~ Sanctuary ~

Chapter 9

Me and my crew stood right outside the hallway that had Chloe's lifeless body greeting the doorstep, and the door isn't open anymore. I was curious as to who closed it, but it might've just been automatic closing systems after the doors had been open for too long. Maybe an emergency security mechanism. Who knows, but that's not the point.
I, along with the rest of the crew, took steps over Chloe's body, and I stood at the doors. I took a look back at the body we stepped over. I felt a twang of my heart strings being pulled. I felt bad that we had to leave her behind, and everyone else alike her. It just feels unfair to leave them all behind, but I guess because we had to fight and defeat them to get past them, it was only necessary. So their souls are free, even if they may be trapped here. There's just nothing that we could've done.
I looked at the door again, and I knew this was my purpose.
To get here. To finally escape and take as many people as I could with me.
I held up my hand out to push against it, and the door started whining and making a horrible noise as it struggled to open. It slowly parted, and light poured in like a tidal wave, bright as an explosion from a bomb, maybe lighter than that. I held my hands up to block the light that's blinding me, and squinted my eyes because of how bright it was, and I'd imagine the rest of my team did the same thing.
As soon as I heard the clunky sound of the door stopping halfway, I removed my hands from my face. I knew the door wouldn't move any more, and if it was wide enough for us to fit through it, that was good enough. My eyes finally adjusted to the light, after some squinting in an attempt to adjust easier, and showed the sky was blue.
The sky was blue. It was fucking blue and colorful, nothing like I've ever seen before. And the fact that the sky had changed that quickly since we'd killed Gordon, was astonishing.
Anytime we looked to the sky when we walked through the alleyways and roads of the town in the past, it was always dusty beige or something of that nature. It was always some warm color. But this bright blue, with clouds, was shocking. I took a couple steps past the threshold and the light just kept coming. And it was beautiful.
Each of us kept walking until all of us were outside, letting our feet carry us forward, and the doors started to close again. None of us flinched about going back inside, because why would we need to? There's nothing else in there we desperately need, and it's all the experiments' and Layne himself's new resting place. Their tomb being above ground. Of course one day it'll sink because of the earth always changing, but for a while, it'll remain above ground and untouched.
That's an oddly nice thought. Knowing their bodies will forever reside here, where no one will bother them or try to resurrect them. I mean, if humans are smart enough, they won't dare to come here, even in hazmat suits. That stuff, while it may protect you from certain diseases that humans are able to handle, they may not be able to handle what's here. If they attempt to try and get the vials of antidotes or vaccines, it's a lost cause of research. Because if you lose a couple men to the diseases, and die yourself in the process of retrieving the research in the first place, it's a goner of an operation.
But we just kept walking. It's as if our world kept expanding even though the walls hadn't even opened yet. But it just felt so open, so carefree. My spirit, along with everyone else's, seemed to lift further and further with each step we took into this familiar and old, but new and evolved world we'd been trapped within.
"Wow," I heard Madelyn finally say, filling the silence that had shot through each of us the second we stepped out and saw the atmosphere. I took my eyes off the sky and to the village where we used to reside, and there were a ton of the cyborgs that were coming out and looking at the sky with wonder.
They all looked like they didn't know where they were walking, and they all had dazed and confused walks as they stumbled through this newly revealed world to them. And all they could stare at was the sky, nowhere else. We lived in a world of dust and random and harmful particles, and now that type of atmosphere and breathing particles had been slowly lifting. And it was heavenly to see everyone adjusting positively and excitedly to the new change.
"Wow indeed," I repeated, with a satisfied tone lacing my vocal chords.
"Why do you think the sky's so clear now," Cassidy asked. No one replied, because I don't think any of us had an answer. But all of us were mesmerized, in the best way possible.
I looked across the landscape, and started to see something green in the distance. It started growing larger, despite it being at a slow rate. I stared at it as it kept growing, and I realized, it was spreading across the landscape. I gasped before I spoke about it.
"Guys, there's actual grass and greenery growing," I said, astounded.
Everyone followed my gaze and all gasped just as I had at the sight.
"I think, since we defeated Layne, or the Con Man, or Gordon, whatever we're calling them, he was the heart of this whole operation, so killing him is starting to let things grow and thrive now," Griffin said. That made a smile creep onto my face. Not only did we free our kind from such a twisted man, but we also let things come to life that couldn't come to life before. And that thought made me happy.
