The first sensation was the cold floor pressed against her face. She had clearly been laying there for a long time, that entire side of her face was frozen, painfully so. She groaned and rolled over onto her back, her hand reaching up to try and rub some feeling back into her face.
The next sensation was a ripple of pain that ran up and down her body as she moved. It started at her feet, rolling up her legs, over her torso and ending at her head, which throbbed with the pain of having something hard connect with it. A flash of memory entered her mind, but it was overwhelmed as the pain rolled back down to her feet.
Then she heard the buzzing. It was so familiar, a sound she definitely knew. But there was no way to think about it. Each time she tried, her headache throbbed again and any thought she had disappeared. The noise was almost at the edge of her hearing, but it was persistent. If she could just open her eyes, she would be able to see it.
She tried to open her eyes and was welcomed with the sharp glare of white fluorescent light. She quickly slammed them closed again and waited. Slowly she inched her eyelids open, her hands pressed into them, letting the light through slowly, acclimating to her surroundings. After a few moments, she was able to squint without her hands and tried to look around. It was hard to tell where she was, but it wasnt the place in the desert. She tried to remember what had happened, but she couldnt. She was with Greta and the new kid, Jake, showing him around, when something happened. Were they here too? She tried to speak, but her throat was raw and inflamed and nothing came out. She coughed and spluttered and breathed hard, her hands rubbing her neck, trying to make the pain go away.
She sat up and found a wall to lean against. It, like the floor, was cold against her back, even through the shirt she was wearing. She breathed slowly, trying not to panic. Ike would know she was missing. He would come and get her. Eric and the others too. Maybe even the other girl, Terri. Whatever had happened, they would come and get her. And soon. She knew it.
She felt her heartrate drop a bit as she relaxed. She blinked and opened her eyes. The glare was still strong, but she was getting used to it. She was in a white room. Along the wall opposite was a simple bed with a thin mattress and white hospital-like sheets. Something that could barely be called a pillow, with a matching pillow case, was at one end. The next wall around was a set of floor to ceiling bars; the door. They were grey, clashing with the white of everything else. Across the hall from her was another room, identical to hers. A large figure lay in the bed, their head at the far end. They didnt move and there was no noise. She tilted her head and looked down the corridor; identical rooms reached as far as she could see. In the one next to the one opposite her, a woman was standing at the bars watching. She had a strange contraption around her neck and lower face and her arms were cuffed to each other and attached to a chain at her hips. She stared at Micah and her eyes were smiling a nasty smile. Quickly, Micah looked away and back into her cell. That was the word, right? Not room. Cell. She, and those others, were prisoners here. Wherever here was.
In the corner of her cell was a small stainless steel basin and toilet. There was no divider to block anyones view. She shuddered and hoped that the others would find her quickly.
She tried to stand and wobbled on her feet slightly. She braced herself against the wall and took a step towards the bed. She balanced on her feet for a moment and then took another step. She was at the bed now and she sat down on it. It was not comfortable under her slim frame and she lay down, mirroring the person opposite, to mitigate any more pain. As her head hit the pillow, she started to sob quietly, while simultaneously was overcome with a wave of tiredness she hadnt realised was waiting. She tried to stop herself falling asleep, but she couldnt prevent it long and very quickly she was snoring quietly.
Micah awoke some time later, the lights were not out, but they were dimmed. She turned over on her bed and looked out of the bars. The person opposite was sitting, leaning against the wall, their hands covering their face. Micah could not tell what they were doing. As she watched them, a flash of memory erupted into her head. She clung to it like a life raft and closed her eyes to focus on it. It was an image of Greta and Jake.
Greta was being pushed by Jake, the former explaining how the place worked. How people could come and go as they pleased and anyone, especially Descendants, were welcome here. Jake had not yet explained where he had come from, although Micah had a feeling he was from the same place as her and Ike. She didnt say anything, though. She wasnt shy, at least not totally, but she didnt know who she could trust yet. Her and her brother had only been here a couple of weeks themselves. The elder Descendants were still pretty cagey about letting them in on anything, and the girl Terri, she was almost psychotic. She wondered what Ike was doing.
Greta directed Jake to push her out a door and down a ramp into the valley. One of the few external entry points to the indoors and, as Greta explained, the only one with a ramp. The three of them walked around the outside of the buildings, Jake pushing Greta and Micah a few steps behind. Like with her and Ike, Greta had an automatic rapport with Jake. The two of them were chatting quietly as they walked, and were seemingly not paying attention to her. She looked around, seeing if anyone else was nearby and when she didnt see anyone, left the other two and started on her own exploration.
She, obviously, didnt want to be here, but she understood why they stayed. She wasnt a fan of the desert, but they had nowhere else to go. But even if they did, Ike had found something here that she had no idea he had been looking for: teachers. The two men, Eric and Malcolm, had agreed – albeit reluctantly – to help him with his ability. They had taken him out into the desert proper a few times and Ike had always come back, grinning about his lesson and wondering what was going to be next. He still refused to actually use his power, at least around her, but these lessons seemed to be doing him the world of good.
It was, in fact, good for her as well. She had been feeling a little suffocated by his presence all the time. She hadnt yet called up the courage to tell him that, even though she knew he would understand and would give her space. Also that he would be there if she needed anything. But this place, getting settled, it was hard to say anything to him.
And that was the end of the memory. After that, she felt a sharp jab of pain and then woke up in this cell. She looked over at the other cell. Its occupant hadnt moved. The woman in the cell next to it had left her spot of watching, and Micah felt, if not comfortable, safe enough to use the toilet.
It was now that she realised that she wasnt wearing the same things that she had been wearing back in the desert. She looked down in disgust and saw a white shirt, made of some stiff cotton-like material and the same pants. She noted, with thanks, that her underwear were still hers.
She quickly used the toilet, and went to wash her hands. As the tap stopped, a noise from the depths of hell erupted from the toilet and she squealed, and jumped back. She breathed hard as she realised it was just the automatic flushing system. Across from her, she could hear a deep chuckling laughter come from the large person in the other cell.
“We try not to do that at night,” they said. They were standing at the bars of their cell, and Micah got the impression they were trying to use their sheer size to push through them.
“Sorry,” Micah muttered, her throat still sore, but starting to feel better.
“I dont care,” the other said, and returned to their place at the wall, their face in their hands again. “But she does,” before settling down, they threw a thumb towards their neighbours cell. The woman with the thing around her neck.
She was standing at the bars and whatever smile had been in her eyes earlier, was now replaced with something altogether nastier. Micah waved and mouthed sorry at her too. The woman was clearly trying to speak something, but the weird device around her neck prevented any noise from coming out. There was a clinking of her chains as she tried to use her hands to manipulate her collar. And more chuckling from the large person, leaning against the wall.
After a few days, Micah was familiar with the routine of this place. The lights were dimmed at whatever passed for night, and for a few hours, the residents of this cell block were allowed to sleep. The lights were brought back up and a person in black riot gear would come through and pass each person – except the collared woman – some food. She was given a stiff straw and a bottle of something liquid. The straw was passed through a hole in the collar, specifically for this, and then into her meal. While this was happening, another guard watched her from a few yards away, their handgun levelled at her the entire time. When she was done, the straw and bottle were removed and the guard holstered the weapon and they were all left alone again.
With the exception of that first night, the person opposite her had not spoken again. The woman in the collar alternated between smiling at her and giving her the most evil look she had ever received. She also learned that there was a person in the cells on either side of her, but like everyone else, they didnt talk to her. They didnt talk to anyone. Everyone seemed to just accept whatever this was.