The Backrooms: A Fading Memory

Chapter Eight

"Washington.  Small town in the middle of nowhere.  We'll, until I got into Hayward Field on a scholarship. Then I lived in Oregon,"

"Scholarship?"

"Yep!  Track and Field.  Best in the state.  Said I could've gone professional,"  A sadness passed over her face before it dissipated in to a grin, "But enough about me!" She jabbed her thumb in the Hispanic man's direction "This hear is Rio!  He don't say much but he makes a mean quasedea,"

"When we have the ingrediants," The boy my age said.

"And that's Jordan with the camera!"

The boy smiled at me "It's dead right now, but if we can find a battery than I'm hoping to document this place,"

"That's PJ!" She points to the man who was the one to show me his magaled arm.  "And the scary man next to him is his backrooms husband, Arash!"  They both shot her an annoyed look.
She points behind her "Our Group Grandpa here is Mr. Connor.  Let's just day if you got lost in a maze, you'd want him with you," Mr. Conner smiled, nodding, pleased with his statement.
"And last but certainly not least is Matt.  He's kinda a prick, but he keeps us alive!"

Matt muttered something I couldn't quite here.  Kat giggled and turned back around.  Not wanting to walk the rest of the way in uncomfortable silence, I asked a question that had been nagging at me since this morning.

"So what's gonna happen when we get there?"

"Well," Mr. Connor was staring down at what looked to be a map, "We've got some people to pick up!  They are currently residing at Base Alpha!"

"Okay, but what exactly is Base Alpha?"

"A resting, safe place for wanderers.  There is food, shelter, and an entire community for wanderers,"

"A community?"

"Yes!  There are dozens all throughout the backrooms!  They are usually located on the safer levels.  Level one is one of the safer levels.  Of course there are a few hounds here or there, but other than that, not much of note!"

"Hounds?"

Matt threw a look my way: "Trust me, you don't want to know,"  He turned back around, "and if you're here long enough, you'll see one for yourself,"

"Joy,"  I muttered. 

"Well, at least they aren't skinstealers!" PJ added, doing little to calm my nerves.

"What about these communities?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Well, you see, we got tired of wandering these infinite hellscapes to potentially return to a reality much worse back at home.  Humanity then decided to settle in the nooks and crannies of the backrooms, attempting to create societies that echo the ones we left behind.  For better and for worse.  The bad news is, humanity is, well, still humanity, which proved to us that these traits can sometimes be worse than the worst of the entities,"

Just as he finished I noticed, well, a rather crude drawing on the walls.  A poor rendition of both the male and female anatomy, with the words beneath it reading: This Place Blows!!!!!

PJ noticed me "admiring" this work of art and said: "Som-Some of the younger crowd ge-get a bi-bit bored,"

I couldn't blame them.

"Wait," I felt my brain begin to track backwards, pulling up something from the depths of my memory, "7 minute Kat?"

Kat turned around, confused, but grinning, "Yeah...they did call me that, didn't they?"

"You were fastest girl in Washington!  I ran track two years.  I vividly remember my coach gushing about you,"

"Ha!" She laughed, "Yeah, those were the good days.  Man I miss the field,"

"We'll be there soon,"  Matt cut in, "So be ready,"

"Ready for what?"

"A shit ton of weird looks and weirder questions,"

How long had we been walking? 

Matt must have read my mind.  "Like we said.  Time is weird here,"

True to his word, a few comments by Mr. Coonor and some vulgar drawings later, the daint sound of voices began to draw near.  My ears strained to make out anything of note when I heard...music?  In my confusion I bumped into Rio, who I hadn't noticed has stopped walking.

"Sorry!"

He didn't turn around to face me, just nodded in acknowledgement.

What had stopped the group was Matt, who was peaking to someone who looked to be a gaurd.  Her lips were pulled in a grim line as she put her hand on her holster.

"The bluebird beckons you.  Your time draws near,"  Matt tells her as if it's the most normal thing in the world.  Whatever it means, it seems to soothe the woman's nerves.

"Good to see you alive and well, Matt," She smiles before turning her attention to me, a shadow of that stern look remaining, "I see you brought a new one,"

"Yep.  This one threw an orange at a skinstealer.  Tell that to M.E.G.,"  She was about to ask a question, but Matt simply walked past her, paying no mind.  We followed after him, but not before I looked back to the woman, who stood watching me with a weary face.

The echos of our footsteps faded away as the sound of music and talking drew near.  We soon came to a door where the sound emanated from.  Matt put his hand on the doornob, slowly opening it.

"Well, Oranges, here we are.  Welcome to Base Alpha.

A/N

Yall, I'm slowly losing it, so sorry for the late update.  I truly hope all of you are doing well.  And yes, I am open to constructive criticism and suggestions!