Through the Door

I slowly got up from the table, grabbed my clothes, and walked into the half-bath. I then began to scrub the clothes clean in our makeshift sink we had which consisted of a metal tub and water. It also served as a bath.

As soon as the clothes were cleaned, I hung them up in the main room and climbed into the metal bin full of water. I then proceeded to clean myself of their sweat and juices. Once I felt clean enough, I climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel, drying myself off.

The rest of the day consisted of waiting for my clothes to dry, making dinner, and cleaning off the table. It was boring, but once everything was done, I climbed into bed and managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, when I awoke, I decided that it would be best to leave the shelter just in case the bandits came back.

I made breakfast for myself and packed whatever I could into my bag. Anything else that I needed I put into spare bags.

I’m going to have to make multiple trips, I thought. Not only that, but I’m going to have to find another shelter to stay at.

I left the shelter in a hurry. I wanted to find a new home before nightfall, but that would be almost impossible without a bicycle or some mode of transportation, which I did not have, so I was left with no choice but to walk.

As I walked, I came across a small bike. It looked as if it were in fine condition to me, so I picked it up and continued my journey. I wasn’t sure where I was going or where I was, but I knew that I had to find a new home by nightfall.

I had been riding the bike for what seemed to be hours. I had come across a few shelters, but the oxygen bubbles were inactive and there was no way to turn them back on, forcing me to continue moving.

At one point, I rode past a cornfield. I didn’t think anything if it, until I got to a point where the cornfield became black and burnt.

I slammed on the brakes and looked into the blackened corn. I didn’t see anything except for a pathway that seemed to lead into the blackness. Carefully, I climbed off the bike and walked into the maze, unaware of what was at the heart of the field.

My mind went back to the many notebooks that I had collected. They all said something about a lone wooden door amidst a burnt field of corn. From what I knew, there was no way of really knowing whether there was a door there or not.

As soon as I stepped foot into the maze, the atmosphere seemed different. It felt as if whatever radiation that surrounded me had been cut off, leaving me with clean, breathable air.

I hesitantly removed my helmet and took in a gulp of air. I waited for a few seconds, expecting an immediate stab of pain in my lungs, but felt nothing, so I took a much larger gulp of air. I got the same result, which wasn’t surprising since nothing happened the first time.

As I stood there, a single thought came to my mind.

Fresh air. Two simple words that had no meaning to me whatsoever, but they felt right to say.

I continued walking through the corn. It seemed like a maze, because there were multiple turns that I could have taken.

“Maybe it was a maze,” I whispered. I knew nobody was around to hear me, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered to me was that I find the wooden door at the end of the maze.

I continued to walk. I had no water or food on me at the moment. I had been walking for hours, I was sure of it.

I had begun to lose hope that there was a door until I came across a large, open space in the corn. In the center, there sat the lone door. Out of curiosity, I walked over to it and thrust the door open, expecting to see the other side of the cornfield. However, to my amazement, what I saw was darkness.

“Holy hell,” I gasped. I had never seen such a thing in my life. The door seemed to lead to absolutely nowhere.

I put my hand inside and found that I could still see it, despite the darkness. I then stuck my arm inside and could still manage to see it.

Then, not knowing what I was supposed to do, I stepped into the emptiness.

A wave of cool air rushed over me as I fell through the darkness. I knew I was falling because there was no way that the wind could slap my face with such force.

Just as suddenly as I felt the sensation of falling, everything went white.