Beeping. That was the first sound I heard. It was high pitched, like an alarm of some sort. I rubbed my eyes and looked over at the monitor. The monitor flashed red and a message rolled across the screen. A voice sounded from the speaker system, reading the message.
“Warning: Unknown chemical present. Warning: Unknown chemical present.” It repeated over and over. I stood and walked over to the monitor. I poked the screen. The screen still showed the warning message but the sound stopped.
I looked around the room. Where was I? I rubbed the back of my head and winced at the pain that shot down my spine. I looked around the room. There was a bed, a desk, a closet and a small dresser. The bed was made and the desk had some supplies on it. Everything was neat and organized.
I walked to the closet and opened its doors. There were uniform-like clothes, all varying shades of grey, black, and white. I pushed the hangars back and forth. The clothes looked like they would fit me. I looked down at the clothing that I was already wearing. They looked like pajamas.
“Well,” I said to myself, “If they fit, might as well wear them.” I quickly changed and continued to rummage through the room. I found a backpack underneath the desk and a laptop in one of its drawers. I flipped the laptop open and turned it on.
“Shit,” I whispered under my breath when I saw the bar pop up asking for a password. I closed the laptop and put it in the backpack.
After I finished looking around the room, I looked at what I had found so far. A canteen full of water, a backpack, a laptop, a set of keys, and an I.D. card with only small, black square printed on it. I gathered my collection and turned my attention to the door.
The door didn’t have a handle on it or any keyholes. After a moment of consid eration, I looked at the I.D. card and turned it over in my hand. I looked at the door again and noticed a small grey square on the wall beside the door. I held the I.D. card to it and the door slid open.
I poked my head outside the door and looked up and down the hallway. It was empty, not a soul in sight. I stepped into the hallway and began walking. I wasn’t sure where to go. Everything felt so unfamiliar, yet at the same time, it felt like I had been here before. It was like I dreamt of this very hallway or saw it in a past life.
Then I heard something. Footsteps. Steps that were heavier than my own. I stopped walking and listened. The footsteps were getting louder, closer.
A pit of panic settled in my stomach. I needed to hide. Something was very, very wrong. I grabbed the nearest door handle and shut myself into the room, leaving the door open only a fraction of an inch. It was a chemical closet. The smell of cleaning supplies assaulted my nose, almost choking me.
Stifling the instinct to gag, I watched through the crack as a man walked by me. He was tall and had dark, messy hair. He was dressed similarly to me, in grey and black clothing. He looked confused and dazed, as if he just woke up.
I watched as the man walked past me, debating on whether or not I should make contact with him. He didn’t appear threatening. He looked more confused than anything else.
Against my better judgement, I opened the door and began to speak, to call out to him.
Before words could escape my mouth, a hand latched over it. I was yanked backwards, around the corner I had just passed only moments before. I hit a body that was smaller than mine.
“Scream and I will kill you.” A female voice hissed into my ear. I nodded. She turned me around and pushed me against the wall, holding a knife to my throat.
“Who are you? What am I doing here?” She demanded.
I opened my mouth to answer, but then I stopped. I couldn’t remember my name.
The redhead must’ve noticed my confusion, because she dropped her knife from my throat and placed it in the holder that rested on her waist.
“Okay, so I’m not the only one who can’t remember shit.” She said. I nodded again. “What? Are you mute or something?”
“No, I’m just trying to figure out where you got the knife.”
“I woke up with it on me.” She said.
“I woke up in a room.” I said, motioning to my backpack. “I found a couple of things, but no weapons.”
“I woke up in a closet.” The redhead chuckled. “Seems like they don’t like me very much.”
“They?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Have you really not noticed the cameras?” I shook my head. She pointed to several black spheres that rested on the ceiling.
“Oh,” I sighed. “So, they’re watching us. Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
“How?” I asked, “We don’t even know where we are.”
“Well, Freckles, I hate to break it to you–”
“Freckles?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said with an annoyed tone, “you know, those dots on your face? I don’t know what to call you and you don’t know what to call you. So, you’re going to be Freckles. Got it?”
“Got it.” I said, “So, does that mean I can call you ‘Red’?” I gestured to her hair.
“Whatever floats your boat.” She shrugged. “So, anyway,” She grabbed my wrist and dragged me around another corner. “This is where we are.” Red turned me around and pointed out the window. All of the air in my lungs escaped me.
Everything outside was black, except for the tiny dots of distant stars.
“So, Freckles,” Red smirked. “How does it feel to be an astronaut?”
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