William

Will opened his empty eyes. He had been staying in this cell for who knows how long. The time had disappeared from his mind because of the crippling isolation

He did not know if he was hallucinating now and then, or if there was something there, something all around him.

He knew how he got into this circumstance, but he didn't know how long it's been since it happened. 

Will remained still, staring at the wall. Maybe he was hoping that something would happen. Maybe he was hoping that it would all end soon. But in reality, he knew. He was trapped.

He stared at the ceiling and reminisced. What had led up to things getting this bad?

It all started when his parents were given an offer.

Creak...

The sole door to his prison opened loudly as if it were the only thing important. Will moved his head slightly, but just enough to look at the door.

It had ripped him away from his thoughts because it was the only thing with any value to him. After all, he was a mere lab rat to these people.

The slop that couldn't even be called a meal was left on the floor. Unappetizing. Unappealing. Unpleasant. Those were the words that helplessly floated through his head as he started to dig in.

This "food" was the only thing he would get for a while. He forgot how long ago, but way back then, Will used to plead. Hoping that someone was there to answer him.

They were there.

He knew it.

But they didn't answer. No one did. Will was left alone to be observed, left void of human contact. That was until he heard murmuring.

It was quiet, extremely so, but he could make out some words. Things like "Badger" and "defeated". It was just barely enough to give Will hope. That something was going on out there.

Will used this emotional momentum to nail down the plan for his escape.

The room was secure, and he almost thought that it would be impossible to escape. But that was until he started thinking about it from a practical standpoint.

Unless someone put a lot of resources into monitoring him, it was unlikely that someone was watching the cameras 24/7. Of course, this was nothing but a shot in the dark, but he had nothing else to go off of.

Will waited for a time when there was the least response before running up to the door. It was locked from the outside, but there was a small keyhole for emergencies. Will banked his life on that small keyhole.

Using whatever willpower he had left, Will closed his eyes and felt the keyhole. Its shape filled his mind in vivid detail, almost as if he were feeling it or even looking at it directly. But he wasn't.

Will focused on that image and used his mind to push something together, to make it solid. When he opened his eyes, the keyhole had been unlocked, and a key in just the perfect shape had slid out and onto the floor.

It was picked up before Will hurriedly left the scene.

At every turn, it seemed there were more and more people, almost endlessly. But it seemed they were as frantic as he was. They were all shouting about some dangerous person.

"That man Naos poses a threat, we should bolster security at the entrances!" They would say while running in armed groups. Will didn't complain about it, though.

He didn't complain because he knew where they would all group up. Will ran in the opposite direction of all the soldiers in hopes of finding the exit they had abandoned.

What he found instead was a sort of lounge. There was a coffee machine next to the door, a large couch, and a gaming console hooked up to a TV.

I wish I could play on that. Will was nearly drooling but slapped his cheeks with both hands. Will! This is no time to think about playing video games! We need to get out of here!

Will quickly searched any drawer or cabinet he could find in the room. By some stroke of luck, he found a map in a compartment.

Scanning the map for any clue, he pinpointed where he was now. Looking back and forth between the corridors that led to the lounge and their shapes, Will figured out which path to take to reach an exit.

Once he was ready, he folded the map and dashed as quickly as he could. Will wasn't abnormally strong by any means, but he wasn't slow. Within a couple of minutes, Will reached where he wanted to go.

Just as he had hoped, the exit was unguarded. He opened the big red door and stepped out into the open. He was blinded by the sunlight for a moment but pressed on.

Will's goal was to reach his home and find his parents. Maybe then he could find out why he had ended up in that situation.

But before he could get too far, he stopped himself and attempted to walk as calmly as he could to the nearest clothes store.

He didn't have money but tried to bargain with some miscellaneous items he grabbed from the lounge. By chance, the clerk was at the end of his shift and did not care one bit.

Will was able to get some decent clothes, and while he did, he asked for the date.

"April 29th, 2030." The clerk said in a bored tone.

Will was shocked. The last date he had remembered was December of 2029! He had been there for a whole 5 months, trapped in seclusion, left to his reflections.

He said goodbye to the clerk and headed home. Will missed his family and little brother more than anything, and his longing for them outweighed his sadness over lost time.

After half a day of walking, Will reached his house. It was skeletal and dilapidated as if no one had been there for a long time. Will peaked inside and saw the rotting corpses of his parents.

Will fell to the ground and cried soundless tears, unable to understand what had happened in the 5 months that he was gone. The only corpse that was absent was that of his little brother, Tyler.