It's Somewhere Beneath Us

Twisted Ballet

Knock Knock Knock... Knock.

The knocking was erratic and frantic, and I could hear the knuckles of whoever it was accidentally hitting the door more than intended as their hand shook. Benjamin stepped forward carefully and slowly opened the door. Daniel stood waiting in the hall, covered in sweat and clutching a laundry basket filled with various objects. He was alone.

"What happened?" Jan asked from behind Ben. Her voice grew nervous, "W-Where's Matt."

"He... The thing... He didn't make it." Dan replied darkly.

A collective silence fell over the room before Grace started to cry softly. We all took a minute before continuing.

"What did you guys... um... What happened?"

Daniel held up the laundry basket in his arms, "This was already waiting for us when we opened the door."

He set it down, and people crowded around, sorting through its contents.

"There's food in here," Claire pointed out. "And books, and clothes...."

"This was just sitting there?" asked Ben.

Daniel nodded.

"Who left it for us? Do you think somebody is down there?"

Dan shook his head, "I don't think anything could survive with that thing."

"Did... Did you see it?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah. I did."

He didn't push further.

"Do you think that thing... could it have?" Bea said, gesturing to the basket.

A chill ran down my spine at the thought. If what she was implying was correct, then the creature downstairs had known we were hungry. It knew what we needed to eat soon, or we would die.

Jan didn't care about the specifics of where the stuff came from. Food was food. She began unloading the basket and separating out the contents. Goldfish, fruit snacks, old granola bars, and a box of Capri-sun.

"This is all of it." She spoke. She popped open the box of granola bars and turned to us. "There's only twelve in here. I know we're all hungry, but everybody just takes one. We have to make sure this lasts. The fruit snacks we can probably ration out longer. It's not much, but it's something."

She handed the box to me, and I began to go around, passing out one bar to everyone. Larry snatched it from my hand and tore the wrapper off viciously, scarfing the bar down in nearly one bite. Everyone else weakly thanked me, then did the same. When I got to Daniel, however, he just shook his head.

"I'll eat later. I'm not hungry right now."

"Daniel, we haven't eaten in two weeks. You've got to eat something."

He offered me a weak expression of reassurance, "Don't worry, kid. I'll be alright. I just need a minute."

I nodded.

After we had all finished eating, Jan and Claire went to the kitchen and placed the remaining food in the cupboards, then returned to the basket to sort through the rest of the items. Two books, a couple of blankets, a computer keyboard, a bottle of bleach, and a few other miscellaneous items. As the group took inventory and discussed the implications of the basket, I noticed that Andi was nowhere to be found. I peered out of the door to see her standing at the end of the hallway, facing the kitchen. I slowly stepped out and made my way to her.

"Hey. Everything alright?"

"Oh, hi, Joel. Yeah, I'm okay. Just... Poor Matt."

"Yeah, I know. Everyone seems like they're trying not to focus on it."