“You know that we aren’t going anywhere without you, right?” Adam asked. “You’re the one that got us out of this.”
“Look around you!” Wade yelled. “I’m the one that caused this!”
“Maybe so, but it doesn’t mean you wanted to do it.” Kas said. “It doesn’t have to define who you are.” She said.
“So you just expect me to forget everything and pretend this never happened?” He asked.
“No, never forget.” Kas said. “But don’t let it drag you down with it.” She said.
“Dude, I’ll carry you if I have to.” Micheal said.
“You really want to touch me after what I just did to Julian?” He asked. “If you stay here much longer we’ll all die. So just go.”
“Not without you.” Adam said.
“What the hell is your problem? Are you deaf? I said I’m not going anywhere. I deserve to die here.” He said.
“Maybe that’s what you think. But the rest of us think differently.” Adam said.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you?” Kas asked. “Just some scared little kid looking for someone to blame so you take the easy way out and blame yourself. And now you want to play hero and get yourself killed so you can feel better at night.” She said.
“Not helping.” Adam said.
“You’re afraid to face the world because that would take guts and you obviously don’t have any.” She said. Wade shook his head at her. “You want people to think you’re the good guy when in all reality, inside you’re just hollow. You’re all bark with no bite. But guess what, you’re not fooling anyone. So if you want kill yourself, go right ahead. But you should know that none of us here will ever view you as anything more that.” She said.
“That’s not true.” He responded to her.
“Is it really? Do you really believe that the only way to right this wrong is to die? Is that what you truly believe, or is it just what you’re telling yourself because it’s easier than hearing the truth?” She asked.
“You don’t know a damn thing about me.” He said.
“Really, because it seems like I know a lot. It seems to me like you just want to take the easy way out because you can’t grow a pair and face the truth.” She said.
“Maybe that is the truth!” He yelled. “What difference does it make?”
“Apparently the difference between living and dying.” She said. “Nobody here is going to move until you come with us. We’ll all die here if we have to, and that blood will be on your hands.”
“Your blood will be on my hands anyways.” He said. “I kill everything I touch.”
“Not true.” Adam jumped in. “You can control these powers, and we’ve seen it”
“Yeah, sometimes.” He said. “But…”
“But what?” Kas asked. “Stop making excuses and step up for once.” She said. Wade grimly looked at her and huffed.
“You’re all going to die. And it’ll be your own faults.” He said.
“Then it’s settled. Let’s move.” Kas said.
“We’ll get to the clock tower in ten minutes of we keep a good pace.” Wade said.
“Sounds good.” Adam said. “Groups of two, everyone. Nobody wanders off, nobody strays from the pack. We don’t know what out there.”
“I have a pretty good Goddamn idea.” Wade mumbled as he started walking off through the rubble out of the school.
“Kas, you stick with me. Micheal, you’re with Callista.” Adam said.
“Yes sir.” Micheal said. “I guess that means we’re moving.” He said. Callista stood up behind him, seemingly with no pain at all.
“I have no clue what just happened.” She said.
“You don’t want to know.” Adam said.
“There’s a dead person living inside of you.” Micheal said. Callista’s eyes widened and Adam glared at him.
“Really?” Adam asked.
“What?” Micheal asked.
“You were right. I didn’t want to know.” She said.
“Let’s just get moving. We can whine about having dead people in us later.” Adam said.
“You say that like it’s a normal everyday thing.” Callista said as she walked off with Micheal next to her.
“So, why were you so quick on picking me to go with you?” Kas asked as she walked next to Adam.
“Well, for one reason I wanted to know what the fuck is wrong with you.” He said. “You practically just told him he should kill himself.”
“It worked didn’t it?” She asked.
“That it did.” Adam said.
“He’s what, a year younger than me?” She asked. “I know how to talk to my age group. I can definitely get under their skin.”
“Holy fucking shit.” Adam said as he crested the top of the rubble pile and caught a glimpse of the clock tower. It looked like some sort of vortex was opening up above it stretching from the ever-so cloudy sky reaching downwards towards the top of the clock tower. It looked almost like a tornado except it wasn’t destroying everything. Again.
“That would be our ride.” Wade grumbled from below Adam. Adam began descending the other side of the pile, being careful not to fall on the unstable debris. Kas, on the other hand, wasn’t so graceful. Adam heard a yelp behind him and then watched as she continued to roll all the way down the pile until she was on flat ground.
She slowly sat up and rubbed her forehead where it was bleeding. It didn’t look to bad, but there was a lot of blood. Head wounds always bleed a lot. She looked over at Adam when he reached the bottom.
“That didn’t happen, alright?” She asked.
“I didn’t see a thing.” Adam chuckled, now feeling free to laugh as he saw she was alright. He held out his hand to her and pulled her up and the two continued walking.
“This way.” Wade said, pointing towards the clock tower.
“Really? I thought we were going the other way.” Kas said. Wade shook his head.
“Well if you want to take a detour to the edge of the barrier, be my guest.” He responded. “But if you want to get out of here, I’d say we follow the giant mind-fuck tornado in the sky.” He said.
“Was that a joke?” Kas asked. “Did you just make a joke? There might be hope for you yet.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” He said. “Let’s pick up the pace a little.” He said as he walked on.
“So, those scavenger things. Are they going to be a problem?” Adam asked.
“They don’t have a leader.” Wade said. “They’re probably too busy killing themselves to be killing us. If there’s any of them left.”
“What does that mean?” Kas asked.
“Like I mentioned before, they weren’t living. They were machines of sorts. You take out what’s controlling them and they can’t function.” He said.
“Well that’s handy.” She said.
“If I’m right.” He responded. “Otherwise, we’re all about to die.”
“What do you think is going to be on the other side?” Adam asked.
“I hope any place but Xenia.” Wade said.
“I second that.” Kas said.
“I can get behind that.” Adam said. “Hopefully it’ll take us somewhere warm. Like Florida.”
“No. Not Florida. Never Florida.” Wade said. “California sounds better.”
“You have something wrong with Florida?” Kas asked.
“Yeah, I do.” He answered. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do.” Kas shook her head with a slight smile.
“I always liked Florida. I’ve been there like, twice with my sister Dana and my brother Keith.” She said.
“So you do have a family?” Adam asked.
“I’m the youngest.” Kas said.
“That still doesn’t make me like Florida.” Wade said.
“I was born in Florida.” Adam said.
“No disrespect intended.” Wade said.
“No, it’s fine. I hated the place too. Except I knew why.” Adam said.
“And why’s that?” Adam asked.
“It doesn’t really matter right now.” Adam said.
“You can talk you know. It’s not like anyone else is listening.” Wade said. Adam shook his head.
“How do you go from being a depressed suicidal on a warpath to asking me if I’m okay?” Adam asked.
“I’ve been told it’s one of my better qualities.” Wade said smugly.
“Wow. Look at this place.” Kas said, drawing there attention. It was a park, a moderately sized on. It had a large pond, one that you’d expect to see geese in. But there were no geese, those winged hell spawn.
“Shawnee park.” Wade said. “It was a nice place, most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” Kas asked.
“Well, this is a small town that wants to be a big city. We have our share of small groups if thugs that think they’re gangs.” Wade said. “All they really were was a bunch of stoners looking for their next high. Fucking addicts. Who would want to throw their lives away like that?” He asked.
“Some of them aren’t bad people, you know. The drugs don’t make the person.” Kas said, almost sounding offended.
“I never said that, all I said is that I didn’t like them. A few of my old friends were druggies, and just to point it out so was my stepbrother.” He said. “But he got arrested before I woke up in this hell. So, yeah.”
“My sister’s a heroin addict.” Kas said. “She just got out of prison. I didn’t even get to see her before I ended up here.”
“My father was a raging alcoholic.” Adam said. “And my mother killed him before I was 18. Haven’t seen her since. It’s the whole reason I joined the army. I thought I could run away from the pain.”
“Damn man.” Wade said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“We’ve all lost people.” Adam said.
“That we have.” Kas said.
Wade looked up at the looming clock tower. By now there were only about a minute or two away at most.
“We’ve got some stairs to climb.” Wade mumbled.
“Do we have to?” Kas joked.
“Can you fly?” Wade asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know. Never tried.” Kas said. Wade narrowed his eyes at her with a sly smile.
“I think that might just be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.” He said.
“Fair enough.” Kas said.
“Who’s going in first?” Adam asked.
“I have they key, I’ll go first.” Wade said.
“Be my guest.” Adam said.
“Lead the way.” Kas said.
“This is so screwing with my head.” Micheal said as he joined the group.
“It’s not hard to screw with your head. There’s not much in there anyways.” Callista said.
“Ouch. Right where it hurts.” Micheal joked. Callista laughed a little. Wade pressed on the glass door and it opened. The clock tower was actually part of the courthouse itself.
“Any idea where we go from here?” Adam asked as he looked around the lobby of the courthouse.
“Look for a stairwell, it’ll probably be marked. It’s not like just anyone could go up to the top of the clock tower.” Wade said.
“There’s a door over here.” Callista said. “I think it goes up to the top.” She continued. Wade began walking over to her. She pulled on the handle. “It’s locked.” She asked.
“Let me see it.” Wade said as he looked at the door. “It’s wooden.” He said.
“And that helps us how?” Callista asked. Wade walked towards the far wall.
“Where are you going?” Micheal asked.
“It helps us because, if it was metal. We couldn’t break it down.” Wade said. As he walked back over, a fire extinguisher in his hands.
“What are you going to do with that?” Callista asked.
“He’s going to break down the door with it.” Kas said.
“At least you got one smart on in the group.” Wade muttered as he lifted the canister over his head, bringing it down onto the door knob. After a few good hits the knob broke off and the door swung open on its own. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you murder an innocent door.” Wade said, as he looked up the stairs that lay beyond the door.
“Are those our stairs?” Kas asked.
“Unless the courthouse added a shit ton of floors that I don’t know about, yes.” Wade said as he started to climb the stairs. Kas looked over to Adam.
“Let’s go.” She said as she followed Wade up the stairs.
Kiera Peppers
“Come on already, I’m starving.” Kiera spoke to the microwave as it heated her bowl of soup. Doctor Rosenberg had said he’d be back in an hour. It’s been three and still no sign of his return. Technically, she was off the clock now. She could’ve left two hours ago if she wanted to.
But it just didn’t feel right to just leave the place without anyone else to watch it. What happens if no one is around and something goes wrong? Who thought it was a good idea to have only one person working today?
It’d been over a week now, and there were still no signs of improvement. Maybe Rosenberg was wrong, maybe they wouldn’t wake up. Kiera heard the microwave dinging and smiled. Food. She spun around and pulled the door open, reaching in and grabbing the plastic bowl full of chicken noodle soup. It was one of her favorites, that was probably why Rosenberg kept so much of it around. His theory was that if you kept the staff happy, they’d work harder. Kiera was definitely happy to be working with Rosenberg, it was a great honor. Rosenberg was one of the United States leading researchers into Comas.
He believed that he was onto a breakthrough and decided it was time to test his discovery, and thus they were here now. There were five patients that were all in a coma, and if this went according to Rosenberg’s plans, they’d be awake.
But it had been a week and no change. The patient’s families were all waiting to hear any new news on this. They all wanted their loved ones back, Kiera understood that. Like she said, they’d been here a week. She’d been on the case almost non-stop. She left her family and friends back in Cleveland, and now she’s here. It sucked, no matter where she went in the compound there was no reception and she wasn’t allowed to leave the walls of the compound for some reason. She’d been inside these walls for an entire week. She hadn’t even seen the sun once in that entire time.
She sat down with her bowl of soup at one of the tables in the break room, the orange one. It was her favorite color after all. She took a bite out of the soup, and nearly spit It back out. It was still very hot, and it burnt her tongue. She took a quick drink of water from her orange bottle to subside that burn. She sighed as she remembered her laptop laying on the table right in front of her. She reached over and grabbed her laptop, flipping it open. A few keystrokes later, she was in. She opened her camera and prepared for the hourly log. It was one of the most boring part of the day.
“Day eight of the Rosenberg experiments, the subjects are still showing no signs of improvement. But they show no sign of worsening. Patient one…” Kiera began as she looked at her chart she had open in a separate screen. She should’ve memorized their names by now, she felt bad for not knowing them. “Adam Becker, BP 120/80. Heart rate normal. No signs of brain function improvement over the last hour. Patient two, Kasey Grey, BP 121 over 79, heart rate normal, no signs of brain function improvement in the last hour… Wait, Holy shit. She’s regaining function.” Kiera said as she stared at the chart on her screen. After it being all the same for so long, it was weird to see anything new. She looked at her own shocked expression for a moment before she shut her laptop and pulled out her cell phone.
No signal. Of course. She looked around and saw the phone on the wall. Picking it up, she hastily dialed Rosenberg’s number. There was a sound of the phone trying to connect.
“Please leave a message after the tone.” It said after half an eternity. Keira sighed.
“Doctor Rosenberg, this is Kiera Peppers. I’m at the lab. Patient two, Kasey Grey, is beginning to show signs of brain function. Please come back as soon as you get this message. Or at least send someone, please.” She said before she hung up the phone. Why did Rosenberg always ignore her calls? He always answered the ones from Doctor Randall.
Another good question was why did his cell phone work but not hers? Why did she cheap out when she chose her carrier?
She looked around the break room. She still saw steam curling up from her bowl of soup. She sighed. No matter how hungry she was her soup would have to wait, the patients were more important. The families had trusted doctor Rosenberg and the rest of his crew, including herself, to take care of these patients.
She rushed out the door and into the hallway. All of the patients were being housed in an observation room, just down the hall. The compound really wasn’t big. It was big enough to house the patients, doctor Rosenberg and the rest of his four-man team.
She quickly took off down the hall towards the observation room, in all reality it was just a giant open room with beds in it with curtains for walls between each of the beds. It made it a lot easier to observe the patients.
Had Kiera thought about it, she would’ve stopped by the crew’s quarters to wake up the rest of the team. But, in her rush it didn’t cross her mind. She blasted through the set of double doors that led into the observation room and looked around the room. There were only five patients in here, and she needed to find number two, Kasey Grey. How hard could it be?
Luckily, not hard. She walked down the row of beds, which were labled by their distance from the entrance. Meaning, number on was closest to the doors while number five was farthest. Patient one was in his bed like always, not moving. Nothing new there. But as soon as she passed by the curtain that separated One from Two, Kiera’s eyes widened.
Kasey Grey was awake. Not only that, but she was sitting on the edge of her bed about to stand up. Kiera stood shocked, unable to move. How does someone go from being in a coma to walking around? Kasey brushed her blonde hair out of her face and looked over at Kiera, staring her down with her green eyes.
“Who are you?” Kasey asked. “Where am I? Where’s everyone else?” She asked.
“I, uh, I’m Kiera Peppers. I’m a technical assistant. You’re currently at Rosenberg Research Compound.”
“Rosenberg what now?” She asked.
“You’ve been out for some time now, Kasey. You family has allowed doctor Rosenberg to use you as part of an experiment that the thought might help to bring people out of comas. And it looks like it worked.” Kiera said.
“Experiment? What kind of experiment?” Kasey asked.
“I don’t know all the details, I’m new here all they let me do is fix equipment and read graphs. I’m sure doctor Rosenberg will explain everything to you once he gets back.” Kiera said.
“Where’s everyone else?” Kasey asked.
“What do you mean? Your family is at home, if that’s what you mean.” Kiera said.
“No, I mean Adam and Micheal and Callista and Wade. Where are they?” Kasey asked. Kiera furrowed her brow as she looked at Kasey.
“How do you know about them? You were in a coma. You never met.” Keira said.
“What do you mean?” Kasey asked.
“All five of you were in a coma. You’re the first one to wake up. There’s no way that any of you would know each other. How do you know them?” Kiera asked.
“We were all there. We all escaped and now…” Kasey trailed, Kiera saw her eyes fix on something behind her.
“And now what?” Kiera asked, as she looked over her shoulder.
It happed fast. Too fast for Kiera to comprehend what was happening. One second she was standing straight up talking to Kasey, and in the next moment she was sprawled out on the floor with pain shooting through her face. She could feel blood coming from her nose. She turned over on her back and saw him, patient one, Adam Becker. He loomed over her, fists balled.
“Who are you and where are we?” He demanded, Kiera shielded her face preparing for a blow that didn’t come.
“Please don’t hurt me!” Kiera said. “We were just trying to help!”
Kiera felt a strong hand haul her to her feet. She was forced to look up at Adam, as he was much taller than her. Kiera was only a little bit taller than Kasey, standing only around 5’5’’.
“Did I say I cared about if you were trying to help? I asked two simple questions, Who are you and where are we?” He asked, his hand tightening around Kiera’s throat. Her hands instinctively clawed at her throat, but he was way too strong.
“Kiera Peppers.” Kiera choked out. “At Rosenberg Research Compound.” She finished, already gasping for air. Her face was red and spots danced in her vision, her lungs burnt ,begg
“Where is that?” Adam asked. Kiera didn’t answer and this seemed to anger him, as he lifted her off the ground with only one hand. Her feet kicked but couldn’t find anything solid. “Where?” He demanded again. Kiera attempted to answer, but just couldn’t get any words out.
“Adam, stop. You’re killing her!” Kasey said. Adam looked from Kiera to Kasey, then back to Kiera.
“Do you trust her, Kas?” Adam asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean we should kill her.” Kasey answered.
“Fine.” Adam said as he dropped Kiera. She landed ungracefully on her side, grabbing at her throat and breathing heavily. Adam bent down next to her. “Where are we?” He asked.
“Rosenberg Research-“ Keira began.
“Stop with that shit. Where is this place?” He asked.
“I-I don’t know.” Keira answered. Adam’s face twisted with rage.
“I’m not in the mood to be playing games with you right now!” He yelled at her. She could feel his hand wrapping around her throat again.
“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!” Kiera cried out.
“Stop lying to me! You don’t just show up somewhere without knowing where that place is!” Adam yelled at her, flinging spit onto her face. He pressed down hard. Kiera kicked and punched at Adam but he seemed unfazed.
“Adam Becker! Stop!” A man yelled as he walked into the observation room. Adam looked up towards the room’s entrance, and his eyes widened. He pulled Kiera up, using her as a shield.
“I want answers or she dies!” Adam yelled.
“You’ll get all the answers you need. Just let doctor Peppers go.” He said.
“Doctor Rosenberg, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Kiera stuttered.
“No need to be sorry doctor Peppers, this is… It’s amazing.” Rosenberg said.
“Cut the small talk and start making sense, or I’ll have no problem with ripping this girl’s throat out.” Adam said.
“Mister Becker, there’s no need for violence. I assure you we’re here to help.” Rosenberg said.
“Then help me understand what the fuck is going on here.” Adam said.
“Just as soon as you let go of doctor Peppers.” Rosenberg said. “I wouldn’t lie to you Adam, I’m not armed and even if I was, why would I shoot you? You’re the best thing that’s happened to medical science since the polio vaccine.” He said.
“Adam, just let her go.” Kasey said.
Choice (For Adam, I know it’s a little weird but it’s the best I could do.)
What the...? Okay, now things got confusing. Until now, despite the twists, I always had a general idea what was going on. But that... damn, that was awesome, but confusing as hell at the same time. So, everything they have been experiencing in Xenia has been part of a coma-induced shared dream. And now they are awake, which is nice. But the one thing that I am curious about is, just how long have they been in a coma? And how did they ended up in this coma? And why have they apparently shared the same coma-dream? And what does that mean for Julia, Gilligan and Dana? Are their respective storylines still happening at the same time, or was this coma part of a timeskip? So many questions... all I can say for now is, that was one hell of a great twist.
begging for air.
“Where is that?” Adam asked. Kiera didn’t answer and this seemed to anger him, as he lifted her off the ground with only… more one hand. Her feet kicked but couldn’t find anything solid. “Where?” He demanded again. Kiera attempted to answer, but just couldn’t get any words out.
“Adam, stop. You’re killing her!” Kasey said. Adam looked from Kiera to Kasey, then back to Kiera.
“Do you trust her, Kas?” Adam asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean we should kill her.” Kasey answered.
“Fine.” Adam said as he dropped Kiera. She landed ungracefully on her side, grabbing at her throat and breathing heavily. Adam bent down next to her. “Where are we?” He asked.
“Rosenberg Research-“ Keira began.
“Stop with that shit. Where is this place?” He asked.
“I-I don’t know.” Keira answered. Adam’s face twisted with rage.
“I’m not in the mood to be playing games with you right now!” He yelled at her. She could feel his hand wrapp… [view original content]
just how long have they been in a coma? And how did they ended up in this coma? And why have they apparently shared the same coma-dream?
I can say that these questions will be answered in following parts, so I can't say much right now...
And what does that mean for Julia, Gilligan and Dana? Are their respective storylines still happening at the same time, or was this coma part of a timeskip?
Well, yes. There storylines are still going on at the same time, more or less.
So many questions... all I can say for now is, that was one hell of a great twist.
