There is only one path, so I suppose I should be happy that I’m not going to get lost, but I would still love to be able to breathe again. The entire tunnel was carved out of stone and mud. I heard dad say that it goes on for miles, but I can’t believe that.
Somewhere off in the distance, I hear the echo of screams reverberating off of the low ceiling. What is this place? It’s one thing to hear this kind of thing when you are unwillingly forced into it, but I followed my parents.
Mom walks confidently in front, followed closely by dad and me. She walks quickly with long strides towards an intersection. She goes left, leading us through a short hallway and into an open room. The lighting dramatically increases, revealing a good twenty people working around tables and machines.
“Josh,” she shouts.
A middle-aged man looks up from a table and smiles, for a moment, and then he sees Beth.
“What happened?” he asks, sounding genuinely worried.
He stands up and quickly walks over to us. He takes one look at Sparrow and says, “You need help, now.”
He takes Beth from dad’s arms and lays her down on a metal table. Dad leans in and whispers something into his ear, causing Josh to nod slowly. Mom walks over and pulls up Beth’s skirt, revealing her wounds on her lower thigh.
Someone bumps my shoulder by accident and apologizes, but I don’t really hear them. I’m a bit busy at the moment. Where are we? This “Josh” draws a small amount of blood from Beth’s arm and gives it to another man in his twenties. A brunette comes in with a bottle of something or other and starts swabbing Beth’s brand mark.
A hand taps my shoulder and I shrug it off. I have more important things to worry about. They’re taking her temperature and removing the fabric we tied around her leg. The hand taps my shoulder again, this time more forcefully. I don’t care, leave me alone. I push it away. They are rubbing cream on her wrists and ankles, probably-
“Excuse me, you have to leave,” says a female voice.
I turn away from Beth to see a short redhead staring at me with raised eyebrows.
“I, um, my parents are-”
“Yes, I know, but you can’t stay in here.”
She’s young, maybe twenty three. Why can’t I stay in here? Where am I supposed to go?
“Come on, I’m sure you would like some coffee and something to eat,” she says more forcefully.
Instead of waiting for me to stammer out another excuse, she grabs my arm and pulls me out of the cavern and into the hall again. I pull away.
“What are you doing?” I finally shout.
“Civilians aren’t allowed inside the hospital areas. Now follow me or I’ll have to drag your parents away from their patient to do it,” she orders.
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