Chapter Eight
"Bob" had a few moments to himself to throw some clothes on, North had handed him some of his borrowed clothes. He was dressed in a bright red oversized t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and was given some socks to help protect his feet from the cold steel floor. He was promised a shower as long as he spoke the truth. Before all of this, Jay had swiftly introduced himself and the redhead that seemed to hate donating his clothes to him that was later to be discovered as North, both men shot Bob suspicious looks, causing Bob to fall under even more spiraling confusion.
Minutes later, Bob slumped his body against the cold wall as he ran his hands through his damp, blonde hair. He sat along the ground, speculating about the new people he had stumbled across.
Why are they underground? Why are they so cold towards me? Why is everything destroyed on the surface? Bob quietly pondered to himself as he gazed dejectedly at the solid white walls that enclosed around him. His questions were met with even more questions as everything he's been exposed to has amplified his bewilderment.
He sat in a qdully lit room, a wooden desk and a foldout chair were placed at the other corner, right across him, the smell of strong disinfectants and bleach filled his nostrils, several cardboard boxes laid cluttered around him.
Where is that girl...China was it? Out of all of them, she's been really keen on me. Bob thought to himself. Why is she the only one that seems to know that I mean no harm?
All of this had been pretty overwhelming for Bob, he fell on top of a strange girl, had a gun pointed at his head, and more people shown up and wore odd clothes...it was so much to process. Bob clutched the side of his head as his vision slightly blurred within his eyesight. This had been happening as he was asked simple questions, such as what his name was.
The door opened and Nikki swiftly walked inside the room, not a word is said as she closed the steel door behind her. "Bob right?" She swiftly asked, though she didn't sound entirely interested. A first aid kit was clenched in her right hand.
He quickly eyed Nikki, she wore dull baby blue scrubs that held embroidered roses around the waist area, her brown hair was held back in a short, choppy ponytail. A pistol had been holstered around her thigh as she approached him with laced-up boots.
Bob ran his hands through his hair, a confused sigh escaped his lips as a dull pain erupted in the back of his head, "The girl with the braids named me that...China...I don't know my actual name." Bob simply explained, his head throbbed every time he tried to go into deep thought, especially when he wanted to remember something. An orange flash would often happen within his retinas when he tried probing his memory before the closet incident.
Nikki sauntered closer to him, her footsteps clanged against the steel floor, she pointed at the desk parallel to where Bob was sitting. "I'm only giving you a check-up, it won't be long," Nikki reassured him, her voice monotone and direct. Bob reluctantly stood up, shuffling his feet across the cold floor, hesitantly sitting on top of the mohagony wooden desk as Nikki carefully grazed her fingers over his face. She opened the first aid kit, pulling out a syringe and several rolls of gauze.
"Who are you?" Bob meekly asked, folding his arms across his chest timidly. He already had forgotten that China introduced her to him a while ago.
Nikki shot him a warm smile, but it quickly disappeared, "You can call me Nikki," She swiftly introduced herself, her tone was soft, but not as welcoming and spirited as China's.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, if you want to continue staying here you'd answer them the best way you can..." Nikki spoke sternly while rubbing the gauze full of alcohol along his arm, a cool feeling had started at the crook of his inner elbow as Nikki fanned it off.
Bob responded with a nod, Nikki injected the needle into his arm, after a while, she removed the needle and stared him straight in the face. "Do you remember what happened on May third? Years ago?" Nikki questioned.
Bob quietly shook his head no, "As I told you before. I don't even know my own name."
Nikki furrowed her eyebrows in response to his answer. "I see." She said vaguely.
Moments later, Nikki's questions remained unanswered. Bob slightly winced as the heavy metal door opened up, he watched as the same scary man with the ponytail and a tall but slender young woman enter the room, the door behind them slammed and Jay turned to Nikki.
"Any progress?" He gruffed, his eyes flickered over towards Bob's, it was clear that Bob's presence alone was bothering him. Nikki spun on her heel and shook her head.