Maybe it's a feeling Gordon had before. When he started making us, every time one of us came to life, and our heart rates appeared on his monitors nearby, that swell in his heart may have been possible. The realization he had when he successfully made life artificially. Because I will say, it's an addictive feeling. So maybe that's why he made so many of us. He'd have bouts of serotonin shooting through him every time he succeeded, but even then, when he realized he failed in the creation process, those lows were probably surprisingly low.
So it's as if he was on drugs. Yeah, that sounds about right. Serotonin is a natural drug your body makes, and if he's all human, there's no artificial part about serotonin. And maybe he just had a low amount of serotonin, so at any point, he'd be scrounging for things to make the natural serotonin sensors flare up. Just to give him some form of happiness chemicals.
"What do you think it's because of?" I asked, getting knocked out of my train of thought when I kept looking at the greenery spreading across this barren wasteland.
"Probably all the diseases came from him, and all that chemical that was puffing in smoke from out of the factory every day probably contained extremely small particles of the diseases, keeping this place looking like a long forgotten battlefield for so long," Griffin responded.
He was right, because even though it was rather slow in general, but the fact we hadn't seen any natural greenery in a millennium. So considering that, the rate that the greenery was growing at was astoundingly impressive. And it was incredible. I could've sworn some flowers popped up from the ground quickly, and small little berries in the grass would pop up and give the ground a bit of color, but that might've just been my vision lying to me, and hoping we got more than what we bargained for and fought for. Wouldn't that be a treat? We'd actually get natural food and not be sent through the government to give us extra food to live off of. But we don't have to worry about that anymore.
I looked at the cyborgs that were slowly heading out of the village again, and they all seemed to be paying attention to the quickly-spreading nature. Then I saw Morgan's little helpers, BB and JJ running toward and hopping around in the provinces, and not too far from them, was Morgan himself. His gaze was fixated on us after he saw his helpers trample into the newly growing grass and weeds, and I walked more near the railing to see him more clearly. I still needed to squint to see him because he was so far away, despite him being so definitive and recognizable from a distance.
As I squinted, he stood there, his lab coat blowing in the wind. It was majestic, truly. There should've been a light shining from behind him and silhouetting him. And he seemed to be mystified by everything in front of him like we were, while staring at us. His two helpers went trotting over to him to stand by his side. He held up his hand in a fist, and I did it back. It was surely a heartwarming moment. We did this. I turned back to my crew, excitement pouring out of me.
"How do we tell them we're free? And how do we open the gates?" I asked the team happily and frantically. They looked among one another until someone spoke and walked out of the group. It was Max, the august creature we'd freed from Layne's grasp of rage and full utter control.
"A long time ago, when I was still me, when I looked like Flynn and Fraser, I'd built a horn. I hooked it up to the rigging of the doors to this place, and made sure it was loud enough to travel over vast distances," he detailed. He started walking toward my left, and I looked to where he was walking to, and there it was. Painted in ancient technology, and rust from another time, but seemed to still be intact and in working condition. "All I have to do is blow through this, and this horn will alert the rest of the village, that they're free, and the door will open with a smidge of delay, but there are some natural stoppers for each of the doors. Kind of like a manual lock instead of a technological auto lock," Max finished, pausing in front of the contraption.
It's as if he knew I was still hesitant to leave. He looked at me and his stark, piercing, but comforting eyes stared shamelessly into my soul. It sent chills down my spine, but it was only for a brief moment. The wind enhanced the chills for sure. But I knew this is what we needed to do. And we needed to do it now.
"Does it do anything else?" I asked politely, stepping closer to it to observe the craft of it.
"Yes, it also has many particles of the vaccine, all the vaccines had another copy, and the way that the Con Man made more of each vaccine was to combine a certain duplicator chemical, which made more and more or whatever he put said chemical into. I stole as much of each vaccine as I could, and before I was repurposed to Gordon's liking, I stocked this thing up until I had to be deployed for the war, and then was repurposed after the war," he explained.
So not only does it tell the group of cyborgs who've been stuck here for god knows how long, that they're free, and not only does it open the gate of the walls that have kept us captive for years on end, but it spreads a vaccine for the diseases? What has this genius not thought of at this point? Even when he knew he might die during that war, he thought of all the escape plans.
