Chapter Text
And suddenly they were laying down, staring up into the great expanse of grey and smog. Their eyes felt sore, or tense or tired, like every blink threatened to never open again. They tried to roll over but their skin tingled with something like static, almost as if they'd laid on their limbs too long, except, that didn't make sense. Their face was static too, and unless they suddenly grew a limb on their face, it wasn't possible.
Moving through the protest of their limbs to feel at their face, no extra limbs, good.
Just their nose, which was apparently bleeding.
'°-°?!'
The other voice in your head, although it wasn't a voice in and of itself, buzzed with the same static. Whether or not you had a voice in your head earlier you couldn't remember, but it felt entirely right to have it there.
'Nothing!? I did absolutely nothing, I swear.'
You felt yourself respond, although you didn't think to much about what this voice was, it hummed with the sense that it believed you, and it hummed in concern at what had hurt you.
The thought of questioning the voice was a dull memory in the back of your mind, and you were tired of thinking.
And the idea of questioning why you felt as though your brain has been shaken and scrambled and moved around wasn't as prominent as you thought it should be.
But alas, think, you must. In an attempt to roll over you flopped around like a dying fish for a little bit before pushing through the buzzing. It was almost itchy but not, because if it was, it would drive you crazy.
They sat on their knees and looked around the expanse of dirt and dust and grey and brown around them as their eyes continued to blink away the soreness.
"... Am I in the fucking desert?? Why is it so dry... Dryer than me after seeing my ex." They drawled to the air, or perhaps the voice in their head.
They stumbled up and steadied themself against the fuzz in their vision and almost falling over.
'(ᓀ ᓀ)'
"Well it's not like laying out in the sun for goodness knows how long is going to make me feel okay??" They huffed and started digging their hands in the pocket of their Jacket.
And pulling out the phone, you felt a little spark of something like hope, maybe you could call someone to rescue you from the desert.
Although, a tiny part of you, deep inside your head, in the back of your mind; told you that, whatever you tried to do would be futile.
It was right, of course, why wouldn't it be? There was no signal on the phone and the battery was less than half.
The spark still hadn't died yet, at the knowledge you were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
You had your phone, and that was okay.
A sigh left their mouth as they looked around at.. well nothing really. The place was empty.
No seriously, it was empty. Nothing for as far as the eyes could see.
Tucking the phone back into their pocket and turning to walk in a random direction, maybe something would show up...
Yeah, the hopes died now. Great.
--
And their lungs were burning. Like fire moved through the air and embers taking root in their throat.
That may be a little dramatic but it definitely hurt.
Based on the fact you weren't coughing up blood and were in fact, alive, you didn't think you were in too much danger.
There was a grating sound against your skull as you walked, it hadn't been there long but it was getting closer.
Maybe you were finally hallucinating from a lack of water.
They turned their head as the sound softened and slowed down to a stop next to them.
It was a van. A rusted green van that had rolled to a stop next to them and they stopped walking too.
The man behind the wheel rolled down his window and poked his head out, an expression of worry on his face.
"μ§h +μ§b§ 4I++4§ Øn§, Wμ∆+ ∆b§ hØU DØInπ μ§b§? ∆b§ hØU 4ØΩ+? hØU 4ØØt 4It§ hØU n§§D ∆ M∆Ωt, Wμh DØn+ hØU ΠØM§ WI+μ UΩ."
...
Well that was strange.
Their expression changed into one of confusion, the man seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe a response...?
You looked around the dry landscape and back at the man, his smile hadn't faltered and... You still didn't understand what he said, you really must be losing your mind...
The safest thing to respond with when confronted with a question you don't know how to respond to. Is no.
They shook their head, shoving their hands into their pocket and gripping their phone.
The man stared for a second. And then two and then his smile dropped. "Wμ∆+ DØ hØU M§∆n, NØ? 4IΩ+§n μ§b§ 4I++4§ Øn§, hØU π§+ In +μIΩ >∆n Øb I'44 Db∆π hØU In MhΩ§4J!"
... Suspicious... He was getting angry, maybe No wasn't the right answer?? They looked around again, uncomfortable with the current situation.
The mans face changed and he banged on the back of the van, the sound echoing and ringing through their ears.
The side door slid open and three more people climbed out and reached for them.
They turned to bolt and their hood was snatched and they were dragged backwards, fingers gripped their arm and hands pulled them into the van.
A muzzle was strapped over their mouth and binds were tied around their wrist.
The people- no, kidnappers would be a more appropriate word, shoved them to a corner.
The kidnappers, muttered amongst themselves, eyeing them with suspicion.
"DØ +μ§h μ∆>§ ∆ ΠμØt§b? I DØn+ Ω§§ Øn§ Øn +μ§Ib n§Πt Øb WbIΩ+."
"M∆hç§ +μ§h 4ØΩ+ I+."
"+μ§h 4ØØt +§bbIJI§D! μ∆! 4ØØt ∆+ +μ§Ib §h§Ω!"
Eventually, after several more musings, they turned away and knocked on the divider to signal the van to move.
One of them, looked back to glare at them harshly.
"+bh ∆nh+μInπ JUnnh ∆nD W§44 tI44 hØU, e4∆In ∆nD ΩIMe4§."
It sounded like a threat and after what happened the last time they tried to respond...
They stared at the binding on their wrists, wondering, what the actual hell was happening.