Chapter 18 Comfortable Stay

After the feast, the animals gathered out of the cafeteria, walking about exploring the halls. Zarda was accompanied by osborn and dane.

"Why have we not left Nexus? What is it that keeps us waiting behind?" Questioned dane.

Zarda and osborn both looked over at the puzzled wolf.

"You can leave any time dane, no one keeps you here. I on the other hand, waits for delilah. Something of great importance is at Severance, and she has gone to retrieve it for me. We don't go, until they are both back. Why are you, still here?" Zarda asked.

Dane didn't answer. He didn't know how to respond. For some strange reason, he felt compelled to stay behind with his new leader. Dane understood zarda's reasoning and never questioned him again on it.

"Where will we sleep? I'm not going back into the bunker. I'd rather sleep outside." Said dane.

Osborn second the motion.

"I'd rather have mosquitos' sucking on my bum all night, then ever be cramped back inside that prison cell, mate. I'm ready for fresh air." The bear said.

Zarda laughed at osborn's strange humor. He knew where they could go, but he didn't have the access keys.

"Delilah has a room and if she does, then so do others. There's an entire hall with nothing but homes like hers, only they require a key, like everything around here does. I've been in hopkins office, but it was empty. There has to be another room they keep the keys." Zarda said outloud.

Dane switched positions and moved over to zarda's left side.

"I've been there." Replied dane.

"Excuse me, you've been where?" Asked zarda a bit confused.

"When I was taken to the testing labs, the officer who led me had to take a quick detour. We ended up in the patrol officer's shack outdoors. It was full of cameras, TVs, and keys of all kinds. That's where you'll find what you need." Dane stated.

Zarda asked dane to lead him there, and turned to ask osborn to fall back with the others.

"Osborn, you go gather the others and have them wait in the garden, until we return. Go up this hallway, and turn left, then go to the end and take the next right. You'll see glass sliding doors at the end of the hallway. The garden is just beyond them. By the way, the doors won't hurt you, just walk through them quickly." Zarda mentioned.

The three departed ways and went on their own mission. Zarda followed close by danes side. The wolf retraced his footsteps that day in the back of his mind. Down the hall to the left, then another. Up a few doors into an open room, then a right. They went through a few tries of metal doors before they found the correct one.  Dane led him down a new hall, with a few wrong turns behind them. They had made it to the very, front entrance of Nexus.

The interior room was enormous. It had opened up into a dome shape layout. A round front desk was centered in the middle. Comfortable waiting chairs neatly placed in the waiting room, along with plants and tables with reading materials on top. Black tinted windows covered the walls from ceiling to floor. Another set of sliding glass doors led them outside.

The sun was out from what zarda could see. He noticed steam rising off the parking lot. The only thing seperating zarda feom outside was his nemesis the sliding doors. He was determined to go theough them no matter what. Dane and zarda passed through the front doors into the blinding sunlight. They cupped their eyes quickly from the intense rays. Zarda squinted, trying to adjust to outdoors again. He hadn't been out in such a long time. He couldn't imagine how Dane felt, who had been here for months. The wolf moved off down the long driveway a head. The two walked a distance to the end of the parking lot. Zarda remembered the shack, it was the one they first arrived at when hopkins showed her badge to the security guard.

To his left, he could see the parking garage and the woods just beyond. To his right were more parking spots and a fence blocking off the dark forest. For the first time, zarda was able to see the beauty hopkins spoke on that night. The lush dark evergreens towered over the fence like giants standing guard before a beautiful white capped mountain in the background. As zarda stared at his surroundings dane moved to the shack.

He opened the shack door to find it empty, of any humans, but he had been right. The room's wall was filled with tiny televisions. They covered the entire facility except the examining rooms and condos. He could see osborn leading the animals towards the garden in two screens.

"Look at this." Shouted dane.

Zarda's attention was drawn away by the wolf's voice calling to him. He moved towards the shack.

"The entire facility is truly empty. Even the garage. Where did everyone go?" Asked zarda.

Dane shrugged, wishing he had the answer, but he wanted to know the same thing.

The wolf turned to the back of the shack, while zarda continued staring at the camera system.

"Here zarda, look these keys are labeled and numbered. Do any of these words make sense to you." Dane asked.

Zarda turned his focus over towards the back wall. He examined each one carefully. He could read them clearly. Zarda searched, until he found the flat badges that were placed under housing.

"Here they are. There seems to be only twenty keys left out of thirty.  The others must have been the workers and scientists rooms. We'll take what we can get. We each get a house to ourselves or share if we need to. Let's grab them all just in case." Said zarda.

They both began shoving the keys into any pocket they had available. Without hesitating, they ran back indoors of Nexus. Zarda looked up at the white building as he moved closer towards it. He could see the exterior looked different from the night they first arrived. It seemed more weathered in the daylight. Green bushes decorated the outside of the facility borders. The domed entrance was a tinted black purplish hue. 

