Chapter 3: 2 - Sleep a little more
Sleep a little more
Gabriel opened his eyes. It was dark.
What happened to me?
He was lying down and slowly got up, sitting. He looked around, and saw a lot of people in a room, all asleep.
My God, where am I?
Who are these people?
He didn't know. He had no way of knowing. Anyway, Gabriel didn't got what was going on. He was nervous, but not desperate, not yet. He was wearing the same clothes as when he was in high school, jeans and a sleeve shirt with some English phrases, but now they were all torn, as if they were old.
If I'm not mistaken, I was with Ana at school ...
Anyway, I need to get out of here or I'm going to freak out, it must be dangerous to stay here.
Gabriel got up quietly, and headed toward the only door in the room he was in.
Maybe I should try to wake someone up here.
No, very dangerous.
After all, are they really ... alive?
The moment he opened the door, a huge ray of light entered his eyes, for a moment he went blind by the light, then, he saw everything again. There was a counter with a few people, and several empty tables. As soon as he stepped out, the person at the counter saw him, and was surprised. Gabriel thought he shouldn't have left, but he didn't know what else to do.
Should I go back? Is there time? - He asked himself. But there was no way back. The only thing he thinks he is sure of is that this is not going to end well. But before he acted or thought about anything else, the clerk shouted:
— Hey! you, come here!
Gabriel looked everywhere and saw no one, he remained motionless.
Where are the others? Ana, Vitor, anyone. I was with them, I'm pretty sure.
— You, yourself in jeans, come here!
Gabriel thought about what he should do and without delay, headed towards the counter. He couldn't stop thinking that he was about to go wrong. Where he was? How did he get there? Who was the one calling he? Well, what else could he do in this situation? At least he's been holding his outbreak until the last minute.
Upon arriving at the counter, his only pro was undone, he had his first anxiety attack. He kept asking himself millions of questions at the same time, he was starting to breathe, breathe hard. But he had to listen to the clerk before saying anything.
— You just woke up, didn't you?
— Ham... Yes. I think...
— There is your thief, complete your group — He spoke to the girl beside him, pointing at Gabriel.
— You know I already have a complete group, don't take it out on me.
He laughed.
— Well, it's time for you to go, I'm going to have work with this one.
Thief? What a hell?
Gabriel was in a cold sweat, he started biting his nails while watching them having this little conversation. Soon the woman left and the man turned to Gabriel.
— So, there are some things I want to make clear before we start.
— Huh? Start what?
Gabriel couldn't reason, now he simply convinced that he was kidnapped and that they were going to release him only with money.
— You are not at risk of death, no one here is evil. You just happened to show up here.
The clerk looked at him, waiting for an answer, but Gabriel remained silent, staring at him, then he continued:
— Some things have changed since you slept, I find it hard to you to believe, but you will see for yourself when you leave here. And I'll explain everything anyway.
Gabriel couldn't speak, he was trying but the words wouldn't come. He opened his mouth again and again, but no sound came out of his mouth.
Why? Why can't I speak? I want to ask.
Where are my friends? Where I am? What changes have happened? I have a thousand questions, but I can't ask any. Why? Nothing comes out of my mouth.
There is no chance that he will be able to speak or ask anything now, and despite the current mental chaos in his head, he has realized that. His mind was in a huge shock, and even if he asked himself a thousand questions, he was not going to be able to ask one of the man in front of him. While the sweat didn't stop, and after five minutes with him opening his mouth and closing without saying anything. The clerk put his right hand on his own head, scratched a little and said:
— Look, I know you have a lot of questions stuck in your throat, but so nervous that you can't say anything, so let me explain the basics here, and the rest you turn around to find out. But first, what's your name? — he asked, pointing to Gabriel.
He took a deep breath and crossed his arms. He spent a few minutes organizing his thoughts and finally replied:
— Um, my ... my name is ... Gabriel, sir.
— So, Gabriel ... Gabriel? Like the...
Oh, damn, he knows.
— No, it must be my imagination, never mind.
He scratched his head again and continued:
— This is going to be boring. So ... do you know your normal world? It's over. Our technology and peace in the world? Well, "peace", I wish. It is as follows, humanity entered a type of hibernation state, it did not affect our body at all, it is as if we were stopped in time. Nobody knows for sure how long we woke up, or how long we stayed asleep, but there are creatures out there, mythological creatures. Oh and also, we were not immune to rain and these things, so not everyone survived in this sleeping state, congratulations.
— Creatures? — Gabriel interrupted
What? This is insane, it cannot be true. My father set this up for me.
