The Unknown

October 24th, Unknown Time (probably mid-afternoon)

Current Location: Unknown

Current Outdoor Temperature: 25 degrees Fahrenheit
———————————————————
My head felt heavy as my eyes fluttered open. As I looked around, I realized that I was certainly in an unknown environment. As heavy as my head was, it was clear that my body was trying to warn me about something. But what was it?

I scanned the area. I was in a cage that looked oddly familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place why.

Suddenly everything piled itself on top of me. I realized that I was chained to a wall with tight handcuffs around my wrists and ankles. My mind was spinning wildly, and I then began to feel extremely dizzy.

"Where am I?" I shakily wondered to myself, starting to dive into a state of panic. Where was Dad? Where was Olivia? Bryan? Amelia?

Evelyn?

I moved my wrist, and the cuff was heavy. It felt like a brick was wrapped against my wrist and then some more weight on top of it.

What the hell was going on? The only thing I could truly remember was escaping the building that we stayed at for a couple of days. After that, I wasn't sure what happened next. It felt like I got bashed against the head because my entire mind felt like it was going to explode.

I climbed up on my knees like a beggar would be desperate for spare change. I crawled as forward as the chains would allow me but still kept some slack in it. Calling up my fists, I pulled my arms back as far as I could and ripped them forward.

As much as it hurt every single muscle in my upper body, not even a budge came from the wall that kept me from escaping the prison I was tossed into. However, I didn't lose hope just yet. I then crawled onto my feet, and doing so made me feel as if I just finished running ten consecutive miles. Still, I ignored it. I walked forward, still keeping a little slack in the chain, and jerked forward again.

Nothing budged. Not even a little bit. It only sent me right back in the position I was in when I woke up. I was already panting from just two hard tugs. It really felt like there was nothing I could possibly do. 

"What's that racket down there!?" 

My breath hitched, and I cursed myself for being careless. Of course, he was going to hear the chain. Now I had to pay the price, and the heavy footsteps were coming straight towards my cell. 

Wait, no. Maybe I could sell it off. In a quick instant, I rested my head back in the uncomfortable position that I woke up in. I closed my eyes as soon as the shadow reached my cell. 

It was so quiet that I could hear the wind hit the building from outside. I stayed as still as I could possibly be, trying my best not to be tempted to take even the slightest peek to see if the insane man was still there. After what seemed like countless hours, the boots slowly began to make its way down the hallway the way they came. However, I still waited a few more seconds before even daring to take a peek. When I did, I breathed a sigh of relief. 

What I saw surprised me a little. A small plate of food was pushed through a small opening in the cell. It held a small slice of bread, some butter, and a small plastic cup with water in it. Cautiously, I crawled towards the plate with the reminder in my gut on how hungry I really was. 

Yank! 

Just out of reach from the plate, the chains refused to let me eat that little piece of bread or drink that little bit of water. My heart felt like it split into several pieces. It was set up for me to fail. 

Laughter echoed throughout the hall. "Teenagers these days are really gullible." 

I froze. That voice...I could swear on my life that I'd heard it from somewhere. But where? 

"You wanna know why?" he asked. "You wanna know why it was so easy to catch you?" 

Clank, clank, clank goes the footsteps. Then, his face revealed itself in front of my cell, and everything came crashing down on me once again. Everything made so much more sense now. 

After all, he warned me about it, didn't he? The nightmare right before Braxton died. The cell that made me feel claustrophobic. The laughter that engraved itself in my mind. The cold and rough hand that gripped my throat. And now, I really felt like I was falling, but not in the way you'd imagine. My mind was falling, not my body. 

The man looked at me, and my body went even colder than before. His eyes told me that he didn't have a soul. He was his own person, disconnected from the outside world. He truly owned the ruined world outside. I glanced at his hands, and his gloves were stained with blood. Tattoos ran all the way across his ripped body. This man was truly a monster, and I knew that I've met him before. 

"Because you fell for my trap, you stupid idiot," he said. Strangely, his voice was calm. "Didn't I tell you that you'd fall for my death trap?" 

Yes, he did, and I was foolish to disregard that dream. But, even if I didn't, would the outcome even change? 

His demonic laughter rang in my ears once again. "It doesn't matter now, does it? It's too late. But, we've never officially met until now, Jeremy." 

I slowly revealed my eyes to him. How the hell does he know my name? "W-What? How d-do you...?" 

Slowly, the smile disappeared from his face. "I know too much about you, Mills. Your filthy name is constantly ringing in the back of my head, and it wouldn't shut up. I had to do something to stop it, so right after the Memphis fight, I began my hunt for you." 

My eyes widened. He's been chasing me for this long? There's no way that can be true. "Why?" 

His frown turned into a glare. "Why? Because you killed my brother, you bastard. Or, have you even realized you did it?" 

It was my turn to frown. Is he talking about...

"Van Zandt?" 

Suddenly, he lost it and pounded his fists against the cell. I scrambled back into the concrete wall. "SHUT UP! DON'T EVEN MENTION HIS NAME AROUND ME! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD SPLATTERED AGAINST THE WALL!" 

I was panting in immense fear, and my chest felt like it was going to explode inside of me. Something hit me, then. Technically, I never really killed Van Zandt. Bryan shot him down before he could kill Bethany. Is it possible that he could've mistaken me for Bryan? That didn't really matter. I'd rather be here than him be in these chains. 

The man's breathing slowed. "Now that that's out of the way, I was going to introduce myself. My name is Phillip. Phillip Van Zandt." 

He then leaned into where his face was against the bar and lowered his tone. "And you'll remember that name for as long as you live." 

With that, he walked away, leaving by myself once more. 

------------------------------

Bryan was having a really hard time processing what just happened. Fortunately, neither could anybody else. William seemed to be the angry one, Amelia was the quiet one, and Evelyn was the miserable one.

Olivia, however, was the one who had the biggest blow of all. She was constantly in heartbroken tears. After a long day of nonstop walking and running in the direction the Raiders left in (since they lost any kind of transportation in Meridian), they were slumped over against a wall in a town that nobody had a clue where it was. 

Meanwhile, Will kicked over a burn barrel that landed with a loud clang. "This is insane. Is God just having a party or something and ignoring us? Why is he letting this happen?" 

Nobody had an answer. For all Bryan knew, Jeremy could already be dead. Although, he refused to think about it. 

After a long minute, Amelia spoke up in a quiet tone. "Jeremy's strong enough to get through tough situations like these. I know he is." 

"How can you say that with such certainty?" questioned Evelyn. "He could already be dead!" 

Bryan was about to speak, but somebody beat him to it. "Shut up." 

We all turned to the source of the sound, and it came from Olivia in the lap of Amelia. "My big brother will not let a person like him take him down. If he's brave enough to fight against those guys back at the camp, I'm sure that he can take on a few of them."

William looked at her with shocked, but sad eyes. "Olivia..." 

A broken smile formed at the base of her lips, and she looked straight at me. "He already blames himself for Braxton and Mom's death, so why would he put anyone else so close to him in danger once again? It doesn't make much sense to me or to him." 

"W-What are you trying to say?" Amelia shakily asked. 

She swallowed. "I believe in Jeremy, and I know he believes in us, too; to find and rescue him from the horrible place he's trapped in, right?" 

When nobody answered her, the tiny amount of confidence she had seemed to waver off of her. 

"...right?" 

As sore as his legs were from walking, Bryan stood up to his feet. "Miss Mills is right. Jeremy's been through hell and back for us, and there's no way in hell that he'll let some jerk beat him down. But still, if he has any chance of surviving, we can't waste any time tracking down that truck that took him. My feet are also telling me that going on foot isn't going to cut it." 

William stepped in for him. "Bryan's got a point. If we can find anything that can take us east, I'll take the chances." 

"How the hell are we gonna track him down, though?" Evelyn asked, visibly stressed. 

That was definitely the question that weighed the most on us. But, something deep came back to Bryan's mind. "T-This is a long shot, but I might have an idea." 

He felt the attention turn to him, and Bryan felt his face become flustered. "I noticed a symbol on the back of their jackets. I didn't think anything of it at first, but now, it's been heavy on my mind." 

Will frowned. "I saw it too. It looked like a big, red 'A' in cursive writing with a faded circle around it. Do you know what it means?" 

Bryan suddenly stumbled backward, and Amelia was the first to catch him. "Bryan! What's wrong? Are you okay?" 

"I've seen it before," he said. 

"The logo?" Evelyn asked. 

"Yeah," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "But not just that. I still have nightmares from it." 

Bryan's mind flashed back to a time back in Flordia, during a thunderstorm. Screaming was the only thing he could hear over the gunshots. He took a chance to peek out of the truck window he was trapped behind, silently wondering if he should pick up a gun to help, to do something. 

But he was too late. His grandfather, the only person he had left, fell onto his back, blood pouring out from his neck. With cheers of joy, the leader picked up his body and unsheathed his long knife. Slowly, he cut off his entire head, and the body dropped lifelessly to the ground. A flash of lightning revealed the man's back, and sure enough, it was the same exact logo. 

"Who are they?" Olivia asked. "Where's my big brother, Bryan?" 

He looked at her, then to Will. "Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Home of the Crimson Tide." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------