I looked out to the landscape, as all of the cyborgs started looking to where we were standing. Morgan was still standing with his hand up in a fist, and it seemed the other cyborgs caught onto it. They all, slowly, started raising their hands, as if they were praising us from afar and without words. It was like a wave. A wave traveling closer and closer to us through the silent and distant praises of the community we were raised in for so long. The further away ones noticed quicker, and the closer cyborgs to us noticed last. It was a visual unlike any other. And as the chills that were sent down my spine, with the wind carrying my spirit, I knew.
"Sound it off, Max, you built it," I said with a smile, looking back at him over my shoulder. He smiles, nods and puts his mouth up to a mouthpiece, and seems to blow. I wasn't sure if any of us could blow into the mouthpiece, let alone and especially him, since there wasn't much of a mouth he could put on a mouthpiece, but he did it nonetheless.
The horn was excruciatingly loud, so all of us covered our ears as he kept blowing into the horn. The sound waves were aggressive, pounding. I could almost see the soundwaves wavering continuously. I could've sworn that if it went on for too long, my head would explode from so much pressure being applied to my ears. And once he stopped, my ears were ringing. I patted my ears with a wide palm a couple times, but nothing cleared the ringing, so I decided to let it remain while it weared off with time. Because from there, there was nothing I could do if my physical movement tactics didn't work.
We all started walking down the stairs, and walked toward where the walls' doors were. It was going to take a bit, well, more than just a bit, which was completely fine. We had time to say hi to everyone, shake peoples' hands, and rejoice this victory we deserved so perfectly.
As we made our way through the plains and the landscape, multiple cyborgs came running to us, small ones, old ones, big ones, so many different ones. My head was still pounding and my senses were dismantled, but I still found my way around fine enough. And each touch of another cyborg kind of guided me where we needed to go. My team was in the same state I was as well. So, even though I knew the cyborgs were saying things, I couldn't hear them. I could only read their lips, and I tried to make pleasant 'yes' and 'no' responses to make them happier. Because there weren't many coherent words I could say to them that wouldn't make them think I was insane. But I also did just free them. So I have that. And right as my hearing gained itself, the Toymakers were walking up to us, and I felt my back go tense. Like as if all my muscles tensed at once, and my body ached from it.
I felt Madelyn cling onto me, and I stood my ground, making sure my posture didn't sway or waver. My back remaining tense, I made sure my arms were at a stance to strike if need be. But shockingly, no strike needed to be struck at anyone.
"We came here to apologize, what we did shouldn't have come at such a cost to you losing family in the process, and we'd be in as much distress to get them back if that happened to us," Franklin said sincerely. I looked back at Cassidy for confirmation, and she nodded. Franklin actually meant it. I turned back to them, considering my words carefully so as to not upset them. They did give us a pretty good look up and down and a few judgmental thoughts that could be conveyed through eye contact upon first meeting. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd do it again based on my response to their apology.
"Well thank you for the apology. Even though us freeing you wasn't meant especially for you, now you know what true freedom really is," I said, nodding, before walking past all three of them. Franklin seemed happy and content with said response, so my back became less taught and I could relax, and seemingly so could Madelyn. Benjamin had some of his bunnies on his shoulders and in his hands and bag, he seemed to care deeply about the inventions he created and kept around the office when we last visited. And it was respectable. It's like Morgan's soul was transported into the mind of Gordon before he passed. Hopefully he does something smart with that knowledge in the world ahead of us.
Charlotte, Franklin and Benjamin bowed as our whole team walked by, and we kept making our way to where the walls' door was going to part, keeping good pace until Morgan came into view. His smile was the first thing my eyes set on when we walked up to him, and even though I never saw him smile much, seeing him smile this brightly put a grin on mine.
"Good job, you all," he congratulated proudly. "I didn't think it was actually going to work," he chuckled slyly. I ran up to him and punched him in the arm, which made him laugh as he reached up and rubbed the spot where I punched.
"You asshole," I muttered before laughing afterward.
"You truly are soldiers to be reckoned with, because you all are a good team, even if you're huge in number," he admitted after readjusting to the pain after I'd punched him.
"That's one of our talents sir, one of the good things about all of us together," I smiled. Morgan nodded as JJ and BB rolled up beside him.
"Doctor, what's our next order of business?" JJ asked him. Morgan reached down and patted JJ's head silently, as they kept on walking.
