Page 150 - Musings 2020

dimmer. It was a man with short black hair and a small build, with a pen in his coat pocket
and a syringe in his right hand. He was holding it with caution, and looking at her carefully,
with a stoic smile.
“Who are you?” I shouted.
“I’m a doctor, there’s no need to panic. I have something that will help.”

He started to move towards me with the syringe raised. Something in his expression made me
believe something was off. I moved quickly with surprising speed and pulled away the IV
stuck in my arm. He seemed to be surprised and shouted for me to stop. But I pushed past
him and ran out the door.

My arm was bleeding because of the IV, and I cut off a piece of my tunic and tried to tie it
tight around my elbow. It was a shabby job but the bleeding slowed down. The room was at
the end of a long corridor, and the lights outside seemed to dim the farther I ran. I only saw
darkness ahead but did not stop until I reached the end. There was a window at this end, but it
was covered with blinds. As I reached for them, I heard someone else coming from my left. It
was a woman this time, again in a white coat. She was taller than the man and it did not look
like she had anything threatening with her.

She spoke with a soft voice, “How do you feel? Is your head better?”
Something told me she was more dangerous than the man. I kept looking at her as I took a
few steps backward.
“Do you remember anything?”

There was another door there, and it was open. I felt a chill when I saw her smile. I was even
more unnerved by the fact that she did not shout for help or try to stop me. I closed the door
behind me and there was complete darkness. I reached out and my hands found rough
concrete at waist level. I took a step closer and nearly fell, but realized it was a step. I was at
the midpoint of a staircase and didn’t know where it led. I reasoned that the exit should be on
the bottom floor, and started my way downwards. Some fifteen steps in the dark later I started
hearing sounds. They were short and sharp as if coming from a machine. They were like
slightly longer beeps, but beeps that made something in my head burst. As my head started to
ache, I almost tripped as I made my way down and reached the end of the staircase.

The landing was almost as lit as the corridor had been at the end. And I could see the faint
outline of a door. I started to walk towards it but realized that the sound seemed to be coming
from behind me. I turned and saw a glass window to the right and behind the staircase. I felt
panic build up but I still walked towards the window, looking for answers.

About a foot away from it, I could clearly see inside. It was made of glass, and on the other
side was a long room similar to the one she had woken up in, except that it was bigger and
had more people. I saw people in white coats and people in hospital gowns, but this place was
no hospital. Most of the people were either unconscious or seemed to be following everything
the white coats said. I saw a man who was tall and broad-shouldered, but sitting on the floor
and crying as a white coat injected something in his arm. Horrified, I almost fell back as I ran
to the opposite door. My legs had started to ache and my arm was burning. I pushed the door
open and fell forward. My face had hit the rough ground. I felt the dirt dig into my skin as I
tried to get up. My arm was bleeding less, but there were new cuts on my hands and face. I

150