Welcome to Gaia! ::

The guard pressed something into my hand as he unbound my wrists. When he walked away, I glanced down to find a key. Baffled, I returned my attention to him in hopes that he would tell me why he’d given me a key of all things? What was I to do with it in the middle of the Desert. He tipped his head towards the cart that we had come in.

Of course. I could lock myself back up there to protect myself from anything in the wasteland, including the prisoners that I’d come with.

I opened my mouth to thank the guard, but he was already on his horse, riding away. I held the key to my chest and started towards the cart, glancing furtively at my cellmates. They were paying me no attention, instead looking out over the Desert.

As I swung the barred door open, Silas finally noticed me.

“What do you think you’re doing,” he snapped.

Looking over at him, I realized that he was making his way over to where I stood. My eyes widened in panic, and I pulled myself up into the cart, closing the door with a clang. My hands trembled as I tried to insert the key into the lock.

“Hey, you little b*****d! Stop that right now!”

Dear God, why wouldn’t it go in? A quick glance up told me that Silas was more than halfway to me, and still my hands would not steady enough for me to get the key in. And now Nathaniel and Jesse were coming over, too

Finally, the key went in the lock, and I turned it just as Silas reached me. He grabbed for my hand, but I pushed myself backwards before he could catch me. He glared, his eyes poison.

“Open the door, ******** shook my head.

His hand smacked against the bars. “Do it. Right now.”

I clutched the key tightly against my chest, continuing to shake my head as my other two cellmates arrived. Nathaniel pulled on the door, glaring at me.

“Come on, Seth,” Jesse said, holding his hands out in supplement. “You’re not really thinking about leaving us out here to die, are you?”

My eyes widened. I hadn’t really thought of that. I’d only been focused on protecting myself, forgetting that if they were out in the open, then the demons of the Desert could easily kill them. I didn’t actually want them to die, especially not Jesse who hadn’t done anything except try to help me.

“Seth, if you let us in with you, we just have to wait out our sentences. We can all make it back alive.”

I looked down at the key. I wanted to let Jesse in, and although I didn’t really want the other two to die, I didn’t want them anywhere near me, either. So what was I supposed to do? There was no way I could let one in without the others following.

I curled my fingers back over the key as I considered what to do.