Chapter 2- Exploring

This room, the one I'd awoken in, was on the small side. It contained the strange chair, the machines, and the tubes, but not much else. A large mirror ran the length of the wall on my left, reflecting the room's starkness and my own startled image back to me. On my right stood a plain, slate gray wall, which neither looked sterile nor business like.

Behind me sat another wall identical to the one on my right. And in front of me a lone door broke the monotony of the gray stone. This is another thing which struck me as odd. Why were these walls made of stone? Not concrete, like I would expect to find in some building, but stone. Almost like these walls were underground.

Why would we be underground? I thought of only sinister reasons to build a laboratory underground. You only do something like this if you wanted to hide what you were doing. And if you needed to hide what you were doing, you probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place.

"Only one option." I said as I headed toward the door set in the stone wall. The opening for the door looked as if it'd been meticulously carved from the stone, then they'd fitted a wooden door in its place.

"Well, that's not very secure." I said to myself as I titled my head. A flimsy-looking wooden door wouldn't keep many people inside. If it were solid, like oak or something, then it might be different. Or if the door had been fitted better, then it would also have made a difference. However, this door looked as if it'd been added purely as an after-thought.

Choosing not to ponder the thought processes of whoever brought me here, I headed toward the door. My feet were dragging a little, but I gained more and more strength with each step. I hoped that, after a little more time of forcing my legs to work, they would remember what they were for, and allow me to run.

Then again, perhaps slow and steady was best. After all, I intended to sneak out of here, and it would be easier to do if I didn't make a lot of racket by running. The fear tried to urge me to be reckless, and it's hard not to listen to those persistent warnings.

The door hadn't been locked. Clearly, whoever brought me here thought I would stay asleep. If I had, then I wouldn't have been a flight risk. When did they bring me here anyway? Today? Yesterday? A week ago? Or even a month ago?

I didn't even remember what the date was, or what the date had been when they brought me here. What year is it? When is my birthday? Where had I been born? I remembered these things, the questions for them at least, but not the answers. They were still a mystery to me. And one which scared me to no end.

Tip-toeing through the door, I left the first room behind. I noticed those stone walls continued out here as well. This nearly confirmed the fact that we were underground. And hopefully, since we were in a basement or cellar of some kind, this place wouldn't be too big.

"How many rooms could there be?" The whispered words weren't necessary, but talking helped me to calm down. Especially since I knew no one would hear them with the alarm still blaring.

This second room was much larger, and it appeared to serve multiple purposes. Several desks were scattered throughout the room, but not in any sort of pattern. Almost as if the people who sat at them randomly plopped them down without rhyme or reason.

Computers, lamps, lab coats, and several more beakers covered the desks and shelves in this room. Something struck me as off about this room, though. The beakers, test tubes, and other accouterments were in a state of disarray. As if something or someone came through here and knocked them over. Some were even broken open, which struck me as dangerous and peculiar.

"What happened here?" I asked myself as I scanned the room. I didn't have the opportunity to stay here and ponder these things, but the question still worried me.

Three other doors were leading out of this room. Urgency and expediency told me to pick one and go, but which one? One door might lead me into the arms of the enemy, and the others might lead me to either a dead end or to safety. The possibilities for all three were present, yet I still had to make my choice. I sincerely hoped I made the right choice the first time.

I chose the door closest to me on the right. Exactly as the one leading me in here, it fit poorly in the frame. I thought it would fall right out if someone pulled a little too hard on the handle. In a way, this worked for me, as it meant I could force my way through it.

However, it also meant I wouldn't be able to stop the enemy from coming through it either. Not even if I barred the door with something heavy. They'd end up just removing the door if I tried something like that, that's how flimsy looking the door was.

This new room appeared to be a locker room, and not a big one either. A short row of lockers lined either side, sixteen in total. And none of them were locked. They were obviously trusting of the people who worked down here. Or so it seemed.

"Clothes!" I whispered a little louder to myself than before. "If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find something to put on over this pathetic excuse for clothing."

I searched the first few lockers all to no avail. They were either empty or only bore a bag filled with documents. When I got to the fifth locker though, that's when I struck gold. Well, sort of.

The locker belonged to a man, so the clothes wouldn't really fit me, but they would do for now. I pulled on a plain black t-shirt, and it fell almost to my knees. Which alone made me feel as covered and modest as a nun by comparison. In addition to the shirt, I found a pair of jogging pants, which were much too big for me, but I tied them tightly around my waist with the drawstring. Lastly, were a pair of boots meant for hiking.

The boots flopped around on my feet when I walked, but it would be better than nothing when I got out of here. I didn't know what the weather was like, and I didn't want to be stuck in the cold with bare feet.

With clothes on me now, it was time to go. And this meant exploring more of the basement. All while the sounds of a storm, or something akin to that, were booming somewhere in the distance.

Before leaving the room, I steadied my resolve. I vowed that I'd do anything and everything not to be caught while finding my way out of here. Confident now, I returned to the larger room, and made my way to the right once more. This took me toward the opposite end of the room than I initially entered through. Across from the containment chamber or prison cell they'd put me in.

"I'm getting out of here." I spoke with a firm and determined edge to my voice. "I won't let them stop me. Not now, not ever. I'm no one's prisoner. Even if I don't remember who I am right now, I'm certain I'm not a slave or some damsel in distress."