18 Sanctuary

Rachel, Faith, and Eddie had gone ahead of Kristen and Zack as they decided to see if there was anything else, or at least a clue to where they could find the elevator to get to the next floor. Though the hallway they walked down seemed endless, and neither of them seemed to have found any clue as to where they could find the exit.

Eddie couldn't help but groan out of annoyance, "Compared to my floor it wasn't so problematic! Why can't we find the exit!?"

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Faith said, "We just gotta keep looking."

"But this is basically a maze!" Eddie groaned.

Rachel soon looked behind them as she noticed certain two missing.

"Zack and Kristen aren't here." Rachel said to them.

Faith and Eddie looked behind them and only looked confused.

"You're right." Eddie said, "I wonder where they are…"

"They're probably going at their own pace." Faith said, "They were badly injured, you know. Especially with the way Zack is."

"I knew he was stubborn, but I didn't think he would be THAT reckless." Eddie said, "Even I wouldn't go that far!"

"Still though it's a bit worrisome…" Rachel said to herself softly.

Faith soon had a thought come over her, "That reminds me--" She started to say as she turned to the blue eyed girl, "--Back there, you really surprised me when you pulled that gun on Cathy. I didn't realize you had one in your bag! Where did you get it?"

Rachel gave only a pat on her messenger bag before she gave her response, "... I picked it up."

"Picked it up?" She said while tilting her head a little, "From where?"

At this, the look on the child's face changed slightly. Though before she could respond, Eddie had gotten their attention.

"Hey!" He said, "There's something written on the wall here!"

The two girls approached as they saw what had been written, and it had been written in a familiar set of handwriting. "It's the same as the writing we found on 5B." Faith pointed out.

Rachel gave a nod before she read the writing aloud, "To open the door, give your name to God. If there are no lies in your life, give Him your true name. But God does not need a sinner."

"Give Him your true name?" Faith said, fixing her glasses a bit, "What do you think it means?"

"Maybe it's a hint." Eddie suggested.

"Does that say something interesting?"

The three of them jumped when a voice came from behind them. Though the three of them calmed down when they saw it had just been Zack leaning against Kristen. "You guys!" Faith said, relieved.

"It's about time you caught up with us!" Eddie said.

"Give us some slack, we're injured you know?" Zack said in a bit of a smug tone.

"Are you two feeling alright?" Rachel asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

"We're just fine." Kristen reassured her, "Sorry, these wounds are bit more serious then I thought."

"Well…" Eddie said, giving her a pat on the arm, "... Try not to push yourselves, okay?"

"If we find any medicine, we'll let you guys know." Faith told them.

"Thanks." Kristen said with a smile.

Rachel gave a sort of odd look when she noticed something hiding beneath her shirt. "A bruise?" She thought to herself as she tilted her head.

"Come on then." Kristen told the kids, "We need to keep moving."

"Okay…" Rachel said as she nodded before she took the lead.

The others soon followed behind her as they walked along the pathway that was provided for them, until they reached a door at the end of the hall. When they opened it, however--

"This looks familiar." Zack said as he looked over the eerily familiar surroundings.

"Wait a minute!" Faith said before she adjusted her glasses, "Isn't this the same place we passed through when we got here!?"

"It's exactly that." Rachel answered nonchalantly.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Eddie yelled, "THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE HERE, WE JUST WENT IN ONE BIG CIRCLE!?"

"Seems that way." Kristen said, adjusting her hold on Zack's scythe.

Zack clicked his tongue, "So the crazy bitch was getting all fanatical this close to us? I wanna kill her!"

The group couldn't help but give him an awkward look as Zack could feel their eyes on him. It only took him a second to realize why. "Oh right, we did that already." He said.

Kristen couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Hey now, don't you start." Zack said, nudging her a little.

"Sorry, it's just silly how you do that sometimes, you know?" She said as she was doing her best to hold it in.

"You're lucky I'm injured right now, otherwise I would've taken back what I've said before. I would just have to punish you instead."

Kristen's face turned red as she noticed the look on his face, "Punish!? What the hell does that mean!?"

"Oh, don't worry, you'll figure that out…" Zack said slyly, "... Eventually."

"Cease and desist! They're kids here!"

The kids noticed how Zack and Kristen were interacting right now, as they seemed to be more friendly then before on earlier floors. They couldn't help but find it odd.

"Is it weird to say that I preferred it when they wanted to kill each other?" Faith said.

"Anyway…" Eddie said, turning from them, "... We should try to look for the elevator that'll get us to the next floor. It's in one of these rooms, right?"

