As Maya slowly woke up, the first thing she noticed was the smell. Earthy, damp, with a faint scent of wet moss. Her eyes fluttered open to a glade (grassy field surrounded by trees) of daisies, sunlight beaming on her face. She sat up slowly, her palms brushing against soft grass. She looked ahead, focusing her vision, and realized she wasn't alone.
Four other persons were sprawled across the grass field, each stirring as if waking from the same strange dream.
A man with sleek black hair and a muscular build pushed himself up first; his shoulders were broad, his posture sharp. He seems to be from the military. He scanned the field, looking at the others with an eyebrow raised.
"Where the hell are we?" he muttered, his voice skeptical.
A young woman nearby sat hugging her knees, her short brunette hair falling into her face. She looked around with wide eyes, silent.
"Okay, this is insane, but cool," another man said loudly, "One moment I was sleeping, next thing I know I wake up in a forest. Is this the afterlife or something?" He was restless, his eyes darting everywhere with caution yet curiosity. He let out a laugh that was far too casual for the situation. The others looked at him like he was mad. He then looked at Maya, "I don't remember… anything. Do you?"
Maya swallowed hard. Her own mind was a fog, blurred at the edges. No memory of arriving here. No reason for why she'd fallen asleep—or blacked out—and woken in this impossible place.
"I'm Maya...I don't remember anything," she said softly, her voice steadier than she felt. She wasn't sure why she offered her name. Maybe because the silence was suffocating.
The man with the soldier's build notices the tension and spoke, "Name's Ethan."
The other guy spoke as well, "I'm Rory, nice to meet y'all."
The quiet girl looks up, her voice low but firm, "Lena."
Last to speak was a young man with warm eyes and a calmness that felt almost deliberate, like he was trying to be the steady one. "Sam," he said simply, rubbing his temples. "And no, I don't remember anything either."
They looked at one another, five strangers in the middle of nowhere, bound only by confusion.
The forest stretched around them endlessly—towering trees, thick brush, the distant sound of running water. The air was still, almost too still, as if waiting.
Ethan then spoke authoritatively, "We need to move. Sitting around isn't going to answer anything."
"Move where?" Lena asked.
"Anywhere but here."
Rory laughed again, nervously this time. "Right, sure, let's just pick a direction and hike. What's the worst that could happen?"
But Maya's eyes weren't on Rory. She was staring upward. The sun was bright and high, yet its glow was strange—too even, like a spotlight. She shook her head, thinking she was just being paranoid.
Because the truth was already forming at the edges of her mind: something about this forest was off.