Hello Stranger

Chapter 1: Halyn

“What a nice change of scenery! Wouldn’t you agree, Hallie?” Lucas asks, sarcastically.

I roll my eyes. “You’re aware we’re basically in a jail cell, right?”

He laughs and leans on a nearby wall. “I was lightening the mood.”

I sigh and sit on the floor, facing away from Lucas. “Are you mentally insane, or just annoying?” He opens to interject, but I quickly cut him off. “Keep the answer to yourself. I don’t want to know.”

But as soon as I turn away, I realize how lonely I am. For a minute I feel alone, just me and my thoughts. I always try and avoid the situation in which this would happen, wince when it does I have to relive my entire life from beginning to end. I try to forget, I really do, but I can’t.

You know how when a traumatic event happens, usually the brain changes up the memories or gets rid of them altogether? That never happened to me.

“Lucas Silver.” The robotic voice calls.

Lucas smiles weakly and begins to exit the cell. We don’t know what’s going on. They told us we were selected, but other than that we know nothing what is to happen to us.

I stand up immediately and consider following him for a second. By the time I make up my mind, the door already shuts, and I’m here all alone.

Year 3024 was when humanity changed forever. We should have seen if happening and we should have stopped it. Damage can be sudden or can be a progress, but in this case, it was a progression. Stoppable.

Many of us have heard about the active volcano, Yellowstone. It hadn’t exploded for so much time most of us forgot about it, including me. Maybe we could have gotten a few hundred years before the tragedy of the explosion struck and we could have prepared together. All the countries could have united to save ourselves. But we didn’t. We were so caught up in our own social lives that we didn’t realize the danger of what was going on.

Yellowstone was believed to have a special oil beneath it which had been present since its formation millions of years ago. We don’t know if this oil was even there in the first place. But that shouldn’t have been the reason to risk all the lives of billions of humans.

What happened was scientists injected a sort of gas into the volcano to cause it to rise to release the oil. If it were done properly this oil could have been gotten and supplied us for possibly forever. We’d have all the energy we needed for machinery like cars to work. But it didn’t and instead sped up an explosion. Through this all we didn’t do anything. We just let it happen and now we might have to pay for it with our lives.

Most of us died immediately, yet later because of the effects such as starvation had nearly all the planet was wiped out. We don’t know how many of us are alive. Not all died because of the actual explosion, yet because of fear or regret. There were many suicides mainly because some people lost loved ones. That brought our entire population at risk. Animals became much rarer and any found would be eaten.

But five years later, now, things became better. Or a bit better. Because the ash covered the sun we couldn’t get enough light or heat resulting in an ice age. It is supposed to last 2-7 years. Throughout this time the surviving human race focused on technology to pick up any light that is caught and turns it into energy to keep us warm and alive.

But Lucas and I were brought here from a cave. Several towering figures dressed in heavy clothing entered our cave and brought us here forcefully. We did resist and Lucas nearly got away, but he came back like an idiot and tried to save me. Any questions asked weren’t answered. All we knew is that “they chose us. We were selected.”

Question was, what were we even selected for? To do what? It couldn’t be anything good after being locked up in a jail cell.

I groan as stand up, trailing my fingertips against the brick wall trying to feel any weakness, like a gap. Having my luck, all the bricks are placed closely together, cemented tightly. There’s a little window on one of the walls and I realize that it was far too high for me to even reach. Even if I did, there’s metal bars covering it.

“Halyn Lockwood.” The speaker in the hall calls, and once again I hear the dreaded robotic voice.

I take a deep breath and step outside the cell as the metal door opens. When I step out it immediately closes and a man dressed in complete black grabs my arm. I yelp and attempt to slap him across the face. He ducks and grabs my arm, pulling it behind my back. I wince. He then drops my arm and it falls like a dead animal, banging my waist. Ouch.

He steps behind me where I cannot see him. I swallow a lump in my throat realizing he wants me to walk. He’s not going to leave and he’ll always be there

“Where’s Lucas?” I ask, turning to face him. There’s no reaction so I repeat my question.

I look around, suddenly feeling desperate. There’s so many rooms I can’t even remember where I was before. Lucas could be in any one of these and I wouldn’t know. My legs feel weak, thinking that he could be hurt. A inhuman like scream leaves my mouth as I feel myself feel frantic and overwhelmed. My eyes dart around looking at everything for a slight second: the harsh eyes of the guard, the over neat rooms, the strange writing on the walls similar to scratch marks, and the dirty footprints on the floor.

“Lucas!” I scream, breaking into a run. A yell leaves the lips of the guard and he tackles me, making us crash against the floor. “LUCAS? Lucas, where are you?” I scream again, thumping my fists against the floor. I can feel the bruises forming, but it doesn’t stop me.

