Voices, they were speaking to me. I couldn't make out what they were saying to me, but I could hear something. They would get louder, but the voice sounded almost distorted. Upon hearing this, I open my eyes. When I do, I can see the light that peered through the blinds cast upon my face. It was morning—no a bit past that.
When I get up from my bed, as I do carefully to not mess up the stitches from yesterday, I can feel the coldness of the room. The window was left open last night. Instantly, I go for my coat, hoping it will keep me warm.
I don't hear anything. Opening the door, I peek my head out, looking left then right, I don't see anyone. I wander around a bit more to see where Ael and Amiel had gone, but once I do, I find the other rooms empty.
"Where are they?"
As I continue searching, I end up in the kitchen that the medical center had for faculty. A plate of food stood on the counter, wrapped in a ceramic, while a sticky note was left on top of it.
It read, "We'll be back - Ael." Off to the side, a smiling winking face was drawn.
"Huh?" I let out.
I can feel my face tense up, 'That didn't answer anything. What the heck, Ael!'
I couldn't help but bring my hand up to my face. All I could do was wait for them. At the thought of this, I can hear my stomach start to rumble.
***
Pov: Ael
"Surprised how much a campus can change in just a few days."
Amiel followed behind me with a paper in one hand and a pencil in the other. He was creating a map of the campus so we could navigate it much more easily. Turning my head, I asked, "What building next?"
"Physics," he replied.
"Sounds goo-"
Before I can finish my sentence, he walks in front of me.
'Well, that's not nice.'
Trying not to fall behind, I pick up the pace.
"Weird, isn't it?"
"What is?" Amiel replies
"The whole situation, how we thought there was an air raid happening this whole time, to later find out there wasn't one." I finally catch up to him, being shoulder to shoulder with them.
"I guess?"
"Yeah." I looked up at the clock tower as we passed by; birds circled around it. "It's kind of like when you ask for coffee sweet, but it still turns out to be bitter. You expected one thing, but it turned out to be the opposite."
"Weird analogy, but sure."
After a few more seconds, he stopped walking. We were at the main entrance of the physics building. Stood at 3 stories tall, with it running a couple thousand meters for each side. At the top, I can see part of the roof collapse.
"Oh, we are here."
Amiel turns around, "You can go check if you can contact anyone, I'll finish up mapping the quad."
"Sounds great."
***
The tapping through the hallways echoes. I was looking for the faculty room, but ran into many dead ends trying to get there. The building may have stood tall, but the inside was a different story. It was collapsing onto itself. I didn't even know if the building was safe to be in right now.
Eventually, after many dead ends, I find a path leading me to the faculty room. Sliding the door open, light finds its way through the broken roof.
"Sheesh, creepy." I let out.
Making my way to the telephone, I pick it up to my ear to hear a long, high-pitched noise. There was no signal. Regardless, I tried to spin the dial and enter a number, but nothing went through.
"Well, that's awkward." Sighing I put down the phone as I turn to face the window next to me.
No matter where we went on campus, the telephones weren't working. It was like the academy was separated from the outside world. I try to think back to what Eirian showed me down in the bunker: "miasma." Did that have something to do with this? But how?'
There were a whole lot of questions and no answers. Looking out onto campus, all I can wonder is what's next?
Right now, the best thing to do is get back to Eirian, check on him, and see how he is doing. I left him some food in the kitchen, hopefully he finds it.
***
I met up with Amiel. He ended up finding a new path made through the building that we can take if we need to. He showed me the campus map and how much has changed. He seemed to have a talent for this.
'That's our map boy for you.' I thought.
Afterward, I told him about the phone signal being down here as well. He didn't seem surprised. It made sense, since we had tried many other buildings before, and the same thing happened to them.
*Dong Dong Dong*
The clock tower rang, marking sundown. In a few more minutes, it would be pitch black.
Turning to Amiel, I asked, "Should we make our way back?"
"Let's."