Excerpt from Nefertem: The Awakening

The light coming in through the hatch seemed dim to Easton. Having lived his life below the fortieth floor, he had never seen sun light directly. Every floor was designed so that at certain times of the day, sunlight would pass down through skylights on each floor. It probably worked at some point in the past he thought.

“Ready yourself, Marine.” Humphry ordered as Easton grew close to the hatch.

Taking a deep breath, Easton stepped through the hatch onto the ramp. Goose pimples exploded on his arms while the hair on the back of his neck stood up. A gentle breeze wrapped around him like a blanket. Strange and exotic scents flooded his nostrils, while the natural light was forcing his eyes to water then to tear. Each step forward felt like his legs were incased in concrete; taking a breath was hard using what energy that he had left. The sky was without end. No matter what way he looked it just kept going. Strange sounds were coming from every direction, peppered by voices that seemed to be speaking gibberish. Just thinking a simple thought like breathe, or move his leg to take a step, was beyond Easton’s capability. His brain overloaded from all the new world threw at him in a blink of an eye. A hand grasped his shoulder hard enough to steady him, but gentle enough to say ‘I mean you no harm.’