[Let her go]
What the...? Okay, now things got confusing. Until now, despite the twists, I always had a general idea what was going on. B… moreut that... damn, that was awesome, but confusing as hell at the same time. So, everything they have been experiencing in Xenia has been part of a coma-induced shared dream. And now they are awake, which is nice. But the one thing that I am curious about is, just how long have they been in a coma? And how did they ended up in this coma? And why have they apparently shared the same coma-dream? And what does that mean for Julia, Gilligan and Dana? Are their respective storylines still happening at the same time, or was this coma part of a timeskip? So many questions... all I can say for now is, that was one hell of a great twist.
begging for air.
“Where is that?” Adam asked. Kiera didn’t answer and this seemed to anger him, as he lifted her off the ground with only… more one hand. Her feet kicked but couldn’t find anything solid. “Where?” He demanded again. Kiera attempted to answer, but just couldn’t get any words out.
“Adam, stop. You’re killing her!” Kasey said. Adam looked from Kiera to Kasey, then back to Kiera.
“Do you trust her, Kas?” Adam asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean we should kill her.” Kasey answered.
“Fine.” Adam said as he dropped Kiera. She landed ungracefully on her side, grabbing at her throat and breathing heavily. Adam bent down next to her. “Where are we?” He asked.
“Rosenberg Research-“ Keira began.
“Stop with that shit. Where is this place?” He asked.
“I-I don’t know.” Keira answered. Adam’s face twisted with rage.
“I’m not in the mood to be playing games with you right now!” He yelled at her. She could feel his hand wrapp… [view original content]
Wow, that was unexpected! I dont think Dr. Rosenberg told Adam the full truth and I dont think he plans to do it but as long as I dont know more about what happened I will try to prevent the situation from escalating. Maybe they are friendly and reasonable people who only want the best for Adam and co.
begging for air.
“Where is that?” Adam asked. Kiera didn’t answer and this seemed to anger him, as he lifted her off the ground with only… more one hand. Her feet kicked but couldn’t find anything solid. “Where?” He demanded again. Kiera attempted to answer, but just couldn’t get any words out.
“Adam, stop. You’re killing her!” Kasey said. Adam looked from Kiera to Kasey, then back to Kiera.
“Do you trust her, Kas?” Adam asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean we should kill her.” Kasey answered.
“Fine.” Adam said as he dropped Kiera. She landed ungracefully on her side, grabbing at her throat and breathing heavily. Adam bent down next to her. “Where are we?” He asked.
“Rosenberg Research-“ Keira began.
“Stop with that shit. Where is this place?” He asked.
“I-I don’t know.” Keira answered. Adam’s face twisted with rage.
“I’m not in the mood to be playing games with you right now!” He yelled at her. She could feel his hand wrapp… [view original content]
Adam looked at Doctor Rosenberg. Then to the woman he was holding like a shield. It didn’t take a doctor to tell she was scared. Adam could hear her choking on tears in a failed attempt to hold them back.
“Okay… Okay.” Adam said as he released his grip on Kiera. She dropped to the floor and propped herself up against the bed Kasey was laying on. She continued to gasp for air as she wiped the tears from her eyes and the blood from her nose.
“Good.” Rosenberg said. “Doctor Peppers, are you alright?” He asked.
“I’m… I’ll be fine.” She responded in a small shaky voice. He locked his eyes on her.
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest up a little. I’ll contact you if I need any assistance.” Rosenberg said. Kiera nodded and took a deep breath before she stood up and slowly walked away, out the set of double doors. After Adam heard the sound of the door latching back shut Rosenberg turned his attention back to Adam and smiled. “It looks like the rest of the pack has joined us.” He said. Adam looked over his shoulder. He saw Micheal and Callista standing next to each other and Wade right behind them. Kasey got up from her bed and joined them.
“It looks like you’ve got some explaining to do.” Adam said.
“Indeed I do.” Rosenberg said. “Why don’t you follow me to my office, and we can get started.” He said a she turned and began walking. Adam looked to the group. Nobody objected, so he followed Rosenberg. As they walked through the halls, Rosenberg began to speak.
“Mister Becker, you really scared my employee.” He said. “You really knocked her around, so tell me; what were you trying to figure out?” He asked.
“I didn’t want to hurt her. She just kept lying to me.” Adam said.
“Lying about what exactly?” He asked, sounding almost offended. As if the thought of one of his employees lying was some great sin or something.
“She kept saying that she didn’t know where this place was.” Adam said. Rosenberg laughed like that was funny or something.
“That’s because she doesn’t know where this place is.” Rosenberg said. “I’ve gone to great lengths to keep this place hidden and off the map. I can’t just let my employees know where it is, otherwise they could tell someone.”
“None of your employees know where they are right now?” Kasey asked.
“Not a single one of them. They know just as much as you do in this case.” Rosenberg said.
“So tell me where we are.” Adam said.
“Were you not listening? I can’t tell you.” Rosenberg said.
“Why not?” Micheal asked.
“Because science does best when not governed by needless federal laws.” Rosenberg said.
“What do you mean by that?” Adam asked. “Are you doing illegal experiments or something?”
“No, not at all.” Rosenberg said. “But it is much easier to work when you don’t have the government breathing down your back every day.” He stopped walking in front of a wooden door and pulled it open. He walked in and the group followed. Rosenberg sat in a large leather chair that was on the opposite side of a larger wooden desk. “Please, take a seat.” He said, waving his hand at the five seats that were stationed in front of the desk, as if he were expecting this.
Adam walked over to one of the seats and sat down. Kasey sat on his left while Micheal sat on his right. Rosenberg smiled.
“You’re confused, you want answers. So we’ll start at the beginning of the process.” He said, as he pulled a drawer on the desk open and pulled out a stack of manila envelopes. He looked at the top on. The name ‘Adam Becker’ was written on it. “I’ll guess we’ll start with you then, Mister Becker.” He said as he opened to envelope, pulling out the documents.
“You were found unconscious in John Brain nature reserve, off the trail. There were no signs of what happened other than possible traces of drug within your system.” He said.
“I was attacked, someone attacked me.” Adam said. “I remember that.”
“You remember that?” Rosenberg asked. “That could be useful in solving your case.” He said, as he sifted through the pile. “Callista Everett, you were found in a ditch off the side of a highway. A driver saw you and brought you to a hospital, you were in a coma for over a week now.” He said.
“How did I get in a ditch?” Callista asked.
“I don’t know.” Rosenberg said. “Micheal Carter, you were found in your house. There were signs of an obvious forced entry. Samples collected from the scene have led to the arrest of two people in connection with the break in. You’ve been in a coma for the same amount of time as Callista.”
“What about my sister? Do you know anything about her?” He asked. Rosenberg shook his head.
“Up until this point, I was unaware that you even had a sister. I’m sorry.” Rosenberg said. “Kasey Grey, you were found outside a bar in downtown Dayton. You were beat up pretty badly. You’ve been out for a little under a month now.” Kasey’s jaw dropped.
“What? How? I don’t remember anything…” She said.
“Wade, you’ve been in a coma ever since your freshman year of high school, when you were hit by a car.”
“My freshman year? What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.
“Three years, Wade. You’ve been in a coma for three years.” Rosenberg said.
“Three years? But how?” He asked. “That’s not possible. It can’t be.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. I think it’s also appropriate to tell you now; Your mother died two weeks ago in a car crash. I am sorry.” Rosenberg said. Wade shook his head.
“No, that’s not true. It can’t be. My mother died when I was just I kid. I was the one that killed her.” Wade said. Rosenberg shook his head.
“That seems to just not be the case.” Rosenberg said.
“But then how do you explain the fact that I remember her dying? How do you explain the fact that I was only in that place for a few days?” He asked.
“Wade, the unconscious mind has no sense of time.” Rosenberg said. “You mind was lying to you.”
“How much of it is real?” He asked.
“Probably none of it.” Rosenberg said.
“You mean that everything that happened in that… Dream or whatever…”
“It was all false.” Rosenberg said. “What exactly happened in that dream?” He asked.
“We were all in a high school, trapped. There was a barrier keeping us from leaving Xenia. And these …creatures that kept attacking us.” Wade explained.
“And you all shared this dream?” Rosenberg asked.
“Yes.” Adam said. The rest nodded.
“Then it worked. I liked all of your minds into one. This is amazing!” He said.
“Wait, hold on. Liked our minds?” Adam asked.
“To put it simply, I plugged all of your brains into the same system so you would share on brain, one mind, but still function as separate beings. The dream was just you all being stuck in each other’s minds. The whole process worked, and it woke you all up.” Rosenberg said.
“Wait, so they were in my head? Are they still in my head?” Kasey asked.
“Yes, and no. Nobody was in your head, exactly. But everyone was in the mind of each other simultaneously.” Rosenberg said. “But, as soon as you woke up, the system destroyed itself. Nobody is in your mind, trust me.”
“I don’t know if I can.” Kasey said.
“Your experiment, did it do anything to us? Change us?” Micheal asked.
“Not that I know of.” Rosenberg said. “Why? Are you feeling different?”
“No, I just don’t like the idea of somebody messing with my head while I’m in a coma.” Micheal said.
“Of course to determine the full extent of your recovery, we need to do tests on each of you individually.” Rosenberg said.
“What kind of test?” Adam asked.
“A blood test, for starters, will help us get a good idea. We’ll go through CT scans and MRI’s. X-rays too.” Rosenberg explained.
“What if I don’t want to be tested?” Callista asked.
“We can’t force you to be tested. But honestly, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to be. You five are the best thing that’ve happened to science in a long time.” Rosenberg said. “Your families each gave me permission to use you all in my experiments, it was under their blessing that I’ve brought you here. I don’t want to force you into anything, or make you do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. But, the testing will help in possibly finding out what ended your coma.” He went on. Callista sat back in her chair.
“And our families, when can we see them?” Kasey asked.
“As soon as we can get you back to them the better. We don’t want to keep you here any longer than necessary, so you can get back to your lives.” Rosenberg said.
“I’m in.” Wade said. “Any test you want, I’m in.”
“Are you sure?” Rosenberg asked. “You don’t have to do this.”
“This entire time, I thought I was fifteen and stuck in some hell on Earth, I thought I killed my mother and my friends. Then I wake up, I’m apparently what? Eighteen and the only life I knew was a lie? This is simultaneously the best and worst day of my life.” Wade said. “If there’s anything I can do to stop this from happening to anyone else, I’m in. I don’t care what the others think, I don’t care that I don’t know if I can trust you. I’m in.” He said.
“Thank you, Mister Davis. Your willingness to contribute is heroic.” Rosenberg said.
“I guess I’m in too.” Adam said. “After all that’s happened, I don’t even know if this is even real.”
“I assure you this is real.” Rosenberg said. “That or we’re both inside another dream within a dream.”
“I fucking hope not. It’s already hurting my head.” Adam said.
“Fine… I’ll do it.” Kasey said. “I just hate needles.” Rosenberg smiled.
“We’ll try to be gentle.” He promised.
“If the kid can do it, so can I.” Micheal said.
“I’d hate to be the odd one out here, but…” Callista began, but then noticed everyone was looking at her. “Fine. I’ll do it.” She said gruffly.
“That’s good. But keep in mind, you aren’t being forced to do anything. If one of the tests makes you uncomfortable, you can back out at any time and no one will looks at you any differently.” Rosenberg said.
“What do we do now?” Adam asked.
“I guess we prep you for a blood test.” Rosenberg said.
……………
Adam sat in the cold room. Maybe the room wasn’t cold, but the dumb hospital robe he was wearing made it feel that way. He’d woken up in this thing. There weren’t any real clothes around here anywhere, so the robe it was.
Maybe he could nick one of the doctors sets of clothes. If any of them were his size, or even if they weren’t for that matter. Hey, they invented belts for a reason after all.
The room was small, just an examination bed, a sink and counter, a computer and a stool. Nothing else, apparently this Rosenberg guy wasn’t fond of decorations. And Adam really wasn’t fond of long waits. He was kicking his feet against the bed he sat on.
He’d been waiting for a doctor to come in for only a couple of minutes, but in a blank room, it felt like an eternity. He was beginning to get boarded… And curious.
He got up from the bed, his bare feet hitting the ground. That’s another thing, he didn’t have shoes either. What the hell is wrong with this place?
He walked across the small room and sat down on the stool, moving over towards the computer. He looked at the screen, a blank black one. Hitting the power button, the screen came to life. It was quick to load up, like a good new computer. Not the cheap ones they had at his doctors. He sighed as he realized the computer was password protected.
“You know, patients don’t usually use the doctor’s computer.” A voice said, as the door opened. Adam spun around on the chair and faced the doctor.
“Sorry… Just snooping around.” Adam said as he looked over the doctor. His sly smile faded and a pang of guilt hit when he realized it was doctor Peppers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she was wearing a lab coat. She had a shirt pulled up over her neck in an attempt to hide the bruises, which were pretty prevalent on her pale skin. Adam bit his lip.
“Why don’t you take a seat up there on the bed and we’ll get started.” She said, almost acting like nothing ever happened. Like Adam hadn’t tried to choke her to death not long ago. Adam nodded and walked from the stool over to the bed. Kiera sat down in the stool and typed into the computer, then turned to Adam.
“I guess you already know my name, so we’ll skip the formalities.” She said.
“Sorry… About that. I just didn’t know what was happening.” Adam said.
“You don’t need to apologize, it was just your response to fear.” She said.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked.
“I’m fine, just some bruises and a bloody nose.” She said. “But it would seem like it’s my turn to deal some pain. Blood samples are always fun.” She said. “It shouldn’t take long. All we need is one sample and after that we should be able to replicate you samples in our lab.” She explained.
“Sounds high tech.” Adam said.
“A little.” She said as she walked over to Adam, and grabbed his right arm. “Alright, can you make a fist for me.” She said. Adam clenched his fist tight. Kiera placed a finger on the inside of his elbow and felt around a little. “Good news, It seems like you have good veins.”
“That’s good? Never thought ‘good veins’ were high on the list of things that make people attractive.” Adam said.
“You’re cute.” She said. “You know, when you’re not trying to choke me to death.”
“I said I was sorry.” Adam said.
“I was just poking a little fun. We’re good, trust me.” She said. “Alright, I’ll go get some tubes and we can start.” She said.
“Yes, please drain me of the fluid that keeps me alive. I’m sure that’ll make me feel better.” Adam said.
“I just can’t help it. Being a vampire and all.” She said as she turned and walked out the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She said.
“Can’t wait.” Adam said as he watched her leave. As the door clicked shut Adam stood up and walked over to the computer. Now he knew it was working. The screen had by now shut off, so he gave the space bar a few taps before the screen blinked back on.
Adam was greeted by a picture of surprisingly happy people. Two of them. One of them was obviously Kiera, just a little younger. Her auburn eyes looked happily into the camera. Beside her stood a man Adam hadn’t seen before. He was a lot taller than Kiera, which really wasn’t hard. Kiera was pretty small. He was wearing sunglasses, but Adam could see his short dark hair. He was smiling too. The two of them were standing in front of what looked like the Rock and Roll hall of fame.
“That’s an old picture.” Kiera said as she walked back into the room. “I just can’t get it off the computer for some reason.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” Adam said.
“You obviously did.” Kiera said with a bright laugh. “Don’t worry, he’s nobody. Just a bad memory.”
“What happened?” Adam asked as he walked back over to the bed.
“His name was Derrick. We met in a bar. I was drunk, and thought it was love. He didn’t. He’s most of the reason I packed up and left Cleveland.” She said.
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam said.
“Don’t be.” She said. “I think it happened for a reason.”
“And what reason would that be?” Adam asked.
“I’m here now, aren’t I? Working on one of the biggest breakthroughs in history.” She said. “If it weren’t for him I would’ve never have thought of leaving Cleveland.”
“You’re very optimistic.” Adam said. “Like almost annoyingly optimistic.”
“I’m not optimistic.” She said. “I’m just trying to live before I die.” She said as she moved the stool over next to Adam. “You ready?” She asked.
“I was born ready.” Adam said. Moments later he had a needle deep in his arm and blood flowing though it into a tube that slowly filled up with the red life juice. When the tube filled, Kiera pulled it out and replaced it with a new one.
“How many of those are you doing?” Adam asked.
“Three.” She said. “Why? Is it starting to hurt?” She teased. Adam smiled.
“Not at all.” Adam said.
“That’s good.” She said. “One more to go.” She said as she put a new tube in.
“So you’re from Cleveland?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. Born and raised.” She said.
“I was born in Florida. I moved here after I got back from Iraq.” Adam said.
“You were in the army?” She asked.
“A few years.” Adam said.
“My brother served in Iraq too.” She said. “When he came back he was never the same.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam said.
“Stop being sorry.” Keira said.
“Sorry.” Adam said.
“Seriously?” She said.
“I just can’t help it.” Adam said.
“That might be a good thing.” She said. “It looks like we’re just about done here.” She said as she took off the last tube. She slowly pulled out the needle and held a wad of gauze to where the hole in his skin was. After a moment she took the wad off and threw it in a trash can. She placed a new wad where the old one was, and this time placed a Band-Aid on top of it to hold it on. “You should keep that on for at least an hour.” She said. Adam raised an eyebrow.
“A pink Band-Aid?” He asked. “Seriously?” He asked. She smiled.
“Revenge is sweet.” She said. “Though, I hardly call it revenge. It’ll just be funny watching your friends pick on you.” She said.
“You’re evil, you know that?” Adam asked.
“I know.” She said. “I’m pure evil. With all my pink Band-Aids and gauze pads.” Adam shook his head.
“I guess that means we’re done?” He asked. She nodded.
“You can go.” She said. “But hey, if you’d like, stop by my room after a while. I have something I’d like to show you.” She said.
[Meet Keira at her room] Well... I ship it already XD
That part indeed answered some of my earlier questions, but at the same time, it gave me a couple of new questions. Most importantly, I am curious about Dr. Rosenberg's goals. While I don't doubt that he told them the truth in this part, I doubt he told them the full truth. The line about how easy it is to work without the government breathing down his neck gave me a bad feeling about his true intentions. While he seems friendly, he also strikes me as the shady kind of person and I bet he has some sort of ulterior motive. I wouldn't even be surprised if he ends up being connected to Leland as some sort of secondary antagonist, or maybe even as the man behind the man. Then there's the deal with Wade and his fake memories. As far as we know, none of the others have these fake memories, though in his case it might be an aftereffect of his long time in a coma. Finally, something I just realized while I was writing this, what happened to their super powers? Were they also just part of the shared dream, or are they actually real? And if they aren't real, I am curious what this means for Julia, Gilligan, Dana, but also for Leland, Piper and the other mutants we encountered. I'm loving how every new part gives me two new questions for every answer
Adam Becker
Adam looked at Doctor Rosenberg. Then to the woman he was holding like a shield. It didn’t take a doctor to tell she was scar… moreed. Adam could hear her choking on tears in a failed attempt to hold them back.
“Okay… Okay.” Adam said as he released his grip on Kiera. She dropped to the floor and propped herself up against the bed Kasey was laying on. She continued to gasp for air as she wiped the tears from her eyes and the blood from her nose.
“Good.” Rosenberg said. “Doctor Peppers, are you alright?” He asked.
“I’m… I’ll be fine.” She responded in a small shaky voice. He locked his eyes on her.
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest up a little. I’ll contact you if I need any assistance.” Rosenberg said. Kiera nodded and took a deep breath before she stood up and slowly walked away, out the set of double doors. After Adam heard the sound of the door latching back shut Rosenberg turned his attention back to Adam an… [view original content]
Finally, something I just realized while I was writing this, what happened to their super powers? Were they also just part of the shared dream, or are they actually real? And if they aren't real, I am curious what this means for Julia, Gilligan, Dana, but also for Leland, Piper and the other mutants we encountered. I'm loving how every new part gives me two new questions for every answer
I really wish I could just say everything that ran through my mind. But that would ruin the story, so I can't. So, Like a broken record I say, Stay tuned!
[Meet Keira at her room] Well... I ship it already XD
That part indeed answered some of my earlier questions, but at the same time, it ga… moreve me a couple of new questions. Most importantly, I am curious about Dr. Rosenberg's goals. While I don't doubt that he told them the truth in this part, I doubt he told them the full truth. The line about how easy it is to work without the government breathing down his neck gave me a bad feeling about his true intentions. While he seems friendly, he also strikes me as the shady kind of person and I bet he has some sort of ulterior motive. I wouldn't even be surprised if he ends up being connected to Leland as some sort of secondary antagonist, or maybe even as the man behind the man. Then there's the deal with Wade and his fake memories. As far as we know, none of the others have these fake memories, though in his case it might be an aftereffect of his long time in a coma. Finally, something I just real… [view original content]
Adam Becker
Adam looked at Doctor Rosenberg. Then to the woman he was holding like a shield. It didn’t take a doctor to tell she was scar… moreed. Adam could hear her choking on tears in a failed attempt to hold them back.
“Okay… Okay.” Adam said as he released his grip on Kiera. She dropped to the floor and propped herself up against the bed Kasey was laying on. She continued to gasp for air as she wiped the tears from her eyes and the blood from her nose.
“Good.” Rosenberg said. “Doctor Peppers, are you alright?” He asked.
“I’m… I’ll be fine.” She responded in a small shaky voice. He locked his eyes on her.
