I stepped through the massive double doors, leaving them behind me. They were set into a towering fifty meter wall that seemed to stretched endlessly, swallowing the whole horizon.
I was carrying a severely injured man on my back. He had too many wounds, deep ones, and he was losing too much blood. If I didn't act fast, he wouldn't make it.
Ahead, two men came into view. Navy vests over gray shirts and black combat trousers, same uniform as the Caucasian behind me. They noticed me and quickly rushed over, pulling blades from the orange sheathes that rested on their thighs.
"Who are you?"
One snapped, eyes locked on me, calculating. Ready to kill if I hesitated.
"This man is injured."
"I said who are you!? Where are you from!? Who sent you!?"
"My friend has a bad temper so I suggest you start talking."
A caucasian with the shaved head spoke those words to me.
Avoiding their question was getting tedious so I spoke.
"My name is--"
"Hey! Who said I was your friend."
The man's focus shifted to his bald partner. It seemed like he didn't like being addressed as his friend.
"Aren't we?"
"Do you want to die?"
One was aggressive, the other was polite. Like good cop, bad cop.
As they bickered, I gently placed the injured man on the dusty terrain. I pressed two fingers on his neck. He was still alive, though not for long.
I went to interrupt their dispute.
"Excuse me, that man's about to die."
"So what!?"
I was surprised that he didn't care.
"From the uniform I can tell he's one of you, don't you care about losing him?"
"And you? You're definitely not human if you can walk through that gate. Start talking who sent you?"
"I'm from Illinois, that man over there can vouch for me. So let's take him to the hospital."
He scratched his head. I didn't know if it was in confusion or something more. Then he looked at me.
"Kid, I'm going to kill you if you don't answer me."
It was shocking, he didn't care about his friend.
"But--"
"Shut up and answer me!"
He clicked his tongue, jaw tightening.
"Hey Gabe, why don't I just kill this kid?"
He spoke those threatening words to his bald patner. I stood cold.
"No. He might be carrying valuable information about the nation which sent. We don't act until the Croax gets here. That's an order."
The aggressive man rolled his eyes and glared at me again.
"Kid, if you're not willing to cooperate, I'll kill you, Understood?"
I didn't want to anger him anymore so I spoke.
"My name is Tyler Fury, I'm from Illinois--"
"Don't lie to me! It's pretty that you're not a normal human because I sense your energy. Answer me, who sent you?"
"...I don't know what you mean"
His words were confusing, I didn't know what he meant by that. If anything, this place was not human. In order to get here, I walked through a cave wall. Extraordinary.
"Get out of the way."
We all turned. Shocked.
The unexpected voice came from the forest ahead.
On a tree stood another Caucasian. Younger, maybe eighteen. Dressed in the same uniform with a few distinct features. A blue haired girl my age stood next to him.
After I blinked, he was gone.
"Who sent you?"
My chest tightened. The sound of his voice was now behind me.