A new comrade

We ran for a couple of minutes, gasping for breath by the time he finally decided to stop. But when I looked at him, I realized that it was only me who wasn't used to running that fast. I was slightly embarrassed by the fact that a man with a wound managed to outrun a healthy guy like me.

"Am I really slow or is he just too fast?" I thought as I came to a stop beside him and slowly set Lily down. She gripped the hem of my shirt and quietly eyed him with hostility.

He paused, eyes wandering over the blanket of dirt on the ground.

I followed his gaze to the ground in confusion. "What are you searching for?"

He didn't respond. He walked a few inches to the side and stomped his feet. When I heard the thud, I realized that the ground was hollow from the inside. A small smile drew across his face as he crouched down and scraped the dirt to the side to reveal a metal lid. I stood beside him as he opened the lid, peering into a horizontal never ending tunnel of darkness.

I cleared my throat, clearly concerned about what my body's state would be if we threw ourselves in there. "This is suicide."

"No." He said, and then reached out under his cloak. He took out a thick, strong rope with a heavy hook attached to its one side. It looked longer than what I'd imagined when he untangled it.

My eyes narrowed. "Where did you get that?"

He smiled. "Every man has his secrets." He said, plunging the hook into the ground. He groaned, wincing in pain as he struggled to pierce it in. Although he acted like the wound wasn't troubling, he was actually having a hard time putting up with it.

"Let me do it." I lightly pushed him back and began kicking roughly at the hook. I could see him smiling amusingly from the corner of my eye. When the hook was pierced all the way into the ground, I threw the rope into the tunnel. The sunlight barely illuminated anything inside. I paused, peering into the darkness and then back at him.

"You really think this rope's going to help? What if the hook comes out? This tunnel looks really deep."

He hummed in thought. "Well, the most that can happen is a few broken ribs-"

"And a few dead bodies." I added. Lily peered into the tunnel and shuddered at the thought.

He chuckled, inching closer to the tunnel and grabbing the rope. "You're funny."

"That wasn't a jo-" I was cut off mid-sentence when I saw him leap into the tunnel, vanishing from view.

"Well." I glanced back at the rigid hook speechlessly, "Atleast now we know it's safe."

I crouched down near the tunnel and watched him climb down the rope with a swift pace and disappear into the darkness. I sighed, taking the rope in my hands before falling in while helping Lily down along with me. She gripped the rope with her hands and we slowly began climbing down.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally jumped down to a rough, uneven surface. As I helped Lily down, I noticed lamps illuminating a pathway in front of us. The square passageway was wide enough to accomodate about a dozen of people all at once. Everything about the situation— including their fighting skills, their clothes as well as a secret passageway — made it look like they were very meticulous about their identities.

"Let's get going." The man's voice echoed in the empty passage as he walked through it.

We jogged up to him, passing by spider webs hanging from the corners of the ceiling and insects hurriedly crawling away to the side.

"So, your base is underground?" I glanced at him.

"No, this is just a secret passage to our base. We only use it in case of an emergency." He said as we reached the other end of the passage and began climbing up a roughly built wooden staircase. Bits of wood broke off and fell to the ground as we climbed up. The stairs creaked every time we took a step up. It seemed so fragile that I was afraid it would break down any moment, but it didn't seem to bother him one bit.

"We didn't close off the tunnel while climbing in. Won't the guards find this place?" I asked, trying to ignore the continuous creaks.

He shrugged. "Scarlett will take care of it."

When we reached the end of the staircase, a door awaited us.

"Welcome to our world." He flashed a smile. He swung the door open to reveal a large hall made of cemented bricks filled with an army of men and women. They casually feasted and clinked glasses with one another, laughing and joking with each other. They all wore ordinary clothes, some stained with dirt while others stained with sweat. When we stepped inside, everyone's eyes were drawn to us. Suddenly, the laughter died down and the entire hall went quiet. There was an awkward silence as they studied us curiously.

"Everyone." The man spoke in a dominating voice, with a look of superiority and seriousness. It seemed to me that he was the leader of his men. "Welcome our latest comrades..."

He looked at me expectantly.

"Rai and Lily." I said uncomfortably, looking away as hundreds of eyes stared at us like predators.

"These two are escapees of the lab. Please treat them like one of our own. I hope everyone understands that they're not our enemies. Any questions?" His eyes skimmed through the people.

Suddenly, a well-built man with a neatly trimmed hair rose from his table with a frown, but never forgetting to present himself formally— like a soldier should before his leader. "Sir!"

"What is it?"

He glanced at me and Lily suspiciously. "What if this is a trap?"

The man slightly tilted his head, smiling. "Are you doubting my perception?"

There was something menacing and dominating about his smile that had left the soldier hesitant.

The soldier's eyes wavered, and he immediately looked down apologetically. "A-Absolutely not, sir."

"Then we're good." He waved at him dismissively.

Suddenly, his smiling face contracted in pain and he let out a groan. He looked beneath his cloak to see blood seeping through his clothes. He clutched his wound, legs unknowingly buckling beneath him.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked in concern, catching him just in time. I slowly lowered him to the ground and pushed his shirt up to see fresh blood oozing out from his wound.

"He is injured!" One of his men gasped. They quickly rushed to his side and crowded around him, pushing me and Lily to the edge as more of them gathered. All of a sudden, one of them roughly shoved Lily to the ground without even looking back.

"Ow!" She winced.

Her round glasses fell off and hit the ground, cracking the lenses.

"Are you okay?" I crouched beside her.

"Y-Yeah." She nodded, forcing a smile as I helped her up.

I looked back at the man, a scowl covering my face. Surprisingly, it was the same man from earlier. He simply stood in a corner with crossed arms, watching his comrades carry their leader away. It made me realize that he wasn't intending to help them anyway. He'd pushed Lily on purpose— perhaps to show that we didn't belong there.

I exhaled deeply, trying to subdue my anger.

"There's no use picking a fight, especially with everything that's happening." I thought, calming myself down.

"You did the right thing." A woman's voice spoke behind me. I spun around and found myself looking at an elegantly dressed young woman. Her brown hair was twisted up neatly into a bun and she wore an apron over her long dress. Her lips curled up into a welcoming smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She glanced at the man. "I'm talking about how you decided to let it go."

"I didn't let it go. I'll get him back for it later."

"Sure." She chuckled lightly, "For now, let me guide you to your room. As per our leader's choice, I shall make sure that you're taken care of. Please follow me."

She turned around with unintended grace and began walking forward, her high heeled boots thudding against the wooden floor.

She led us into a hallway with doors lining up on either sides. She stopped at the third room and swung the door open to reveal a small room with a single bed in one corner and a window beside it. It was cozy for one person but congested for two.

As if she'd read my mind, she spoke up.

"The little girl will be staying in the next room." She smiled down at Lily, patting her head lightly.

Normally, Lily would move away immediately but she didn't. This was the first time I'd seen her not be apprehensive of others. She seemed comfortable with the woman even though she barely knew her.

The woman turned to look at me. "My name is

Zoe. If you need anything, yell my name and I'll be there."

I nodded, giving her a small smile of gratitude. She'd been the only one who hadn't given us looks from among their leader's crew members.

"Well, then." she smiled, taking Lily's hand. "Please rest up."

As soon as they left the room, exhaustion washed over me and I jumped into the cozy bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes shut on its own and I drifted off comfortably to sleep.