Welcome Inmate

Darkness. to Earth's understanding, he died. He didn't remember his final moments, but his memories of life still stuck with him. The only reason he was sure of his death was due to the situation. He was suffocated in a darkness without end; neither his arms or legs would budge. "This is death?" With each breath, the temperature increased. Muffled voices broke the silence. It wasn't possible to understand what they were saying.

"Then this should work!" A massive quake shook Earth, everything felt distorted. Light played with Earth's eye's, his world beyond the darkness was blurry and not visible in his current state. "Hello? Can you hear me?" The pressure from someone's foot pressed against Earth's chest. Breathing slowly became harder. Earth was too shocked to answer any question.

"Tiger, you shouldn't be so mean to him." A female spoke quietly almost as if she was a naturally shy and timid person. The tension of the foot released on Earth's chest. Realizing that he didn't have any breath, Earth gasped for air.

"Sorry, he's just-" She stopped talking. Earth's view of outside his box became visible. They were in a building of some sort. He looked around, four people surrounded him. Three girls, and one guy.

"Who are you?" Earth's comment wasn't directed at one person. They all exchanged looks first, then a girl with pink hair stood forward to explain herself first.

"The name is Zinu. This is hard to explain, but welcome to Alcatraz." She held out her hand for Earth to take. Taking the chance, Earth noticed his wobbly legs. It felt as if he was once a newborn who had to learn how to walk.

"That will go away soon. Anyways the names Hidden. It's nice to have another guy around." He had a sincere smile. He generated an aura of friendliness. A cat mask covered the top of his face, concealing his eyes and forehead.

"Don't talk to him too much. His influence will rub off on you. It's Tiger." A short girl with curly dark brown hair stood with her arms cross. 'I best not mess around with her' Earth thought. She then continued on to her friend who seemed too shy to talk. "Her name is Issa. Make her cry, I'll hurt you." Issa stood around Earth's height. She wore an all black attire with silky black hair flowing with a gorgeous presence.

"Where are we?" Earth managed by himself on his own two feet. He limped over to the windows, they were inside a run down city.

"Before we answer that, it would be in the best interest to get somewhere safer first." Zinu opened the door and stared everyone down. "What are we waiting for? You all know the rules except him." Earth saw everyone give a tiny twitch to the word 'rule'.

"Follow close, newbie. If you fall too far behind, we can't help you." Tiger slapped Earth's back walking past him. Issa remained at Tiger's side walking along with her.

"Hey don't get too worked up with them. I'll make sure we get there in one piece." Hidden held out his hand in a fist. Earth gave him a fist bump, creaking a small smile. Earth couldn't naturally smile under the pressure of the new world he had been placed in. He just tried to go with the flow, hoping it would all work out in the end.

As Hidden and Earth walked down the steps to reach outside, Hidden gave clear instructions. "There's three rules in the city. Number one, don't make unnecessary sounds. Number two, stay in the alleys. Number three, if you hear a sound, Run." Hidden opened the door, the others already ran ahead of them.

"Run?" Earth asked quietly.

"I can't explain. It's something you have to experience yourself." Hidden slowly walked, leading Earth through the alley access. The silence created a tension that gave the city a daunting vibe.

'Craaaaaaack'. The sound of glass breaking under Earth's shoe, destroying the bitter silence they were trying to withhold. Hidden stopped moving and looked at Earth to do the same. Moments later the sound of heavy machinery brought anxiety onto Hidden's the half of Hidden's face that was visible.

"Run..." Hidden whispered. Having no clue on what he was running from, he determined that if it was frightening enough for someone to be visibly anxious because of it, it couldn't be good. Hidden sprinted his way through the alley; giving up on some speed so Earth could stay behind him. The machinery only got louder, it grew apparent that it was getting closer.

Hidden stopped, turning around towards Earth. Covering Earth's mouth, Hidden grabbed him and jumped into a broken window of a building near them. He moved his pointer finger over his mouth, a signal to be quiet. The machinery reached its loudest point.

Earth sat there, against the wall feeling the terrifying vibration that the mechanical creature shot into the ground. With pure curiosity, Earth peered over the window ledge to see what the creature looked like. With a lion body made of pure steel, a snake emerged from it's tail dripping some sort of acidic chemical that burned the ground below it. The head of the creature was a griffin's head that had pure red eyes.

Earth dropped back down below the window ledge, trying to control his breathing. 'What is this?' His thoughts became intertwined with each other forming a knot in his mind. It felt like a headache, but with no pain. It was just a moment where he couldn't comprehend anything. It was like a thick fog had decided to form. Hidden looked at Earth with his wide open eyes visible in the slits of the mask.

With no idea how long they were sitting there, the mechanical creature starting moving away. The vibrations in the ground slowly faded away and the sound dwindled in power. Hidden peaked his head over the window ledge and signaled for Earth to follow him. This time Earth didn't need anyone telling him to stay close. He basically hugged Hidden's back on their journey to outside the city. The cities, outline was very unmistakably clear. A large street was the only obstacle before reaching a small forest of trees in the distance. Hidden paused for a moment with Earth.

"Alright. This can't be any simpler. I'm going to need you to sprint with me. Once we're past that tree lining we're safe." With all the questions Earth had, he found it best not to say a word. There was no telling when another mechanical beast would appear. Earth nodded, and got ready to run out of the alley. "Go." Hidden got off on a beautiful start. His running showed his sheer Agility.

Earth was close behind, scared of the dark alley they just escaped from. The alley gave off a darkened vibe of a labyrinth. Happy to escape the eerie vibe of the city, Earth tripped his way into the forest.

"How much farther do we have to run?" Earth was exhausted, his body was out of shape and unready for the amount of exercise he had just experienced.

"It's not much farther. It's just beyond this forest. There's nothing to worry about here. Take a break." Hidden found himself a tree to rest his back on as Earth regained his stamina. The sun started its approach on the horizon, giving the sky a beautiful purple view.

"You ready to go? We shouldn't worry them by showing up past dark." Hidden started walking again, and Earth got himself up and followed. Emerging from the forest, a wall out of wooden logs came into sight. "You made it! How does it feel to know you're safe and sound. Welcome to the Oasis!" Hidden gave a cute little dance after the wall appeared.

"Thank you." Earth mumbled underneath his breath.

"What'd you say?" Hidden responded rather quickly.

"Thank you!" Earth gave a bow to Hidden for helping him escape the city. Earth didn't know if he could have made it out of there alive.

"No need to be so formal. Just do your part in our society." Hidden approached the gate to the wall and gave it a knock.

"Society?" Earth asked.

"You'll see." Hidden backed away as the gate dropped. Zinu and Tiger stood there with worried expressions on their faces.

"Why the hell did you take so long. You Idiot!" Tiger acted with precision, she clearly knew some sort of martial arts as she threw Hidden over her shoulder.

"So did you see one?" Zinu looked at Earth. Earth had bags under his eyes, indicating some sort of stress.

"You mean... That creature?" Earth paused in the middle of talking, he started to notice his voice was getting raspier. Talking was getting more difficult.

"So you saw one. I'm sorry. Allow me to escort you to a bed. You'll need your sleep for tomorrow. Welcome to the Oasis." Zinu grabbed Earth's arm with a loose grip and brought him to a small hut. "Find yourself at home, I have the night shift tonight. And about that beast, they'll explain that all tomorrow." Zinu left Earth alone in the dark hut, without light it reminded him of the box he was in earlier. Warm and dark, it was peaceful until Tiger kicked him back into existence.

Earth didn't feel comfortable using another's bed; he found himself a nice place on the wooden floor and closed his eyes. Succumbing to the exhaustion that was drowning him.