Outside The Box

Chapter Six: Upside Down

December 7th, 2084- 11:14 AM.
Ainz Daniels.

       I kicked one of the soldiers that grasped my bonded wrists in the shins and went to kick another before my legs were restrained and bonded together, too. With my vision concealed by what feels be a burlap sack, I grasped for any information with my other senses. I heard the soldiers muttering amongst themselves; however, their words were nothing more than muffles beneath this sack. The pungent smell from the sack over bared my nose and I nearly vomited just from it as if something died in here. I wouldn't be surprised if I were to die in here, too. I tasted the iron along my tongue from where I think I bit my tongue during the scuffle.

       All my senses are failing me. I had to trust that I knew where we were going. I know this city like the back of my hand.

       My feet dragged along a smooth surface before they were lifted from the ground and banged against something cold. I hear more shuffles followed by a door closing. A low rumble caused the platform beneath me to tremble slightly before a sharp motion tugged me to my side. We were on some sort of vehicle.

       With my limbs tied together, I couldn't sit myself up, so I focused on which direction we were headed. Left. Right. Right again. Left. We were going in a zig-zag pattern. Perhaps they were making sure we weren't being followed.

       The longer the trip was going, the more difficult it was to breathe. The stench of the burlap sack overtook me, and a pounding headache thumped against my skull along with some dizziness. I prayed I didn't throw up in this dead animal's tomb.

       The vehicle halted to a stop and the soldiers began talking amongst each other again but was quickly shut up by someone. I only assume it was Jan.

       What is Jan thinking right now? He just helped kidnap one of Joss's friends and yet he was wanting forgiveness from her. He is never going to get it at this point.

       The rumbling stopped and it wasn't long before I was once again dragged to my feet and carried off to some unknown location. No matter how long I thought about it, I have no idea where we were. My feet dragged along crumbling concrete before it changed to the smooth texture of tiled flooring. They slumped me into a chair and tied more rope around the back of the chair and across my abdomen.

       At this point, my breath was nothing more than wheezes. I swear my head was about to explode or float away by how dizzy I am.

       "Ainz Daniels." A familiar voice said. My wheezes halted. "You were easier to get a hold of than I originally thought."

       Xavier Coles.

       I didn't bother to ask for demands, so he kept talking. "I am going to make this simple for you, Mr. Daniels. If you tell me what I want to hear, then the faster you can go back to your mundane life in Grayson's Tides." I hear his booted feet thump against the floor as he rounded behind me. "Do you know anything about the origin of the Infected?"

       I shook my head, unable to utter a word let alone a breath. I was suffocating.

       "I really thought you would know considering your parents were the heads of the Infected worshipping cult. Such a shame, that tragedy. All those bodies... All that information left forgotten..." He paused a moment. "Except for the lone survivor. A fifteen-year-old boy being left to his own devices in the world with important information. That is, until he met a certain someone's daughter."

       I choked on my own saliva, followed by a whimper.

       "You cannot tell me Joss hasn't told you anything. You have been together for almost a decade, and she hasn't told you anything regarding the Infected?" Xavier waited for my response again, but I physically couldn't answer him. "I thought she would at least tell you where the Infected came from? But I guess she learned from her two past mistakes."