The soldiers reacted with lightning speed. Startled by the roaring bangs, I blanked out like an idiot.
The woman soldier grabbed my head. “Duck,” she screamed—and flung me to the floor.
Meanwhile, the commander readied the machine gun formerly slung over his shoulder. He crouched low to take cover behind the barricade (When did they build that thing?) made of a pile of tables and chairs.
“Let’s hear a sitrep!” the commander ordered.
I have no idea how he got there so quickly, but the flippant soldier was a good distance away from us, scanning the area. As the commander issued his order, he gave the thumbs up as if to say, “Okay!” He pulled a pair of binoculars from the pocket where he stored them in his fatigues and homed in on the direction of the sound.
“This is bad, sir!” The blood drained from his face. He crouched in the shadows of the flower garden—one of many in the park—that was right by the open café. “Several missing team members spotted! Located at 10 o’clock by the…what do you call those? House of Mirrors? Anyway, they appear to be engaged with something by that building!”
“Can you get a visual on what they’re fighting?” the commander asked harshly, but the flippant soldier only briefly replied, “Negative!”
Throughout all of this, the woman soldier held my head pressed against the ground. My eyes were swirling in confusion. Although I’m sure she meant to protect me from the danger of a stray bullet, it felt like my skull was going to crack after getting smashed to the ground so many times in one day.
“Wh-what should we do?” the woman soldier asked the commander. She whispered, “Stay down,” before creeping over towards her superior.
The commander contemplated the situation, a deep crease running down his brow for a moment or two before he reached his decision. He ordered, “We can’t abandon our allies. Men, battle positions. We’re going to rescue them. Advance toward the House of Mirrors using the gardens and buildings for cover.”
The younger two replied, “Yes, sir!” with looks of determination on their faces. They were real soldiers. On the other hand, I couldn’t even pick myself up off the floor. Terror held me down, a physical weight. I felt humiliated—I was even trembling. I completely lost myself to the pressure of a true battlefield, a place unlike anything in video games and manga.
“……” The woman’s mouth trembled partially open as if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t have the time to coddle me. Their operation was quickly underway.
With unbelievable speed, the three set out. Within a few blinks of the eye, they were disappearing into the distance. I guess they went to the House of Mirrors, off to fight an unknown something.
Wh-what should I do…? They really did leave me behind like it was nothing. None of them ever told me to “Come,” and I would probably just get in their way if I tagged along… Would it be best to stick with them after all?
The idea of getting abandoned in a place like this was disheartening. But still, the screams and gunshots we just heard resounded across my mind, drowning me in a sense of unfamiliar terror. If I went with them, I could face even greater horrors. After all, this entire place was an SCP object, an anomalous land from Hell.
Honestly, I wanted to wait it out with my head buried in my knees, but I doubted that would actually solve anything. For a while, all I could do was let my jumbled mess of incoherent thoughts and emotions fly every which way…as I wondered why I had to go through this living hell, and what I should do next.
Out of the blue, a sound came from nearby. I near jumped out of my skin. It sounded like something sharp was scraping against metal. I hesitantly turned to see what it was and nearly dropped my jaw.
The shape of an arrow was etched onto the floor of the open café. My memory wasn’t the most reliable at the moment, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t there a minute ago. Graffiti had been scribbled with unnatural suddenness across the floor. Finding it strange, I crawled over—ever so cautiously—to examine the arrow.
I was dumbstruck! Not only was there an arrow, but also a single word…seemingly carved into the ground with a screw. The word…?
“GO!”
Was it telling me to proceed in the direction of the arrow? To top it off, it was signed “Iris Thompson.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Iris Thompson” was written in English, so I wasn’t entirely sure if I was reading it right. But I think it spelled Iris’s full name…maybe?
Iris, the mysterious Girl in the Photos… A girl deemed an SCP object, doomed to an unfortunate fate. Did she manage to manipulate the photo-world (I assumed the inside of this theme park was in a photo) to leave me that message?
As I fell into silent contemplation for a spell, I waited to see if she would carve another message (or at least I assumed the first one was from her). None were forthcoming. On the other hand, the area suddenly became extremely noisy. The various rides throughout the park randomly turned on. The rollercoaster’s empty cars roared as they raced along the track; the teacups spun wildly. The speakers set all over the park blasted jaunty music that conveyed no sense of joy—only horror.
Bereft of workers or attendees as far as I could see, it was as if the theme park itself had awakened from slumber. Everything turned on at once. The majority of the attractions were worn from age and use; they cracked with each movement, making horrible grinding sounds that assaulted my ears. The sound of screams and gunfire grew louder, mixing with the music and creaking rides.
I thought I heard familiar voices among the screams. Filled with uneasiness, I slowly rose. My entire body hurt, but not enough to keep from moving.
I could have sworn those last screams belonged to the three soldiers from earlier… Rather than kill me on the spot as a stranger who screamed “suspicious,” they were kind enough to let me stick with them and bring me up to speed. Were those good-natured people facing a hopeless struggle?
That didn’t sit well with me. I had no idea what I could do to help, but I wanted to repay them at least a little for the kindness they showed me. And seeing as the arrow also happened to point in the direction of their screams, I had all the reasons I needed to head over there.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I could do, but at least I knew this was what I wanted to do. If that arrow was a message from Iris, I could expect to find some glimmer of hope by doing what it said. After all, Iris was my ally. I only just recently met her, so I knew it wasn’t terribly rational, but I knew it in my gut.
As the cacophony spread around me, I gingerly tiptoed in the direction indicated by the arrow. Compared to the soldiers, the way I moved was outright pathetic.
The sound of the screams came from across a large building (obviously a souvenir shop gone under) not far from the open café. Upon reaching the store, I decided to hide behind the building and assess the situation.
What was going on? Were those soldiers all right? I hoped to find the answers to all the questions racing through my head.
The sight I beheld only served to throw me into greater confusion.