ORPHEUS - A.I.

Chapter Twenty Five: The Showdown

Anthea announced that for the next few days, only three people were allowed to go out on foraging duties- the guards would double their camouflage and change their hiding places and nobody else was supposed get out of the bunkers for any reason.

That night Hex sat down by the candle light with his piece of paper- trying to think of a way out. He had seen how this place had broken Megan's courage and he was not willing anybody else give up. Tim and Andre were scribbling something too- discussing on how purgatory had similar elements to the game that they had designed earlier.

Megan said nothing and stood up and walked away. This place was getting on her nerves. She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to get out right now. All she knew was that her aunt needed her out there in the real world. But what could she do?

She walked towards the exit tunnel and asked John to open the door. John gave a surprised look and hesitatingly opened up the door. She walked out of the shaft and was out in the open in no time. She looked around. Nina was sitting behind some bushes- carefully camouflaged chewing a bead of grass- resting her back against a rock. The shaft was carefully hidden beneath the tall grasses and it was almost impossible for the drones to detect anyone from the sky due to the natural vegetation and the swamps.

Nina saw Megan walking out and immediately whistled out as a warning to the other girls who were guarding the entry shaft. Megan simply kept walking towards Nina.

"Where do you think you're going?", asked Nina still relaxing.

"None of your business!", replied Megan and kept walking.

"Pfft! Don't blame us if you get killed out there…" , replied Nina.

Megan paused for a while and replied-

"I don't care anymore- I just want to get out of here…"

"Yeah?Don't we all wanna do that…", Nina replied sarcastically still relaxing her back on the rock.

"Then why don't you do something about it instead of just lying down?", replied Megan.

Nina didn't reply and closed her eyes pretending to sleep.

"Thought so…I'm going to the opening and get myself outta here or die trying!", replied Megan and walked away into the swamps.

She had learnt the way by now and kept walking frantically like she was possessed. The thick grass made it difficult for her to walk but she carried on until she had reached almost 500 metres away from the bunker. She then stopped to catch her breath.

"Argh!", exclaimed Megan and kicked the grass.

She was evidently frustrated. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she began to sob for a few seconds. She then stood up and started to walk towards the forests. She had no fear in her mind. She didn't care about the drones or the alphas- all she had in her mind was trying to find the opening and walking out of here. The face of her sick aunt flashed before her eyes and it motivated her to keep moving forward.

It must have been more than an hour. Megan saw the treeline some 200 metres ahead. The sun was peaking through the dark clouds and a light breeze touched her hair. There was nobody around- only an eery noise of the breeze flowing across the open grasslands and the swaying of the trees up ahead. She knew that she was close- if only she could find the opening - she would be free!

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming from behind her- she turned around and looked. It was Nina- walking towards her with her crossbow in her hand.

"Yo! Why did you stop? Scared or something?", asked Nina.

"Why are you following me?", Megan asked back.

"It's my job to protect anyone who stays with us- don't worry I'm just gonna follow you - not gonna stop you or something- go on!", Nina replied nonchalantly.

Megan was annoyed at her attitude but she didn't reply. Instead she continued walking towards the treeline.

Five minutes later- Megan thought she heard someone shouting her name-she turned around and saw Hex running towards her- calling her name- begging her to stop. But she kept walking- she was close to entering the forest and then she only had to find the opening- she thought she was too close to turn back now. But Hex kept rushing towards her- apparantly he was trying to warn her about something. But Megan was too obsessed at finding the doorway and she continued walking- this time she began to run.

Suddenly she heard that dreaded noise- the strange monotonic buzzing sound of the drones. Her heart was in her mouth- her trance broke and she froze in fear as she saw one huge drone coming out of the forest ahead.

Anthea pointed to her left as she kept walking behind Chuck. The tall green grass swayed in the breeze silently and Megan kept looking in amazement at how far it stretched- there seemed to be no end to this place- it seemed beautiful and haunting at the same time.

"So this place is like a prison... and is guarded by giant robots?", asked Hex being sceptical.

"Hard to believe innit? Wait till you see one for yourself...", Chuck remarked from the front.

"There are thick forests to the east and west - and mountain ranges in the north and south, when you cross any of them - you reach 'the divide'... ", Anthea added.

Suddenly Chuck stopped and kneeled down on the ground, he was observing something. The rest of the group stood beside him.

"It's a drone- a soldier drone! We are close- keep moving! Pack that up after you've dismantled it !", Chuck ordered to one of his men.

Megan kept wondering where they were going. What did Anthea mean when she said they've found a way out? It had been almost an hour now, how long will it take? But she quietly kept moving along knowing that time would reveal everything. She kept observing the people leading the way. There were six of them including Anthea. Chuck seemed to be the commander of his small army while Anthea acted as the leader of the entire team. All of them seemed a bit anxious and were being very cautious as they moved ahead. They had crossed the swamps by now and were walking through a huge field. Up ahead were a row of tall trees.

Suddenly a man appeared from beneath trees with a dog following him.

"Ah! There he is...", Chuck exclaimed and ran up to meet him.

Hex recognised the man. He was the same person who had saved his life earlier.

"Who's that?", asked Megan.

"That's Old man Nikolai...we call him 'Crazy Nikolai'.. and thats 'Hunter'- his dog...", replied Anthea.

Chuck met with Nikolai and asked him some questions. The old man didn't speak but simply signalled to follow him into the woods. Everyone followed Nikolai as he quickly rushed ahead murmuring gibberish.

"What's wrong with him?", Hex asked.

"Well, he's crazy, never speaks a word, we don't know where he came from but we found him creeping on us one day and he has been helping us survive since then. It seems that he knows a lot about this place...like he has been here since the beginning...only if he were sane we would have found a way outta here...", Anthea replied.

Chuck and the team followed Nikolai for a few minutes until he stopped and pointed towards a huge bush of wild plants.

"What's there old man?", asked Chuck as he walked towards the bush.

Nikolai simply kept pointing in excitement.

Chuck pushed apart the leaves of the bush and looked. Megan and Hex looked over his shoulder. Hex and Megan gasped at the sight of a wolf like creature lying half dead on the ground. It looked like a wolf but a lot bigger

with dark brown fur but without a tail. It's gut had been ripped open but instead of blood, some kind of purple ooze kept flowing out. It was barely alive and had a deep scar on its head. It was still growling as if it would jump

up any second and attack them. It looked like it didn't feel any pain and it only knew pure rage.

Megan was shocked to find that it had some kind of metallic wires popping out of its head. The three newcomers had never seen such a creature.