They soon jumped at a sound that came from nearby. They looked at one another before they approached the door that had been lit up with green. Rachel got the door open, and they all saw it had been the very same place where they had taken the photos in order to press on through.

However, only one thing had been different.

They saw that the wall had been open, and there was the elevator that they needed. On the side of the door there looked to be an indention on the side.

"The elevator was here the whole time?" Kristen said surprised, "Talk about hiding in plain sight."

"Okay, we found it, so how do we get it open?" Zack asked.

Faith examined the elevator, before looking around in the room, "I don't see a switch here we can use. Maybe there's a special way we gotta open it this time?"

"Probably…" Kristen said, groaning slightly, "... Damn it, it's hard to think with all this dizziness."

"Easy there." Zack told her as he did his best to support her, "Let's leave the thinking to the brats this time, okay?"

Kristen nodded her head slightly as she leaned against Zack slightly, which she found to be quite comforting.

"Hmm…" Faith said as she looked around the room, "... There's gotta be something that can help us get it open."

"Yeah, but what?" Eddie wondered.

Rachel soon looked to the indention, examining it more closely, as she had a certain thought in her head as she looked at the nameboards.

"I wonder…"

Faith and Eddie noticed the look on Rachel's face as they went to her side. "Did you figure something out?" Eddie asked.

"Maybe." Rachel said, "Do you both remember what that writing on the wall we found earlier said?"

"That's easy." Faith replied, "To open the door, give your name to God. If there are no lies in your life, give Him your true name. But God does not need a sinner--Is what it reads."

"You think that has something to do with it?" Eddie said.

Rachel looked to the empty space again, before reexamining the names, "Yeah."

"Hey." They soon heard Zack say, "Aren't those the things we used when we took the pictures?"

"These fit perfectly with the indentation." Rachel said.

"You mean to tell me one of those might open the elevator?" Kristen asked as she felt drowsy as she could've sworn her vision started to blur up.

"I guess that would make sense." Faith said, "But… Which name are we supposed to use?"

Rachel started to think about it as she looked at the four names in her hands. She soon recalled the writing they had found earlier as her gaze turned towards Zack.

"If there are no lies in your life, give Him your true name." She soon repeated aloud.

Much to the group's surprise, they saw Rachel set aside the other three names on the table, only holding onto the name she needed. Zack's true name--Isaac Foster. She placed it in the indentation, and it wasn't long before they heard the sound of a click. The doors soon opened before them.

"It worked!" Faith said surprised.

Eddie soon sighed with relief, "We can finally get off of this floor."

Faith and Eddie soon stepped into the elevator leaving Rachel, Kristen and Zack the only ones in the room. "What about the other names?" Zack asked, "Shouldn't we see what they do?"

"No, I don't think that'll be necessary." Rachel replied, "We won't be needing them."

"If you say so." Kristen said, "Now let's get off this floor."

The three of them soon stepped inside before they pressed the button, which allowed them to ascend upward. The group took this time to take a breather as they sat on the floor. "Oh good Lord…" Faith said removing her shoes, and giving her feet a good massage, "... After what we just went through, and given the fact I was almost hanged, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

"I hear you there." Eddie said, "I know I never traveled outside of my own floor, but I didn't think there was someone more crazy then Zack."

"Says you necrophiliac." Zack said, sticking his tongue out to him.

"Zack." Kristen scolded as she leaned on his shoulder, "Don't be rude, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Zack said nonchalantly as he leaned his head onto Kristens.

Faith soon got a couple of snacks out of her bag, which had been a set of granola bars. "Here." She said, handing them out, "You all must be hungry. Might as well use this time to eat, since we don't know when we're gonna have this chance again."

"Thank you." Rachel said, taking it from her.

"You're a lifesaver, Faith." Eddie said, breaking open the wrapper.

"It's the least I can do after causing so much trouble." Faith said before she turned to Zack and Kristen, "Do you guys want some?"

"No thanks, four-eyes." Zack replied, "I'm not into that kind of snack."

"Save it for later Faith." Kristen said, "Better to be safe then it is sorry."

Faith gave a certain look, before she sighed, "... If you say so."

She left a bar for herself as she packed the others. For awhile, there was silence among them as the kids silently ate; they ate slowly so as to not make themselves sick. Kristen surprisingly enjoyed sitting close to Zack as he did with her.

It was strange for the both of them, but… Neither of them seemed to mind as they allowed their hands to intertwine with each other. Zack couldn't help but give a small smile when he saw that Kristen had been sleeping; he gave her a soft kiss on her head.

