Brave New World Chapter 16: The Ark - Pt 1👽

[Some time in the Past]

"Why are you applying to a university you won't go to?" I asked confused.

"What do you mean? Any Ivy league university is great. If I could get into one, it doesn't matter which one." Caroline shrugged.

"But what about our plans of going to the same university and becoming roomies for years?" I asked.

"Ann, We could stay together or apart, it can't effect our friendship." She was trying to coddle me like a child with temper issues and that hurt.

"I never said anything about hurting our friendship." I was upset.

"Ann. Come on. Don't be like this." She tried to hold my hands but I pulled away.

"Like what? You don’t want to be roomies with me and I can't even be upset about it." I huffed.

"Ann. Of course, I wanna be roomies with you. Why do you think we applied to all the same universities?" She tried explaining as she turned me back to face her.

"Then why?" I asked, I had really wanted to live with her like sisters. With Elena gone to dermatology school, Caroline was the closest to a sister that I could have.

"Because, I have to think about my future too. Wouldn't you want me to get the best possible opportunity?" She tried to smile.

"Of course, I do." I said and then sat up straight, determined, "It's decided then."

"What is?" She asked confused.

"I will apply there too!" I told her excited again.

"What? Why? Didn't we already check that they are not teaching your program?" She asked.

"So what? I can apply to the same one as you." I held her hands in mine, "We will be roomies, one way or another. I am not going to leave you alone this easily." I smirked.

She pulled me in a hug, "Neither am I."

#

[Present Time]

Pain, that was the first feeling the I got when I regained consciousness. My body was lying in an awkward position. I was still wearing my bag-pack and still felt thirsty and hungry. But instead of perspiration that I had earlier, I felt cold. I had definitely gotten a concussion from the fall. The floor I was lying on was cold, a cool current of air was blowing from somewhere, and the light was coming from above me.

I reached the conclusion, I clearly wasn't outside on the patio anymore. Slowly I raised myself, opened my eyes and instantly felt déjà vu.

There was similar white light and pallid room that I had found myself in, when I was taken from my family. That all felt like an age ago, and suddenly it felt like none of the past two months had occurred.

The only reminder was my figure that had lost its plumpness and my rough skin, broken nails, knotted hair, dirty knitted clothes and the bag-pack with Herbert's notebook that proved, last two months had indeed happened.

For a second my heart dropped. I looked hopelessly at the white walls surrounding me. What if I had to go through all that all over again, what if it all just restarted.

• In that case, this time I might have a better chance at survival.

• But it might mean, I am stuck in a loop and might never see my family again.

• Most importantly, there might be food and drinks on the other side of the door like before, and I was ready to devour anything at this point.

There was one problem though, unlike last time, there was no white door. In fact, there was no door at all, or window. The only exit seemed like the only entrance through which I had fallen, was a slit in the fancy ceiling, proving that I was in fact, in the mansion.

That was a horrifying fact, combined with lack of life and the unusual circumstances.

I was ready to cry at my helplessness. Just a few days ago, I was so excited and had felt so brave and strong. I knew there was a new me who had conquered the forest and survived and was going to shock my family. But now, the same old me was ready to cry all over again.

Slouching in the white room, under the veranda in front of the main doors of the mansion, my mind was running a marathon of outcomes for me, none very hopeful or promising. The walls around me weren't dull like last time, instead, these had square tiled pattern and shone like polished marble. The abundance of white light and its reflections, made my concussion worse.

I don't know how long I sat there, rummaging through my stuff or just lying, waiting for a miracle. After a while everyone's patience ends, so did mine. I wasn't ready to die after everything I had suffered, not like that, not in there, alone, bruised and battered. I screamed in frustration one time after hours of wait, before standing up determined. I was going to get out of there, or die trying.

I took out the knives that I had and picked a random wall to begin chipping my way. There had to be something around this basement prison or I was ready to dig a tunnel to the surface, whatever happened I wasn't going to stay there.

I should've expected what happened next. I wanted a miracle, and not all miracles come from fairy godmothers sprinkling fairy dust. I had picked up a butter knife and strategically chosen a tile where I could sit comfortably and first loosen the tile to remove it and then began scratching my way through the side wall, if there was adjacent room, if not, up towards the road I came from.

Granted, my ideas weren't very hopeful, I had nearly negligible chance of living enough days that would take me to succeed the plan I had made to get back on the surface. I was thirsty and hungry, my feet had blisters and my legs ached due to cramps, I was fatigued, and had no idea how long it was going to take before my body shut down.

But as soon as my blunt knife hit the white-square tile, the room shook. I felt slight vibrations travel through my body that increased by-the-second, the feeling of impending doom increasing. Last I had felt such vibrations was when I had first come into the jungle, I had stepped onto the humus and the ground had swallowed the two rooms I had been in. A part of me got prepared to die, like many times before, until I heard where the vibrations were being generated from.

The wall to my right had started to slide open into an opening. The opening seemed to have less light than my bright white room but that wasn't what surprised me. To my shock which was immediately followed by caution and then relief , all within a few seconds as the wall was sliding, a girl rushed over to me.

That girl specifically being, Caroline O'Conner, my childhood best friend.

I was shocked to speechlessness. My mind had to be playing tricks on me. After months of no contact with any human, was it really my bestie who was hugging me and trying to get me to my feet? My mind had gone blank, or was it a side-effect of the concussion and hunger?

She seemed to be saying something, but for some reason I was too stunned to hear what it was. She looked at me and I could see she was crying and smiling at the same time. She then motioned behind her and I saw that the wall had completely disappeared from behind her. Now there was a room with dim light and there were so many people in that room looking at us.

I was as confused as I was shocked. My legs had refused to support me. A man stepped into the white room after Care and came closer.

Instinctively, I tried get away but I was weak and he scooped me in his arms bridal style. With no energy left to fight, I was carried into the adjacent room, and then into a larger hall room. In my daze I missed a lot of details but Caroline was walking in front of us and that somehow made me trust the situation a little.

**Author's note:

Did you see it coming? What is Caroline doing there? How did she get there? Share your guesses <3**