BANG!

 

My boot collided with a door as I hauled Lay's body down the corridor. I staggered with him through the now open door and set him down as carefully as I could on a mattress. He still landed heavily, still not fully awake. I bolted the thick metal door shut, sealing us in a small room that contained a mattress, a small wood-burning stove, a set of shelves and some boxes of odds and ends. The shelves housed everything from books and photographs to food and medical supplies, even a box of bullets. This room had been my makeshift home since my release from the compartment. This was mainly because if you walked past the closed door you'd think it was only a cleaning cupboard. I busied myself lighting the stove with some matches as Lay came round once more.

 

"Drink this." I said setting down the box of matches and reaching for a bottle of water. I shook it so the water sloshed against the plastic container causing him to focus on the noise. He took it from me and drank. Suddenly the bottle fell from his slender hand onto the floor with a splash. I bent to pick it up and saw a patch of red on the pillow that his head had been resting on. It was blood…and it was fresh.

 

"Hold still." I said propping him up and checking the back of his head. There was a wound which blood was flowing from. I reached into a box beside the mattress to retrieve a piece of clean cloth. I wrapped tightly around his head in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

 

"What's your name?" he asked groggily, "I don't think we got that far…"

"No we didn't," I said pinning the cloth into place, "It's Avery."

 

"Avery…" he said before adding faintly, "How bad is it?" 

 

"Not as bad as you think." I said not wanting to panic him. In this world hospitals were a thing of the past. I quickly threw the spoilt pillow into away and moved another over to cushion his head, supporting his back all the while with my shoulder.

 

"That's good then. Thank you…Avery…" he murmured. 

 

"It's ok. Are you hungry?" I asked.

 

"No…I just want to sleep…" Lay whispered as I rested his bandaged head on the new pillow. I waited until he'd closed his eyes and watched the rhythmic rise and fall on his chest.

 

Then I realised…

 

There was only one mattress. Thankfully it was wide enough for two. I didn't tend to sleep at night in case mutants ventured down into the bunker. They tended to hunt more at night. Tonight was different and I felt exhausted. Carefully I removed my boots and curled up beside Lay's sleeping body. After a few minutes I rolled over onto my back and stared at the square ceiling tiles above, mulling over the night's events.

 

This can't be good… I thought to myself as sleep took me too. 

 

* * *

 

The next morning I felt a hand tapping my shoulder. Keeping my eyes shut my hand went for the knife I kept under the mattress. 

 

"Hey! Hey! Don't! Avery, it's Lay." An urgent voice said. My eyes snapped open. Lay was sitting next to me with wide eyes looking more awake and alert than the night before. In his left hand he held the bandage I'd tied around his head last night.

 

"You shouldn't have done that!" I said taking the bandage from him. I checked the back of his head but it seemed normal. No blood to be seen. In fact there was nothing to be seen, not even broken skin or a healing wound. 

 

"How is this even possible?" I asked pushing his dark hair away to expose his scalp better. I glanced over to the spoilt pillow I'd thrown away. A dark stain was unmistakable on the cover. 

 

"What's not possible?" he asked.

 

"Your head…its completely healed." I said. Lay brushed my hands away from his head gently and shrugged. 

 

"Maybe it wasn't that bad after all," he said, "I feel fine."

 

I sat back on my ankles, rocking back and forth gently, as I tried to work it out. He'd had a serious injury and now he was perfectly healthy? Something certainly didn't add up.

 

"It could be a side effect from being in the compartment for so long." I mused, "Its supposed to protect the occupant from harm. When you got that injury you'd only been outside for a few minutes. Maybe during that time you were still under its influence."

 

"I guess…" Lay began but a sound cut him off. A siren had started again, loud and insistent. 

 

"You're kidding me." I groaned shoving my feet into my boots and pulling on the laces. I grabbed my knife and shoved it into my belt. 

 

"What's happening?" Lay asked over the siren.

 

"Another one's woken up. This happened when you woke last night." I shouted as I unbolted the door. Lay stood up.

 

"I'll come with you." he said.

 

"If you think you can manage running." I called over my shoulder, "Shut the door behind you!" I sprinted off in the direction of the siren with Lay close behind me. I had a sense of where the alarm was coming from...