I'm on a joke show.
It is. It can only be this.
Gabriel started laughing, hysterically, losing some of his sanity.
— Ah, boy, don't be one of the crazy ones, you won't like it. But yes, creatures, and some people kill them to survive, as a form of money. They are called awakened.
Crazy, maybe that's it.
I went crazy.
It must be better this way.
The clerk slapped Gabriel, who stopped laughing when it was hit.
— What? Give me a break, man.
— Time doesn't change the facts, boy.
— Man...
— I've been in your place. I know how difficult it is, without friends, without family. But you have to survive, that's what they would want.
Friends family.
Where are they?
My parents...
My friends ... Ana, she was with me at the time.
— Now you need to sleep, it's late, tomorrow come back here and I'll get you a group.
— To sleep? I've been sleeping for over a hundred years, you said yourself. I'm not sleepy at all!
Gabriel tapped the table with both hands, exalting himself.
— Where are my parents? And my friends? Is there a way to find them?
— Calm down, my friend. I don't give a shit about you, just to remember.
The moment the clerk said that, he pulled out a knife and leaned against the counter, pointing to Gabriel's neck, which went still.
— I'm doing you a favor here, you know? Don't come with ignorance on me.
He came back behind the counter, putting his knife away.
— It is impossible to find your friends and family, hopefully you can find one of them one day. But it is rare.
Impossible.
It's impossible.
— And what am I going to do from now on? — He asked, scratching the neck that had the knife previously.
— As I said, the most profitable thing is to become awakened. Joining a group and making money by killing monsters is risky, but it pays off, as I said. Or you can also try to become a worker, which is what most prefer. Have a calm and peaceful life, being a merchant.
Awakened, huh? Perhaps it is better.
I'm out of friends. Without my family. I see no reason to live a peaceful life, there is no happiness for me here.
— Tell me more about the awakened. I may be interested.
— Tomorrow, sleep today.
— I hope this is a joke.
— No, it's not. If you don't go to sleep, I will. It is late and there is nothing that can be solved at this time. Besides, your eyes look really tired.
My eyes are like that, damn it.
— And where am I going to sleep? — Gabriel frowned, trying to ignore the clerk's comment about his eyes.
— You're really unlucky, huh. I'll let you sleep at my place today, tomorrow we'll find you a place.
— Okay, what's your name?
— João.
Gabriel and João left the place where they were, it was a school, maybe Gabriel's. However, it is unrecognizable to him, many plants around, the place entirely cracked. But it was to be expected, more than a hundred years had passed. They passed through some classrooms, filled with sleeping bodies, Gabriel was afraid, even without admitting himself.
When they finally leave, he can see the weather change. The buildings that were not destroyed, the plants dominated, even though they are habitable and even perhaps used today, seem abandoned. Other than that, there are some trade stalls that make it look like they are back in the middle ages. Everything seemed old, because it really is.
No luxury, huh?
I don't think I'm going to get used to it easy, I need to stay calm- Gabriel made normal thoughts, as an attempt to force himself to accept everything and control himself. And apparently it was working, as far as possible.
Upon arriving at João's house, Gabriel decided he would go for a walk, clear his thoughts.Because he even wasn't sleepy at all, and staying at a stranger's house didn't seem like a really attractive thing.
He wanted to see how his old home was doing, but he couldn't. He didn't even know if that was really his city anymore. Perhaps his body has traveled all over the country. This new-old city has huge walls around it. Perhaps it is to protect from "creatures".
I can try to go outside when I'm awakened.
Ignoring the walls, the city itself was not small, there were certainly more than a thousand inhabitants there, perhaps more than three thousand.
The surroundings are all the same, there is nothing different from what Gabriel had seen outside the old school, but the main reason he went for a walk was not really seeing everything. It was to calm down, and think about what to do.
Awakened. - that word echoed in Gabriel's mind.
Maybe defeating monsters will make me forget.
Forget all my losses. Focus on something else.
It may make me calm down.
While returning to João's house, he passed another old school. It was just another one with plants on its walls, but this one had less. It looked more stable too, even with cracks.
What...?
There was someone at the school. He had trouble seeing because the school gate was in the way, but if he stretched a little he could see a girl.
Through the window ... Why is that girl coming in through the window?
Gabriel couldn't see well, but he was sure there was someone there, he saw long hair, and ...
What a nice butt.
He didn't care so much about this girl breaking into an old, dark building, especially after everything he discovered today, but he found it interesting to look at. Anyway, she entered quickly, and Gabriel made his way back to João's house.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone