After making it out of the woods, the air from the campus seeped into me. It truly felt like I survived out of there. That night was over. My stitches were still intact and didn't come apart. Now all I had left was to get back to the medical center. But one thought still lingered in my mind.
'What do I even tell Ael and Amiel. How do I even explain this? Do I just come out and tell them we are reliving this week?'
As I reached the foot of the medical center, standing outside, I saw Amiel. "Where have you been?" He tilted his head with little concern.
He was sitting on a stone, sharpening his knife against a rock. The rock had a flat edge, making it easy to do so.
I ignored him and peeked my head through the entrance of the medical center. "Where's Ael?" He stared in silence for a bit before sighing a moment later. "Where do you think he is? He went out looking for you." He takes notice of my fingers. When he does, he gets up from the stone and starts to make his way into the building. "Come on, let's get those fingers in some hot water."
Confused for a second, I look down. "Oh, right, thanks."
I followed him up into the room I slept in, where he warms up a pot of water with amber stones. He does make it hot, but lukewarm. He takes my hand and dips it in the pot.
"Do you know when he will be back?" I asked.
"Nope."
"How long has he been out for?"
"All night."
Just then, I can feel a ball form in my throat. "He's been out there for that long?" I got up from the bed I was sitting on, taking my hand out of the water. "I should go find him."
"Right now, we need to treat those fingers."
"But Ael is probably freezing out there."
"I'm sure he is not. He took his bag, unlike you."
"Still-"
"He will be back, don't worry." He cuts me off before I can continue talking. "Eirian, where have you been?" He turned to question me.
"I was out... out getting answers." I paused for a moment, "Amiel, I believe—"
"EIRIAN!"
Hearing the door slide open, I turned to find a man, all tired and run-down, in sweat. It was Ael.
"You're here!" He rushed at me, checking on me. He squished my cheeks to check if I really was here.
"I am," I said, the best I could, but I can't form the words properly with my cheeks squished.
"Forstbite?" He looked over at my slightly wet fingers.
"Mild," Amiel replied. "Was treating it right now until you got here."
Ael turned towards him, letting go of me. "You know how to treat forstbite?"
He scoffed. "Of course, I know how to treat frostbite. We live in the north. Plus, it was something I often saw when someone got thrown over the boat."
'Thats something you don't see every day.' I thought. He was always proud of his family name but didn't often talk about them.
"So where were you?" Ael turned, focusing his attention on me.
"So about that..."
Before I could answer, I heard Amiel mumble something under his breath. "What do you mean, I don't know how to treat frostbite? Of course I do." He ends up going to warm up the water again, where he had it set up on the floor.
Pointing at him, I say, "He seems hurt."
"That doesn't matter where you were." Ael brings me back to the topic at hand.
"Right, so I thought I was crazy, but guess what I'm not." I took a deep breath before letting the words fall from my lips. "To put it simply, I have lived this week, well, we have."
Amiel's head turns toward me. "What do you mean?" Ael asked.
"This whole week, it's just been a do-over. I confirmed it, the same bells I heard when exiting the bunker, the anesthesia in the cabinet, heck, the veil at the edge of campus. It's all the same."
Ael takes on a worrisome look. He takes his hand and puts it up to my forehead. "If I did have a fever, it was because I slept in the cold, but even then, this was all confirmed beforehand."
"No, no fever." He replied.
Amiel brought the pot of hot water over again and dipped my hand in it.
"So you're saying that we lived this whole week before?" Amiel added.
"Yes, that's exactly what I am telling you. Which brings me to my next big concern: we are trapped in here. There is some type of veil that goes all around campus, almost as if we were in the middle of some storm." I paused, meeting their eyes again. "You guys think I'm crazy."
"No," Ael replied. "Just confused."
"I'm not."
"Then how about we go check it out?" Amiel added.
"Because that's issue number three, someone else is here." I get no reaction from them.
"Amiel, did you see any signs of anyone else here?" Ael turned.
"No."
Great, just another thing for them to think I am crazy about.
"Eirian, you are still processing the whole ordeal in the bunker. Take it slow." He turned to me, placing his hand on my shoulder to console me. I wiped off his hand.
"I'm telling you someone else is here, someone who is deliberately hiding from us, shouldn't that concern you? The fact that there was someone who survived all this? Someone who didn't go to the bunker with us?"
"Look, right now you need rest, and so do I." He yawned, "But when Amiel and I go exploring the rest of campus later, we will keep our eyes out." Walking away from me, heading towards the door, "Amiel, just give me an hour or two, by then, I should be good."