It was dark. Dark,cold and wet.

The weather was harsh and one could hear the snow fall like waves. But in here, there was no snow. Only cold and darkness. It was a military style bunker currently serving as a container for prisoners. There were many bunkers deep within the waist level snow,making the whole area look like a graveyard with many coffin,except bunkers passed for coffins and living people replaced the deceased. It however maintained the silence of a graveyard except when any or the prisoners is being paid a visit by the wardens.

This particular bunker was occupied by one lone prisoner. The prisoner was of average height and his body was lean and bony, showing signs of prolonged malnutrition. His ribs could be counted by just visual examination and his eyes were almost fully sunken in their sockets. His feet were dirty and his body was filled with filth and bruises from being rolled on the ground and tortured.

Pixabay

He had both hands in shackles above his head.

His knees were bent and his feet dragged on the floor. The only clothing he had on was a shaby,worn grey trouser. The way he shook occasionally suggested he was having a nightmare. A terrible one. In the dream, there had been an earthquake. He used to have friends but after the earthquake, he lost his friends. All his friends. His memory was foggy and he couldn't quite remember a lot. His friends,they had been a merry band and had been having fun only for the earthquake to shake the earth so violently. He was transported elsewhere but his friends had probably died when the house collapsed. He was alone, hungry, scared, cold and uncomfortable.

The malnourished man woke up startled as he felt himself falll to the cold hard ground. His jaw hurt and he realized his hands had been unshakled when he tried rubbing his face. He looked up to see who his liberator was. There were two men whom he couldn't recognize. Their faces were blurry but he took that as his vision being deteriorated after being in the dark for too long.

One of the two rescuers place a finger to his lips telling him to keep quiet then an hand gesture was made, hinting him to come along. The prisoner got up hurriedly and followed his two rescuers,trying to catch up to the two men who walked like their legs weren't touching the ground. Or wait, there was no ground!. He realised after looking down at his feet. There was nothing but empty space. They were in the sky of a dark,cloudless night and were about to fall.

The two rescuers were long gone when the prisoner looked up to ask them why and how they were walking in the sky. He fell on himself, closing his eyes and brazing himself for the upcoming collusion with the ground. Of course, he was no fool. He knew a fall from this height would kill any man. His shock was justified when he opened his eyes and realized he had landed but he wasn't dead. 'How was that possible' He thought. He couldn't dare talk for fear that his captors would hear him. He couldn't return to that prison. He had been through long regimen of torture that he had lost track of time a very long time ago. How he know it had been long,he couldn't tell.

The prisoner realised he had landed on sand. Yes it was sand but it wasn't grainy to the hand. It was hard and flat. How could something flat and hard cushion a fall from high up in the sky without any visible injury. Was that how things were? He couldn't comprehend why he would doubt this. It just happened with him, so it was obviously possible. Probably normal. A look around would tell him he wasn't on just any kind of sand.

Pixabay

He was in the desert. At the pyramids.

How he got to the desert was a mystery to him. One moment he had been in a cold dark room, the next he was walking in the sky and now he was lying on the desert floor. It was hot alright and the sun rays were hot and bright. Quite blinding. 'Of course!' His mind figured it out. He had been kept prisoner in a prison located in the skies above the pyramids. He had been rescued and he fell off from the sky and the enormous pads of sand acted as shock absorbers, cushioning his fall. That was logical. He had found out how he was rescued. But why had he been kept prisoner? That had baffled him ever since he could remember. The sounds that made upown name couldn't even be produced by his vocal cords. He had lost all coordination. He still had his motor skills and a few sense of cognition. He was however unprepared for the next challenge.

The desert floor parted and was replaced by the surface of a river which he fell into. The water covered his so fast that he was at the bottom of the river in mere... His mind couldn't comprehend time. He couldn't figure out the unit of time. He was going to drown. He couldn't inspire water so he held his breathe and covered his mouth. The more he tried the swim upward,the more he kept falling downward. The water was strange, it wasn't heavy against his hands nor was he wet but he was cold. He couldn't risk breathing because for some reason unknown to him, the thought of death scared him alot. The river bed was flat and hard and the inside of the river was dark, very dark. He couldn't see anything and his eyes had been close. Suddenly it became brighter and he moved hsi palm in front up to shield his eyes. It was too bright and the light seemed to ignore the fact that his hand was offering shade. The light seemingly fazed through his hands and into his eyes.

It was all too much. The pain, the fear and the fact that he hadn't been breathing for a while. It all led him to collapse and pass out. Immediately he was out, the lights went out and all the light sources that produced the holograms that bewildered the now passed out prisoner went off and bright fluorescent lights came on. The door to the bunker opened and a man old enough to be a grand father, what with his long grey hair and beard. The bearded man had on a fur coat, khaki pants and huge black boots. He was followed in by two less important looking men.

'How long till he's ready to comply.' The old man asked.

'He has one tough will, my liege but in time, he won't be able to question anything anymore. He will comply.' One of the two followers said.

---

Excerps from one of my many unfinished books.