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest up a little. I’ll contact you if I need any assistance.” Rosenberg said. Kiera nodded and took a deep breath before she stood up and slowly walked away, out the set of double doors. After Adam heard the sound of the door latching back shut Rosenberg turned his attention back to Adam an… [view original content]
Adam Becker
Adam looked at Doctor Rosenberg. Then to the woman he was holding like a shield. It didn’t take a doctor to tell she was scar… moreed. Adam could hear her choking on tears in a failed attempt to hold them back.
“Okay… Okay.” Adam said as he released his grip on Kiera. She dropped to the floor and propped herself up against the bed Kasey was laying on. She continued to gasp for air as she wiped the tears from her eyes and the blood from her nose.
“Good.” Rosenberg said. “Doctor Peppers, are you alright?” He asked.
“I’m… I’ll be fine.” She responded in a small shaky voice. He locked his eyes on her.
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest up a little. I’ll contact you if I need any assistance.” Rosenberg said. Kiera nodded and took a deep breath before she stood up and slowly walked away, out the set of double doors. After Adam heard the sound of the door latching back shut Rosenberg turned his attention back to Adam an… [view original content]
“Fine. We do it.” Julia decided. “But you’re taking the fall if we get caught.” She said. He smiled.
“So you’re going to blame your mistakes on the kid?” He asked.
“My mistakes?” She asked. “It was your idea in the first place.” She said.
“It was a joke.” He said. “Now let’s get moving, we’ve got some ground to cover between here and the SEM’s.” He said.
“Great.” Julia said. “You know, this is exactly how I pictured my day going.” She went on.
“I could say the same exact thing.” Gilligan responded as he started walking, with Julia following right behind him.
Dana Grey
“I’ll talk to her, I guess.” Dana said.
“Good luck, Zombie.” Tank said. Dana looked at Ghost, who sat on the edge of her cot staring at one of the cabin’s walls. She pursed her lips as began walking over towards her. She sat down on the adjacent bed.
“So…” Dana began, trying to start a conversation.
“So what?” She asked.
“The guys just wanted me to find out what was up.” Dana said. Ghost huffed.
“Absolutely nothing is wrong.” She said. “So just do us all a favor and fuck off.”
“I wish I could.” Dana said.
“Then why don’t you? Why don’t you just run away, or maybe try to kill yourself again?” She asked. Dana sighed at the comment.
“Because I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.” Dana said. “I don’t know why you hate me so much, but I intend on finding out.”
“Who says I hate you?” She asked. “I don’t hate you at all.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Dana asked.
“Do you know how long I’ve been here, how long I’ve waited to find out what my power was?” She asked.
“No, I don’t.” Dana admitted.
“More than half my life.” She said. “Half of my life, going from this cabin to training, then to psych so they can experiment on me and always come up inconclusive. I know that the tests are screwy, and the first and second tests usually don’t even yield anything at all. But the seventy-fifth? I should have something by now. I should be out of here by now.” She said, her eyes not moving from a fixed point on the wall. “But you, you just walk in there one day and all the sudden you’re the star of the show. I don’t hate you, I envy you.” She said. Dana shook her head in disbelief.
“I thought that is was that easy for everyone.” She said.
“No. It’s not.” Ghost said. “By now they even doubt I have powers anymore. Which is what scares me.”
“What scares you about it?” Dana asked.
“Do you know what they do to people that have no purpose?” She asked.
“What do you mean?” Dana asked.
“Just follow me. I’ll show you what fuels my nightmares.” She said.
Julia Carter
The base was mostly empty right now, thankfully. Most of the people seemed to have gone home for the day, and the ones that are still here were easy to avoid.
“There it is, right there” Gilligan said, pointing out a large brick structure. Julia nodded.
“Looks empty.” Julia said.
“Of course it’s empty.” Gilligan said. “It only operates during the day, the workers go home for the night.” Gilligan said.
“How do you know that?” Julia asked.
“I don’t know.” Gilligan said. “I just know.”
“Let’s go then.” Julia said. Gilligan stood and walked out of their hiding spot behind the bushes, with Julia tagging along close behind. “It’s pretty big.” Julia stated, looking at the structure.
“It’s pretty nice.” Gilligan said, as he neared the door. Without looking, Julia walked straight into somebody. Julia jumped back, and looked at them. There was a brown haired, brown eyed woman looking just as surprised as Julia looking back at her. There was another person with her, a younger girl.
“Oh, shit. Sorry.” The woman said. “I didn’t see you there.” The fear in Julia’s chest began to recede as she realized that the woman wasn’t here to go throw her in some military prison.
“I didn’t see you either.” Julia said.
“Can we cut the shit and get inside before we get caught?” The younger girl said, come to think of it, she looked a little around Gilligan’s age, maybe.
“Just tell everyone the plan, why don’t you.” The woman said. Julia noticed the girl has a crowbar.
“Are you guys headed in?” Julia asked. The woman huffed.
“Look, I don’t want to hurt anyone, but if I have to I will. You’ve got to keep your mouth shut about this. We were never here.” The woman said.
“If you’re planning on breaking down the door, think again. It’s bulletproof glass, it’s going to take a little more than blunt force to open it.” Gilligan said.
“You got a better idea, pretty boy?” The girl said.
“Yes, actually.” Gilligan said, pulling out the security card.
“Shit! They’re one of them.” The girl said, reading the crowbar for an attack.
“Wait! We’re not one of them.” Julia said. “We stole it. We stole the security key.” She said.
“So now we’re dining with thieves?” The woman said.
“Better than what we had a second ago.” The girl said. “On with it, get the door open.” She said
“On it.” Gilligan said as he stepped up to the door and swiped the key in the card reader. After a few seconds the red light flashed green and the locks unlatched.
“So what brings you guys here on his fine night?” The woman asked.
“Safety.” Julia said. “And you?”
“Just the opposite.” She said as Gilligan pulled the door open and the four of them stepped inside. Gilligan began to walk forward, but the girl stuck her arm out and stopped him.
“Don’t make another move.” She said.
“Why?” He asked.
“Security, dumb ass.” She said as she pulled out what looked like a cell phone and began typing into it. Julia looked up and saw what she was talking about, security cameras. The red light was on on the security cameras.
“So you were going to smash the door to get it open, but you took into account the security cameras?” Gilligan asked.
“Maybe I don’t have the best plan for everything.” The girl said as she continued typing. “Zombie, take two steps to the left.” She said. The woman complied and stepped to her left two steps.
Zombie? What kind of name was that?
“Okay.” This ‘Zombie’ said.
“Turn around, on the wall is a box.” The girl said.
“Got it.” Zombie said.
“Open the panel.” The girl said. “Then flip the switch.” She said. There was a rattling sound.
“It’s locked.” Zombie said. The girl sighed.
“Okay, I don’t know your name, but come here.” The girl said, in the dark it was hard to tell who she was talking to, but Julia figured it was her since she was standing right next to Gilligan.
“It’s Julia.” Julia said.
“Did I say I cared?” The girl asked. “Come here.” She said, Julia cautiously stepped forward, the girl reached back and placed the crowbar in her hand without turning. “Break the box open.” She said. Julia nodded and backed away, and then realized that she wouldn’t have been able to see her nodding.
Julia got to the box on the wall and looked at it, there was a key hole on the right side of the box, hinges on the left. She slid the crowbar under the lip of the panel and began to pull on it.
“A little help maybe?” Julia asked.
“On it.” Zombie said, Julia felt her warm hands brush over hers and grip the crow bar.
“Ready?” Julia asked.
“Yeah.” She responded.
“Pull.” Julia said. The two of them put all of their strength, backed with their weight, in to the crowbar. They heard the panel bending out of shape and the a snapping sound. The panel swung open and the crowbar flew from Julia’s hands. Luckily for her, Dana had seemingly fast reflexes and was able to grab the bar before it hit the ground.
“Okay, just hit the switch?” Zombie asked.
“Yeah.” The girl responded. Zombie put her hand on the switch that was near the top, and gave it a flip. It seemed like nothing happened. Julia turned around. “We’re good.” The girl said, not whispering anymore. Julia saw that the red light that was on the cameras was out.
“Where are you two headed?” Zombie asked Julia.
“We didn’t have any particular place in mind.” Julia said.
“You two can tag along.” The girl said. “But you may not like what you find.” She said.
“Where are you two headed?” Julia asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know.” The girl said. “All I know is I want to know what’s happening behind the sealed door.”
“What sealed door?” Julia asked. The girl looked at Julia.
“I’ve been here for a long time. I know a lot of things, I know most things about this base. But I’ve come to find out that they’re hiding something down under this building. I’ve been near it a few times, but the door is locked. Sealed tight. I’ve also come to notice that people that are no longer useful tend to disappear without a trace. I think I’ve put two and two together, and I think it has something to do with the door.” The girl said.
“This is getting a little creepy. We came here for safety.” Gilligan said. The girl nodded slowly as she continued walking.
“I wanted to ask you about that.” She said. And Julia jogged the catch up with her.
“About what?” Julia asked.
“What exactly are you looking for safety from?” She asked.
“It’s not what so much as Who.” Julia said. “His name is Leland Frey.” The girl went dead silent.
“So you have the powers?” She asked.
“Yes.” Julia answered. “Do you?”
“I don’t.” She answered. “Zombie does. She’s a time traveler.”
“I got shot in the heart and didn’t die.” Julia said.
“Nice.” The girl said as she looked to her right. “We go down from here.” She said.
“I’m not sure if I want to go.” Julia said.
“How about this, you head down with us and check it out. After that, if you don’t want to head in, we go our separate ways.” Zombie said.
“I’m not sure.” Julia said.
“Would you rather be completely alone in this entire facitly?” The girl asked.
“You bring up a good point.” Julia said. “Fine, lead the way.” Julia said. The girl nodded and started down the stairs, with Gilligan beside her. Julia followed behind her with Zombie next to her.
“This place give me the creeps.” She said. Julia laughed. “What?” She asked.
“I just thought someone named Zombie wouldn’t be afraid of something like this is all.” Julia said. She laughed.
“It’s just a nickname.” She said.
“I never would’ve guessed.” Julia said.
“It’s because I died.” She explained. “I tried to kill myself with a heroin overdose. My heart stopped, but they brought me back.” She went on. “My real name is Dana.”
“Why did you try to kill yourself?” Julia asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It was stupid. I was stupid.” She said. “I don’t know if I want to talk about it now if that’s okay.”
“No, that’s fine.” Julia said. “That’s your business, not mine.” She said. “How far down does this staircase go?” Julia asked.
“Sublevel five.” The girl responded.
“Damn that’s deep.” Julia said.
“I never once in my life ever thought I’d see the inside of Wright Patt, and here I am. Breaking in.” Dana said, waving her hand around. Julia caught a glint coming off a small band on her finger.
“Are you married?” Julia asked.
“I was engaged.” Dana said. “It kind of ended after I tried to kill myself.”
“Why do you still wear the ring then?” Julia asked.
“Because I still hope I can fix it before it’s too late.” She said.
“That’s admirable.” Julia said. “What was his name?” She asked.
“Her name was Sophie.” Dana answered.
“Oh, sorry.” Julia said.
“You two, cut the chit chat.” The girl said. “We’re getting close.”
“Is she always like this?” Julia asked.
“No.” Dana answered. “Most of the time Ghost doesn’t even talk at all.”
“Her name is Ghost?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
The four of them came to a stop on a landing where the stairs ended. The darkness was only subsidized by a single red light the shined above a large metal door with the marking ‘S-5’ on it. Ghost ran her hand across the doors surface.
“Holy shit.” She said.
“What is it?” Dana asked.
“This door is made out of a MMC.” She said.
“Can you repeat that in English?” Julia asked.
“It’s made out of a Metal matrix composite. It’s a composite material, like carbon fiber.” She said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Julia asked.
“Because MMC’s are not only useful building materials, but they’re also useful at absorbing powers. Your powers won’t work on the other side of this door.” Ghost said.
“So your saying if I get shot I won’t be walking away?” Julia asked.
“Not a chance.” Ghost said. “But I’ve lived this long without powers. I don’t see why you can’t live without yours for a few minutes. There shouldn’t be anyone in there, the building’s supposed to be empty. Besides…” She went on, grabbing the door handle and giving it a tug, the door squeaked open. “If it was important enough to be guarded, they wouldn’t leave the door unlocked.”
Choice
[Go in and look]
[Stay]
Adam Becker
About half an hour had passed now. He promised he’d stop by after the exam, but he was just waiting. He didn’t want to show up to quickly and look weird.
“Are you waiting for something?” Kas asked as she appeared next to him. He was the first one to get back from the exam, but they were all going back to the same place, the observation room. The same room they woke up in.
“Not particularly.” Adam said. “How’d the exam go?” He asked.
“You mean other than the fact that I totally passed out once they brought out the needles?” She asked. “It went great. I’m the pinnacle of health.” She said.
“You passed out?” Adam laughed. Kas punched him in the arm.
“I’m scared of needles.” Kas said, almost angrily.
“It was brave of you to do it anyways.” Adam said to her.
“You should’ve seen the nurse’s face. When I woke up, he looked like he saw a ghost.” She said. “And then he look like he was just trying not to laugh.” She said.
“It does sound pretty funny.” Adam said.
“For who?” She asked.
“For me.” Adam said.
“Good for you.” Kas said as she stood up. “Oh, and nice pink band-aid by the way.” She said as she walked away.
“You weren’t supposed to notice that.” Adam called after her as she walked away. He knew she wasn’t going far. She was most likely going to lay down on her bed. Adam sighed and forced himself to stand up. He probably shouldn’t wait any longer. He began walking towards the doors to the room.
“Where you going?” Kas called after him.
“Just going on a walk.” He said.
“Uh-huh.” Kas said, unconvinced. Adam ignored it and pushed through the doors. Keira had given him detailed directions to get to her room. Hopefully he’d be able to remember them… Hopefully. He began walking through the halls, seemingly lost. It was obvious he didn’t remember any of the directions, and everything in this place looked the same. He swore he’d been walking in circles for the last five minutes.
As he walked, he did remember something: He wasn’t totally lost. He was just… lost. The rooms had numbers on them, every room had a number. He was walking past room 23 right now, Keira said her room number was room 3. Up ahead was room 24. He was walking in the wrong direction. He turned around and began walking back the way he came, now ashamed of getting lost inside a confined area.
The numbers began counting down until he finally reached room 3. He paused at the door, looking at it. It was a plain white metal door with no window. Hopefully this was the right one. He lifted his hand to the frame and knocked on it. After a short pause he began wondering if he’d gone to the wrong place.
“It’s not locked.” Keira’s voice called from inside. Adam grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, walking into the room. The door began to swing shut behind him. He looked around the room. It was cozy, the walls were all white, but Keira seemed to have found a way to cope with that. The walls were adorned with multiple pictures that looked as if they were printed off an old polaroid camera. The pictures were of different things, but most of them had lots of people in them. Or animals.
There was a desk against the back wall, it had multiple books on it. Lots of sci-fi novels by the looks of it. A laptop was sitting shut on the middle of the desk with multiple stickers covering its lid. The door was situated on the right of the room. Looking to his left, he saw a bed. The covers were a dark orange color.
Keira was laying on the bed, throwing a ball at the ceiling, catching it every time it came down. She’d traded her lab coat and dress pants for a rusty orange hoodie and dark blue jeans that hugged her body tightly. Her shoes were laying at the foot of her bed, but her socks, oddly enough, were an orange color.
“I’ll take it you like orange.” Adam said. She smiled as she put the ball on her night stand that was next to her bed and sat up, dangling her feet off the edge of the bed. Her long dark hair now fell free and cascaded down her shoulders. She looked over Adam with her eyes.
“What gave it away?” She asked. “I try to hide it so well.”
“You might want to try a little harder then.” He said. She laughed.
“I’ll take that into account.” She said, moving over on the bed. She patted the spot next to her. “Come on, sit down. You don’t have to be such an awkward person and stand there.” She said. Adam smiled.
“Me, awkward?” He asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “How’s your nose?” He asked. She looked at him with an honest look.
“I’m fine, seriously.” She said. “It only stung for a few minutes. I’m fine now. You don’t have to feel bad about anything.”
“You are freakishly calm about this, you know.” Adam said.
“I have to be, otherwise I’d blow a gasket being trapped in this place for as long as I’ve been here.” She said.
“How long have you been here?” He asked.
“I’ve been here an entire week.” She said. “Regularly we’re switched out every three to four days to prevent cabin fever.” She said.
“Why have you been here so long then?” He asked.
“The person who was supposed to replace me came down with the flu. I still could’ve left, but one of the crew here on base got sick and I felt like it was just wrong to leave them.” She said.
“So you’ve trapped yourself in this cage for a week because someone got sick?” Adam asked.
“It seems to have paid off.” She said.
“How’s that?” He asked.
“For the first time in my life, I’m part of something important. I’m actually doing something that might change the world. It was always my dream to be part of something big, and here I am.” She said. “I think my next step is going to be… World domination.” Adam laughed.
“Don’t get a big head or anything.” He said.
“What?” She asked. “I think I’d make a great global dictator.”
“I’m sure you would.” Adam laughed. “So, uh, what was it you wanted to show me?” He asked. She smiled and stood up from the bed, walking over to her dresser, her bare feet hitting the weird office-type carpet they put in the room, which was an offset grey.
She pulled open one of the drawers and rummaged through it for a second. She pulled out something, a certain blue something, actually. Scrubs. She handed the scrubs to Adam.
“I thought you were getting a little tired of the robe, so I got you these.” She said. “They’re not much better but at least they cover more.” She said. Adam smiled.
“There’s no way your clothes are going to fit me.” He said. She laughed.
“And that’s why I borrowed them from doctor Randall.” She said.
“You say borrow in such a way that I don’t believe you actually borrowed them.” He said. She smiled at him.
“He won’t miss them.” She said. “He’s about your size so they should fit okay.” She said. Adam took the cloths.
“Thank you for this.” He said.
“No problem.” She said as she sat back down next to him.
“You seem… Normal.” Adam said.
“Explain normal.” She pressed.
“Normal as in the type of person that wouldn’t sign up to pretty much get abducted.
“I came here on my own choice.” She said. “I thought it would help me clear my head after all the junk that was in my life. And for the most part, it did.” She said. “You know, I could say the same thing about you. You look normal too, but there’s obviously more to it than that. People are complex, no one set of rules are standard for human beings.” She said.
“Don’t go all philosophical on me now.” Adam said. She laughed.
“That was one of my top career choices actually.” She said.
“A career in philosophy?” He asked.
“Kinda.” She said.
“I’ve ever been big on philosophical stuff.” Adam said.
“Neither was I.” She said. “That was my dad’s choice.” She laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “But he died when I was young so I gave up on that idea.” She said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I know what that’s like.” Adam said.
“I know. He was a good man, just a little hard headed is all.” She said, with a heavy sigh at the end. The two sat in silence for a little while. “You know, if you want to change into those new cloths you can use my bathroom.” She said, pointing out an adjoining bathroom that really wasn’t big at all.
“Thanks.” Adam said as he stood up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He quickly ditched the robe and pulled on the scrubs, happy to find they fit him well. Once he was content, he opened the door and walked back into the room. Keira whistled at him.
“Look at you, the new model for the ER collection this fall.” She said. Adam laughed and faked striking a ridiculous pose. Keira laughed and fell back onto the bed. Her laugher proved contagious, as Adam was soon falling to the floor laughing.
Keira wiped a tear away from her eye and looked at Adam.
“I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” She said.
“I didn’t know I could laugh.” Adam said as he stood back up.
“You know, this is quickly turning out to be the best mistake I ever made.” She said, with a smile. But it quickly faded when a metallic sound filled both of their ears. The door’s lock had just engaged. Adam turned towards the door. Seconds after he heard a muffled alarm go off out in the hallway. He turned and looked at Kiera.
“What’s happening?” He asked.
“I… I don’t know.” She said. “This could be one of two things.” She said quickly like her mind was racing.
“And that is?” He asked. She look at Adam, fear in her eyes. Her eyebrow quivered.
“Either it’s an unannounced drill… Or there’s a containment breach.”
[Stay] Sure, Julia survived the first two decades of her life without regenerative superpowers. However, at the same time, all it takes is a single, well-aimed shot and she's dead. Considering how quickly and unexpectedly her first (albeit thankfully temporary) death came, I don't want to risk it.
Also, there's something I noticed that made an odd amount of sense and kinda answers some of my earlier questions. There is the thing that Adam, Michael and co. had powers in their simulation, but not after they woke up. There's also the thing Dana just said, about the area behind that door absorbing powers and the containment breach that happened in Adam's part, just after Dana opened the door. It might just be a freaky coincidence, that one door gets opened and that there's a containment breach in the facility at the same time, but it seems likely that the area behind the door is in fact the facility the rest of our heroes is currently located at and that the absence of their powers is the result of this MMC stuff. Now, as much as I'd love a reunion between Michael and Julia, the security inside of this building seems to be the kind that is not fucking around, considering that their first reaction apparently is to lock the scientists inside of their rooms. It is likely that the facility security is the kind of security that shoots first and asks questions later, which is something I won't risk for Julia.
That makes me think, what if the facility people, Rosenberg and co., end up as the bad guys and Leland ends up as a misunderstood freedom fighter and the big good guy in turn? That's probably super-tinfoil, but the only ones who ever claimed him to be a dangerous serial killer are the military people, who might as well have their own nefarious goals with the mutants, especially if my earlier theory about Rosenberg lying to Adam and co. turns out to be true. Yeah, I know, it's probably a bit too far fetched, but its still an interesting theory, right?
pretty much get abducted.” Adam said.
