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and some more:
He let out what sounded halfway between a gasp and a sigh of relief. The room was empty, and the walls were a rich, deep blue. It wasn’t terribly big, but there was a noticeable echo as he walked across the room towards the door. It was white with a dirty window at the top. He looked through and saw a small white room with a red door at the other end. He backed up, as if he didn’t even want to touch the door, let alone go through. But he took a deep breath, put on the gas mask, and walked through.
He quickly walked through the white room and flung the red door open. He wasn’t in the room for a second before he quickly backed into the white room. As if he couldn’t believe what he’d seen, he shook his head and walked back in. The room was huge, with sloppily painted bright red walls, an odd contrast to the neatly painted walls in the blue room, and there was what looked like a thin cloud of fog at the top. There were dozens of people that looked to be at least in their late 60’s staggering around like zombies. They were wearing plain white shirts and pants, some of which were partially stained with blood.
Some of them were merely staggering about or near catatonic, but many looked practically feral. One man seemed to be gnawing at the concrete wall, breaking his teeth and tearing them from his gums. There was a man tearing at an old woman’s clothes. It didn’t seem like he was doing so for any specific purpose, but just to do it. And she was screaming bloody murder.
Ardal shuffled quietly through the room, trying not to be heard. It seemed as though none of them even noticed he was there, and he intended to keep it that way. He walked and looked straight ahead until he saw a door. To his dismay, it was red. Fighting to not look back, he pushed it open, thinking that whatever was ahead couldn’t be any worse than what he’d just seen.
He tried to hold the door open, but it seemed to be forcing its self shut. The room was almost pitch black, except for a flickering florescent light in a corner of the room. In the brief flashes of light he got, he thought he could make out a figure crouched in the corner.
“Hello?” the word had hardly stammered from his mouth when he heard the highest pitched scream he’d ever heard echo throughout the room. He covered his ears, but could still hear it quite clearly. He ran around the room running his hand along the wall searching for the door, but couldn’t find one. Then he stopped. He was right on the edge of where the flickers of light were illuminating the room. The door was within there, and so was the figure that was no doubt the source of the ear-piercing screaming. He peered into the area when it was lit until he could see specifically where the door was, and desperately ran towards it. He almost tripped over whoever it was in there, and felt them bite down on his leg. He kicked his leg out until they let go, and slammed the door shut behind him.
The room he was in now was well lit and had white walls and a blue door at the other end. He let out a sigh and walked along the room. He stopped when he noticed the sticky sound his footsteps made. He looked back where he had been walking- he was tracking blood through the room. The rest of his way to the blue door he was running.
The second he heard the click of the door shutting behind him he pulled the gas mask off and breathed deeply. He slid down and sat against the door and shut his eyes. He sat there with his eyes closed and breathing heavily, until he was asleep.
He woke up to his stomach cramping up. He pawed through his bag until he found an MRE he wanted. He mixed it together and ate the wheat cracker while the chemicals cooked the rest. After what he saw, he didn’t have much of an appetite, but he forced himself to eat anyways. His stomach was empty, and he was going to need his strength.
I’m writing this from inside the offices of Iron Crutch corp. I use the term “offices” loosely, but I can only assume that this labyrinth of rooms takes up the entire building. I’ve been here for over a day and a half, now, with no end in sight. I chose this notebook as the one book I was allowed to bring, and I’m glad I did. I haven’t seen one person to speak to the entire time I’ve been here. I’ve only said one word since entering the building, and after what happened I doubt I’ll be saying any more until I’m out of this place. This is the only means I have of getting my thoughts out. I don’t know what purpose any of these things serve, but no amount of money is worth this. The last red room I was in… it was just five kids strapped into chairs, and men in helmets or masks or something just pushing needles into them. And the kids were screaming the entire time. I went over to one, but the man shoved me away. As of my writing this, the last human voice I’ve heard is one of those children sobbing for me to help her. I didn’t. I just left.
Ardal bitterly shoved the notebook into his bag and looked around. The first day he was there, he took at least a little comfort in the safety of the blue rooms. But as he wandered throughout the building, the more he took what went on in the red rooms with him. He ate the last of his MRE and headed towards the door. He stopped short. The door was white, and he almost forgot to put his mask on. He took one last deep breath before putting the constricting appliance on his head and walking through the door.
The door opened to an improbably long hallway. He could just barely make out the red door at the other end. He half groaned, half sighed, as he slouched down the hall. About halfway through, he noticed something that he hadn’t noticed before; a security camera. He stood staring almost in wonder. This was the closest thing he’d seen of the outside world since he’d gotten there. His heart sped up, almost in sync with the little red blinking light on the face of the camera. Then, the camera turned on its hinge, almost as if motioning him to continue on. Reluctantly, he continued his walk towards the door.
In all the previous red rooms save the first, Ardal never backed out. In this one, he desperately clawed at the door as it clicked shut behind him. But the doors apparently only opened from the one side. The room was littered with bodies. They were all cut up. In the middle was another large, masked man, and a girl that didn’t look to be even in her teens yet. She was naked and blood-stained and sobbing uncontrollably as the man sat on top of her, holding something against her face. It was part of one of the bodies, and he was force-feeding it to her. She managed to free her mouth long enough to vomit before he forced the piece of flesh into her mouth. That was all Ardal could stand. He tried to run, but slipped and fell to the ground with a dull, echoing thud.
The man and girl both looked in his direction. Using the distraction, she pushed the man’s hand away, spit out the mouthful of blood and meat and screamed.
“Help me! Oh, God, help me!” The man punched her in the mouth and forced another piece of meat on her. Ardal kept his eyes on the wall and floor as he worked his way out of the room. Except he couldn’t find the door. He looked around in a panic, but there was no door to be found. Then, he spotted it. It was on the floor, directly under the man and girl. They were blocking the only exit. He kept his eyes down, looking at the part of the gas mask that blocked his vision, as he walked up to them.
“Excuse me.” He said it so quiet that even he could barely hear it. He stammered it out again, louder. “E-excuse me.” The man looked over at him. There was a long, tense pause. Ardal, almost involuntarily, cast a glance down at the girl. She was looking up at him in hopeful desperation. His eyes welled up as he spoke again to the masked man. “You’re blocking the door.”
“WHAT?!” the girl cried out. “For the love of God, help me!” The man forced her mouth shut and dragged her away. He pulled the door open. It led to a dimly lit flight of stairs. He walked down, forcing himself not to look back up into the room. The hallway to which the stairs led was brightly lit and short, with a blue door at the end. He raced to the door, pulled it open so hard and fast that he hurt his shoulder, and threw himself into the closest wall. He crouched down against it, screaming into his mask. He pulled it off and flung it across the room. He screamed and cried and beat his fists against the wall until he passed out.
“Mr. Ira?” Ardal sat up, startled. He was on a couch in a waiting room. A much better furnished waiting room than the one in which he watched the video. He was face to face with a man in a suit, holding a clipboard and looking down at him, a friendly smile across his face. “Good, you’re awake. We saw on the monitors and thought you could use a bit of a break.”
“…What?” Was all Ardal could say.
“Though I must admit, that’s only part of the reason we brought you here. The main reason we took you out is because Mr. Suvarta would like to see you.”
“Suvarta?”
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