"You and BB don't have business to attend to anymore, you can just accompany me in my many adventures past this place, nobody's going to come near the bad man's grave, and you all can live normal child lives," he admitted. JJ looked down as she continued taking footsteps, and automatically, so did BB.
"Do they not know we're free," I questioned.
"No, they know, they just don't understand the concept of not having a task to attend to. In the office, they always had something to work on. But now, because they're free and can live freely, they aren't sure what to do with themselves," he shrugged.
"You could always adopt them and take care of them. Even if they're hard working, they are like children after all. And you could always make updates to each of them, letting them grow as if they were human beings," I offered. Morgan seemed to consider and like the idea put at hand, but didn't say anything. A single side nod was enough for me to know he considered it. The thought of Morgan being a caretaker or father, along with a part-time doctor or nurse suited him well.
We came to a slow stop as Morgan turned to us. And I knew it was sincere, unlike any other person or cyborg could ever be.
"You all truly deserve this victory," he admitted. I knew it warmed all of the others' hearts like it did mine, and before we knew it, we felt the surrounding cyborgs start crowding closer. And they started chanting. At first it was indecipherable, but then it came clearer the closer each cyborg became. The chant continued, and it felt like we were being raised on the podium, but metaphorically. And we'd been given a new team name. One that suits us very well, and doesn't separate us into our old teams because of our ages.
The Mercenary.
I closed my eyes and the chants were definitive, and the chants kept coming. Without stopping. It filled my brain and ears, and all I could feel was just overwhelming happiness. We were free. Our kind was free. More free than we could ever be before.
My heart swelled as the chants kept coming and I could hear them, but they were distant enough to funnel in and out of my ears. It was as if not only the energy from the community itself was thriving, but the world that was slowly growing beneath our feet fed into it as well. As if the randomly spawning pollen was fueling everyone's excitement. And that excitement grew with each chant of our new name as the crowd's voices rang through the aura of everyone crowding us. And even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it in my veins, on my skin, and in my bones.
My eyes flew open again, and the landscape nearby us was covered in different colors, of all the different cyborgs colors. It was a beautiful rainbow, and maybe, in a symbolism type way, it was painting what our future was going to be like.
Bright and hopeful. Colorful and happiness filled. That would truly be the dream. And that dream was going to come true, and with every step, it was coming further into fruition.
"Alright if we wanna be free, let's go to the door!" I hollered across the whole entire crowd. The cyborgs and robots erupted in a cheer, before dispersing and making their way to the door in anticipation and animation.
Our group followed as a unit, and since it was in our code, it wasn't surprising. We continued to walk, and I felt Madelyn's hand lace with mine gracefully and seamlessly as we continued to walk purposefully, the door coming farther into view. I felt the anticipation growing in my chest, my heart beating a mile a minute. And I felt Madelyn's presence next to me.
Like I said before, she's my grounding, my rock. I don't think I would've been so motivated to free our entire community if it weren't for her. Because this whole rescue mission was meant for her anyway. But saving everyone else, that was welcome but unexpected. When I had to think back to when she first got pumped out of the factory and landed without knowing where she was, I felt so incredibly bad. It's why I insisted on taking her in when we first met her.
And of course, I know that my whole team could agree with that decision. It made us more whole as a team, and had more people to be reliant on certain situations. She had Blake's back in salvages, while the rest of our team did the rest of the work. We wouldn't have gotten as far in the community without her. Once she got kidnapped, all we wanted to do was get her back. And get her back we did. I look back behind me and her as we're walking hand in hand, to see the rest of the team, high in spirit with bright smiles adorning their faces and looking upward and around them. It was nice to know everyone had a high spirit that day, and I don't blame them for having such.
We were finally released.
As we kept walking, we finally found the majestic but horrific wall, and I had an inkling feeling of what I wanted to do again. I stopped in my tracks, everyone else following said movement in even but slow succession, and I turned to everyone after heavy consideration.
"I wanna see over the wall first, drop to everyone, and be the one to open the door for the rest of you to see," I said brightly. "Just make sure you catch me, I'm heavier now," I said with a bit of a serious but sarcastic tone, while looking down at my legs to signal what I mean, although I'm sure they already knew.