“I came here on my own choice.” She said. “I thought it would help me clear my head after all the j… moreunk that was in my life. And for the most part, it did.” She said. “You know, I could say the same thing about you. You look normal too, but there’s obviously more to it than that. People are complex, no one set of rules are standard for human beings.” She said.
“Don’t go all philosophical on me now.” Adam said. She laughed.
“That was one of my top career choices actually.” She said.
“A career in philosophy?” He asked.
“Kinda.” She said.
“I’ve ever been big on philosophical stuff.” Adam said.
“Neither was I.” She said. “That was my dad’s choice.” She laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “But he died when I was young so I gave up on that idea.” She said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I know what that’s like.” Adam said.
“I know. He was a good man, just a little hard headed is al… [view original content]
Safety should come first. If they all go through the door and if it turns out to be a bad idea, the chance is higher that they all get captured. Someone should stay behind to provide backup if things get bad in there. And if Julia gets in danger while staying back, all she has to do is to step through the door and she will be safe, at least from Leland. It sounds safer for everyone that way.
pretty much get abducted.” Adam said.
“I came here on my own choice.” She said. “I thought it would help me clear my head after all the j… moreunk that was in my life. And for the most part, it did.” She said. “You know, I could say the same thing about you. You look normal too, but there’s obviously more to it than that. People are complex, no one set of rules are standard for human beings.” She said.
“Don’t go all philosophical on me now.” Adam said. She laughed.
“That was one of my top career choices actually.” She said.
“A career in philosophy?” He asked.
“Kinda.” She said.
“I’ve ever been big on philosophical stuff.” Adam said.
“Neither was I.” She said. “That was my dad’s choice.” She laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “But he died when I was young so I gave up on that idea.” She said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I know what that’s like.” Adam said.
“I know. He was a good man, just a little hard headed is al… [view original content]
If there's anything I've learned from watching movies it's mind your own business and you won't die. Well you still might die, actually... Probably even have higher chances if I'm honest..
pretty much get abducted.” Adam said.
“I came here on my own choice.” She said. “I thought it would help me clear my head after all the j… moreunk that was in my life. And for the most part, it did.” She said. “You know, I could say the same thing about you. You look normal too, but there’s obviously more to it than that. People are complex, no one set of rules are standard for human beings.” She said.
“Don’t go all philosophical on me now.” Adam said. She laughed.
“That was one of my top career choices actually.” She said.
“A career in philosophy?” He asked.
“Kinda.” She said.
“I’ve ever been big on philosophical stuff.” Adam said.
“Neither was I.” She said. “That was my dad’s choice.” She laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “But he died when I was young so I gave up on that idea.” She said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I know what that’s like.” Adam said.
“I know. He was a good man, just a little hard headed is al… [view original content]
Dana looked at Julia, she knew Julia probably wouldn’t want to go into the mysterious room, Dana didn’t fault her. They barely knew each other. She shook her head.
“No. There’s no way I’m going in there.” Julia said. Dana saw Ghost’s face change as if she was going to say something, but Dana beat her to the punch.
“That’s fine. Nobody’s making you do anything.” Dana said. “Just stay safe.” Dana saw Julia’s face shift.
“So you’re really going in there?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah. We are.” Dana said. “We both want to know what’s behind the door.” She said.
“But your powers will be gone. What if you run into trouble?” Julia said. Dana sighed.
“Last time I used my powers, I was high.” Dana said. “I don’t have any control over my powers anyways. I won’t miss them.” She said. Julia furrowed her brow, biting her lip.
“Okay.” Julia said. “Good luck in there.” She said.
“If everything goes right, we won’t need luck.” Dana said as she turned away from Julia and faced Ghost.
“Let’s go.” Ghost said, as she pushed the door, letting it swing open on its own. Dana looked back at Julia, looking at her worriedly. It didn’t feel right to split up.
“Don’t worry.” Julia said, as if reading her mind. “I’ll stay here with Gilligan. If anyone comes this way, they’ll have to go through us.” Julia said. Dana nodded to her.
“You two stay safe out here.” Dana said.
“That’s the plan.” Gilligan said. Dana gave the two a half-hearted smile before she turned away and walked through the door, following Ghost. As soon as she was through the doorway the large steel door drifted back shut with a loud thud. Dana looked around. The room they were in was no bigger than a janitors closet.
“There’s nothing here.” Ghost said.
“There has to be something.” Dana said as she kept looking around. “What about this?” She asked, as she spotted a panel in the floor. Ghost crouched down next to it, looking it over.
“There’s something under this panel.” She said.
“Can you lift it?” Dana asked.
“It’s not bolted down.” Ghost said as she gripped the sides of the panel. She pulled upwards and the panel easily came up, revealing a large open spot in the floor. There was a ladder leading downwards.
“There’s a ladder.” Dana said looking down the hole.
“How far down does it go?” Ghost asked.
“Not far. It can’t be.” Dana said, looking back up at Ghost. “I’ll go first.” She said.
“You sure?” Ghost asked.
“Yeah.” Dana said as she gripped the ladder and began climbing down, as she suspected it wasn’t far down at all. She was on the ground within a few seconds. “You can come down.” Dana called up to Ghost. She quickly began climbing down the ladder and was soon next to Dana. Dana could see light seeping in through the cracks of a doorway and she moved over towards it. She reached around and found a door handle. “You ready?” She asked Ghost.
“Not really.” Ghost answered. Dana pulled the door open, and soon as the door opened a loud siren was set off.
“What the hell is that?” Dana asked.
“Security?” Ghost asked.
“Come on, we can’t just be out in the open like this.” Dana said as she began walking down the hallway.
“Hey! Stop right there!” A man yelled. Dana looked over her shoulder and saw a group of three armed men at the opposite end of the hallway,
“Run!” Ghost yelled as she darted forward. Dana dashed after her. She knew those men were following them. As they ran, Dana saw a set of doors to her right.
“In here!” Dana said to Ghost as she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. She and Ghost ran inside and Dana threw the door shut, leaning into the door just in case those men tried to come in. Out in the hallway she heard multiple sets of heavy feet running down the hall, right past the door. Dana breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re good. They went by us.” She said.
“That’s good.” Ghost said. “But what do we do now?”
“I don’t know.” Dana said as she turned away from the door and looking into the room they were in. It was a large open area with multiple cots set up. But that’s not what drew Dana’s attention. What had her attention was the young girl that stood in the room. The girl with long blonde hair, big green eyes and pale skin.
“Dana?” She asked.
“Kas?” Dana said. Kasey instantly rushed forwards towards her and Dana wrapped her arms around her, burring her head into her sister’s shoulder.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Kas said.
“Me too.” Dana mumbled. “Where have you been?” She asked. Kas was silent.
“Here, apparently. Wherever here is.” She said. Dana pushed back from her sister, but kept her hands planted firmly on Kasey’s shoulders, looking her dead in the eye.
“You don’t know where you are?” Dana asked.
“No. They never told us.” Kasey said.
“We need to get out of here. It’s not safe here, whatever this place is.” Dana said.
“Why? The people here are nice.” Kasey said.
“Who are you?” A new voice asked, butting into the conversation. Dana instinctively pulled Kasey closer to her.
“Who are you?” Dana asked him.
“I asked first.” Dana said.
“It’s okay Micheal, this is my sister Dana.” Kasey said, defusing the situation. “Dana, this is my friend Micheal.” She said. Dana looked at him. He was very muscular with dark hair and blue eyes. Within seconds a large grin appeared on his face.
“Why didn’t you just say something?” Micheal asked. “A friend of Kasey is a friend of mine.” He said. Dana’s eye drifted back down to her sister who she was holding close to her side. She just didn’t want to let her go. Not now, not ever.
Adam Becker
Adam watched as Kiera paced around the room, looking for something. She hadn’t completely torn her room apart, but it was no longer in its completely ordered fashion anymore. Adam sighed. He hadn’t known Kiera for long, but this seemed very out of character for her. Something was really wrong.
“Kiera, just tell me what you’re looking for and maybe I can help.” Adam said. Keira ran her hands through her hair and looked over at Adam. Her eyes conveyed not fear, not anger, but something completely different, confusion maybe?
“The doors all have emergency releases. Just in case, so we don’t get locked in and die.” She said. “I need to find that so I can disengage the lock on the door.” She said.
“Why would want to do that? We’re safe in here.” Adam said. She stopped moving all together and eyed Adam.
“For how long?” She asked. “I said it was a containment breach, meaning there’s probably some sort of chemical floating in the air right now. When it’s in the air, they lock down all they ducts and ventilation so the contamination doesn’t spread. This room is air-tight. We’re not getting any fresh air. At the rate we’re consuming the air right now. We don’t have long anyways.” She said. “I have to get to the observation room and take care of the patients. That’s my job. And I can’t do that if I’m trapped in this God dammed cage!” She yelled, punching the door to the room. She staggered a few steps back, placing her hands to her temples.
“Kiera, just calm down.” Adam said. “It’ll all be okay.” He said.
“I have an idea.” She said as she walked forwards towards the door, she grabbed at the LCD screen that was displaying things like room temperature and humidity. She yanked it hard and the screen came off, exposing wires.
“Kiera, what are you doing?” Adam asked.
“If I can short the circuit the locks will disengage.” She said. “All I need to do is…” She trailed as she looked over the mess of wires. She grabbed at two of them.
“Kiera…” Adam said, trying to dissuade her from doing anything rash. She looked at the two wires and then brought the over to each other. As soon as the two wires touched there was a big spark and Kiera jumped back, tripping over a copy of The War of the Worlds which sent her to the ground. Adam rushed over to her.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” She said. “I just shocked myself.” She said. Adam looked over at the wires and at her.
“No shit?” He sarcastically asked. He held out his hand to Kiera and pulled her back up to her feet. She walked over to the door and tried the handle.
“It worked.” She said, her smile returning to her face. She looked a lot calmer now, back to the normal Kiera. “We need to get to the observation room.” She said as she pushed the door open. Adam was partially glad he didn’t instantly die the moment the door opened, it meant that whatever was in the air wouldn’t kill instantly. There’s still time.
Adam began following Kiera through the halls back towards the observation room.
“How do you not get lost in here?” Adam asked.
“Trust me, when I first got here, I couldn’t tell left from right. If you do something over and over, you get used to it.” She said.
“Seems like.” Adam said. Just as they were approaching an intersection in the hallway, a group of three men rounded the corner. The one in the lead glared at Kiera.
“What are you doing out of your room Peppers?” he asked.
“I have to take care of the patients, Cyrus.” She said. Cyrus looked at Adam.
“You need to go back to your room now.” Cyrus said.
“We can’t.” Kiera said
“Why?” He asked.
“The locks kinda busted.” She said. He looked angrily at Kiera.
“Do you realize what’s going on in here?” He asked her.
“A containment breech.” She responded.
“No, it’s a perimeter breach. Someone from the outside came in, putting us all at risk. We don’t know what they want or what they are doing. We haven’t found them yet.” He said. “And now your two have no safe place to go.” He said.
“We can go to the observation room with the rest of the patients.” Kiera said. Cyrus looked at her.
“Looks like you’ll have to.” He said. He pulled his pistol out of his holster and shoved it into Adam’s hands.
“If you see someone that doesn’t belong, shoot them.” He said, looking back at his men. “Let’s move.” He said and the three took of down the hallway. Adam looked to Kiera.
“Come on. You head Cyrus. It’s not safe out here.” Kiera said as she began walking down the hallway again. They rounded the corner and the set of doors that lead to the observation room came into view. Adams grip on the pistol tightened. Something just told him that something was off.
Adam walked up to the door and pressed his ear to it. He could hear an unfamiliar voice inside there.
“Someone’s in there.” He said.
“Who?” Kiera asked.
“Someone we don’t know.” Adam said as he cracked the door open. He saw a woman with brown hair holding Kasey to her side. He quickly ducked back behind the door.
“What’s going on?” Kiera asked.
“They have Kasey hostage.” Adam said. Her eyes widened.
“What are we going to do?” She asked.
“We have to save Kas.” He said, looking to the pistol in his hands. Her eyes got even wider.
“You’re going to shoot them?” She asked.
“We don’t have much of a choice.” Adam said as he pulled the door back open. Standing in the doorway, he brought up his pistol, aiming right on the woman’s back. Adam took quick breath to steady his shaking hands, then calmly pulled back on the trigger. The woman’s back exploded into a fountain of red and she stumbled forwards, crashing to the ground. Once she hit the ground she quit moving. Adam walked further into the room. He saw Kas look over at the woman.
“Dana?” She asked, stepping towards her. She crouched next to the woman, placing a hand on her and shaking her gently. “Dana? Get up.” She said, sounding worried. She looked up at Micheal. Micheal rushed over to her side and looked at the woman. Kas looked over her shoulder and saw Adam standing nearby with a gun in his hand.
“What did you do, you bastard!?” She screamed at him.
“I… I thought you were in trouble.” Adam said. “I thought she was trying to hurt you.”
“She’s my sister you asshole!” Kas yelled at him.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Adam muttered to himself, realizing the error in his judgment. That woman hadn’t been holding Kasey hostage, she was just hugging her. Adam could see tears welling in Kasey’s eyes. He heard Kiera walking in from behind him.
“Holy shit.” She said, stepping forwards towards the woman he’d shot. She looked back at Adam, with a look in her eyes. She was afraid of him. “You… You shot her.” She said. Before Adam could say anything Kiera stumbled to the side and doubled over, throwing up onto the floor.
“Oh, Jesus.” Micheal muttered. “That’s gross.” He said. Kiera stood back up and looked at the woman. She took a few staggering steps over towards the sink and turned it on, running her hands through the water. She dried them and pulled on a pair of latex gloves and rushed over to the woman’s side.
“Move, let me see.” She said. Micheal scooted out of the way, but Kas stayed right where she was. Kiera went to work looking at the wound.
“Dana? What’s going on, I heard a gunshot?” A girls voice asked. Adam saw her walking towards them and as soon as she saw Dana her eyes widened. “What happened?” She asked, looking at Adam and back at Dana.
“Adam shot her.” Kas said gruffly without looking up.
“You fucking piece of shit.” The girl growled as she started marching forwards at Adam. Adam lifted his gun at the girl, about to shoot her but Micheal stepped between them.
“Whoa.” Michela said. “We can kick eachothers asses later. Right now we have bigger problems.”
“Like what?” The girl asked.
“Wade and Callista.” Micheal said. “They never came back.” He said.
“I’m right here.” Callista said, approaching cautiously from behind Micheal.
“Adam accidently shot Kasey’s sister.” Micheal said to her.
“I saw what happened.” She said.
“So where’s Wade?” Micheal asked.
“He said he was going to walk around the halls for a little bit.” Callista said.
“Great.” Micheal said. “We’ll never find him out there.” He went on. Adam heard the doors open behind him and turned around he saw Wade walk in the room.
“Dudes, something’s going on out there. There’s an alarm and everything.” He said, then his eyes fell on the woman lying on the floor. “Shit…” He said.
“Kiera, how’s it looking?” Adam asked.
“I, uh…” She stuttered. “I can fix her.” She said. “Just not here.”
“Where do we need to take her?” Adam asked.
“Not here.” Kiera said. “This facility doesn’t have an infirmary capable of dealing with a gunshot wound.” She said.
“Then we take her out of here.” Ghost said.
“What do you mean?” Kiera asked.
“We go back up to the base and go to the hospital.” Ghost said.
“What do you mean go back up?” Kiera asked.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ghost asked. “This place is buried under Wright Patterson Air Force Base.” She said.
“Under?” Kiera asked.
“Yeah.” Ghost said.
“Do you know the way out?” Kiera asked.
“Yeah.” Ghost said.
“Can we move Dana?” Micheal asked.
“It’ll be a risk trying to move her like this, but it looks like the only chance we have unless you want to try your luck with the on-sight infirmary.” Kiera said.
Okay, now I am glad that Julia remained outside of the no-power zone, because I knew that someone would be a bit too trigger-happy in there. I just never thought it would be Adam. I hope Dana survives. At the same time, I am sort of glad that I was right with my earlier assumptions about the facility being below the Air Force Base. However, I'm afraid this opens up very sinister possibilities about the true intentions of Rosenberg and the military and the plans they have with the mutants. I start to get the feeling that most of the things that happened went according to their plan. It seems possible that they are even behind the abductions at the beginning of the story. I'm a bit baffled that Kiera doesn't know about any of this, but unlike Rosenberg, I still trust her. Her surprise seems to be genuine.
[Leave]
Several reasons point at this being the better choice. First and most important, Dana is heavily wounded and Kiera herself said that the infirmary in the facility likely won't be enough to treat her. Considering that Kiera seems to have quite the knowledge about medicine, I trust her with this. Then, there's the fact that the infirmary is likely to be guarded by the facility people. It will at least be a place where they are likely to look for them. The hospital in the military base sounds equally risky, but while we know that the facility people have been hiding something, we don't know yet if the military was in on this. It is extremely likely, but at least worth a try, if it saves Dana's life. Also, on the outside their powers should work again, so Wade could try to heal her, though I am not sure if that is worth risking the negative side effects of his power. Finally, Julia and Gilligan are outside, and while every new revelation makes me less convinced that Leland is the big danger for them (although I still would never trust him), the military is definitely going to notice that the alarm just went off and they are likely to check on them, so for their safety, the group should reunite with them.
Dana Grey
Dana looked at Julia, she knew Julia probably wouldn’t want to go into the mysterious room, Dana didn’t fault her. They barely … moreknew each other. She shook her head.
“No. There’s no way I’m going in there.” Julia said. Dana saw Ghost’s face change as if she was going to say something, but Dana beat her to the punch.
“That’s fine. Nobody’s making you do anything.” Dana said. “Just stay safe.” Dana saw Julia’s face shift.
“So you’re really going in there?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah. We are.” Dana said. “We both want to know what’s behind the door.” She said.
“But your powers will be gone. What if you run into trouble?” Julia said. Dana sighed.
“Last time I used my powers, I was high.” Dana said. “I don’t have any control over my powers anyways. I won’t miss them.” She said. Julia furrowed her brow, biting her lip.
“Okay.” Julia said. “Good luck in there.” She said.
“If everything goes right, we won’t nee… [view original content]
Dana Grey
Dana looked at Julia, she knew Julia probably wouldn’t want to go into the mysterious room, Dana didn’t fault her. They barely … moreknew each other. She shook her head.
“No. There’s no way I’m going in there.” Julia said. Dana saw Ghost’s face change as if she was going to say something, but Dana beat her to the punch.
“That’s fine. Nobody’s making you do anything.” Dana said. “Just stay safe.” Dana saw Julia’s face shift.
“So you’re really going in there?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah. We are.” Dana said. “We both want to know what’s behind the door.” She said.
“But your powers will be gone. What if you run into trouble?” Julia said. Dana sighed.
“Last time I used my powers, I was high.” Dana said. “I don’t have any control over my powers anyways. I won’t miss them.” She said. Julia furrowed her brow, biting her lip.
“Okay.” Julia said. “Good luck in there.” She said.
“If everything goes right, we won’t nee… [view original content]
“Keira’s right.” Adam said. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe for any of us.” He went on.
“Are you sure?” Micheal asked.
“No, but we don’t have much of a choice unless we want to sit around and wait for Dana to die.” Adam said.
“Then we go.” Callista said.
“Looks like it.” Adam said as he walked forwards towards Dana. He stooped down over her, taking his gun and shoving it in his waistband.
“Adam, be careful.” Kiera reminded him. Adam nodded as he slowly picked her up. As soon as she left the ground she let out a soft, pained groan.
“Shit.” Adam mumbled.
“What?” Kasey asked.
“She’s still awake.” He said.
“No, that’s a good thing. But we need to hurry.” Kiera said.
“Ghost, lead the way.’ Micheal said. Ghost nodded and led them towards the door. Adam could feel Dana’s soft breath on his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep an eye out. Those guards could be anywhere.” Wade said. They all followed Ghost through the hallways, unsure of where they were being lead.
“Where are we going?” Callista asked Ghost.
‘We’re going back up. Julia and Gilligan are waiting for us at the entrance. If anyone was going to come down here to mess with us, they’d have to go through them first.” She said.
“J-Julia?” Micheal asked. “Julia Carter?” He asked. Ghost shook her head.
“Hell if I know. Let’s not worry about that and worry about getting the hell out of here.” She said.
“I can agree.” Wade said. Ghost paused at a door.
“It’s through here.” She said.
“But that’s a janitor’s closet.” Kiera said. Ghost spun back and looked at her.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” She asked. “I know what I’m doing.” She said.
“Okay. Jeez.” Kiera said, backing off. Ghost grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open, walking in.
“I’ll go up first, and then Micheal will come up. After that, you hand Dana up to us.” She said.
“Okay.” Adam said. He watched as Ghost disappeared into the room, he heard the sound of someone climbing a ladder. She wasn’t joking then.
“Micheal.” Ghost called.
“Coming.” Micheal said as he began climbing up the ladder. A few moments later he called down.
