. Tik . Tok . by The A.C.

Hour 2

Light suddenly floods the room causing my eyes to snap shut immediately.

For a minute I sit still with my eyes remaining shut.

The light is probably not very bright, but the suddenness of it must have made my eyes close on reflex.

It has been several minutes and my eyes are still shut, but why?

Maybe I have become too accustomed to darkness.

There was all that stress earlier from trying to figure out my surroundings in the dark. Now there is light, yet I cannot bring myself to look.

Am I scared of something?

No, that is not it.  This is just me stalling and wasting time for some unknown reason.

Sounds of coughs and groans help tune me back into the reality of the situation.

Finally, my eyes begin to pry open enough for light to seep through.

It seems brighter than expected, or maybe my eyes still need more time to adjust.

Before being able to observe my surroundings, I lock eyes with a woman a couple meters away.  She looks about my age, so early twenties most likely.  Her long black hair and flawless tanned skin makes her quite pretty despite the bland grey jumpsuit she is wearing.

We continue staring at each other without saying a word.

Eventually it starts to feel awkward, and I have to look away.

It takes a moment of staring mindlessly into my own lap to realize I am also wearing the same grey jumpsuit as the woman.

Actually, after peeking around the room, everyone here appears to be wearing the same attire.

With more observation, I start to get a sense of the environment.  Including myself, there are twelve people evenly spaced out on the floor.  The strange part, though, is the vast diversity of age, appearance, and ethnicity.

The room we are in is also confusing.  The are no windows, doors, or even light fixtures.  It is just a plain solid white cube room, so it is a mystery where the light is coming from.

Groaning from the other people waking up starts filling the room.

Everyone awake stays isolated in the spot they wake up, just like I am, but there is an intense atmosphere brewing throughout the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement to my immediate right.  The woman from before is now right next me.

She seem as if she is about to say something, but a loud coughing erupts from across the room.  Everyone’s attention shoots to a large white man.  He is by far the fattest in the room, but it is also clear how much muscle he is storing.

“Ugh, the hell is going on!” the man roars.  He climbs right to his feet and looks around accusingly.

He stomps over to the nearest person to him, a lanky nearly pitch black young man curled up against the wall.  “Hey you, get the hell up,” he growls while nudging the man on the ground with his foot.

The black man starts to crawl away, but the other man jerks him up by the collar.  “Tell me, the hell we at?”

After not getting a immediate response, he tosses the man back to the floor.

By this point everyone is awake from the small commotion the man caused and are closing in around him.  Actually, only myself and the woman next to me are staying back.

“Excuse me,” a shaky voice comes among the middle of everyone. A frail looking old woman with practically translucent skin and curly white hair struggles to stand.  It appears she is about to fall over until another larger middle aged woman with long brown hair and sun damaged skin helps steady her.  “Thank you, dear.”

“Now listen everyone.  We are all confused and maybe even I little scared,”  the old woman’s voice is still shaky but has a tone that makes it clear she knows how to handle this situation.

I stand to get closer but stumble a little bit.  The woman beside instantly gives me support.

That is weird; I am a little dizzy now.  Did I stand up to fast?

I am about to thank the woman, but she now has her hand on her head.  What is wrong with her now; does she also feel dizzy?

We help each other to join the rest of the crowd.

Whatever else the old woman said I missed, but now she is on the ground with the other larger woman kneeling down beside her.

“Sorry about this. I seem to be somewhat light-headed,” the old woman say from the floor.  “Now sir, I was just about to ask your name.”

“The hell you need to know my name for?” the large man says.

“We are all strangers, so we can at least introduce ourselves,” the old woman struggles to look up.

“The hell does it matter, just call me Tank.  You don’t need my real name,” The large man seems to be turning red as he talks.  “Like I said, the hell does it matter?”

Thud.  He suddenly hits the walls with the side of his fist.  Everyone’s attention is on him now, or it would be if most people here did not seem to be in distraught.

“Fine, we do not need real name yet, um,” the old woman’s earlier tone is fading. “If that is the case, oh” talking seems to really be a struggle now, “call me Teresa.”

At this point mostly everyone is back to the floor clutching their head.  Even the woman next to me seems to be in peril.

“The hell is wrong with everybody? Get the hell back up!”

By now only the large man and I are still standing.  This is also when my head starts spinning.

My vision is blurry; I can hardly see.

The pain in my head is overbearing, and causes me to drop to the floor flat on my back.

“Ahh, the hell!”  Thud. Thud.

I force myself onto my side just in time to hardly make out the blurry large man slide down the wall to sit on the ground.  Both of his hands are directly covering his eyes.

“The hell it with this blinding light?”

The light, that is it!

My eyes feel like they are pressing directly up against a bright lightbulb.

Even with my eyes shut tight and my own hands covering them, it is like the light is still flooding in.

Somehow the light became brighter and brighter without anyone noticing, until it was too late.

This excruciating pain in my head makes it impossible to do anything anymore.

The only other thing I can make out are the agonizing groans of everyone.

This light it torture.

My senses begin to go numb.

My mind is at its limit.

The last sounds fade to nothing.

All there is now is a faint buzzing.

. Tik .Tok .