The SUVs delivered them to a large field with a building in the middle.
"Exit the vehicles immediately." A voice message echoed from the speakers and the doors opened.
Everyone filed out until there were about four hundred people on the field. By comparison, the building, being a bungalow, could not hold all of them at the same time.
A woman with bright red hair and wearing a lab coat walked out of the building slowly and comfortably.
Her right hand held a tablet and her left held a light pen.
She stopped in front of the mass and looked at every single one of them.
"One. Two. Three. Four… Twenty-five." She wasted no time and pointed at twenty-five people and instructed them to follow her into the building.
Time slowly and idly passed with nothing happening except for when the lady walked out again.
This time she pointed at ten people and took them inside.
Three more sets went in before she counted Axel and Kale.
The fifteen of them, Axel and Kale included, headed into the building but the insides were far from what he expected.
There was only a massive, circular, metallic platform with lots of lights on it.
"Please step on the platform." All fifteen of them complied.
As soon as the last person fully stood on it, the platform started to drop into the ground at a steady pace.
The feeling of weightlessness associated with the movement was quite similar to the one experienced when going down an elevator.
"The amount of power required to run this machine is crazy considering that most, if not all, electric grids are down," Axel muttered, adjusting his glasses.
Kale spared a silent look at his best friend. Even in this space, he was still overanalyzing.
Reaching into his pocket, Kale pulled out a small button.
The button was from his dad's lucky jacket. When the military had taken their clothes away, they also took the jacket.
All he had managed to take was a button, hoping that it would bring his dad with him, irrespective of where he was.
It was the only thing he could do. The rest of his family was still missing, presumably dead.
He had long come to terms with that fact, but every time he thought too deeply on it, it hurt.
The platform rumbled and brought him back to the present and what he saw left him stunned.
The platform had taken them to an underground facility.
The place was as large as a city with white fluorescent lights and walls that seemed to enhance the light.
The air filled his lungs with a slightly unnatural smell. It was clearly filtered.
He could see metallic structures and machinery as far as his eyes could go.
Various people, all wearing lab coats, walked about without bothering to spare them a second glance.
"Follow me." A male voice called out to them.
The man it belonged to had a neatly trimmed beard and piercing blue eyes. From looks alone, one could guess that he was about thirty years old.
All fifteen of them complied and followed him as he navigated the place.
Sparing a glance back, Kale noticed the woman walking off to do something else.
While following, Axel noted all the items and devices he was seeing.
'Some of these devices seem odd. Like they are missing some key parts related to their power source.' Axel thought but kept a part of his focus on the man.
Soon, they approached a door. He turned the knob and gestured for them to enter.
They all entered and the man left, closed and locked the door behind him. Thus trapping them in the room.
"Hey don't tell me we're trapped here!!" Someone yelled.
Some people walked to the door and tried to pry it open but failed. Some tried slamming into it with no result.
"Hey!! I have claustrophobia!! You can't lock me here!!" Another person yelled as she tried to break the door down.
After failing repeatedly, they all gave up and decided to observe where they were except for the claustrophobic lady.
The room was padded with white walls and floors.
In fact, it was quite hard to differentiate between the walls and floors, so they had no idea how long or wide the room was.
The only thing noticeable in the room was the ceiling. It had small metallic cones attached to it.
Sitting down, Kale placed his hand on the floor and felt its texture. It was soft and dry.
"So they placed us in here with no instructions." Axel sighed and sat beside Kale.
A little while later, a buzzing sound played and drew their attention.
A small timer appeared on one of the walls and at the same time, the cones lit up with a yellow light.
[05:00]
[04:59]
[04:58]...
The timer continued to count down and filled everyone with the fear of the unknown.
There was absolutely nothing in the room for them to do and no instructions to give them an idea of what was happening or required.
"What's this bullshit??!!" A man cursed and punched the wall.
"Don't yell!!" The claustrophobic lady screamed amidst gasps for air.
"Or what?!" He approached and spat on her.
"Hey don't do that." A different person intervened.
"Watch yourself before you land in the hospital." The man pointed at the person who intervened.
Kale and Axel watched from a distance as a small fight was building up.
"A confined space with sound-absorbing fabric and a timer counting down. A means to create mental breakdowns and pressure." Axel whispered to Kale.
"What?"
"This room is primarily to test our mental fortitude." He explained.
Feeling slightly uneasy, Kale pulled out the button, flipped it like a coin, and tried to catch it.
As he tried, his hand swung slightly above it and made him miss it.
"My bad." He chuckled.
He picked it up and flipped it again, but this time increased his speed, yet he missed it once again.
Trying fifteen more times, he kept on missing by the same gap. Something wasn't right.
His eyes slowly looked at the timer.
[2:37]
[2:36]...
Something was happening.