For a long while, there was nothing—no sense of direction, no sense of time. Just Luke, standing in the endless void of a cavern so deep that even his breath seemed afraid to echo. The only light came from his smartphone, its pale glow spilling against the uneven stone, painting him in a cold hue of blue and white. Dust still drifted through the air, slow and lazy, as if gravity itself had grown weary down here.
He turned in a slow circle, the beam of light trembling with the shaking of his hands. His throat was dry, his heartbeat heavy and loud in the silence.
"Okay," he muttered, his voice cracking to remind himself it still existed. "Still alive… I think."
The words died quickly, swallowed by the cavern walls.