 

* * *

 

Sure enough I found myself back in the same corridor where Lay had woken up. His compartment door was still open with a puddle of water outside it as the ice began to melt. Further down the corridor the light was flashing ominously. 

 

"Do you think you'll know this one?" I asked as we neared the flashing light. Lay was gazing at the faces as we passed with a look of sadness and nostalgia. He looked like he was remembering days long ago...

 

"Yes…" he said finally, "I know them all…" We found the flashing light and I switched off the siren and unlocked the door but didn't open it.

 

"Ready?" I asked Lay, "Be ready to catch him."

 

"Got it." he said. I heaved the heavy door open and a cloud of icy air was released with a hiss as the seal was broken. The figure tumbled forwards out of the cloud in a state of unconsciousness. 

 

"Luhan?" Lay said as we caught the drowsy figure. It was another boy with small facial features and wild caramel hair that stuck up in odd directions. His skin had a blue tinge to it and frost was stuck to his clothes, hair and eyelashes. He collapsed onto Lay's chest.

 

"Luhan?" Lay said again, "He was part of my group…back then. Looks a bit out of it. Was I like this?"

 

"Pretty much." I said going to shut the door again so he wouldn't see my cheeks flush at the memory of how we met.

 

"Wow. No wonder its all a bit hazy." Lay said trying to get Luhan to stand, "I swear we…"

 

"What?" I said suddenly spinning round cutting off his voice. Did he remember?

 

"What?" he echoed quickly. Our eyes were wide as we stared at each other as a tense moment passed between us.

 

"L-Lay…?" A little voice croaked from the area of Lay's torso. We both looked down to Luhan who was leaning precariously, almost bent double. His fingers were digging into Lay's upper arms, "I don't feel so good…"

 

"Hey hyung." Lay said trying to get him to stand properly. The blue was receding from his skin and frost was starting to melt but his eyes were still glacial blue and blank. I opened my mouth to say the truth but noticed Lay's expression and closed my mouth again. Clearly he remembered me saying he'd been in there for a thousand years. Maybe it was better to keep Luhan on his own two feet.

"Long enough." Lay answered tactfully.

 

"Oh…" Luhan groaned. He looked like he was about to be sick. Lay held the unsteady boy's face between his palms so he could peer into his eyes. They were starting to change from blue to dark brown. Suddenly something even weirder than eyes changing colour happened. 

 

Strands of golden light shot from Lay's fingertips like vines of ivy. The tips buried themselves in Luhan's skin as if a current linked them together. When Lay noticed this he let out a cry but somehow couldn't let go. As quick as they appeared the vines of light vanished into thin air. The ends disappeared into Luhan's pale cheeks and, as Lay let go, Luhan staggered. His eyes focused and he managed to say in a shaky voice:

 

"What the HELL did you do that for? How did you do that?!"

 

"My thoughts exactly." I added. We stared accusingly at Lay who was holding up his hands and looking at his palms in disbelief. 

 

"No idea…" he breathed keeping his hands away from us and himself. 

 

"How'd you feel?" I asked Luhan who was touching his face gingerly. 

 

"Uh…fine I think." he said checking the rest of himself. 

 

"Really?" I said peering at him. Luhan backed away, "You should be out of it at the moment. Lay and I were."

 

"And who would you be?" Luhan asked looking nervous as I continued to stare.

 

"Avery." I said quickly, "Are you sure you're all right?"

 

"Really." Luhan said drawing out the words as if he was speaking to an idiot, "I F-E-E-L F-I-N-E."

 

"After a thousand years of being in there?" I gestured to the compartment behind him.

 

"A thousand…" Luhan's eyes and mouth widened dramatically. He looked like a cartoon character. He pointed to himself and then to the compartment. His mouth moved but no words came out. Finally he sighed and keeled over. Lay and I caught him before he hit the floor as he fainted. 

 

"That's more like it." I said.

 

"Nice going." Lay groaned under Luhan's weight as we hauled him away to the camp so he could recover, "Now he's going to be in a right state when he wakes up..."

- - - - - - - - - 

So yeah...Luhan got out! :D Hopefully you liked this chapter - I'm getting through these updates quicker than I thought and may be able to squeeze one more in before I go on holiday! :)