“Send Dana up.” He said. Adam stepped into the small room, no bigger than a closet and hefted Dana upwards. Micheal hooked his arms under hers and pulled her upwards. She sounded like it hurt her, but seemed to weak to do anything about it. Adam stepped back.
“Kas, you’re next.” He said. Kasey nodded as she went in and climbed up the Ladded. Wade followed, and then Callista. Once they were all up the ladder, Adam turned and began to walk in.
“Not so fast, Adam.” A voice called. Adam turned around and saw Rosenberg holding a gun right at him. “Come on back out here.” He said. Adam sighed as he raised his hands and began walking out.
“What the hell do you want from us?” Adam said.
“I don’t want anything from you.” He said. “That being said, I just can’t let you go.”
“Why?” Adam asked. “Why are we so damn important?” He asked.
“Because I made you.” He said.
“What do you mean ‘made’ us?” Adam asked.
“I changed you all.” He said.
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Adam asked.
“The brain is a delicate thing, Adam. It is easy to mess with.” He said. “Just little poke here at the right time and you can do anything.” He said. “I’ve made you above the human race, Adam. I’ve made you superhuman.” He said.
“Bullshit.” Adam said. “None of that even happened.”
“And you really buy the fact that you were all simply in a random coma at the same exact time?” He asked. “You think that was just a coincidence?” He asked. “I handpicked each and every one of you. Because you were special in a certain way that only a few can boast. The genetic drift altered you. Made you a prime candidate for my experiment.”
“You mean… We didn’t help them?” Kiera asked. “We didn’t find a way to bring them out of a coma?” She asked. He sighed.
“Kiera, we’ve done so much better than that.” He said. “We’ve found a way to give the average man the power of a god.” He said.
“You lied to me.” She said.
“Sometimes it’s better to be in the dark than the light, Kiera.” He said.
“Why did you lie? I trusted you! The families trusted you! They trusted me to take care of them!” Kiera yelled at him.
“That’s something you don’t have to worry about Kiera. Their families simply just don’t know we have them.” He said.
“You kidnapped them?” she asked.
“It was for the best.” He said. “Look how far the science has brought us! With this technology, I could have the world on its knees.” He said.
“None of this is for the best, Rosenberg.” She said. “Human genetics aren’t something that are supposed to be played with like some toy.” He smiled dryly at her.
“That’s what you want to think. You want to think I’m the bad guy, because I want to change the future. You want to judge me because I did what the entire world didn’t have the balls to do.” He said.
“Kidnapping people isn’t the way to be remembered!” Kiera said.
“Kiera, you’re just as guilty as me.” He said. “This entire time, your ambition to change the world has kept you here, hoping your name will go down in the history books. You’ve stayed here, you’ve watched, you’ve taken care of the patents. And never once did you ever thing this way wrong.” He said. “You never tried to stop it. Somewhere deep inside you, you knew this was wrong. You just didn’t want to admit it.” She shook her head.
“That’s not true!” She said.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” He said. “This place has been a secret for years now, and now all of you are going to let that go to waste.” He said, adding a humorless laugh. “Leland was right about mankind. They’re better off with someone to lead them every step of the way. Because without a ruler, they’re lost in their own greed.” He said.
“Rosenberg, you said you wouldn’t hurt us. You said we were to important.” Adam said.
“That’s what I said earlier. Before I replicated the results. Now, you’re just old data.” He said, then looked at Kiera. “And you’re a loose end.” He said. Kiera stepped forward, standing right next to Adam.
“Rosenberg, you know this isn’t right. Just let us go.” Kiera said.
“It’s too late for that, Kiera. I’m sorry.” He said as he lifted his pistol to her head. Adam felt Kiera’s body freeze. He slowly reached for his gun, something he should’ve done a while ago. “Don’t even think about it.” Rosenberg said, switching his aim to Adam. As soon as his attention was away from Kiera, she grabbed Adam’s gun from his belt and swung it up at Rosenberg. He quickly turned to meet her. He shot first, then she shot.
Her shot tore through his stomach, and he dropped the gun, gripping his stomach instead. He looked up at Kiera.
“I’ll see you in hell.” He said. Adam watched as Kiera pulled the trigger again, this time the bullet found its target right on Rosenberg’s chest. He fell over on the floor, not moving, not breathing. Kiera dropped the gun, her hands shaking. She wrapped her arms around Adam and buried her head into his chest as she cried.
“I’m sorry Adam… I’m sorry.” She stammered. “I should’ve known. I should’ve done something.” She said.
“You did everything you could.” Adam hushed her. “You did what was right.” He said.
“I, I just killed someone.” She said. Adam sighed.
“He would’ve done the same to both of us, Kiera.” He said.
“I know…” Kiera said. “But it still doesn’t make it right.” She mumbled. Adam glanced over at Rosenberg’s unmoving body and took a deep breath.
“Kiera, we need to go. Somebody had to have heard that gunshot.” He said. She pulled away from Adam and nodded, wiping tears out of her eyes. Adam placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her towards the ladder. He noticed that there was blood seeping through the torn sleeve of her hoodie. “You’re bleeding.” Adam said. She nodded wearily.
“He shot first.” She said as she placed her hands on the rungs and began climbing upwards. As soon as she was up Adam took one look back and climbed up the ladder. Once he was on the ground again he looked around. They were both in another room that seemed to be a closet. Adam looked over to the large metal door, shifting over to it. He placed his hand on the handle and swung it open stepping out. There he saw the others standing in the hallway. Micheal was embracing a woman Adam had never seen before.
“What took you so long to get up here?” Ghost asked. “I thought you were right behind us.” She said glaring at Adam, but her look softened as she saw Kiera step into the light holding her wounded arm.
“Rosenberg is dead.” Adam said.
“Jesus.” Ghost muttered.
“Yeah, let’s not stick around for long.” Adam said. “How about we get to the hospital?” He asked.
“Sounds good.” She said, as she turned to the rest of the group. “Just stick together. We don’t know if we can trust these people.” She said as she began walking up the stairwell. Callista, who was now carrying Dana, Wade, Kas, and a boy Adam didn’t recognize began climbing the stairs leaving Adam, Kiera, Micheal and the unnamed woman. Adam walked over to Micheal and looked at the woman.
“I’ll take it you know her?” Adam asked.
“She’s my sister, her name is Julia.” He said. Adam smiled.
“The more the merrier.” He said. “We should get going before we fall to far behind.” Adam said.
“Yeah. Wouldn’t want that.” Julia said. The three of them began climbing the stairs. Adam looked over his shoulder and saw Kiera walking behind them, looking lost in thought.
“What’s wrong with her?” Micheal asked.
“She just killed her boss.” Adam said. He eyes widened.
“You mean she killed him?” He asked. “I thought it was you.”
“You thought wrong.” Adam said. “Let’s just focus on getting Dana out of here alive.” He said. Micheal nodded as they continued to climb the stairs.
Nathan Zabek
“Mister Zabek.” A voice faintly called. Nathan sighed and opened his eyes to the world. Somehow, in the middle of all this, he’d managed to fall asleep. Not only that, but Bastet had also fallen asleep on his shoulder. Nathan cracked his stiff neck and looked up at the doctor.
“Yes?” Nathan asked.
“The surgery is complete.” He said.
“And? How’d it go? Is Alina okay?” He asked. The doctor nodded, with a smile.
“She’s perfectly fine. It went without a hitch. She should be waking up soon.” The doctor said. Nathan felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders .
“Thank you.” Nathan said. “Thank you so much.” He said.
“You don’t need to thank me.” The doctor said. Nathan looked around the waiting room and noticed something missing.
“Where are my parents?” Nathan asked. “Are they still not here?” He asked. He shook his head.
“Any attempt we’ve made to contact them has failed.” He said. “We can try again though.” He said as he walked off. Nathan mused over this for a few moments but brushed it off. They’d be here soon. He gently brushed Bastet’s head off his shoulder and stood up. Bastet yawned as she sat up in her chair. She looked at Nathan.
“So?” she asked.
“My sister is fine.” He said. “I’m going to go see her.” He said.
“That’s good.” She said.
“How’s your mother?” Nathan asked. She shook her head.
“No word yet.” She said.
“I’m sure she’s fine.” He said. “Thanks for sitting with me.” He said. She laughed.
“Not like I had much of a choice.” She said. “Go on, don’t keep your sister waiting.” Nathan nodded to her.
“See you around.” Nathan said.’
“See you around.” She agreed as Nathan began walking off towards his sister’s room. Nathan decided to skip the elevator and go for the stairs; stairs just felt better right now. She was on the second floor anyways.
Once on the second floor he began walking down the hallway towards Alina’s room. He had it memorized already. Once he neared her room, though, he saw a man standing outside her door, looking in like he was afraid to go in.
“Can I help you?” Nathan asked. He turned and looked at Nathan. He was about his height, African-American and was wearing a Oakland Raiders hat. Nathan paushed. “You’re… Tyler, right?” Nathan asked. He nodded.
“Yeah.” He said.
“Are you going in?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” He said.
“Come on, she won’t bite.” Nathan said, giving him a slight nudge. He sighed and walked in the room. Nathan followed. “You saved my sister’s life, you know that?” Nathan asked.
“Me? I didn’t do anything.” He said.
“You don’t have to be humble.” Nathan said.
“I’m not being humble, I really didn’t do anything. I put her in the back of my car and drove here trying not to go crazy.” He said.
“And if you didn’t do that, she’d be dead.” Nathan said. “So, you like football?” Nathan asked, looking at his cap. He nodded.
“I’m a linebacker.” Tyler said.
“I used to play.” Nathan said. “I don’t know why I quit, I guess it just wasn’t my thing.”
“Where do you go to school at?” Tyler asked.
“I’m in collage now, I used to go to Wilmington.” He said.
“I go to Xenia.” Tyler said. “But after what happened at the game, it kind of looks like school won’t be open again for a week or two.” He said. Nathan nodded.
“Yeah. It’s really horrible that somebody could do something like that and never get caught.” Nathan said.
“They’ll find them. They have to.” He said. He heard a small sigh.
“Can you quit talking about football?” Alina mumbled. Nathan smiled.
“So you like the Raiders?” Nathan asked with a sly smile. Tyler nodded. “I’m more of a Cleveland Browns fan myself.” He said.
“And I like San Francisco.” Alina said.
“San Fran? Since when?” Nathan asked.
“Since always.” Alina said. “At least they can actually win a Super bowl.” Alina said.
“Ouch, low blow there Alina.” Nathan said. She weakly smiled.
“Not getting involved.” Tyler said.
“That’s for the best.” Alina said.
“How are you feeling?” Nathan asked her.
“Like I just got a hole bored in my head.” She said.
“Just be happy they let you keep your hair. I told them they should just cut it all off.” Nathan said.
“Yeah well, not all surgeons cut off a patients hair for surgery.” She said.
“Who knows? Maybe you’d look good with a buzz cut.” Nathan said.
“I’d rather not find out.” She said. Nathan laughed. She sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked.
“Nothing.” She said. “I’m just tired.” She said. Nathan nodded.
“We should probably get going then.” Nathan said, looking up at Tyler who nodded back at him.
“You don’t have to go.” She said.
“It’s best if we let you rest.” He said. She laid her head back on her pillow.
“Okay.” She said. “If that’s what you want.” Nathan and Tyler both turned and walked out of the room. Nathan looked at Tyler.
“Thanks for coming out.” Nathan said.
“Not a problem.” Tyler said. “You doing anything right now or are you just going to stay here?” He asked.
“Why do you ask?” Nathan asked.
“Me and a few friends were going to go out to the train bridge, I thought maybe you’d want to come? But it’s fine if you don’t. Stay here with your sister, it’s cool.” He said.
Once again, I was on the right track but not quite. I called it, Rosenberg was responsible for the kidnappings. But what seriously surprised me was that he was responsible for creating the powers in the first place. So, that means he is responsible for the powers of basically every mutant in the entire story, right? Not only Adam and co., but also Julia, Gilligan, Piper, probably even Leland. It's a shame that Kiera killed him, even though I can't really blame her for it. If they would have kept him alive, he might have been able to give some answers about the questions that are still open. Since he was definitely one of the bad guys, the most important thing they should find out right now is if Leland and the military are bad as well. But even aside from that, there are still many questions to be answered and Rosenberg's death complicated things quite a bit.
[Stay at the hospital]
I'm glad Alina survived the surgery. That's also my reason for staying with her. I mean, she almost died and even aside from that, things haven't been that great for her lately, so I am sure she could need her brothers support right now.
Adam Becker
“Keira’s right.” Adam said. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe for any of us.” He went on.
“Are you sure?” Micheal asked.
… more
“No, but we don’t have much of a choice unless we want to sit around and wait for Dana to die.” Adam said.
“Then we go.” Callista said.
“Looks like it.” Adam said as he walked forwards towards Dana. He stooped down over her, taking his gun and shoving it in his waistband.
“Adam, be careful.” Kiera reminded him. Adam nodded as he slowly picked her up. As soon as she left the ground she let out a soft, pained groan.
“Shit.” Adam mumbled.
“What?” Kasey asked.
“She’s still awake.” He said.
“No, that’s a good thing. But we need to hurry.” Kiera said.
“Ghost, lead the way.’ Micheal said. Ghost nodded and led them towards the door. Adam could feel Dana’s soft breath on his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep an eye out. Those guards could be anywhere.” Wade said. They all followed Ghost t… [view original content]
So, that means he is responsible for the powers of basically every mutant in the entire story, right? Not only Adam and co., but also Julia, Gilligan, Piper, probably even Leland.
I can't answer that fully, but there will be answers. There always is answers, but sometimes the answers only give you more questions... >:3
Once again, I was on the right track but not quite. I called it, Rosenberg was responsible for the kidnappings. But what seriously surprised… more me was that he was responsible for creating the powers in the first place. So, that means he is responsible for the powers of basically every mutant in the entire story, right? Not only Adam and co., but also Julia, Gilligan, Piper, probably even Leland. It's a shame that Kiera killed him, even though I can't really blame her for it. If they would have kept him alive, he might have been able to give some answers about the questions that are still open. Since he was definitely one of the bad guys, the most important thing they should find out right now is if Leland and the military are bad as well. But even aside from that, there are still many questions to be answered and Rosenberg's death complicated things quite a bit.
[Stay at the hospital]
I'm glad Alina survived the surgery. That's also my rea… [view original content]
So before I forget, I just wanted to do a little check-in with you all. Just a few quick questions if that's alright.
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
Who's your least favorite character and why?
What's your favorite part so far?
What's your least favorite part so far?
What would you like to see more of in my writing? (other than blood. There'll be tons of that.)
What would you like to see less of in my writing? C'mon, be honest. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Just warn me ahead of time if I'm going to need tissues.
Do you have any questions about the story so far? Anything that confuses you or you don't understand? I'll do my best to answer without giving away to much...
Anything else? Here you can put anything you'd like to say that I didn't ask. Fan mail is always welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, assuming you do, you guys are really what makes the story happen. Without you guys, I'd have nothing. And I'd like to seriously thank you all for sticking with me through all of this. All my random absences, awkward dialogue, and painful plot developments. Seriously guys, thank you.
No way would I leave her after that. Personally, I would think that if Nathan left then whoever wanted to kidnap her could come back with a vengeance. But that's just me. And also the parents not showing up worries me. And strokes.
Adam Becker
“Keira’s right.” Adam said. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe for any of us.” He went on.
“Are you sure?” Micheal asked.
… more
“No, but we don’t have much of a choice unless we want to sit around and wait for Dana to die.” Adam said.
“Then we go.” Callista said.
“Looks like it.” Adam said as he walked forwards towards Dana. He stooped down over her, taking his gun and shoving it in his waistband.
“Adam, be careful.” Kiera reminded him. Adam nodded as he slowly picked her up. As soon as she left the ground she let out a soft, pained groan.
“Shit.” Adam mumbled.
“What?” Kasey asked.
“She’s still awake.” He said.
“No, that’s a good thing. But we need to hurry.” Kiera said.
“Ghost, lead the way.’ Micheal said. Ghost nodded and led them towards the door. Adam could feel Dana’s soft breath on his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep an eye out. Those guards could be anywhere.” Wade said. They all followed Ghost t… [view original content]
[Stay at the hospital]
No way would I leave her after that. Personally, I would think that if Nathan left then whoever wanted to kidnap h… moreer could come back with a vengeance. But that's just me. And also the parents not showing up worries me. And strokes.
I just worry to worry.
That question is always hard for me to answer and in this story it is exceptionally hard, because you did a fantastic job when it comes to make me care for each and every character. Just looking through the character list, there are so many names I like and I don't think I'm able to name a single favourite. Julia is without a doubt among them, but Adam and Dana are also among my favourites. Even though she hasn't been featured as much as the names before, I also like Alina a lot. And while she is the newest character in the list and hadn't had that much time to shine, I grew quite fond of Kiera.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
That one's only slightly easier than the question before. Usually, villains are among my least favourite characters, because well, I think being hated is the purpose of a good villain. However, most of the villains only had relatively small roles. There was Gerald, aka. the shithead that shot Julia and there was Rosenberg, the guy who likely was behind all of this, but both of them died relatively soon after their introduction. Of course when it comes to recurring villains there is Leland, but his strangely infuriated reactions any time something happened to Julia, and the newest revelation about Rosenberg make me think that there might be more behind him than just a simple, hateable villain. I guess among the bad guys, my least favourite character is Gerald, while among the good guys, my least favourite character is... well... Wade maybe? I still like him and I care for him, but I like him less than any of the other good guys in the story and I don't really know why.
What's your favorite part so far?
The first that came into mind is the one where Julia survived her own death, because it revealed probably the most important thing about the whole story, the existence of superpowers, and because it left me completely stunned at what happened. I also loved the part in the simulation, where Adam, Michael, Callista and Kas used their powers to help these people. That is definitely one of my favourites as well. The Xenia simulation parts in general have been nice. I also found Dana's introduction really well-done and the latest part, where Kiera shot Rosenberg, was amazing. And while it is not a single part, the early parts with Julia in general, from the baseball game to the showdown with Gerald at the supposed safe house, had incredible suspense and were full of memorable moments.
What's your least favorite part so far?
Honestly, I don't have one. While there have been parts which I have enjoyed less than my previously mentioned favourite parts, I don't think I am able to name them. In some way, I have enjoyed every single part so far and while I am sure there has to be one part that is my least favourite, I have no idea which one it could be.
What would you like to see more of in my writing?
Well... does Julia count as an answer? Just kidding, just kidding... sort of... Though when it comes to characters, I feel like Alina, Nathan and Tyler have received a bit less focus than the others, especially since they are the only ones who currently don't seem to be involved in the apparent main plot. Also, since I previously mentioned the villains, I love a villain character that actually survives for longer. Gerald and Rosenberg were villains with potential and I think it could have been interesting to find out more about them before they die, so... maybe the next villain could stick around for longer. God, I'm sure I'm going to regret this.
What would you like to see less of in my writing?
Let me see, maybe I find something to nitpick. Probably not though. This story is great, one of my favourites, and there is nothing I would like to see less of.
Do you have any questions about the story so far?
I think I have way too many questions to write them down here and you know I have the habit of always asking them directly when they come up. I love how every new part answers one of my questions and opens up two new XD I'm also sure that they all get answered in time. Though in general I am absolutely sure that I understand what's going on. Unless of course another big ass twist like the superpowers happens, because that one basically changed everything I previously thought to know about the story.
Anything else?
Keep up the awesome work This story is awesome and among my favourites here, so I'm looking forward for future parts.
So before I forget, I just wanted to do a little check-in with you all. Just a few quick questions if that's alright.
Who's your favorite… more character so far, and why?
Who's your least favorite character and why?
What's your favorite part so far?
What's your least favorite part so far?
What would you like to see more of in my writing? (other than blood. There'll be tons of that.)
What would you like to see less of in my writing? C'mon, be honest. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Just warn me ahead of time if I'm going to need tissues.
Do you have any questions about the story so far? Anything that confuses you or you don't understand? I'll do my best to answer without giving away to much...
Anything else? Here you can put anything you'd like to say that I didn't ask. Fan mail is always welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, assuming you do, you guys are really what makes the story happen. Without… [view original content]
Also, since I previously mentioned the villains, I love a villain character that actually survives for longer.
Yes. I know I have a problem with doing that. I've never really kept villains around for long. That being said, careful what you wish for.
Though when it comes to characters, I feel like Alina, Nathan and Tyler have received a bit less focus than the others
Yes, Yes, I know this. They haven't become part of the 'main' storyline so it's a little bit harder to work them in, though I will defiantly try.
I think I have way too many questions to write them down here and you know I have the habit of always asking them directly when they come up. I love how every new part answers one of my questions and opens up two new XD I'm also sure that they all get answered in time. Though in general I am absolutely sure that I understand what's going on. Unless of course another big ass twist like the superpowers happens, because that one basically changed everything I previously thought to know about the story.
Ha. That means I'm doing it right! And, as for more twists, I can't really say anything about that....
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, it means a lot. Thanks for sticking around and reading my story also. thank a lot.
