(Page 1 of 3) Desolation Chapter 1 by Daniel GilliamSUMMARY: the continuation of the story that began in the prologue. technically this is chapter 2 since i now consider the prologue chapter 1...anyways i hope you enjoy it! :D"Then God said, ‘let there be light'; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness."
--Genesis 1:3-4 (NKJ)
∴ Chapter II ∴
"—didn't say a damn thing ‘bout it being this big... Just my luck ya' know? Sand will be hittin' any minute an' we're in here relic huntin' of all things. To hell with this place." A low voice muttered.
Ethan pressed his ear up against the cool metal of the wall and continued to listen. There were some muffled footsteps followed by a long pause and then a second voice cut through the silence.
"Eh it isn't so bad. Plenty a' worse places to be an' that's a fact." The second speaker subsided into a fit of ragged coughs. "But I sure could do without this damn dust! Can't take one step without stirrin' up a cloud of the god forsaken--"
"Shut it for a sec!" The first voice whispered sharply.
"Oh don't start with me. You're the one who started bitchin' like a little—" The second voice retorted.
"No, the tracker you idiot! It just pinged something from behind that wall..." The first voice hissed.
There was a long silence. Ethan remained absolutely motionless hoping that the conversation on the other side of the wall would resume and he could gain a sense for his current situation.
"Well?" The second voice finally broke the silence.
"...I don't know. It was there for just a moment...static maybe... never know with this piece of sh--." The first voice replied but then was cut short.
There was a long and loud metallic groan from the darkness behind Ethan that was immediately accompanied by the soft gurgle of draining liquid. Bright letters burst into existence and flashed silently at the base of the girl's stasis tube, eerily filling the room with red light.
C A U T I O N: P U R G I N G
"What was that?! Somethin' is definitely goin' on in there." The second voice exclaimed.
"Think we got ourselves a relic?" The first voice was filled with excitement.
"Only one way to find out." The second voice stated.
"Right. Set the charges...give ‘em a good long fuse. Whatever it is I can tell you it isn't worth getting' my head blown off over." The first voice grunted warily.
Realizing that hiding his presence was pointless now, Ethan turned to investigate the emptying tube and the girl inside. With an involuntary twitch the girl opened her eyes and focused them on a spot somewhere to the right of Ethan. A small trickle of bubbles poured out of her mouth as she panicked and screamed. Her tank was already nearly half drained and she struggled her way to the surface to satisfy her lungs' hunger for air. As the last of the liquid drained out the girl gagged and coughed up mouthfuls of oxygen-fluid that had been trapped in her lungs. She recovered in time to take a shaky cautious step off of the tube's base and onto the cold metal floor as the glass cylinder that only moments ago had been her home slid into the ceiling. Ethan took a step towards the girl and offered her an arm for support, which she ignored.
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