"Hey Ray…" Zack soon said, getting Rachel's attention, "... I didn't get a chance to say it before, but you were pretty awesome back there."

Rachel tilted her head a little, "What did I do?"

"Are you kidding me?" Eddie said, surprised.

Zack chuckled a little, "I'm talking about when you shot that insane bitch. It felt great."

"... I guess." Rachel said with a shrug.

"You guess?" Faith said, "You pulled a gun on Cathy! Like an actual gun! I call that amazing!"

"Yeah!" Eddie said as he blushed, "You were really cool Rachel."

"Thanks." Rachel replied.

"Fifi, Ray?" Zack soon said, "I kind of get Kris's story but… Why did you guys come here anyway?"

The kids looked to one another as both had been a bit uneasy on the subject itself. Rachel brought her legs closer to herself while Faith had been the first to speak up. "What Cathy said… Was true about my father. I'm part of a Mafia family." She said, "My mom ended up dying after I was born, so it was just my brother and I. His name was Liam, and he always looked out for me while I was growing up. My father on the other hand was another story. He did a lot of bad things to get to the top of the food chain."

"... Then how did you fit into all of this?" Eddie asked.

Faith sighed as she removed her cracked glasses, rubbing them a little, "My father… Ended up using me as some sort of puppet. He played with my emotions, and threatened to kill me if I didn't do what he asked. Then one day… He asked me to do something that a kid like me should never do…"

Zack, Rachel, and Eddie noticed the look in her eyes as her body shook. They seemed to have gotten the idea. Zack had a look of disgust in his eyes.

"He really is a gross old man." Zack said.

"You and Liam would agree." Faith said, "We planned on running away before that could happen. Liam set up everything. The train ticket, our new home, our identities, a job, my new school. It would've gone accordingly too, until we found ourselves here. I haven't seen him since he went looking for food."

"... I'm sure he's still alive." Eddie reassured her.

She couldn't help but smile, "Thanks… I'm just hoping he's still alive somewhere in this place."

Most of the group had stayed silent about this, though with the exception of Rachel who placed her hand on her shoulder.

Rachel soon spoke up, "I saw someone get killed, so I came for counseling. The next thing I knew… I was in a blue room where Kristen found me."

"... I don't get it." Zack said, "... I noticed earlier. The gun you held, it didn't belong to her. Where did you get it?"

"Oh yeah." Faith said, "I didn't realize you had it the whole time. Did you find it somewhere?"

Rachel shook her head in reply, "It's mine."

"Where have you been keeping it?" Eddie asked.

"In my pouch, wrapped in a handkerchief." Rachel replied.

"If you had it the whole time, why didn't you use it to begin with?" Zack asked.

"I won't kill myself." Rachel replied, "God won't forgive me if I do."

Most of the group looked shocked at this before Zack told her, "That's not what I--"

"Besides…" Rachel said, cutting him off, "... You're going to be the one to kill me."

Faith's gaze softened at this as Eddie looked to the floor. Zack gave a chuckle as he pulled Kristen closer to him. "I honestly don't know what Kristen sees in you. I can't tell if your smart or if you're really dumb." He shrugged, "Well whatever. Either way, you were right to shoot her when you did. Just remembering it makes me laugh. Your timing was perfect."

Rachel noticed how Zack looked, as he couldn't help but tighten his grip on the sleeping girl. "Kristen seemed to be happy to see you still alive…" She pointed out, "... And you seem happy too."

Zack chuckled at this, "Kinda." He soon gave a real genuine smile, "You guys are too, right?"

Rachel gave a small smile at this, "... Yeah."

"Wow…" Eddie said, "... I think that's the first time I've seen you smile."

"Yeah…" Faith added before she smiled, "... You look good with that."

The elevator soon stopped and the doors opened to the next floor. The kids stood up after Faith had gotten her shoes back on. "Alright we're here!" Faith said, "Time to find the next elevator!"

Eddie stood up picking up his shovel, "Well no time like the present let's go!"

Faith and Eddie had been the first to step out of the elevator; Rachel soon stood up as she stretched. "Zack, Kristen?" Rachel said, as she turned to them, "We're here."

Rachel had been baffled at the fact when she didn't get an answer from either of them. She approached them, as she placed a hand on Kristen's shoulder shaking her.

"Kristen, wake up." She said, as she did this, "We're--"

She gasped when she noticed how flushed Kristen looked. She didn't hear it at first, but she noticed that she had been giving out labored breaths as they sounded slightly hoarse. She immediately felt her forehead as she noticed it had burned to the touch.