"We'd never drop you, m'lady," Flynn said dearly. I whipped my head around, with my body following it, to face the door, and then I faced the wall nearby it. Time to scale this thing. Again. Here we go.
I raced over to the wall as fast as I could, and as my feet bounded against the ground it got all well used to, all I could think about was running. My Hunters followed in hot pursuit, with Cassidy and Griffin among them, while Seth hung back with the rest of the Scavengers and Max.
As soon as I reached the wall, I began the climb.
"Hey Charles, I think the switch for the door is up at the top, but we'll be here when you drop, just make sure you flip the switch," I heard Cassidy holler to me. I didn't answer. I knew that I had to flip the switch, and I'm sure Morgan just told her about the switch and she relayed it to me, but all I could do was climb.
I climbed, my hands hurting with every grip I tried to secure, and every now and then I'd slip, but regain my footing and grips easily. I was too dedicated to be stopped. I wanted to see over the wall. I didn't get to see it before, but I could see it now, and flick the switch to unlock the doors fully.
It's what I'd been living, dreaming to do ever since I found out I could even scale the wall in the first place. And that was out of pure curiosity the first time around.
And now there was nothing between me and seeing over the wall anymore, not even the spikes that had been installed centuries ago.
I was about halfway up until I stopped and looked down beneath and behind me. My team was there, looking up at me with proud faces, and I looked out past them to see the rest of the cyborgs staring in awe. But no time to delay. I admired their admiration and pride in me, because I was in the process of saving all of them, but I must see over the wall.
I went back to climbing, and let myself zone out while doing it. I couldn't have any distractions otherwise I might fall. The wind whistled as it passed me, making it colder and colder the further away from the Earth's surface I got. But I didn't care. The wind was helping me go up, up, up, past any place I'd ever been before. And I wanted to go even higher.
As soon as I reached the edge, I slowed, and hesitantly touched the ground where the spikes had come from. And before, it would've made mechanical noises before the spikes rose. Because that was the brief warning it had given me before. But no mechanical noises sounded from underneath the machine's surface. I took the final grip of the wall, latching my fingers over the edge. Everything seemed to almost be traveling in slow motion.
I hoisted myself up and used my other hand to grip it more while my feet pushed against the wall beneath me to keep me upright, and once I knew I was over the edge and perched safely on the edge with my hands hanging on and my arms strengthening the perch, I looked up across and beyond. It was a flat landscape, with bits of nature and natural life here and there. Most of it was desert. But I was never more proud to know we had more places to go beyond where we'd been captive.
In a captor escaping kind of way, it was majestic. To look across this vast landscape, knowing that we conquered the individual who created us, who trapped us, who controlled us. For centuries upon centuries. And now we were in the final step to being released from the place that traumatized us to our cores.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, very slow and processed. My nose burned with sensation as a new smell entered my brain and nostrils. It was metallic, but in a way that makes you feel itchy. The sand seemed to be kicked up higher into the air every now and then, and could spread further upward into the atmosphere. But it was only the smell, the actual dust wouldn't travel that far up very often. The smell was musty, but not moldy musty, like it had been in the pub just a couple weeks before, but more dry. I felt my lips start to chap as I sat there longer.
I looked at the landscape for what felt like forever before I heard a strained call from below.
"Don't just sit there and look for yourself, girl! Let us see!" I heard Cass yell from below. I looked down to her, chuckling to myself a slight bit, and the distance was steep, and intimidating, but I knew they had me. I looked next to me or anywhere around where I was sitting for a switch to activate the door to set us all free into the new world that was presented to me, and about to be presented to my community. And there it was.
A big red lever, right next to me. I put one leg over one side of the wall, steadying myself as much as I could, with the other leg over the other side. I wrapped my fingers and palms around the lever, and tugged on it. It barely gave way any, so I kept tugging. I heard a distant chant that was indecipherable, but I let the incentive of the indecipherable chant motivate me to keep going. I felt myself losing balance, but I didn't care. I had to pull this lever until I fell off.
I readjusted and leaned to the inner side of the wall where I'd come from, so in case I did fall, my crew would catch me. Then I realized that I'd have to use my whole body weight, not just my upper body strength.
"Hey you all, be prepared to catch me, I only got so much room to fall from here," I yelled down. Cassidy seemed to hear me, and she turned to everyone. Within seconds, they assembled formation, and prepared to catch me. I took a look at the landscape one last time, and then looked at the lever. I held onto it as I let both my legs come to the inner side of the wall, and I put my feet on the wall itself. I felt a bit of uneasiness within my stomach when I positioned myself against the wall.
