Awake

Chapter 2: PPOV

"Today, I die." I whisper to myself, hearing the murmurs of voices from the outside. I'd rather be dead than live here though. My wrists aching through the tight chains doctors put on me in order to keep me from running. Where would I have run? They didn't think that once through, I'm glad to be being burnt alive. Jolly music starts to play and I can feel that we are getting closer. Closer to my end but far from the end of all of this. People seem to be happy in their ignorance though, who am I to wake everyone else up.

Even as I am happy for my own death, I can still feel my heart pumping adrenaline through my veins, my hands nervously shaking. Every inch of my skin screaming at me to fight back. Sweat beading and dropping down my face. The wooden wagon creaks, the sun peeking through the dark. The straw I sit on poking every inch of my body, I hear a cough from behind me which signals I'm not the only one dying. I raise my head in question for I thought I was the only one here. "Who's there?" I ask aloud trying to turn towards the sound of the cough.

"Adam, sir." He breathes I hear his feet walk towards me, boots hitting the wooden ground. He can't be a prisoner or else he'd be barefoot like me. I start to move backwards, my beat up body preventing me from moving too far before he takes my chains in his hands. "I'm here to save you." I blink at his words, my heart jumping to my throat my stomach tossing itself around. Suddenly, my chains fall to the floor clattering.

"Why?" I ask gripping my wrist, attempting to look at the person saving me. My eyes could only make out a shadow in the dark. There is a pause as he lifts me by the arms making me stand. He pulls me forward and as I almost trip, I can hear him say:

"To see if you can find a way out." A pain shoots through my head, a blinding light hurting my eyes. In the distance, I hear a humming of a machine before my body slams against the wooden wagon. My shaking hands land on a metal rod that I can only make out as a handle. I twist it and it opens. I look and see a dirt road, the first I had ever seen of this world. My eyes widen in wonder, the grass and cool breeze bringing tears to my eyes. It had been months since the memory of nature faded away. I turn and lay my eyes on Adam. He didn't look like anyone I had seen before in this world. No white clothing on him. In fact, he was wearing all black. A buttoned up leather jacket hugging his ankles as we hit bumps I watched it sway against him. His collar turned up. His eyes looked tired. I wonder if I am looking at a real person. I wonder if I am looking at a tired soul trapped here or was he from the real world.

Another screech in my ears came. I run my fingers through my hair my eyes closing I see a different light. Fluorescent light swaying back and forth. My back felt like I was on a metal slab. Was I even alive in the real world...? Screaming, I pull my senses back to the wagon I was in my vision becoming blurry from the many screeching sounds.

"You're the experiment. You know what you're seeing isn't real. You have to find a way out and get out of this world. Come back to earth. Find us." He says, his blue eyes chilling me. He walks closer his body buzzing out and coming back. "I don't have much more time..." he mumbles grabbing my shirt and lifting me up from the ground. I couldn't fight back the pain that Pierced my mind was too strong. "You're about to wake up. We have taken out the agents protecting you. Your task is to find us. We will try to locate you using your gps device located as a separate program in your feed. You will be disoriented. We will work together, please don't worry. You're our experiment now," he starts to dissolve my eyes blurring and zoning out. I could feel electric bolts now making my body spasm. "What you are experiencing now is a virus breaking this illusion. See you soon. We will try to send a file of the mapping of where you are." With a push, I fall out of the wagon and as my body braces itself to hit the dirty ground... It dissolves into nothing.

And I open my eyes.

My eyes squint against the light again. My lungs begin to breathe against a tube shoved down my throat and in the distance I hear a heart monitor picking up quickly. I gag against the tube my body jerking in all different directions. I raise my hand fighting against a plastic restraint before it snaps, grabbing the tube attached to the machine. I start tugging, gagging as I felt the tube rising and pulling out slightly. My chest raises my eyes blurring and watering as I rip the tube up feeling it rise until it finally is out of my raw throat, I cough and turn my head to it's side letting bodily fluids escape. A red light flickering suddenly the sound of an alarm hurting my ears. I couldn't rest here for long. Panting with a cold sweat running down my face, I turn to my arm still in it's plastic restraints and see wires attached to it. Over the needles jabbing my arm was medical tape to hold it in place. For a prison they wanted me to remain healthy. But why..? Why not just kill me? I rip off the medical tape quickly in one quick swipe. Grunting I also ripped out the wires I didn't quite know why there was so many attached to me. Ignoring the blood now trickling down my arm, I grit my teeth together pulling my restraint off and finally I am able to rise from my bed.

My strength was little, my legs starting to shake and shiver as I grip the bed and push myself to the wall. Slamming against a cool concrete.  My vision starts to sharpen now and I'm able to see the circular room I am in. The red flashing lights sounding the alarm. The metal slab I was on seemed to be a platform of sorts with machines that read not only my heartbeat but my brain waves. The platform was surrounded by a metal railing blocking off the steps like a fence. Easily passed.

The doors were straight. And those were the only thing that seemed to matter to me. I had to get out. I had to get out of wherever the hell I was.

Gripping the railing I slid my heavy body to the steps. I ducked down the fence and only to push myself back up. I was already huffing. My legs getting weaker every moment I pushed myself.

But I needed to push more. Otherwise I wouldn't be going anywhere. There were no fences. No walls to help me get to straight to the doors. If I used to surrounding walls that would take forever.

So, I did what any responsible sane person would do. I ran. Or tried to, stumbling to the ground a few time to catch myself. I gripped my side as it started to scream in pain. When I reached the door my body gripped the large handle and leaned against it.

It slowly opened against my weight, moaning in wall. As soon as it opened though, I was greeted by a gun's hallow mouth. Staring at me.

"Name?!" The masked holder asked, barking it's question at me like a soldier.

I placed both hands up as I could see more people behind him holding their guns pointed at me.

"Peter, Sir." I rasped out as loud as I could.