ASUNDER (I) : tmr newt

02: I'm Lost

2 Dawn

My feet pound down and up off of the grey cobblestone beneath me. My lungs bend as I push them forward, and my vision blurs but if I stop moving the boys behind me will catch me.

I am surrounded by walls.

Grey walls that are covered in dark green vines. Walls that turn every which way, and as I spin through them I get lost but I don't care. It doesn't matter where I end up, so long as those boys stop chasing me. We planned to escape, that red-head and I, and I'm not going to let that plan go to waste.

It might be ten minutes I've run before I realise I am out of breath, and facing a dead end. My feet back up, looking for a boy behind me, but there are none to be found. They either got lost, or didn't even follow me in here to begin with.

Now, to get out.

I could retrace my steps, but if I do that then I am going to be back in that field, never mind the fact I couldn't retrace my steps if I wanted to. What I need is a way to find out where I am going, but it is difficult to see, and the path is winding around in here.

There are vines on the walls.

Wrapping my hands around the vines, they struggle to keep a tight grip. The first hoist is the hardest, as I rip my feet off the ground and up into the air, using the rocks as hooks for my shoes. I reach another hand up, pulling myself higher, as my muscles burn.

This is difficult, but I need to get to the top. It seems that the walls are as tall as a sky scraper, and I don't know if I can manage to get all the way up but I'll be damned if I don't try.

My feet find their way up the walls for five meters, before my grip slips. A scream escapes my throat as I fall through the air. I hit the ground on my feet first, but they give way to the pressure of my body and I fall on my side. My shoulders shake and my lungs heave as I try to breathe. It's as dark as the elevator now, and I feel like am being sucked into the ground. Screaming doesn't work anymore, as my lungs can't seem to force any air inside them. It feels like I am drowning.

Someone's cold hands are on my neck, and I grip their arms as I try to breathe in and out. Try to swallow air, and try to find out where exactly I am inside my body and my mind. There is a boy in front of me, and he is holding me still. With one move, he lifts my ribs off the ground, and my lungs fill with air.

I cough, and choke on trying to breathe, and my vision begins to return, as I see a boy with soft eyes and dark hair smiling down at me. With his free hand he gestures up and down, in a breathing motion, and his lips move although I do not hear him speak a word.

He holds me still, as my breathing steadies, still kneeling down next to me.

"Are you alright?" He asks, his mouth parts slightly as he finishes the words.

I nod. "Yeah." I cough again, and it rips through me. "I fell."

"You shucking climbed the walls?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Obviously not, or else I wouldn't be on the ground."

He smiles at this, and then his face pales. Letting go of me, he backs away before sitting down on the wall opposite of me. He curls his legs up towards him, leaning his blue shirt against the wall behind him.

I keep myself propped up in between the walls, staring at him.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Sure have a lot of questions, don't you?" I laugh back.

"You sure don't like to answer them," he shakes his head back and forth. He seems to be out of breath too. "I am not normally this shuckin' nosey, but you aren't 'normally'."