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
That question is always hard for me to answer and in this story it is exceptionally hard, … morebecause you did a fantastic job when it comes to make me care for each and every character. Just looking through the character list, there are so many names I like and I don't think I'm able to name a single favourite. Julia is without a doubt among them, but Adam and Dana are also among my favourites. Even though she hasn't been featured as much as the names before, I also like Alina a lot. And while she is the newest character in the list and hadn't had that much time to shine, I grew quite fond of Kiera.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
That one's only slightly easier than the question before. Usually, villains are among my least favourite characters, because well, I think being hated is the purpose of a good villain. However, most of the villains only had relatively small roles. Ther… [view original content]
Adam Becker
“Keira’s right.” Adam said. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe for any of us.” He went on.
“Are you sure?” Micheal asked.
… more
“No, but we don’t have much of a choice unless we want to sit around and wait for Dana to die.” Adam said.
“Then we go.” Callista said.
“Looks like it.” Adam said as he walked forwards towards Dana. He stooped down over her, taking his gun and shoving it in his waistband.
“Adam, be careful.” Kiera reminded him. Adam nodded as he slowly picked her up. As soon as she left the ground she let out a soft, pained groan.
“Shit.” Adam mumbled.
“What?” Kasey asked.
“She’s still awake.” He said.
“No, that’s a good thing. But we need to hurry.” Kiera said.
“Ghost, lead the way.’ Micheal said. Ghost nodded and led them towards the door. Adam could feel Dana’s soft breath on his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep an eye out. Those guards could be anywhere.” Wade said. They all followed Ghost t… [view original content]
[Stay at the hospital] If I would be in Nathans situation, I would stay with my sister.
Adams part was awesome! It is among my favorite parts in the whole story for sure.
I hate naming my own but I love how you write Adam. Julia is cool and Tyler is also a nice character whom I would like to see more of, so they are also part of my favorites. But I like all of the characters.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
I dont have a least favorite character. The characters who could become my least favorite characters usually dont live for very long. The characters that are currently alive are all characters I like or characters I have no opinion about.
What's your favorite part so far?
Probably Adams last part. In general I also like the parts where the superpowers are used, for example when Julia healed her bullet wound or when the group in Xenia found out about their powers.
What's your least favorite part so far?
No idea. I dont think there is a part I did not like.
What would you like to see more of in my writing?
Nothing I can think of right now. I enjoy the story as it is.
What would you like to see less of in my writing?
See my answer above. It is awesome the way it is but I am also open for any change you want to do.
Do you have any questions about the story so far?
Yes, there is one thing I havent fully understood about the origin of the powers. Rosenberg said that he unlocked them with his experiments and that this is the reason why Adam and the others have their powers. But why do Julia and Gilligan have powers even though they never encountered Rosenberg? Have they unlocked their powers on their own?
Anything else?
I love this story and I am excited for how it is going to continue.
So before I forget, I just wanted to do a little check-in with you all. Just a few quick questions if that's alright.
Who's your favorite… more character so far, and why?
Who's your least favorite character and why?
What's your favorite part so far?
What's your least favorite part so far?
What would you like to see more of in my writing? (other than blood. There'll be tons of that.)
What would you like to see less of in my writing? C'mon, be honest. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Just warn me ahead of time if I'm going to need tissues.
Do you have any questions about the story so far? Anything that confuses you or you don't understand? I'll do my best to answer without giving away to much...
Anything else? Here you can put anything you'd like to say that I didn't ask. Fan mail is always welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, assuming you do, you guys are really what makes the story happen. Without… [view original content]
Yes, there is one thing I havent fully understood about the origin of the powers. Rosenberg said that he unlocked them with his experiments and that this is the reason why Adam and the others have their powers. But why do Julia and Gilligan have powers even though they never encountered Rosenberg? Have they unlocked their powers on their own?
Okay, so there's one thing I've yet to address. I'd love to say so much about it right now, but the thing is, I just can't since it would give away much too much. But I can say that it definitely will be answered in the upcoming parts.
That being said, thanks for answering these questions. And thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my story.
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
I hate naming my own but I love how you write Adam. Julia is cool and Tyler is also a nice… more character whom I would like to see more of, so they are also part of my favorites. But I like all of the characters.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
I dont have a least favorite character. The characters who could become my least favorite characters usually dont live for very long. The characters that are currently alive are all characters I like or characters I have no opinion about.
What's your favorite part so far?
Probably Adams last part. In general I also like the parts where the superpowers are used, for example when Julia healed her bullet wound or when the group in Xenia found out about their powers.
What's your least favorite part so far?
No idea. I dont think there is a part I did not like.
What would you like to see more of in my writing?
Nothing I can thi… [view original content]
“Jesus Christ, what happened?” The medic asked. Callista looked back at everyone else, but nobody had an answer. What were they going to say?
Yeah, she got shot while we were trying to escape from a hidden bunker under the base. Apparently some guy was down there messing with our brains while we were in a coma. But don’t worry about it, Kiera shot him dead.
Yeah, that would go down really well. Really well. They’d all probably be thrown into some insane asylum. Adam stepped forwards, looking at the medic.
“We’ll explain everything, as soon as we can.” Adam said. “But right now, please, just help her.” Adam said.
“We’re doing everything we can, I promise you that.” The medic said. “We just want to know what a bunch of civilians are doing on an Air Force base without any sort of clearance to be here.” He said.
“If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.” Micheal said.
“So you’re telling me you don’t know how you got here?” The medic asked. “Are you all stoned or something?” He asked.
“I wish I was.” Callista mumbled. Her shirt was stained with blood, not her own but Dana’s. It was pretty horrific.
“Look, some people calling themselves the PFDF brought me and Julia here. They said it was for our protection.” Gilligan, as Adam had learned, said. The medic looked at him, confused.
“What are you talking about? I’ve heard a lot of shit in my time, but the PFDF? The hell is that?” He asked. Adam himself knew the answer, Julia and Gilligan had explained everything during their trek here. Even the fake Micheal that turned out to be Leland Frey. It was creepy, just thinking that anybody here could be someone they weren’t.
“Look, we’ve all been through a lot today. So why don’t you just save the interrogation for later?” Callista asked.
“You’re the one who’s illegally on US military grounds! I’m just doing my job!” The medic retorted.
“We’re just as confused as you for fucks sake!” Kiera yelled at him, breaking her until now silence. Adam looked back at her, he felt bad for her. He just didn’t know what to say.
“What happened to your arm?” The medic asked.
“I got shot. Just like Dana.” Kiera said.
“Fuck… Come with me. The rest of you don’t go anywhere.” He said as he grabbed Kiera and walked her off down through the double doors that separated the hospital from the reception area.
“Are you guys okay?” Adam asked, looking to the group. It was a little late to be asking, but he felt obligated to ask anyways.
“I got my sister back.” Micheal said. “I’m just fine.” He said.
“I guess I’m good.” Callista said. “Given the circumstances.”
“I’m not dead, if that’s what you’re asking.” Julia said.
“Could be better.” Gilligan said. “Could be worse.” When nobody else answered, Adam looked back.
“Wade? Ghost? You good?” He asked. Over to his left he saw Wade and Ghost standing together, Ghost was actually smiling. So was Wade. They seemed… Happy. He looked over towards the double doors once again and saw Kas sitting against the wall, her legs pulled close to her chest.
Adam looked to Micheal, who nodded to him. Adam walked away from the group and over towards Kasey. He sat down next to her.
“Hey.” Adam said softly.
“Hi.” Kasey responded.
“How are you doing?” Adam asked.
“I wish I could say I was good. But that would be a lie.” She said. “I’m sitting here, wondering if I could’ve done anything to stop her from getting shot.” She went on.
“It wasn’t your fault, Kas.” Adam said. “It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” She said. “You didn’t know she was my sister. You thought I was in trouble, you were trying to help.”
“I wish I hadn’t pulled that trigger.” Adam said.
“But you did, and we have to move past that.”Kas said. “And if it counts for anything, I’m sorry I yelled at you like that.” She said.
“You had every right to yell at me.” Adam said.
“Doesn’t mean I should’ve.” She said. “What’s going on over there?” Kas asked, pointing towards the rest of the group. Adam looked up and saw that multiple armed soldiers had appeared. Of course. It wasn’t like they could just end up here without anyone calling in the MP’s. Adam stood up and began walking over towards them, Kas followed behind him.
“I’m telling you, we came from underneath the SEM building, there’s a hidden bunker or something.” Micheal said.
“Yeah, sure.” One of the MP’s said.
“You don’t believe me?” Micheal asked.
“Why would I?” He asked.
“Because I’m telling you the truth!” Micheal said.
“Okay, Okay.” The MP said. “How about this; you take us to this ‘hidden bunker’ and show us around?” He said.
“I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” Micheal said. The MP grumbled unhappily.
“Fine, you two lead the way.” He said.
“Wait, I can take you to the PFDF camp.” Ghost said. “I know where it is.” She said.
“Okay, you take us to this ‘superhero camp’ and I swear, we’ll just set you free.” The MP said. “No, tell you what. I’ll give you my security badge and send you on your way.”
“I’ll take that offer.” Ghost said.
“Fine.” The MP said. “Henderson, you’re with me. Granger and Soho, you go with the girl. Davids, you stay here and watch the rest of these crack heads and make sure they don’t fuck anything else up.” He said.
“Copy.” The all said.
“Lead the way.” He said to Micheal. Him and Julia began walking out the door with two MP’s on either side of them. Another two left, following Ghost. One was left guarding them.
“It’ll be fine.” Adam said. “They’ll show them everything, and they’ll let us go.” He said.
“No talking. Just take a seat.” The MP said.
“Yes sir.” Adam sarcastically said as he walked over to one of the chairs and sat down in it, next to Gilligan and Callista.
“They’ll come back.” Gilligan said. “They have to.”
Dana Grey
Dana lazily opened her eyes to the early morning sun. She could feel an arm wrapped gingerly around her waist and could feel the heat radiating off the body the arm belonged to. Her head rested against her pillow, she didn’t need a mirror to know her hair was a mess.
She rolled over and came face to face with the beautiful blonde haired woman who lay next to her. Her eyes were still shut and her breathing was even and natural, peaceful. Dana smiled as she looked at her, it had been two days since she’d proposed to her, and the giddiness still hadn’t worn off yet.
She took a deep breath and her green eyes slowly fluttered open. A smile formed on her face when she saw Dana.
“Good morning.” She said, her eyes looking to the clock behind Dana. “You’re up early.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Dana said. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She said as she shifted closer, their lips touching. “I love you.” She said as she pulled away.
“I love you too.” Dana said. She just stared into Sophie’s eyes for a few minutes before she lay back again. Sophie lowered her head onto her shoulder.
“Did you talk to your mom?” Sophie asked.
“No.” Dana answered. “She’d never understand.”
“What about your dad?” She asked.
“I called him yesterday.” Dana said. “He won’t be able to make it.” She said.
“That sucks.” Sophie said. “I’m sorry.”
“At least your family will be there.” Dana said.
“They said they would.” She said.
“I like your family.” Dana said. “They’re nice.”
“Pretty soon you’ll be part of it.” She said.
“I’m counting the hours.” Dana said.
“So am I.” Sophie said as she shifted forwards and sat up. She stretched her arms and yawned. “I don’t want to go to work.” She said.
“Neither do I.” Dana said. “But at least you have a real job.” She said.
“You have a real job.” Sophie said.
“Yeah, working in a fast food restaurant. That’s real work.” She said sarcastically. “And there you are every day busting your ass.” She said.
“I so love you.” Sophie said as she got up from the bed, the bed sheet falling from her body. She wore her T-shirt she got when they both when to Graceland and a pair of blue plaid pajama pants. “It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it just matters that you’re trying. That’s the first step.” She said.
“I am trying.” Dana said. “But it’s so hard.”
“I know it’s hard.” Sophie said, turning to look at her. “But we’ll get through this, together.”
“I don’t know where I’d be without you.” Dana said as she got up.
Dana quickly changed into her work cloths, nothing more than a T-shirt with the restaurant logo on it. She pulled her shoes on over her socks and walked into the bathroom. She brushed her hair until it didn’t look like an absolute mess, and even then decided to just put it into a pony tail. She quickly brushed her teeth and headed out towards the front door, grabbing her coat on the way.
“You’re heading out already?” Sophie asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah, boss said he wanted me in a little early today. I’m not sure what it’s about.” Dana said. She knew it was a lie. She knew it and it hurt her so bad. But she just couldn’t tell her the truth. Sophie walked towards her.
“Okay.” She said. “Just be safe. I’ll see you after work, okay?” She said.
“Yeah. Of course.” Dana said. Sophie planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
“I love you.” She said.
“I love you too.” Dana said as she turned and walked out the door. Dana always walked to work, it would’ve just been a waste of gas to drive every day since it was just a few blocks away. She started walking down the sidewalk, looking back over her shoulder at her house. She told herself she was looking back just because she wanted to, but she knew she was looking back for a reason. She wanted to make sure Sophie wasn’t watching her.
There on the corner of 5th and King street stood a man wearing practically all black. He saw Dana as she started approaching. Dana zipped her jacket up all the way and pulled the hood over her head.
“You’re late.” He said.
“I know.” Dana said. “But I’ve got the money.” She said.
“Good, let’s see it.” He said. Dana withdrew her hand from her pocket holding a wad of cash. The man grinned. “That’s good. Really good.” He said. Dana looked around timidly.
“Okay.” She said quickly. “Do you have it?” She asked. He nodded to her as he took the money from her hand and shoved it into his pocket. Dana saw him reach into his pocket and before she knew it, she was on the ground, with a pair of silver handcuffs on her wrists. “What the hell are you doing?” She asked.
“Sorry to do this to you.” He said as he pulled her up. “But I’m placing you under arrest.” He said. Dana looked at him with fear in her eyes.
“No.” She said. “No, you can’t do this. Please.” She begged. But he didn’t listen. Dana had heard that justice was blind. She never was told that Justice was deaf.
Dana quickly shot up, her eyes darting around the room. From what she could tell, she was in a hospital of some sort. How she’d gotten here, she had no clue. There was a pain in her shoulder, but it was numbed. Dana could see the needle in her arm that was dispensing a clear liquid into her blood stream. She almost wanted to throw up thinking about it.
She grabbed the needle and pulled it out of her arm, it stung. Faintly. She ignored the pain as she stood up from the bed she winced in pain when she moved her shoulder.
She swore when she closed her eyes, she was facing the wall. But when her eyes opened, she was right in front of the door.
“You’ve come a long ways, Dana.” A voice said from within the room, Dana spun around and saw a man she’d never seen before lounging in a chair. He was wearing a black suit with a tie, his dark hair neatly combed. He stood up from the chair and looked at Dana, extending his hand. “I don’t mean to frighten you. I’m just here to talk.” He said.
“Talk about what?” Dana asked tentatively. The man lowered his hand seeing that Dana was not going to take it.
“Your powers, of course.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at the man.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“Most people call me Cooper.” He said. “D. B. Cooper.” Dana’s eyes widened.
“The D. B. Cooper, like the guy that hijacked a plane, got the money, jumped out of the plane and was never seen again?” She asked.
“Don’t act surprised.” He said. “You knew I was a time traveler.” He said, he waved her back into the room. “Come on and sit down. We have a lot to talk about.” Dana obliged and walked back to the bed, sitting on the edge.
“Why are you here?” Dana asked.
“To talk about the future, of course.” He said.
“Just a second ago you said you wanted to talk about my powers, now the future?” she asked. He scratched his chin and looked at Dana.
“Your powers are the future.” He said. Dana knit her eyebrows. “I’m not permitted to give you details, since it’s against the rules of time travel.” He said.
“There’s rules to time travel?” She asked. He nodded.
“Yes. But it’s nothing you need to be concerned about.” He said.
“If you can’t tell me why I’m important, then why are you still here?” She asked.
“I’m here to help explain to you how your power works.” He said. “Now, controlling your power is different. I can’t help you with that. Nobody can.” He said.
“What do you mean by how it works?” Dana asked.
“Time is a delicate thing. A misplaced step at the wrong time, and you can kill thousands of people. I’m here because this timeline is in danger from a time traveler who’s been stepping out of line. And you need to stop him.” He said.
“Who?” Dana asked.
“His name is Leland Frey.” Cooper said. “He’s the oldest of all of us, he’s manifested multiple powers in his lifetime.” He said. “And he’s trying to use them to go back in time and start a war between the humans and our kind.” He said.
“He’s trying to start a war? Why?” Dana asked.
“Because in the future, humans turn on us. They hunt us down and try to kill us all, experimenting on us, segregating us, burning us alive just to see if we feel pain.” He said. “He wants to stop that from happening.”
“Why?” Dana asked. “Your future sounds horrible.”
“But it’s the future Dana.” He said. “If Leland succeeds in his war against the humans, the timeline will destroy itself and be replaced by a new one. Everyone in the old timeline, our current timeline, will cease to exist.” He said. “You have to stop the death of the entire planet.”
“Why does it have to be me? Why can’t one of the other time travelers do it?” Dana asked. Cooper looked at Dana with sorrow in his eyes, as he bit his lip.
“Because your death won’t change the timeline.” He said. “You have to do it because you’re not important. You have to identify the space in time where the break between the real timeline and the old one occurs, then you have to go back and stop it from happening. It’s all you have to do.” He said.
“And I’m going to die because of it.” She said, looking to the ground.
“You might, we just had to prepare for the worst.” He said.
“I’m not important to the future.” She said. “Why?” She asked. He looked at her.
“In our timeline you kill yourself six days from now. You jump off a bridge. You’re not important to the future… Because you’re not part of it.” He said. Dana shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
“So much for trying to make up for my mistakes, huh?” She asked. Cooper leaned into her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“That’s what we’re going to do right now.” He said. “We have to clear your mind so you can think easier.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I want you to think of someone you’ve wrong, something that you’ve done that bothers you.” He said. Dana’s mind instantly went to Sophie. “Do you have it?” He asked. Dana nodded. “This is where the second part of your power comes in, teleportation. You’ve already shown you have it, you teleported halfway across the room. Now all you have to do is teleport to wherever it is you need to be.” He said.
“And how do I do that?” She asked.
“Close your eyes and focus.” He said. “You seem to be able to use your powers only when under the influence of drugs, the morphine is still in your body. So just focus.” He said. Dana nodded, closing her eyes. She pictured Sophie’s face. She thought about going back to her, she thought about what she’d say.
“It’s not working.” Dana said as she felt no change an opened her eyes. She looked around and she was no longer in the hospital room. She was standing in front of a house. Her house.
Dana’s legs began taking shaky steps forwards towards the door, her finger extending to ring the doorbell. She heard the same familiar chime she’d heard a thousand times, from the inside of the house. Now here she is, ringing the doorbell to her own house. She’s a stranger in her own home.
After a few moments she heard the deadbolt unlock itself and the door swung open inwards. Dana instantly felt a lump in her throat as she saw Sophie standing on the other side of the doorway.
“Dana?” She asked. Dana didn’t answer, she just wrapped her arms around Sophie’s waist and pulled her closer, burring her head into her collarbone, like they’d done a thousand times. Dana could feel Sophie’s soft hands on her back.
“I’m sorry Sophie.” Dana said. “I’m so sorry.” She said, she could feel the tears coming but refused to let them fall. Not yet.
“I was so scared.” Sophie said. “I heard you went missing, and thought it was all my fault.” She said. Dana brought her head up and looked Sophie in the eye.
“None of this was your fault.” Dana said. “It was mine. I lied to you again and again. I put you through so much misery and I don’t blame you for leaving. All I want for you is to be happy, I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” She said. “But if you give me one more chance, I swear I can make this right. I swear.”
“Dana.” Sophie began, but Dana hushed her with a kiss.
“Like you said, we’ll make it through this together.” She said.
“Who’s this?” A new voice asked. Dana looked up and saw a man standing in the doorway. She noticed that Sophie’s eyes had closed tight as if she was in pain.
“Dana…” Sophie said. “This is Eric. I’d like to say I meet him after we were over, but that would be a lie. We’ve been meeting in secret for a few months.” She said softly. Dana let go of Sophie and took a few steps back. She could now feel the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Yeah… Yeah. Okay.” Dana stuttered as she turned away. “I-I’ll just go then… I’m sorry.” She said.
“Dana, please don’t be mad.” Sophie said. Dana couldn’t answer her, she just kept walking. The tears were falling uncontrolled now. She walked briskly down the sidewalk towards the bus stop and sat down under the old bench under the graffitied shelter. She pulled her knees up and buried her head into her legs as she cried. She heard someone take a seat next to her but didn’t look up.
“You know she loves you, right?” The man asked. Dana didn’t have to look up to know it was Eric. “She talks about you every chance she gets. You really left a mark on her.” He said.
“I just wanted to fix everything.” Dana said between sobs.
“And you still can Dana, you still can.” He said. “If you still love her, you have to forgive her.”
“I just want her to be happy.” Dana said.
“I know that. And you’ve known her long enough to know that she’s not happy being alone.” He said. “If you want to be mad at somebody, be mad at me. This is my fault, not hers.”
“I’m not mad at anyone other than myself.” Dana said. He reached an arm out and placed it on Dana’s knee.
“Maybe this will all work out for the best.” He said. “If you ever need anything, just call me. I’m serious. Maybe we can get you enrolled in one of those rehab centers.” He said. Dana wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded.
