to a pole at the back of the room and led to a chain wrapped woman who growled in a corner of the room. She was hunched over and violently shook from side to side, attempting to loosen the metal chains around her neck.
Luke heard a humming sound coming from the sheet covered side of the room. He noticed another person who murmured random words. Luke checked around for anything else. There was nothing, other than the two people in the room. He slowly entered, and stepped upon the sheets. The man quickly looked up, his eyes wide, his face pale. He scurried back, further away from Luke. He looked frightened of him. Luke didn’t know what to do. He took another step towards the frightened man.
The woman growled loudly. She hissed and shrieked before she sprinted towards Luke. Her arms flailed wildly in the air and her mouth foamed. Luke stepped back and aimed his revolver. But before he could fire the woman was flung backwards into the air. Her throat was choked by the metal chains around her neck. She smashed onto the floor. The chains loosened around her windpipe and she gasped for air. Luke saw the bloody red marks around her bruised neck, this wasn’t the first time she had choked herself. A hand fell onto Luke’s shoulder.
“ P…please, leave us b…be.” The man stuttered as he spoke, as if speaking hurt him. Luke jumped. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more, the hand on his shoulder, or that someone had spoken to him.
“ Why? What’s happened here?” Luke questioned, eager to listen to the man’s tale.
“ It…it took ever…everything from me.” The man returned to the corner of the room where he had been sitting and began to rock back and forth.
“ What took everything from you?” Luke asked. He crouched to meet the man’s eyes.
The man stared at Luke, confused and somewhat angry. “IT!” The man shouted.
“ What did it take?”
“ It t…took everything… everything… M… My children, and m… my…” The man looked over at the woman chained up to the pole. Tears filled his eyes. “…My wife.”
“ Can I help you?” Luke inquired.
The man slowly looked up at Luke. His lips struggled as he smiled. “H…help me?” He began to laugh uncontrollably. “No. My so…soul is clean, and o…only God can h…help them and you.” The smile vanished from the man’s face. “Now lea…leave us be!”
Luke exited the room, unsure of what to make of it. The only person sane enough to speak to him was still madly insane. Or maybe I'm the one who is insane? Maybe this is all a nightmare? Luke thought to himself. If only.
He continued along the corridor, en route to power section 32-B. He couldn’t stop thinking about what that man had said. He had to be wrong , Luke thought. I can still help these people. There must be more people like me. Someone who can think and speak clearly, someone who hasn't lost their mind. I can't be the only one. I can help, and I'll start by restoring the non-essential power .
The map showed that he was close to his destination. Luke checked for any activity, before he continued into power section 32-B. The backup lights were smashed. Luke had to rely on his wrist device for illumination. The room had shards of glass scattered all across the floor. They reflected the light in a cone of star like sparkles as his wrist device was directed towards them. Luke observed the room. There was a dim red glow where a power cell should have been. He scanned around the room for the power cell, but he couldn’t see it.
He rested against the wall and scratched his head. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He scanned the room again. There was a small opening at the other corner of the room. He hoped it was a cabinet for a back up power cell. Luke eagerly made his way to the cabinet. He tried to open the door, but it was locked by a primitive padlock. He tussled with the lock. It didn’t budge. He angrily raised his revolver and fired at the padlock. The bullet