Nakiea wasn't sure how long Persus and himself had been running, but he was pleasantly surprised and overly relieved that they had not been pursued by Sanctum Police. Despite the relief he was feeling, Nakiea still felt overly anxious and unnerved following after Persus. They were in the middle of nowhere, no signs of possible hiding spots if something were to come their way. They could very easily be caught by any beam of light that could easily blind them with their rays. The very thought of being spotted had Nakiea's mossy green gaze continuously darting back and forth around their nearby surroundings, keeping an eye out for anything that looked like a machine. 

Completely lost within his paranoid thoughts and hyper focused on their darkened surroundings, Nakiea nearly slammed into his raven haired guide. 

His hands raised up, pressing against Persus's back to stop himself from full on crashing against him. However, his attempt at bracing and stopping himself had been all for naught. Nakiea stilled slammed right into the other male's back, making his inability to stop running all the more obvious. That alone was overbearingly embarrassing. 

"I am so sorry, my feet wouldn't stop." 

Nakiea started, his eyes shooting upwards, thinking they would find Persus's midnight black orbs gazing back at him. Instead, he was greeted by the raven haired male standing still and his gaze locked on something ahead of them. He could only imagine the look of absolute annoyance that must have been plastered on the male's face right about now. It seemed to be the only thing he's been able to do since falling into the world and using his irritated guide as a crash pad. 

"Persus?" 

He questioned, his voice filled with nervousness and unbridled uncertainty. 

Nakiea was quickly silenced when Persus threw a single hand up, silently halting his apologies any further. It wasn't till he turned his head and lowered his hand to press against his lips in a quiet 'shh'  did he finally silence himself. Instead of talking, his entire body went into high alert, eyes darting around the open terrain as if he could somehow see anything deep within the never ending darkness. 

Turning his mossy green eyes back onto the male in front of him, Nakiea's body went absolutely rigid when he saw Persus's hand slowly slide down to the weapon he carried on his person. 

Something wasn't right, that alone rose a new fear deep within Nakiea. A fear that he had never truly felt before, never had to feel before back home. 

"What is it?" 

Nakiea couldn't stop the whisper that left his lips. The risen anxiety and natural curiosity of the situation drove the question to be asked. 

"Stay quiet, something isn't right." 

Doing as he was told, Nakiea side stepped Persus and came to stand beside him rather than behind. It was only then that he saw what the raven haired male was staring at. Now he wondered if he had actually annoyed him, or if it was what now sat directly in front of them. 

There on the ground where what looked like a metal hatch may have been hidden was now a gaping hole in the ground. Any cover the hatch may have had was tossed aside or twisted in dangerously pointy directions. The metal covering of the hatch no longer covered the entrance to whatever it was hiding below. Instead, the metal it was made of was twisted and split open like a blossoming metallic flower. The wheel that turned and connected to the locking mechanism had been completely disposed off, tossed off to the side somewhere to never be seen again. It looked like a giant can opener had been taken to the entire hatch. 

Looking around, the mechanism for the hatch was nowhere in sight. It may have been completely destroyed as well. 

Nakiea spared a glance in Persus's direction, not sure what he was going to say or do. The fear his companion was attempting to fight back was winning in sliding onto his face. All it made him want to do was pull the male into his arms and let him know it would be okay. Though, he resisted that urge and turned back to the spot Persus was staring at. 

"Do we check it out?" 

The question was out before Nakiea could silence himself. Regardless, he didn't receive a single response from the raven haired male acting as his guide and protection. Instead, he watched as Persus stalked forward towards what remained of the metal covering. 

"Wait, I didn't actually mean-" 

Not seeing any reason to continue talking, Nakiea stopped himself and jogged after Persus. The man didn't seem as if he was listening to a single word that was being said. Nakiea felt it better to follow after rather than standing there trying to get Persus's attention and failing miserably at doing so. Getting caught out in the open was the last thing he ever wanted to happen and seemed like the worst thing that could happen as well. 

Nakiea came to a halt when he reached the edge of the hatch, Persus already having worked his way around the twisted metal and climbing onto the ladder leading downwards. He rested his hands upon the thick metal pieces and leaned forward, peering into the darkened hole in the ground. It was only then did he spot Persus climbing down inside, making his way down into whatever bunker lay in the shadows waiting. 

"You can't seriously be going down there, not after seeing. . ." 

Waving a single hand around and motioning to the mess of twisted metal, Nakiea continued his earlier statement with a single word; 

". . . this." 

Stopping his descent down the rested pole ladder, Persus looked up at Nakiea from the shadows shielding whatever was at the bottom of the ladder. 

"Yes, I am serious. I need to see if anyone from my group is still down here." 

Persus looked back down and descended the ladder one more step before stopping once again to look back up at Nakiea once more. The disbelief he saw within his new companion's moss colored eyes was enough to confirm that the younger male thought him absolutely insane for what he was about to do. However, he needed to know if the other survivors he lived alongside and helped protect were safe and alive, if not there, then if they left any notes or clues as to where they may have gone. 

If they went anywhere at all. 

Persus could only hope that they were alive at this point, it being the only thing keeping his morale up and from sinking into a darker place than the bunker below. 

"You coming with or do you plan on staying up there with Sanctum patrolling the area?" 

Again, Persus began his climb down into the shadows below him, vanishing from Nakiea's sight completely. 

Being left with what should have been a simple decision, Nakiea straightened his stance and pushed away from the metal in front of him. He hesitantly glanced around the shadows, his mind working through the pros and cons of staying out in the open alone or going along with Persus and having someone nearby to help keep him safe from the unknown. He didn't know what he was expecting to find, but seeing nothing, he figured he could manage staying where he was and be more of a lookout than anything. If anyone showed up, he could easily yell down to Persus. 

"I'll stay up here, keep an eye out for. . . things." 

"Suit yourself!" 

Nakiea listened to Persus's response echo up to him, feeling the male could care less if anything happened to him. Maybe he thought him nothing more than a burden, just someone to babysit and continue to keep safe or cause more problems for him. Those thoughts were extremely off putting, but it would have also been no surprise to him if that's what Persus thought of him. They had only just met, barely knew anything about one another aside from their names. Why should or would he care about what happened to him? 

The sound of rocks and small pebbles bursting and breaking was enough to pull Nakiea from his ever wandering thoughts. His head turned in the direction the sound was coming from, mossy green orbs searching the shadows for the sounds exact origins. The fact the sound was indeed getting louder with each ticking second, however, didn't help the young man's rising anxiety of standing out in the open by himself. In fact, it was changing his mind faster than a speeding bullet flying through the air.

As if his mind had overpowered his personal thoughts and decisions, Nakiea quickly turned and maneuvered his way through the pointy and twisted metal so he could get to the ladder. He wasted no time in finding the first wrung on the ladder, making his descent into absolute oblivion despite not wanting to. However, heading into the underground with Persus seemed far better than standing in the open, unarmed and completely alone. 

"Wait! I'm coming with!" 

Nakiea called down to his raven haired companion, hoping he hadn't gotten too far separated from the other male.