“Sure.” She said. “Just not now. Right now… I just need time.”
“I understand that.” He said. “Do you have a place to stay?” He asked.
“Well, good luck out there. I’m sorry this all happened.” He said as he stood up. “See you again sometime maybe?” He asked.
“Maybe.” She said and he began walking away. “Treat her good, okay?” She asked. He look back and nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” He said and then continued walking off. Dana lifted her hand and looked at it, the ring on her finger shined in the sun. She pinched it in-between her two fingers and pulled it off. She spun in around looking at it, watching how the light danced of its polished surface.
“I’ll always love you.” She whispered and she placed at ring on the bench next to her, and closed her eyes. Thinking of the only person she had left to go to. Kasey.
Micheal Carter
“You weren’t lying.” The MP said, looking at the ladder that led downward.
“Of course I wasn’t.” Micheal said. He noticed that Julia seemed a little timid standing here in this room.
“I’m going down to check it out. Henderson, you stay with them. Make sure nothing happens.” He said as he began descending the ladder. Micheal watched him disappear. Micheal leaned over towards Julia.
“What’s wrong?” Micheal asked.
“Ghost told me that our powers won’t work in here.” Julia said. “I just don’t like feeling… Powerless.” She said. Micheal placed an arm on he shoulder.
“There’s nothing to worry about Julia.” He said.
“Do you see anything?” Henderson asked into his radio. There was no response. “Do you copy?” he asked. “Fuck. Stay here, I’m going down.” He said as he walked forwards and began climbing down the ladder.
“See? Something bad is happening.” Julia said.
“Julia, we’re like five levels below the surface, radio signals can be blocked.” He said.
“I still don’t like it.” She said as she looked down the hole. Moments later Micheal heard a blood curdling scream coming from within. He jumped back and looked at Julia.
I loved the revelations in Dana's part. Now that his goal is revealed, Leland reminds me of Magneto from the X-Men, a little bit at least. Unless D.B. Cooper (I'm absolutely loving that name by the way) lied to her, which seems unlikely, it also firmly and finally put Leland into the position of the antagonist, as I've expected. Still, his goal is more understandable than I thought, but at the same time very extreme. He clearly has to be stopped. However, there is one thing where I am not sure if I understood it correctly: The first few paragraphs in Dana's part, with Sophie, are some sort of flashback, right? And then when she wakes up and meets Cooper, she's at the military hospital after Adam shot her, right?
[Run]
If Michael had his powers, then going after them might make sense. However, someone or something down there is strong enough to make a whole group of armed MP's scream, either in terror or in pain or both. Without his powers, Michael might still be a strong guy, but I doubt he's any better than those MP's. Julia is right, they have to run if they want to have any chance at surviving this.
? It looks like it might rain.” He said.
“I’m good. I’d rather walk.” She said.
“Are you sure?” He asked. She nodded.
“Yeah, I’m su… morere.” She said.
“Well, good luck out there. I’m sorry this all happened.” He said as he stood up. “See you again sometime maybe?” He asked.
“Maybe.” She said and he began walking away. “Treat her good, okay?” She asked. He look back and nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” He said and then continued walking off. Dana lifted her hand and looked at it, the ring on her finger shined in the sun. She pinched it in-between her two fingers and pulled it off. She spun in around looking at it, watching how the light danced of its polished surface.
“I’ll always love you.” She whispered and she placed at ring on the bench next to her, and closed her eyes. Thinking of the only person she had left to go to. Kasey.
Micheal Carter
“You weren’t lying.” The MP said, looking at the ladder that led downward.
“Of c… [view original content]
The first few paragraphs in Dana's part, with Sophie, are some sort of flashback, right? And then when she wakes up and meets Cooper, she's at the military hospital after Adam shot her, right?
Yes, I think I failed to make that clear.
Unless D.B. Cooper (I'm absolutely loving that name by the way)
D.B. Cooper is a real guy, who disappeared after hijacking an airplane and was never seen again. I gave his story a little twist of my own.
I loved the revelations in Dana's part. Now that his goal is revealed, Leland reminds me of Magneto from the X-Men, a little bit at least. U… morenless D.B. Cooper (I'm absolutely loving that name by the way) lied to her, which seems unlikely, it also firmly and finally put Leland into the position of the antagonist, as I've expected. Still, his goal is more understandable than I thought, but at the same time very extreme. He clearly has to be stopped. However, there is one thing where I am not sure if I understood it correctly: The first few paragraphs in Dana's part, with Sophie, are some sort of flashback, right? And then when she wakes up and meets Cooper, she's at the military hospital after Adam shot her, right?
[Run]
If Michael had his powers, then going after them might make sense. However, someone or something down there is strong enough to make a whole group of armed MP's scream, either in terror or in pain or both. Without his powe… [view original content]
D.B. Cooper is a real guy, who disappeared after hijacking an airplane and was never seen again. I gave his story a little twist of my own.
Huh, now I've learned something new That's indeed interesting. I also knew that name sounded familiar, but I had to do a bit of backtracking to remember that you already mentioned him in one of Dana's parts back in November, after she returned from her first time travel. Nice detail!
The first few paragraphs in Dana's part, with Sophie, are some sort of flashback, right? And then when she wakes up and meets Cooper, she's … moreat the military hospital after Adam shot her, right?
Yes, I think I failed to make that clear.
Unless D.B. Cooper (I'm absolutely loving that name by the way)
D.B. Cooper is a real guy, who disappeared after hijacking an airplane and was never seen again. I gave his story a little twist of my own.
? It looks like it might rain.” He said.
“I’m good. I’d rather walk.” She said.
“Are you sure?” He asked. She nodded.
“Yeah, I’m su… morere.” She said.
“Well, good luck out there. I’m sorry this all happened.” He said as he stood up. “See you again sometime maybe?” He asked.
“Maybe.” She said and he began walking away. “Treat her good, okay?” She asked. He look back and nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” He said and then continued walking off. Dana lifted her hand and looked at it, the ring on her finger shined in the sun. She pinched it in-between her two fingers and pulled it off. She spun in around looking at it, watching how the light danced of its polished surface.
“I’ll always love you.” She whispered and she placed at ring on the bench next to her, and closed her eyes. Thinking of the only person she had left to go to. Kasey.
Micheal Carter
“You weren’t lying.” The MP said, looking at the ladder that led downward.
“Of c… [view original content]
? It looks like it might rain.” He said.
“I’m good. I’d rather walk.” She said.
“Are you sure?” He asked. She nodded.
“Yeah, I’m su… morere.” She said.
“Well, good luck out there. I’m sorry this all happened.” He said as he stood up. “See you again sometime maybe?” He asked.
“Maybe.” She said and he began walking away. “Treat her good, okay?” She asked. He look back and nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” He said and then continued walking off. Dana lifted her hand and looked at it, the ring on her finger shined in the sun. She pinched it in-between her two fingers and pulled it off. She spun in around looking at it, watching how the light danced of its polished surface.
“I’ll always love you.” She whispered and she placed at ring on the bench next to her, and closed her eyes. Thinking of the only person she had left to go to. Kasey.
Micheal Carter
“You weren’t lying.” The MP said, looking at the ladder that led downward.
“Of c… [view original content]
Julia looked at Micheal, honest fear in her eyes. She may not have been inside that bunker herself, but she’d heard enough to know she didn’t want to be in there.
“Run.” She said, again. Micheal nodded at her.
“Run.” He agreed as he gripped Julia’s hand and began bolting off away from the entrance to the bunker and towards the stairs.
Julia thought of herself as fit, she honestly was. But Micheal was faster, she guessed that years of football would do that to you. Micheal was practically dragging her along with him as he ran.
Julia could feel a cold chill working its way down her spine, she knew something was off. But she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Where are you going Julia?” A voice echoed off the walls as they climbed the stairs. “The fun is only beginning.” He said. Julia swore she remembered that voice from somewhere, but couldn’t put her finger on it. Judging by the look on Micheal’s face though, he hadn’t heard the voice. “I’ve given you multiple second chances, Julia. Not it is time for you to return the favor. Come back to me.”
“No. Get out of my head.” Julia said.
“Who are you talking to?” Micheal asked. Julia looked up at Micheal, but someone else caught her eye. She saw a man standing on the landing ahead of them. Julia stopped dead in her tracks, as did Micheal. The man was more a shadow than a man, there but containing no substance, only a black cloud. His eyes seemed only to be two floating red orbs.
“The boss asked to see you, Julia.” The man said, his voice, his ghostly appearance. She knew him. She knew him, but just couldn’t put a name on him. But she swore she saw him once before. Wait, no…
“This isn’t possible.” Julia said as she took a step back. “You’re dead.” She said. He laughed as Julia stepped back again, falling right into someone’s arms. They gripped her tightly as she tried to kick away, but Julia couldn’t get away. She looked at the arm around her, seeing it was the same as the man in front of her. Black fog-like structure. But apparently, it still held substance.
“Micheal!” Julia yelled out.
Micheal spun around and his eyes widened as he looked at her. She could see fear, surprise and anger all rolled into one in his expression.
“No.” He said. “You’re dead. Kiera killed you.” He said. The thing holding Julia let out a laugh.
“You can’t kill something that was never living.” It said. “You’ve only killed the body I’d inhabited.”
“Let my sister go.” Micheal said.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” It said. “Leland would like to see her.”
Julia could see Micheal’s fist clenching moments before he lunged forwards towards the creature holding Julia, but the other one moved with incredible speed. One moment it was standing, or floating, at the landing ahead of them, then in the blink of an eye, it was restraining Micheal.
“Let me go!” Micheal yelled.
“Not yet, little human.” The one restraining Micheal said. Julia put the last piece of the puzzle together, Gerald. The thing restraining Micheal is, or was, Gerald. Julia swallowed hard as she looked at him.
“What does Leland want with us?” Julia asked, her voice now shaken.
“He wants nothing other than submission.” Gerald said.
“Submission?” Julia asked.
“Swear your life and everything you do to Leland and his cause.” Gerald said. Julia suppressed a delirious laugh as she looked at him.
“I’ll never do that.” Julia said.
“He has ways of making you agree with him.” Gerald said.
“He can try.” Julia said.
“He will.” The one holding Julia said. And with that the two dead men began leading them both back down the stairs and back towards the bunker. Julia would’ve fought back, but her feet weren’t on the ground. The thing was carrying her a foot off the ground and no matter how much she kicked or squirmed, it wasn’t letting go.
“I’m going to die.” Julia thought to herself as they began their decent into the bunker.
Adam Becker
Adam watched the MP, whose name was ‘Davids, as he paced in front of the door, every so often looking back over at one of them as if they were a threat. He had his finger resting over the trigger as if one of them may attack him at any moment.
He seemed to be wary of Adam in particular. He occasionally looked over at Callista or one of the others, but Adam could feel the MP’s omnipresent eye boarding into him.
The door separating the lobby from the hospital swung open and a doctor walked out, with Kiera with him. She winced as if in pain but kept walking, taking a seat next to Kas. The MP walked over to the doctor and pulled him aside.
“Did she say anything?” He asked.
“No, she hasn’t said a word.” The doctor responded.
“Are you sure she’s safe to be out here?” He asked.
“There’s nothing more we can do.” The doctor said. “We patched up the wound, the only thing left to do is let her go.” He said.
“That’s not what I meant, but okay.” The MP said, allowing the doctor to walk away.
“Davids, do you copy?” A voice asked through the radio on his chest. He grabbed the radio.
“Copy, Soho. Go ahead.” He said, sounding a little relieved.
“We’re at the camp the girl was talking about.” Soho responded.
“And?” Davids asked.
“There’s something here.” Soho said. “Or used to be. It’s all abandoned though. I checked the maps and this place isn’t marked. The girl was right, they weren’t lying.” Soho said.
“That makes everything a lot more complicated.” Davids said as he resumed his nervous pacing.
“Have you made contact with contact with Henderson or the boss?” Soho asked.
“Negative, why?” Davids asked.
“Neither of them are responding.” Soho said.
“Hold that thought.” Davids said, replacing the radio to its pouch on his vest. He walked over towards Adam. “Now that we know you’re not lying, would you mind explaining a few things?” He asked.
“What do you want to know?” Adam asked.
“What exactly was in that bunker?” Davids asked.
“It’s hard to explain.” Adam said.
“I have time.” Davids said.
“It was some sort of laboratory.” Adam said. “The head researcher was doctor Rosenberg, he told us he was researching a way to bring people out of comas.” He said.
“Rosenberg.” Davids mused. “Sounds familiar. Were there any armed guards down there in that bunker?”
“Yes.” Adam said.
“How many and where are they?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look.” Adam said. He just couldn’t remember how many there were.
“Okay. Okay.” Davids said as he stepped back. “I’m going to need you to take me to the bunker.” He said.
“What? No way.” Adam said. He could see Davids speaking, saying something, but now words came out. No sound came out. Nothing. Adam couldn’t hear anything, nothing at all. His head began to hurt, feeling as if it had just been split open.
“Adam.” A distinctive voice called. “Come to me.” It echoed.
“Rosenberg.” Adam stuttered.
“Don’t waste any time, Adam.” He said, echoing into the depths of his mind. “We have all the time in the world. But your friends don’t. Surrender to Leland. Join us.” It said, and then just as it came, it was gone.
Adam looked up and saw that it was not only him that had heard the voice. Everyone had heard it. Adam looked to Kiera and Kiera looked to him before her eyes drifted to the ground.
“What just happened?” Davids asked. He hadn’t heard it. Adam looked up at him.
“Nothing good.”
Dana Grey
Dana opened her eyes and found herself staring at the door to the hospital room. She was back. She reached out to the doorknob, carefully avoiding moving her injured shoulder.
Her head ached. It was probably just from the morphine working its way through her body.
The door swung open and she stepped out into the hallway. She looked down and noticed that she was wearing her own cloths, not a hospital gown. She didn’t know how or when that happened. And right now, she wasn’t going to question it.
She walked down the hallway, not completely sure of where she was going, not completely sure of where she was. She just decided to follow the big red ‘exit’ signs posted every so often.
A few of the doctors and nurses stopped and looked at her as she walked by, but nobody stopped her. They probably had better things to do than stop somebody that looked seemingly healthy. On the outside at least.
On the inside, she wanted to scream in pain every time she moved her shoulder, even though the pain was still muted with morphine.
She pushed through a set of doors and sighed with relief as she saw a familiar face.
“Kas.” She said as she walked forwards towards her. Kasey looked up and as soon as she saw her she jumped up from the chair she was sitting in, and threw herself into Dana’s arms. Dana bit down hard as pain soared through her shoulder, but said nothing.
“I’m so sorry.” Kas said.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Dana said to her as she ran her fingers through Kasey’s long blonde hair. She noticed a man was standing nearby. He walked up to her, his hands in his pockets.
“Hey, I just wanted to say I was sorry for shooting you.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at him.
“You shot me?” She asked. He nodded. Dana looked at Kasey. “You did it to protect her?” She asked.
“Yeah.” He said.
“Then we’re good.” She said. She looked around at everyone in the room, noticing a few absences. “Micheal and Ghost, where are they?” Dana asked.
“Micheal and his sister went back to the bunker. Ghost went to the PFDF camp.” He said.
“Why would they do that?” Dana asked.
“We had to prove we weren’t lying.” He said.
“But now we have to go back and save them.” Callista said as she stood up.
“What? Why?” Dana asked.
“A dead friend of ours showed up again.” He said.
“Dead?” Dana asked, then shook her head. “Don’t even try to explain, let’s just go.”
“Wade, Callista, and Gilligan are staying here.” He said.
“Why?” Dana asked.
“Wade’s staying because his presences blocks out our powers.” He said. “Gilligan and Callista are staying because we need a backup plan.” He explained.
“Your powers will be blocked out anyways as soon as you go into the bunker.” Dana said.
“Not if we counter it.” Gilligan said as he stood up.
“Explain.” Dana said.
“I got suspicious about something. I got our friend Davids to call up and ask for a reading on power usage, as it turns out the SEM building is still drawing a shit ton of power.” He said.
“The bunker is running on separate energy?” Dana asked.
“Yes.” Gilligan said. “The energy has been sub routed into the bunker, bypassing the SEM building itself. So even though we knocked out the power to the building, the bunker still runs.” He said.
“And how does that help us?” Dana asked.
“When they ran the power reading, they found that the amount of energy the bunker was taking is insane. The amount of power they’re taking matched with the small relative size of the bunker itself, it didn’t make any sense unless they were electrifying the walls themselves.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at him.
“So you’re saying that they’re electrifying the walls?” She asked.
“No, something in the walls.” He said. “You see, Ghost was only half right about the MMC’s. It’s not the MMC that blocks our powers, it’s what’s in it. I happened to notice that the MMC in the bunker was weird, it had something living in it.” He said.
“Living?” Dana asked, alarmed.
“Not living like humans kind of living, but living.” He said. “And that ‘living’ part of the MMC needed a way to be activated.”
“So they were pumping energy through the walls to activate this power-blocking living thing in the wall?” Dana asked.
“Yes.” Gilligan said. “And we’ve isolated the sub route on the electricity grid, they’ve prepared to shut it down.”
“And once it’s down, we can go in with our powers?” Dana asked.
“Exactly.” Gilligan said.
“How did you know this?” Dana asked.
“I just did.” Gilligan said. “I think it might be some sort of power, one way or another.” He said.
“It might’ve just save a few lives.” Dana said.
“We’re ready to go.” An MP called from the doorway. Adam looked at Dana.
“That’s our que.” Adam said.
Adam, Kasey, Kiera and Dana all began walking towards the door, but Adam stopped Kiera and Dana.
“What are you doing? You two are injured.” He said.
“I’m not going to let my sister go in there without me. If you don’t want me to come, you’re going to have to shoot me.” Dana said. “Again.” She added.
“I killed Rosenberg and now he’s back.” Kiera said. “I think that’s enough reason on its own.”
“Fine.” Adam said as he turned and walked out the door into the street where a troop truck sat. Adam climbed up the back and turned around, offering a hand to Kiera. She took it and climbed up. Dana gritted her teeth as Adam helped pull her up. Pain soared through the entire side of her body, but she said nothing.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” An MP said as the truck lurched forwards.
Nathan Zabek
Nathan looked at Tyler and slowly shook his head.
“I’m sorry man, I’m not going to leave my sister after all of this.” He said. Tyler nodded.
“I can respect that.” He said. “See you around, I guess.” He said as he began walking away.
“See you around.” Nathan agreed. He walked back into Alina’s room and took a seat in the chair next to her bed. She was fast asleep already, though it was only around 1 O’clock. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. The first channel that came on was news, and the caption made his eyes widen.
‘Chad Sparks Found’
Chad Sparks had been missing for days now. And they just found him? Nathan quickly turned up the volume enough to hear, but not to wake Alina.
“Chad Sparks was found today at noon after being missing for over two days. He was found outside the Greene County Memorial Hospital. There are no signs about how he got there, but there are signs of head trauma. He is currently being held in the hospital but is currently not responsive. We’ll update you with new information as becomes available.” The news caster said.
How does someone go missing for two days and then turn up outside a hospital and nobody knows how he got there. That’s a little strange. Nathan looked to Alina and back to the TV. This all was a little strange.
He heard a knock on the door frame and looked up, he saw Bastet standing there in the threshold.
“I got bored of waiting.” She said.
“Take a seat.” Nathan said. Bastet walked in and sat down on the chair that was on the other side of Alina’s bed.
“Did you hear about Chad Sparks?” She asked.
“I just saw.” He said. “Crazy.”
“I know. Just showing up without a trace after being gone for two days. What, did he time travel here or something?” She asked.
“Who knows.” Nathan said. “Maybe now’s a good time break out the tin foil hats.” He said.
“Don’t get me started.” She said. Nathan looked out the window into the parking lot and something caught his eye. He could see Tyler standing next to a car and another man approaching him, with what looked like a gun. Nathan looked back over to Bastet. “What?” she asked.
Comments
Adam Becker
“You know that we aren’t going anywhere without you, right?” Adam asked. “You’re the one that got us out of this.”
“Look around you!” Wade yelled. “I’m the one that caused this!”
“Maybe so, but it doesn’t mean you wanted to do it.” Kas said. “It doesn’t have to define who you are.” She said.
“So you just expect me to forget everything and pretend this never happened?” He asked.
“No, never forget.” Kas said. “But don’t let it drag you down with it.” She said.
“Dude, I’ll carry you if I have to.” Micheal said.
“You really want to touch me after what I just did to Julian?” He asked. “If you stay here much longer we’ll all die. So just go.”
“Not without you.” Adam said.
“What the hell is your problem? Are you deaf? I said I’m not going anywhere. I deserve to die here.” He said.
“Maybe that’s what you think. But the rest of us think differently.” Adam said.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you?” Kas asked. “Just some scared little kid looking for someone to blame so you take the easy way out and blame yourself. And now you want to play hero and get yourself killed so you can feel better at night.” She said.
“Not helping.” Adam said.
“You’re afraid to face the world because that would take guts and you obviously don’t have any.” She said. Wade shook his head at her. “You want people to think you’re the good guy when in all reality, inside you’re just hollow. You’re all bark with no bite. But guess what, you’re not fooling anyone. So if you want kill yourself, go right ahead. But you should know that none of us here will ever view you as anything more that.” She said.