"Oh no…" She said softly, removing her hand. She turned over to Zack, "Zack, Kristen is--"

The minute she reached out to him he fell on his side as more blood seeped through his hoodie. "Zack!" She exclaimed as she ran to his side, before she turned to the exit, "Faith! Eddie!"

Almost immediately, Faith and Eddie came back, to find what was happening. "Oh my God!" Faith exclaimed as she saw all the blood. Eddie ran to Kristen's side as he had noticed how flushed she looked. He felt her forehead finding the same thing Rachel had found.

"She's burning up!" He exclaimed.

"Help me get them out of here!" Rachel said to them.

Faith and Eddie nodded as they quickly went to work. Rachel went to drag Zack out with the help of Eddie while Faith attempted to carry Kristen on her back with her legs dragging. Though they didn't make it that far as they only made it halfway down the hall.

They had to set them against the wall as they had to catch their breath again.

"Oh God…" Eddie said, "... He's more heavy then I thought."

"Zack!" Rachel cried out, "Kristen wake up!"

"Please don't be dead!" Faith pleaded.

Zack's hand twitched slightly as he let out a groan. "... Huh…" Zack groaned, "... Wha...What happened…?"

"Thank goodness." Rachel said, relieved.

"But Kristen--!" Eddie said, "--She's not--"

Kristen let out a cough as she opened her eyes only halfway as she breathed hoarsely. "Kristen!" The three of them exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Rachel said.

Kristen didn't answer as she could only moan in agony, as she only stared at the girl with blue ocean eyes. "Kristen?" Rachel said with worry as she noticed she had a guilty look.

"Allison…" She said softly, "... I'm sorry… I let you down…"

"Allison?" Rachel said, wondering why the name sounded familiar.

They soon noticed that Kristen had passed out again. "Kristen!" She exclaimed.

"Hey…" Zack said, getting their attention, "... What's wrong with her?"

"She's running a high grade fever." Faith told him, "A classic sign of infection. It must've happened when Cathy attacked her, but I didn't think it would happen so quickly."

"Then… She's gonna need help right…?" Zack said before he tried standing up, "Let's--"

Zack moaned in agony as he fell back as more blood seeped through.

"You shouldn't move!" Eddie told him, "You're gonna end up bleeding out if you do!"

"Hey--" Zack said, "--This is no--"

He soon coughed out some blood as he fell back again. "Zack, you shouldn't move!" Faith told him.

"I said, I'm fine." He said.

"No." Rachel told him sternly, "You're not fine."

"Huh…?" Zack said before he noticed the look in her eyes. Her expression looked saddened as they were written with concern and he could almost swear… She had a look of fear.

"Hey… Ray…" Zack said, lifting his hand, "... Why… Are you making… Such a weird… Face?"

His hand fell to the side as it had fallen next to Kristens. The kids looked as though they were ready to panic, but they were soon brought with relief as they saw he was still breathing.

"He's just unconscious." Rachel said, looking at Kristen, "And so's she."

"This is bad, this is really bad." Faith said, "We have to help them and fast!"

"Yeah, but one problem--" Eddie said, "--We can't carry them any further, not without aggravating their wounds, especially Zack's."

"But we can't just leave them here!" She said, "After the horrors we faced--No offense to you, we're not sure what could be on this floor! Bad enough we don't know what's waiting for us up ahead, but if something or someone attacks them, they won't have a way to defend themselves"

Rachel looked at Zack and Kristen again as she still looked worried. Her hand shook slightly with worry before she looked back down the hall to the path that had been available to them. She took both of their hands as she squeezed them slightly.

"We're going to have to." Rachel told them, surprising the two, "Kristen still has the other receiver. It'll be alright as long as we stay in contact with them."

"But what if something happens?!" Faith said.

"Then we'll come right back here if need be." She reasoned, "Our main focus should be finding anything that can help them right now, and it's best if we go together. Because if we don't, they'll die."

Faith and Eddie's expression changed as they couldn't help but admit that she was right. If they didn't leave now, they would end up dead if nothing was done. Eventually the two of them nodded, though they still had a look of worry on their faces.

Rachel turned back to them, squeezing their hands as a sign of reassurance. "Wait for us…" She said, "... We'll be back as soon as we find medicine."

She soon turned to Faith and Eddie as they were still hesitant, "Lets go." She said before she took their wrists and started to drag them down the hall. Eventually they started to pick up the pace close behind her.

For a moment Rachel turned back, as her eyes were focused on Zack and Kristen. "Wait for us." She thought as she looked forward, "We'll be useful to you. I'LL be useful to you. I swear."