"Either he's a bonafide genius at lying or he really does have retrograde amnesia." Nikki softly explained as she only made eye contact with Jay, Bob watched as the muscles in her back tense up. "He didn't recognize any of his surroundings, got confused with my questions and can even barely recall how he wound up in his...undergarments."
"Did he have any family members? Companions with him?" Nikki asked Jay, her eyes met the woman's for a split second, but she quickly shifted her gaze back to Jay. "It may help me secure his prognosis-"
"No, the kid was all alone," Jay answered, folding his muscular arms across his chest. "Which is pretty damn odd, didn't have any clothes." Jay remarked, earning a calculating look from the woman beside him.
Nikki placed her hands on her hips. "Boy golly, you sure do know how to handle a situation, don't you Jay?" Nikki joked lightly.
"I..." Jay opened his mouth to protest. "Yeah, it makes sense as to why the kid was scared shitless with us...and China too, though she was the only one who was really kind with him."
The woman eyed him suspiciously. "This is why we don't bring strangers in, he could have people following us down here. You can't just take his word and immediately start trusting him." The woman angrily seethed, her jaw clenched as she slowly regressed to her normal, emotionless calculating look.
"I'm not lying. I don't know what's going on but I'm sorry that I'm causing this much of a problem-" Bob all of a sudden was cut off by the tall woman beside Jay.
Her sharp monolid black eyes glared at him as she held her hand up to silence him, "Shut up, no one asked you to speak."
Nikki opened her mouth to speak again. "Look, his symptoms are clearly obvious and he could've suffered some head trauma-"
The woman's cold black eyes bore down into Nikki. "And surely if I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it, no?"
Nikki was immediatel rendered silent, her fist clenched as her jaw tightened. The uncanny silence had returned every single time the woman had spoke a sentence, it radiated it's own dominance.
Her tone was mellowed, but with a fair amount of harshness in her voice. Bob instinctively shut his mouth as his eyes carefully studied the woman that was being crude to him, she turned to Nikki.
"Did you get the tests done?" The woman asked, folding her arms across her chest, everything about this woman screamed no-nonsense. Jay remained silent, his face darkening as he gave Bob a slight look of pity.
"Not yet, I'm going to measure the results now." Nikki quickly spoken, fumbling over her words as she quickly gathered everything and stuffed it into the first aid kit, pieces of gauze tumbled out as she frantically closed the bag. She gave Bob one last look, one full of concern.
Seconds later, Nikki started rushing for the door, disappearing as it slammed behind her, leaving a slight shake in its hinges.
The woman next to whom Bob presumed to be Jay, approached him slowly. Her lace black combat boots left grim footsteps behind her. She narrowed her slender eyes at him while her dark raven-colored lips were formed into a tight scowl, "Sit in the chair." She commanded, her voice was sharp, cold.
Bob did as he was told and the woman continued to analyze him, the more Bob stared, the more he realized that she was different from the rest. Her black hair was held back in a bun, her skin was so pale that she would come across as a live porcelain doll if it weren't for the scar above her right eye, her black slender eyes blazed with curiosity, mixed with irritation. She had a dark blue mockingbird tattooed on her right shoulder blade that was underneath the thick fabric of her tank top, her muscles were toned, despite her ghost-like complexion.
She shot him a long stare, if looks could kill, Bob might as well be casted another six feet lower.
"What's your name?" Bob asked politely, she gave him a sharp stare.
"That's not important, but who the hell are you?" She gruffly turned the question around. "I'm asking the questions here, not you."
Bob gulped, a lump in his throat had formed. He knew that he had to answer carefully, "I'm Bob."
The woman scrunched her nose up and furrowed her eyebrows, a look of distaste formed in her cold eyes as she slowly repeated his name, "Bob....your name....is Bob?" Faith repeated crudely.
"Yes it is."
That familiar, energetic and upbeat tone interjected and Bob was slowly growing to be grateful to hearing that girl's voice.
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