach him, he collapsed onto the floor. Randee returned a moment later, a syringe in his hand.

"What, did you knock him out?" he said.

"Don't be stupid. He passed out. Help me out, will you?"

"Well, this makes my life easier," Randee muttered and put down the syringe. Together, they carried Tarun back to his room.

Once safely back in bed, Randee retrieved the syringe.

"He isn't ready yet," Shea said and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"I don't like it either. I'd rather put him in the ground, Shea. But, we don't have much of a choice, do we? We can't afford the scrutiny the search for a missing Candidate would lead to. You know that. He's got to go back. Now."

Shea nodded and sighed. "I know, I know. I just can't help but wonder if we're sending him to his death, that helping him was for nothing."

"Like I told you,," Randee said as he plunged the syringe into Tarun's arm, "You shouldn't have brought him back here in the first place. Besides, dying at the hand of the Protectorate or out here, what difference does it really make? You're dead either way, right?"

~~~