Young Writers Society

James stared at her for a moment. She wasn't going to tell him unless he gave her a name. Fine.

"Matt," he said.

She nodded, smiling again and then taking a step in the cave. "Well, Matt," she said as she entered the cave and gestured for him to follow. Luckily they seemed to have their own power grid since lightbulbs lined the walls, lighting the way.

"I'm a little concerned you don't remember, but this is one of the refugee camps. Do you really not remember coming here?"

James's eyebrows drew together, and he didn't move as Elise did. He stared after her, glancing back at Elliot, and then looking into the cave.

Refugee camp...

Something in his gut told him it wasn't because of goblins, and judging from the way Elise was looking at him, she was the one who thought he was mistaken. But they couldn't both be wrong.

"No..." he said, glancing behind him again.

He thought about leaving again. He could, right? But he seemed walled in by cliffs on one side and a mountain on the other.

"Where are you going?"

Elise stopped walking and looked back, squinting her eyes to still see Matt standing at the mouth of the cave with his horse in tow, hesitating to walk in. He really didn't remember... But he had to have come here if he was on the cliffside; there wasn't another way around. Unless... maybe he skidded down the steep mountain? Suddenly Elise felt terrible that she didn't think of this earlier.

"The refugee camp," she repeated again, voice gentle and patient. She beckoned for him to follow. "It's okay. Everyone is only here to help. You'll be safe here."

James still didn't move. He gripped Elliot's lead a little tighter, feeling like he was being led into a trap.

"That's nice," he said stiffly. "But, I'm not looking for a camp or anything like that. I just want to be on my way. If you could just point me in the right direction so I can... leave this area. Please."

Elise stared at him, slow blinking for a moment as she tried to process his words.

"Um," she began, trying to understand why, but then dismissing the question. "Well... no one can force you to stay, I guess. But there's only one way in and out." She pointed down the tunnel, then turned to look at him again.

"I'm sorry for the, ah..." she paused, "...confusion."

Matt really needed to get his head checked out.

James drew a little closer to Elliot's side. Elliot didn't seem anxious, but James knew Elliot could feel the tension in James's hold on the lead, and the way he stood.

He couldn't pick up on any signs of deception on Elise's part, but nothing about this felt right. His eyes flicked to the strange lanterns lining the tunnel, and he nodded slowly.

Only one way out of what? Was this whole beach blocked off by a mountain?

Very slowly, he took a few steps in, waiting to see if something or someone would jump out at him.

Elise watched as Matt ever-so-slowly walked in, looking alert. She didn't blame him. If he truly was from the ungoverned lands, then judging from the scars she could see on him, he must have ran into his fair share of trouble. She was just glad he seemed to come around.

"There's no one down the corridor," she said, figuring he'd want to know ahead of time what he was getting into since he clearly forgot. "But it'll lead to an open room with the others, and they can show you the way out. Everyone here is a refugee. You really are safe here, don't worry."

James nodded slightly, but her words of assurance didn't calm him down. It wasn't just that he didn't know where he was. Nothing about this place seemed right or familiar. He still had a million questions he was afraid to ask because even the ones he'd already asked seemed to make her concerned. As if he was crazy. As if he'd forgotten something. Something important. Something he should've known.

He started following her, though he still kept some distance. Elliot lowered his head a little as they entered the corridor - as Elise called it - and simply kept his mouth shut.

If she was leading him into a room, he hoped she didn't mind a horse coming in. Because there was no way he was leaving Elliot out there, alone.

Elise was glad that Matt seemed to agree and follow along. She dealt with patients like him sometimes, and although she wasn't the expert, she knew he needed was patience and a little assurance.

And maybe something to ease his mind.

"Sooo," she began, trying to find a lighthearted topic. She glanced behind him to look over at his horse trotting beside him They barely fit the corridor.

"Is that a horse?"

James was studying the walls of the cave. It looked like it was carved out by humans. It was far too clean-cut to be natural, and the floor was too perfectly flat.

He flicked a look at Elise, and his eyebrows pinched together.

"Yes," he said carefully. "Of course it's a horse."

What else would it be?

Elise hummed in thought, ignoring the dismissing tone. "A pure horse?" she asked to clarify. "Not mutated in any way?"

James had a strange feeling. Like he'd had a conversation like this before. A long time ago.

"It's just a horse," he said plainly.

"Hmm," Elise continued to hum. Matt didn't seem to want to elaborate or talk much, so she filled the silence by voicing her thoughts out loud as they continued down the corridor.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There are a lot of things I don't know outside the sectors, creatures included. I've seen pictures of horses and how often they were used in history for traveling, but I remember my teacher saying that they were close to becoming extinct before the war since technology replaced them, and then they became fully extinct after the war. But we all know now that it's possible to retrieve DNA from old bones, so maybe the same thing happened with horses. He's a beautiful creature, by the way. Does he have a name?"

James felt his stomach starting to turn with anxiety with each passing word from Elise's mouth. Sectors. Horses were used long ago. Almost extinct. Technology replaced them. DNA samples.

The words danced around in his head, and the tension in his body only grew.

No, this wasn't right. Elise wasn't just crazy. She didn't sound like she was from Nye.

But she was talking like they weren't on Nye.

He stared past her, looking ahead.

"Elliot," he said quietly. "That's his name."