I suddenly miss his stupid remarks and how mad I was every time he said one of them. If I could see his cheeky grin right now that would me enough.

“Alright Miss. Get up and follow me.”

I don’t remember getting up. I don’t remember reaching this door or the guard leaving me here. There’s a white metallic looking door right in front of me. There’s no knob, just a strange black mark I assume are for fingerprints. Looking down the hallway I notice two other rooms just like this. All the other doors are grey, except for the jail ones which are black.

I knock on the door once. Then twice. I want to call out but I feel a knot forming in my stomach. I can only think about what’s going on. What happens if this door holds my entire future ahead?

Accidently while thinking I hit my thumb against the pad. There’s a small beep and a green light appears.

There’s one person in the room. She’s a woman dressed in a long white coat to match the walls of the room. When she turns I see her grey hair is cut in a short bob with even bangs. Her arms are at her sides.

“Welcome Halyn. I’ve waited for you.”

“Y-you have?” I felt it hard to believe that this well-put together woman would wait for someone like me. I suddenly feel self-conscious of my torn boots, dirty jacket and oversized pants.

She nods and pulls up a chair. I shake my head quickly, not wanting to dirty the lovely thing. I hadn’t seen a chair so clean and plushy since years ago. She doesn’t say anything, but she sits down on her own chair.

“My name is Doctor Clara Lanes. I’ve been here before the eruption.”

My eyes unintentionally narrow, recognizing the last name. “You were one of those scientists, weren’t you?”

“Before I answer, let me tell you a story. Once there was a father with two kids which he loved very much. But the problem was that one child had grown up to follow his beliefs in scientific study while the other had a desire for power. Because of this the child decided to forget the people and search for something amazing. Something to make him known for thousands of years to come. Upon research, he’d decided that there had to be something beneath Yellowstone. He didn’t know what but he wanted it. It was an unexplainable desire. The father tried to stop him, yet the child had killed him of pure rage. The second child decided that violence wasn’t the answer and chose to focus on proving there was nothing under the volcano to stop him. But the second child failed and it was too late. Not only had she lost her father, but caused the loss of millions.”

“You were that second kid…. Right?”

She gives a sad nod, her pale blue eyes becoming glassy.

“What happened to the first one? I mean your brother, Lawrence.” I say, moving closer to her and sitting on the white chair.

Lawrence Lanes was the said lead scientist who had caused the explosion of the volcano. I don’t think anyone knew about him, and if they did they didn’t quite care. Personally, I feel both intrigued and angry about why he chose to put himself above others.

“I’m not sure, Halyn. You see, he disappeared after the volcano exploded. He could be alive.”

As horrible as it sounds I hope he isn’t alive. I want him dead like all the other people he killed. Murdering his own father in cold blood is horrible enough, but several generations? No, he deserves to be dead. Yes, he must be.

I dust myself off and cross my arms in a defensive pose. “Why have you brought us here?”

She chuckles and licks her lips while looking up, thinking about what to say. “We chose you.”

Yes, I know you chose us. But why? What purpose?

“We chose you,” she continues, “because we’re confused about why you’re alive.”

I nod politely. Confused why I’m alive? Is that a way to ask me why I’m not dead?

“I’m alive because my friend and I hid in a cave surviving on supplies we found there.” I interrupt, trying to explain.

“I know that. I have cameras everywhere. Question is, why? You should be dead, Halyn. You and everyone else. After the explosion, most of the buildings were destroyed and people died because of inhaling smoke. Cameras found you and four other people still alive although you were outside in front of it all. That’s the thing, you have something different about the way your body functions. That can be used for us to possibly be prepared for other problems. For example, another explosion.”

I don’t think of myself as something special or different, despite my name. Halyn means unlike any other or unique. The irony was real, especially because of what I thought of myself.

“What do you plan to do with us?” The words feel raw and strange. I feel like my fate is decided by one person, and it doesn’t feel good.

She sighs and stands up, facing away. “We aren’t sure yet. Temporarily, we have rooms for you all.” She’s quiet for a while as her breathing slows. “You can go now, Halyn.”

I stand up and make my way to the room.

As the door opens I finally remember Lucas. “Wait,” I whisper. “My friend, Lucas. What happened to him?”

She doesn’t turn to face me but speaks. “He’s fine. I saw him right before you.”

The door shuts, leaving me with questions. I try and steady my breathing which is becoming more rapid. I count to ten slowly and then turn realizing this time there’s two guard behind me.

Great. Now it’ll be harder to escape.