Inside was another dark hallway. A strong current of cool air was coming from somewhere inside. Aria mentally slapped herself. Of course the meeting is in an inner chamber. They're not going to make it that easy for the aliens. The three of them stepped inside, Aria shivering slightly as the coldness of the room hit them.
Harry silently closed the door behind them
"So shall we then?" asked Aria.
"I think we've spent enough time thinking about what it's going to be. About time that we actually got to it," said Harry, with a smile.
"We definitely need to get out of this dark hallway," said Daisy," I've had enough of those for a day."
"Alright, hopefully we don't have too much further to go," said Aria and the trio set off, walking faster now that they knew the meeting room had to be close.
They turned a corner and saw a welcome sight. The rest of the passage was lit by several makeshift lights, probably hand crafted from spare bits of junk. It made the passageway seem a lot more welcoming. Aria could see Daisy visibly ease up as she stepped into the light.
They continued through three more turns, heading deep into the center of camp and, if the slight slope was any indication, deep into the heart of the Earth as well. It was very reminiscent of the routes that led to the older storage spaces in the camp which Aria suspected was what this place must've been before it had been repurposed for the meeting.
Soon they arrived at a pair of double doors. Aria gave them a gentle push and they swung open, surprisingly quietly for doors had to have been a few decades old. She couldn't even begin to imagine how that was achieved.
As the trio entered, the giant room came into view. There was a small stage in the center. Their mother and the other three were standing on it. Set around the circular stage were several rows of chairs. It was a strange mishmash of repaired chairs from the trash and all kinds of other salvaged and scraped together parts that had been repurposed into chairs. It looked like someone had gotten bored inside a garbage dump and decided to lay out each piece in concentric circles. Then she noticed the number of people. There looked to be at least fifty present. Aria had never seen quite that many people in any place besides The Hub before, and even in The Hub it was a very rare occurrence.
Harry closed the door behind them. There was a sudden whir of machinery in the background and she could hear several clicks. The four on stage turned to face the new arrivals. Aria tried her best to put on what she hoped was a confident smile.
No one said a word. Harry stepped forward and gave them a little wave. Aria had to stop herself from laughing out loud at that. He just had to be unnecessarily adorable sometimes.
"Take a seat you three," said Mrs. Kane," glad you could make it. Now that we have everyone we can move towards finalizing the number that will be picked for this...excursion."
There was a general murmur of assent at the statement. Aria led the three of them to a vacant area and fished around for any empty seats. She managed to locate a few towards the corner of the room and the three of them sat down. Aria tried to catch her mother’s eye.
Points: 34
Reviews: 178
Donate