Inaide they made their way back through the twisting labyrinth of hallways. Just a head were the sliding glass doors. Zarda and dane both could see the animal company enjoying the lovely garden. Zarda's heart raced as he drew closer to the doors. He quickly walked through them, trying not to seem terrified in front of dane. He made it past and walked on the brick pathway towards the KOI pond.

Zarda called for everyone to join him. One by one they followed. Zarda handed out a key badge to each and every animal. For those who wanted to share he gave only one key for the roommates. Tonight, for the first time in a long time, they were going to be able to sleep safe and sound in cozy warm beds. Many of them had never in their liftime experienced such a treaaure. Zarda noticed osborn walking up towards him with his head hung low. He had been crying, and his eyes were slight red.

"What's wrong big guy?" Asked zarda concerned.

Osborn sucked up a sniffle.

"I said my goodbyes to maleena. She was a beautiful soul, and now she rests in a beautiful spot. I just wished she wasn't left here in Nexus." He replied.

The lion agreed. He, too, wished she was standing beside him instead of under him.

"Let's not dwell on her death. She's far better off than we are. Let us go get some rest and figure out what to do with tomorrow's time." Zarda replied.

The gang of animals spent a few more minutes enjoying the beautiful garden, before they left towards the housing hallway. This time zarda took his time strolling down the hall that delilah had drugged him through. He stopped to peek into the rooms on the way.

One room was a large living room quarters with a big screen TV. Several couches and chairs sat to the left side in front of it. The walls were a soft blue pastel color with white trim. Dull gray tiles covered the floor. To the right side were six wooden tables spaced a foot apart. The back wall had shelves filled with boxes of puzzles, movies, and board games for entertainment.

Zarda got a good look and walked on. He visited the next room nearby. This room had strange metal equipment inside. Zarda had no clue to what this room was used for. On one wall from top to bottom were shiny mirrors fitted upon them and on the ground below them was a rubbery gray matted floor, covering the entire area. The other walls were bright orange and gray. On the left side different machines were spaced side by side of each other. One had stairs, another looked like a bike with one wheel, and a few had metal bars sitting above a long cushioned bench.

Shaking his head he walked away and down to the condos. He passed by delilah's room and paused for a beat. The animals walked past him matching the numbers on their badges to the numbers on the doors. One by one they disappeared inside for the night. Osborn walked up behind zarda.

"Is this our room, mate?" He asked.

Zarda snapped out of the trance and shook his head no.

"It's delilah's place." he replied, placing his large white hand on the door.

"She'll be back mate, trust me. You'll have your love back in due time." Said osborn, encouraging his friend.

He appreciated the bear's kind words. Zarda pressed on towards their room. They had chosen key number nineteen to stay in. Dane took the room next to them, number eighteen. A short distance away Zarda found their room, pressing the badge up against the black pad like delilah had shown him. The lock clicked, and the door popped open.

Zarda pushed it open wider to reveal a much different style of living room. It was a Bohemian eclectic theme. It seemed a bit feminine for his taste, but a bed was a bed in his mind. This would have to do. Osborn, on the other hand, seemed to like it. He couldn't stop saying

"oh brother, this is nice this is." over and over again.

The living room and kitchen were an open concept. Zarda noticed the flooring for both were light gray stones, instead of wood. The walls were a rustic brown texture with teal hued wall, for spot color on the back. Up against it was a brown leather couch decorated with Bohemian throw pillows. One was a soft teal and brown chevron pattern. Another was a brown suede throw pillow and the others were soft cream-colored. A throw blanket similar to the cream pillows laid across the arm of the couch.

At the bottom of the cover was sewn an Indian tribal stitching pattern. It, too matched the teals and browns. In the corner was a white pot with a green cactus plant standing tall. Above the couch hung more wall plants with ferns over flowing the lip of the vase. To the left of the couch was a nice tall bronze floor lamp. In front of the couch laid a woven textured rug.

The colorful patterns on it were bold, staying close with the color scheme of the living room. The kitchen was white with wooden trim. The countertops were black Terrazzo. Zarda could see more teals and rustic plant vases flowed over into the kitchens' decor.

The space was nice and calming. He didnt care too much for tmwhat the designed looked like he just really wanted rest. So, Zarda went to the left past the kitchen, and osborn went to the right side past the living room. They each had walked into separate bedrooms with bathrooms that led into the back corners.

Zarrda's room was a bright white with more greenery and a bright Bohemian bed comforter of fuchsias, teals, yellows and purples. Osborn's room was a dark forest green with light wooden floors. The decor had a dark woodsy feel to it. It was pleasing to the bear. The only thing he cared for at that moment, was the nice bed fashioned with a dark black comforter and suede pillows that matched the walls. Finding themselves drawn to the beds.

They both didn't come back out for the rest of the night. They had found comfort in the rooms. Zarda snuggled up inside the warm bed and faded fast to sleep. His mind took him to the float. Where he was met by maleena, natia, slash, and other familiar happy faces. He spent the night enjoying their company.