Capítulo 38: - The Lower Levels

Kenji embraced the darkness. He'd probably only been here for an hour or so, but the silence and the darkness was almost overbearing.

Everything that surrounded him was made of metal, including the door for which he was thrown in, although he could hear clanking outside the cell.

"Wake up boys!!"

Kenji could hear the sound of a bell being rung, his metallic cell opened up slowly with a blaring buzz, as an officer threw down a hardhat and a small pickaxe.

"Haven't seen your face around here before. Pick it up. Let's go," the officer said to him, walking away.

Kenji slid the hat over his head and picked up the pickaxe.

He came upon a walkway, seeing others with the same getup emerging from their cells.

After walking along the catwalk for a couple of minutes, they came across a massive gate, at least ten stories tall.

Standing on both sides of the gates were 2 Behemoths, blue skinned monsters with horns, wearing the same prison outfit that Kenji had on.

Reaching for the gate and pulling with maximum strength, the Behemoths opened the gates to a cave that stretched for as far as he could see.

The guards ushered them in.

After a few minutes of traversing the rocky landscape, Kenji noticed a fellow who seemed happier than the average prisoner would be in their situation.

He walked up to the human-looking man and introduced himself. "Hey, you seem pretty excited to be in this shithole of a situation."

"Yes, the guards let me talk to my wife since I'm getting out in two days!" The guy said, struggling over his words with excitement and relief. "Soon I'll be able to see my two kids again. Gosh they're gonna be so grown up. Apparently my son's grown up to be as good of a welder as his dad."

Kenji smiled. "Haha, I'm glad for you. Looking at this place from the outside, as well as the asshole who runs the joint, you'd think they would never let us out."

"I can hardly believe it either. I've made it this far from pure luck. I even managed to avoid the-"

"Holy mother of fuuuuck!" Kenji screamed as blood splattered across his face.

The man's dismembered body was dragged into the darkness. It had been some kind of creature that burrowed through the stone.

He looked around, wondering why no one else had similar reactions.

A nearby prisoner laughed. "Yeah that happens sometimes. Always gotta be aware. Don't worry," he said, noting the troubled expression on Kenji's face. "You'll probably be fine. No guarantees though."

Kenji wiped the blood from his face, looking at the maroon red that now covered his hands."No guarantees. Gotcha."

*****

Dante couldn't breathe. Something about the oxygen levels was off. Like he was in the upper atmosphere, where the air was as thin as paper.

His lungs felt weak, his thoughts muddled, his head fuzzy.

There were no lights, no doors. Above him was a pressure like he'd never felt before. Below him, going in the opposite direction, was an equal pressure.

He felt as if he were being crushed by mountains on both sides. Every bone in his body cried out in pain, like they were being ground to dust by a chainsaw.

He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come to his eyes. "Sofia…," he whispered quietly. She was on a better level than he, but he was still horrified for her.

What if she was in pain too? He had gotten her into this. It was his fault that he forgot everything, including her. She only stayed with him because she loved him.

We shouldn't have stayed with Min-jun either. He'd endangered them, made them fugitives. Yet Dante couldn't blame him for the pain he was feeling.

His breath was a wheeze now.

Maybe I can find a way to escape? There has to be something….

He could use his powers. Yet that only seemed to work when another person was around him. Could he still reach Sofia, even though she was likely miles away? He began to reach out with his mind, envisioning her perfect face in his mind. Her beautiful blue eyes, like an ocean, stared into his. He could almost feel her next to him. Her presence.

"Sofia. Can you hear me?" She seemed to be staring off into the distance, emotionless. Suddenly, she began to cry.

"What's wrong? I'm here," he tried to say. But she couldn't respond. She couldn't hear him.

*****

Sofia huddled in a corner, curled up in a ball. Behind her was a bare wall, and in front of her was a hallway that stretched on as far as her eye could see.

She wondered about Dante. What did his level look like? Would she ever see him again? How long would she be down here, even?

This wasn't like Earth. There was no court. There was no sentence. Would she ever be let free?

A shock ran through her body, and Sofia scrambled away from the wall, which was now humming with electricity.

The wall behind her began to move, sliding forward as if it was on an assembly line.

Sofia shuffled forward as the wall pushed her down the hallway. Its pace began to quicken, and soon she found herself running to stay ahead of it.

What the hell is this place?

This wasn't simple isolation away from society like most normal prisons. No, this was much more punishing than that.

The wall came to a sudden halt, and the hum of electricity faded away.

Ten minutes passed, and the wall was moving again. This time, she was gasping for breath by the time the wall finally gave up.

The cycle continued for hours before Sofia finally collapsed from exhaustion.

Her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep. A moment later, she was scrambling forward as an electric shock ran through her body like thousands of needles poking her at the same time.

This wouldn't end. It would never end.

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