The Path Before Me (A Crowd-Pleaser)

Pg. 2: Toward the Light

He takes another look between the two doors and determines that it would be best to move in the direction of the light, where there is certain to be hope.

Even just standing there, his legs already begin to shake with exhaustion. Somehow he finds the strength to take the first step with his right foot. The right side of his body feels like it must have been filled with lead. His knee immediately buckles and he finds himself falling. Luckily, the weak grasp on the metal desk was just enough to help him regain his balance. He tries again with the same result.

Frustration begins to well within him. He did not unwillingly witness a massacre, barely escape alive, and trek through the unforgiving desert just to have a pair of shaky legs stop him now. He knows that in order to truly move forward, he has to let go of the desk and allow his legs to regain their strength.

With his eyes set on the door, he releases his hand from the metal and takes a step forward. Yet again, his own weight is too much for his leg and it collapses beneath him. Without the support of the desk, he is falling. In a desperate attempt to prevent the inevitable, he reaches for the nearby plant. It has even less stability than his legs and it accompanies him as they both clamor to the floor.

A stunned silence follows as the voices in the other room halt upon hearing the noise. Derek has given away his position and now he is forced to make the decision of whether or not he will trust these mysterious people.

He looks around the room. In his current position and with his current strength, the only place he could hide would be under the very same desk he had just tried to leave. They might think he made a break for it through the other door and run right passed him.

Of course, he could always just lie there and let these people help him, but he doesn't know who they are. They could help him and be his new group of survivors or they could simply experiment on him like others have already tried to do. 

What will Derek do?

1 - Roll under the desk
2 - Lie and wait for the people