I knew one tug and it'd give way, and I just had to take a leap of faith.
Yeah. A leap of faith.
I looked back down at the ground below me and my whole team at-the-ready. And I knew there was only one more move to be made, and we'd be free. I turned back to the wall, and closed my eyes. Fear set in, but we didn't have time to let fear set in right now. After taking a deep breath, I heaved and I finally tugged with my whole body, pushing against the wall with my legs. The lever finally gave way, and made my hands slip and eyes fly open, letting go of it, and causing my weight to take me down. Butterflies flew into my stomach as I realized I was falling back first, and the walls' edge kept growing further and further away. I closed my eyes and prayed. I've come so far, don't let me die now.
As time flew quickly, there wasn't much time to think. Then, with a thump and a bit of silent pause from the jolt of my body, I let my eyes fly open, and I was safe. Everyone caught me. Hallelujah.
The whole crowd of cyborgs started cheering, overjoyed as the hydraulics keeping the wall's door up started heaving, and the door slowly started opening up. The creaks of the metal and hydraulics and mechanics rang through the desert landscape, as the cyborgs looked among one another in excitement.
"There you all go, be free," I cheered as my crew launched me into the air and let me land on my own two feet. Everyone seemed to hear me as they charged to the door a couple seconds after I announced that.. The door slowly opened, and like a tsunami, each of the cyborgs filed out like a tidal wave, pouring out from the one spot in the door frame that kept getting wider and wider.
I looked at my team, and all of them nodded, and we all broke into a sprint. I could feel the light-as-a-feather feeling in my chest as I ran. The wind rushed by my face, and I took a deep breath in before I prepared my leap over the heap of cyborgs scrambling to get out. I took another leap, and dove for the door with my hands and arms outstretched in front of me like a darting torpedo, launching myself over as many cyborgs as I could. My team followed swiftly in the same fashion, and we finally reached a spot outside of the wall. All of us reached that spot one by one, rejoicing in hugs to one another, embracing each other proudly. The embracing also is met with high fives and everything else that represents the proud completion of the goal we'd been fighting for this whole time. And we finally made it outside of the wall we'd been trapped in.
The Mercenary really did this. I looked at the vast landscape and could only think of the future. Me and Cass, along with Madelyn, work jobs at offices or at schools, teaching other kids about fighting or sports, or maybe even artistic ventures for their future and ours. Felix and Blake teach kids about different inventions and ideologies. There were many possibilities of things ahead of us. That was the dream, to become something we'd never become if we stayed.
I looked at the landscape as Madelyn joined me at my side, and we just stood there, smiling at one another. And the girly side in me kicked in as me and her started jumping up and down, giggling to one another about actually succeeding.
The wind blew gently as a calming but stinging breeze, but I shook off the stinging part. I was just proud to be out here. Proud to see the colored sky that had been shielded from us for so long, being able to see the change of shapes in clouds and in the sky coloration in the distance and on the horizon. The sun seemed to be slowly starting to set, but soon enough it'll become quicker to set.
"We really did this," she cheered. "I didn't know this is what you almost saw that one time you nearly terrified us from scaling the wall," Madelyn giggled at me. It knocked me out of my thoughts of staring blankly and admiringly.
"Yeah, nearly got stabbed to death, but I'm glad I was able to wake you all up that day, otherwise I'd be a goner, and this never would've happened," I chuckled. "Also, at least I learned how to scale the damn thing, if I hadn't, who else was gonna flick the switch?" I offered sarcastically.
"I don't know, but it's best not to think about it right? We've made it this far, so at least you did, and you didn't have to ask anybody else to do it," Madelyn said, smiling wide. I nodded to her before locking my hand with hers. "Yeah, sorry, I would've never let you scale that wall even if I couldn't have," I admitted, tilting my head a slight bit. That got a chuckle out of her, and I turned to the rest of the crew.
"Alright, what direction should we head in, gang," I asked cheerfully. There was no response, but I just took it as everyone was still stunned at being outside of the walls that kept us captive for a millenium. Until I heard something that disrupted my previous positive thoughts.
"Guys, I don't feel right."
No. Not when we've come this far. Not now.