“That’s not true.” He responded to her.
“Is it really? Do you really believe that the only way to right this wrong is to die? Is that what you truly believe, or is it just what you’re telling yourself because it’s easier than hearing the truth?” She asked.
“You don’t know a damn thing about me.” He said.
“Really, because it seems like I know a lot. It seems to me like you just want to take the easy way out because you can’t grow a pair and face the truth.” She said.
“Maybe that is the truth!” He yelled. “What difference does it make?”
“Apparently the difference between living and dying.” She said. “Nobody here is going to move until you come with us. We’ll all die here if we have to, and that blood will be on your hands.”
“Your blood will be on my hands anyways.” He said. “I kill everything I touch.”
“Not true.” Adam jumped in. “You can control these powers, and we’ve seen it”
“Yeah, sometimes.” He said. “But…”
“But what?” Kas asked. “Stop making excuses and step up for once.” She said. Wade grimly looked at her and huffed.
“You’re all going to die. And it’ll be your own faults.” He said.
“Then it’s settled. Let’s move.” Kas said.
“We’ll get to the clock tower in ten minutes of we keep a good pace.” Wade said.
“Sounds good.” Adam said. “Groups of two, everyone. Nobody wanders off, nobody strays from the pack. We don’t know what out there.”
“I have a pretty good Goddamn idea.” Wade mumbled as he started walking off through the rubble out of the school.
“Kas, you stick with me. Micheal, you’re with Callista.” Adam said.
“Yes sir.” Micheal said. “I guess that means we’re moving.” He said. Callista stood up behind him, seemingly with no pain at all.
“I have no clue what just happened.” She said.
“You don’t want to know.” Adam said.
“There’s a dead person living inside of you.” Micheal said. Callista’s eyes widened and Adam glared at him.
“Really?” Adam asked.
“What?” Micheal asked.
“You were right. I didn’t want to know.” She said.
“Let’s just get moving. We can whine about having dead people in us later.” Adam said.
“You say that like it’s a normal everyday thing.” Callista said as she walked off with Micheal next to her.
“So, why were you so quick on picking me to go with you?” Kas asked as she walked next to Adam.
“Well, for one reason I wanted to know what the fuck is wrong with you.” He said. “You practically just told him he should kill himself.”
“It worked didn’t it?” She asked.
“That it did.” Adam said.
“He’s what, a year younger than me?” She asked. “I know how to talk to my age group. I can definitely get under their skin.”
“Holy fucking shit.” Adam said as he crested the top of the rubble pile and caught a glimpse of the clock tower. It looked like some sort of vortex was opening up above it stretching from the ever-so cloudy sky reaching downwards towards the top of the clock tower. It looked almost like a tornado except it wasn’t destroying everything. Again.
“That would be our ride.” Wade grumbled from below Adam. Adam began descending the other side of the pile, being careful not to fall on the unstable debris. Kas, on the other hand, wasn’t so graceful. Adam heard a yelp behind him and then watched as she continued to roll all the way down the pile until she was on flat ground.
She slowly sat up and rubbed her forehead where it was bleeding. It didn’t look to bad, but there was a lot of blood. Head wounds always bleed a lot. She looked over at Adam when he reached the bottom.
“That didn’t happen, alright?” She asked.
“I didn’t see a thing.” Adam chuckled, now feeling free to laugh as he saw she was alright. He held out his hand to her and pulled her up and the two continued walking.
“This way.” Wade said, pointing towards the clock tower.
“Really? I thought we were going the other way.” Kas said. Wade shook his head.
“Well if you want to take a detour to the edge of the barrier, be my guest.” He responded. “But if you want to get out of here, I’d say we follow the giant mind-fuck tornado in the sky.” He said.
“Was that a joke?” Kas asked. “Did you just make a joke? There might be hope for you yet.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” He said. “Let’s pick up the pace a little.” He said as he walked on.
“So, those scavenger things. Are they going to be a problem?” Adam asked.
“They don’t have a leader.” Wade said. “They’re probably too busy killing themselves to be killing us. If there’s any of them left.”
“What does that mean?” Kas asked.
“Like I mentioned before, they weren’t living. They were machines of sorts. You take out what’s controlling them and they can’t function.” He said.
“Well that’s handy.” She said.
“If I’m right.” He responded. “Otherwise, we’re all about to die.”
“What do you think is going to be on the other side?” Adam asked.
“I hope any place but Xenia.” Wade said.
“I second that.” Kas said.
“I can get behind that.” Adam said. “Hopefully it’ll take us somewhere warm. Like Florida.”
“No. Not Florida. Never Florida.” Wade said. “California sounds better.”
“You have something wrong with Florida?” Kas asked.
“Yeah, I do.” He answered. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do.” Kas shook her head with a slight smile.
“I always liked Florida. I’ve been there like, twice with my sister Dana and my brother Keith.” She said.
“So you do have a family?” Adam asked.
“I’m the youngest.” Kas said.
“That still doesn’t make me like Florida.” Wade said.
“I was born in Florida.” Adam said.
“No disrespect intended.” Wade said.
“No, it’s fine. I hated the place too. Except I knew why.” Adam said.
“And why’s that?” Adam asked.
“It doesn’t really matter right now.” Adam said.
“You can talk you know. It’s not like anyone else is listening.” Wade said. Adam shook his head.
“How do you go from being a depressed suicidal on a warpath to asking me if I’m okay?” Adam asked.
“I’ve been told it’s one of my better qualities.” Wade said smugly.
“Wow. Look at this place.” Kas said, drawing there attention. It was a park, a moderately sized on. It had a large pond, one that you’d expect to see geese in. But there were no geese, those winged hell spawn.
“Shawnee park.” Wade said. “It was a nice place, most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” Kas asked.
“Well, this is a small town that wants to be a big city. We have our share of small groups if thugs that think they’re gangs.” Wade said. “All they really were was a bunch of stoners looking for their next high. Fucking addicts. Who would want to throw their lives away like that?” He asked.
“Some of them aren’t bad people, you know. The drugs don’t make the person.” Kas said, almost sounding offended.
“I never said that, all I said is that I didn’t like them. A few of my old friends were druggies, and just to point it out so was my stepbrother.” He said. “But he got arrested before I woke up in this hell. So, yeah.”
“My sister’s a heroin addict.” Kas said. “She just got out of prison. I didn’t even get to see her before I ended up here.”
“My father was a raging alcoholic.” Adam said. “And my mother killed him before I was 18. Haven’t seen her since. It’s the whole reason I joined the army. I thought I could run away from the pain.”
“Damn man.” Wade said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“We’ve all lost people.” Adam said.
“That we have.” Kas said.
Wade looked up at the looming clock tower. By now there were only about a minute or two away at most.
“We’ve got some stairs to climb.” Wade mumbled.
“Do we have to?” Kas joked.
“Can you fly?” Wade asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know. Never tried.” Kas said. Wade narrowed his eyes at her with a sly smile.
“I think that might just be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.” He said.
“Fair enough.” Kas said.
“Who’s going in first?” Adam asked.
“I have they key, I’ll go first.” Wade said.
“Be my guest.” Adam said.
“Lead the way.” Kas said.
“This is so screwing with my head.” Micheal said as he joined the group.
“It’s not hard to screw with your head. There’s not much in there anyways.” Callista said.
“Ouch. Right where it hurts.” Micheal joked. Callista laughed a little. Wade pressed on the glass door and it opened. The clock tower was actually part of the courthouse itself.
“Any idea where we go from here?” Adam asked as he looked around the lobby of the courthouse.
“Look for a stairwell, it’ll probably be marked. It’s not like just anyone could go up to the top of the clock tower.” Wade said.
“There’s a door over here.” Callista said. “I think it goes up to the top.” She continued. Wade began walking over to her. She pulled on the handle. “It’s locked.” She asked.
“Let me see it.” Wade said as he looked at the door. “It’s wooden.” He said.
“And that helps us how?” Callista asked. Wade walked towards the far wall.
“Where are you going?” Micheal asked.
“It helps us because, if it was metal. We couldn’t break it down.” Wade said. As he walked back over, a fire extinguisher in his hands.
“What are you going to do with that?” Callista asked.
“He’s going to break down the door with it.” Kas said.
“At least you got one smart on in the group.” Wade muttered as he lifted the canister over his head, bringing it down onto the door knob. After a few good hits the knob broke off and the door swung open on its own. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you murder an innocent door.” Wade said, as he looked up the stairs that lay beyond the door.
“Are those our stairs?” Kas asked.
“Unless the courthouse added a shit ton of floors that I don’t know about, yes.” Wade said as he started to climb the stairs. Kas looked over to Adam.
“Let’s go.” She said as she followed Wade up the stairs.
Kiera Peppers
“Come on already, I’m starving.” Kiera spoke to the microwave as it heated her bowl of soup. Doctor Rosenberg had said he’d be back in an hour. It’s been three and still no sign of his return. Technically, she was off the clock now. She could’ve left two hours ago if she wanted to.
But it just didn’t feel right to just leave the place without anyone else to watch it. What happens if no one is around and something goes wrong? Who thought it was a good idea to have only one person working today?
It’d been over a week now, and there were still no signs of improvement. Maybe Rosenberg was wrong, maybe they wouldn’t wake up. Kiera heard the microwave dinging and smiled. Food. She spun around and pulled the door open, reaching in and grabbing the plastic bowl full of chicken noodle soup. It was one of her favorites, that was probably why Rosenberg kept so much of it around. His theory was that if you kept the staff happy, they’d work harder. Kiera was definitely happy to be working with Rosenberg, it was a great honor. Rosenberg was one of the United States leading researchers into Comas.
He believed that he was onto a breakthrough and decided it was time to test his discovery, and thus they were here now. There were five patients that were all in a coma, and if this went according to Rosenberg’s plans, they’d be awake.
But it had been a week and no change. The patient’s families were all waiting to hear any new news on this. They all wanted their loved ones back, Kiera understood that. Like she said, they’d been here a week. She’d been on the case almost non-stop. She left her family and friends back in Cleveland, and now she’s here. It sucked, no matter where she went in the compound there was no reception and she wasn’t allowed to leave the walls of the compound for some reason. She’d been inside these walls for an entire week. She hadn’t even seen the sun once in that entire time.
She sat down with her bowl of soup at one of the tables in the break room, the orange one. It was her favorite color after all. She took a bite out of the soup, and nearly spit It back out. It was still very hot, and it burnt her tongue. She took a quick drink of water from her orange bottle to subside that burn. She sighed as she remembered her laptop laying on the table right in front of her. She reached over and grabbed her laptop, flipping it open. A few keystrokes later, she was in. She opened her camera and prepared for the hourly log. It was one of the most boring part of the day.
“Day eight of the Rosenberg experiments, the subjects are still showing no signs of improvement. But they show no sign of worsening. Patient one…” Kiera began as she looked at her chart she had open in a separate screen. She should’ve memorized their names by now, she felt bad for not knowing them. “Adam Becker, BP 120/80. Heart rate normal. No signs of brain function improvement over the last hour. Patient two, Kasey Grey, BP 121 over 79, heart rate normal, no signs of brain function improvement in the last hour… Wait, Holy shit. She’s regaining function.” Kiera said as she stared at the chart on her screen. After it being all the same for so long, it was weird to see anything new. She looked at her own shocked expression for a moment before she shut her laptop and pulled out her cell phone.
No signal. Of course. She looked around and saw the phone on the wall. Picking it up, she hastily dialed Rosenberg’s number. There was a sound of the phone trying to connect.
“Please leave a message after the tone.” It said after half an eternity. Keira sighed.
“Doctor Rosenberg, this is Kiera Peppers. I’m at the lab. Patient two, Kasey Grey, is beginning to show signs of brain function. Please come back as soon as you get this message. Or at least send someone, please.” She said before she hung up the phone. Why did Rosenberg always ignore her calls? He always answered the ones from Doctor Randall.
Another good question was why did his cell phone work but not hers? Why did she cheap out when she chose her carrier?
She looked around the break room. She still saw steam curling up from her bowl of soup. She sighed. No matter how hungry she was her soup would have to wait, the patients were more important. The families had trusted doctor Rosenberg and the rest of his crew, including herself, to take care of these patients.
She rushed out the door and into the hallway. All of the patients were being housed in an observation room, just down the hall. The compound really wasn’t big. It was big enough to house the patients, doctor Rosenberg and the rest of his four-man team.
She quickly took off down the hall towards the observation room, in all reality it was just a giant open room with beds in it with curtains for walls between each of the beds. It made it a lot easier to observe the patients.
Had Kiera thought about it, she would’ve stopped by the crew’s quarters to wake up the rest of the team. But, in her rush it didn’t cross her mind. She blasted through the set of double doors that led into the observation room and looked around the room. There were only five patients in here, and she needed to find number two, Kasey Grey. How hard could it be?
Luckily, not hard. She walked down the row of beds, which were labled by their distance from the entrance. Meaning, number on was closest to the doors while number five was farthest. Patient one was in his bed like always, not moving. Nothing new there. But as soon as she passed by the curtain that separated One from Two, Kiera’s eyes widened.
Kasey Grey was awake. Not only that, but she was sitting on the edge of her bed about to stand up. Kiera stood shocked, unable to move. How does someone go from being in a coma to walking around? Kasey brushed her blonde hair out of her face and looked over at Kiera, staring her down with her green eyes.
“Who are you?” Kasey asked. “Where am I? Where’s everyone else?” She asked.
“I, uh, I’m Kiera Peppers. I’m a technical assistant. You’re currently at Rosenberg Research Compound.”
“Rosenberg what now?” She asked.
“You’ve been out for some time now, Kasey. You family has allowed doctor Rosenberg to use you as part of an experiment that the thought might help to bring people out of comas. And it looks like it worked.” Kiera said.
“Experiment? What kind of experiment?” Kasey asked.
“I don’t know all the details, I’m new here all they let me do is fix equipment and read graphs. I’m sure doctor Rosenberg will explain everything to you once he gets back.” Kiera said.
“Where’s everyone else?” Kasey asked.
“What do you mean? Your family is at home, if that’s what you mean.” Kiera said.
“No, I mean Adam and Micheal and Callista and Wade. Where are they?” Kasey asked. Kiera furrowed her brow as she looked at Kasey.
“How do you know about them? You were in a coma. You never met.” Keira said.
“What do you mean?” Kasey asked.
“All five of you were in a coma. You’re the first one to wake up. There’s no way that any of you would know each other. How do you know them?” Kiera asked.
“We were all there. We all escaped and now…” Kasey trailed, Kiera saw her eyes fix on something behind her.
“And now what?” Kiera asked, as she looked over her shoulder.
It happed fast. Too fast for Kiera to comprehend what was happening. One second she was standing straight up talking to Kasey, and in the next moment she was sprawled out on the floor with pain shooting through her face. She could feel blood coming from her nose. She turned over on her back and saw him, patient one, Adam Becker. He loomed over her, fists balled.
“Who are you and where are we?” He demanded, Kiera shielded her face preparing for a blow that didn’t come.
“Please don’t hurt me!” Kiera said. “We were just trying to help!”
Kiera felt a strong hand haul her to her feet. She was forced to look up at Adam, as he was much taller than her. Kiera was only a little bit taller than Kasey, standing only around 5’5’’.
“Did I say I cared about if you were trying to help? I asked two simple questions, Who are you and where are we?” He asked, his hand tightening around Kiera’s throat. Her hands instinctively clawed at her throat, but he was way too strong.
“Kiera Peppers.” Kiera choked out. “At Rosenberg Research Compound.” She finished, already gasping for air. Her face was red and spots danced in her vision, her lungs burnt ,begg
begging for air.
“Where is that?” Adam asked. Kiera didn’t answer and this seemed to anger him, as he lifted her off the ground with only one hand. Her feet kicked but couldn’t find anything solid. “Where?” He demanded again. Kiera attempted to answer, but just couldn’t get any words out.
“Adam, stop. You’re killing her!” Kasey said. Adam looked from Kiera to Kasey, then back to Kiera.
“Do you trust her, Kas?” Adam asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean we should kill her.” Kasey answered.
“Fine.” Adam said as he dropped Kiera. She landed ungracefully on her side, grabbing at her throat and breathing heavily. Adam bent down next to her. “Where are we?” He asked.
“Rosenberg Research-“ Keira began.
“Stop with that shit. Where is this place?” He asked.
“I-I don’t know.” Keira answered. Adam’s face twisted with rage.
“I’m not in the mood to be playing games with you right now!” He yelled at her. She could feel his hand wrapping around her throat again.
“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!” Kiera cried out.
“Stop lying to me! You don’t just show up somewhere without knowing where that place is!” Adam yelled at her, flinging spit onto her face. He pressed down hard. Kiera kicked and punched at Adam but he seemed unfazed.
“Adam Becker! Stop!” A man yelled as he walked into the observation room. Adam looked up towards the room’s entrance, and his eyes widened. He pulled Kiera up, using her as a shield.
“I want answers or she dies!” Adam yelled.
“You’ll get all the answers you need. Just let doctor Peppers go.” He said.
“Doctor Rosenberg, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Kiera stuttered.
“No need to be sorry doctor Peppers, this is… It’s amazing.” Rosenberg said.
“Cut the small talk and start making sense, or I’ll have no problem with ripping this girl’s throat out.” Adam said.
“Mister Becker, there’s no need for violence. I assure you we’re here to help.” Rosenberg said.
“Then help me understand what the fuck is going on here.” Adam said.
“Just as soon as you let go of doctor Peppers.” Rosenberg said. “I wouldn’t lie to you Adam, I’m not armed and even if I was, why would I shoot you? You’re the best thing that’s happened to medical science since the polio vaccine.” He said.
“Adam, just let her go.” Kasey said.
Choice (For Adam, I know it’s a little weird but it’s the best I could do.)
[Let her go]
[Keep her prisoner]
[Let her go]
What the...? Okay, now things got confusing. Until now, despite the twists, I always had a general idea what was going on. But that... damn, that was awesome, but confusing as hell at the same time. So, everything they have been experiencing in Xenia has been part of a coma-induced shared dream. And now they are awake, which is nice. But the one thing that I am curious about is, just how long have they been in a coma? And how did they ended up in this coma? And why have they apparently shared the same coma-dream? And what does that mean for Julia, Gilligan and Dana? Are their respective storylines still happening at the same time, or was this coma part of a timeskip? So many questions... all I can say for now is, that was one hell of a great twist.
I can say that these questions will be answered in following parts, so I can't say much right now...
Well, yes. There storylines are still going on at the same time, more or less.
Why thank you. I tried hard on this one.
[Let her go]
[Let her go]
Wow, that was unexpected! I dont think Dr. Rosenberg told Adam the full truth and I dont think he plans to do it but as long as I dont know more about what happened I will try to prevent the situation from escalating. Maybe they are friendly and reasonable people who only want the best for Adam and co.
Adam Becker
Adam looked at Doctor Rosenberg. Then to the woman he was holding like a shield. It didn’t take a doctor to tell she was scared. Adam could hear her choking on tears in a failed attempt to hold them back.
“Okay… Okay.” Adam said as he released his grip on Kiera. She dropped to the floor and propped herself up against the bed Kasey was laying on. She continued to gasp for air as she wiped the tears from her eyes and the blood from her nose.
“Good.” Rosenberg said. “Doctor Peppers, are you alright?” He asked.
“I’m… I’ll be fine.” She responded in a small shaky voice. He locked his eyes on her.
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest up a little. I’ll contact you if I need any assistance.” Rosenberg said. Kiera nodded and took a deep breath before she stood up and slowly walked away, out the set of double doors. After Adam heard the sound of the door latching back shut Rosenberg turned his attention back to Adam and smiled. “It looks like the rest of the pack has joined us.” He said. Adam looked over his shoulder. He saw Micheal and Callista standing next to each other and Wade right behind them. Kasey got up from her bed and joined them.
“It looks like you’ve got some explaining to do.” Adam said.
“Indeed I do.” Rosenberg said. “Why don’t you follow me to my office, and we can get started.” He said a she turned and began walking. Adam looked to the group. Nobody objected, so he followed Rosenberg. As they walked through the halls, Rosenberg began to speak.
“Mister Becker, you really scared my employee.” He said. “You really knocked her around, so tell me; what were you trying to figure out?” He asked.
“I didn’t want to hurt her. She just kept lying to me.” Adam said.
“Lying about what exactly?” He asked, sounding almost offended. As if the thought of one of his employees lying was some great sin or something.
“She kept saying that she didn’t know where this place was.” Adam said. Rosenberg laughed like that was funny or something.
“That’s because she doesn’t know where this place is.” Rosenberg said. “I’ve gone to great lengths to keep this place hidden and off the map. I can’t just let my employees know where it is, otherwise they could tell someone.”
“None of your employees know where they are right now?” Kasey asked.
“Not a single one of them. They know just as much as you do in this case.” Rosenberg said.
“So tell me where we are.” Adam said.
“Were you not listening? I can’t tell you.” Rosenberg said.
“Why not?” Micheal asked.
“Because science does best when not governed by needless federal laws.” Rosenberg said.
“What do you mean by that?” Adam asked. “Are you doing illegal experiments or something?”
“No, not at all.” Rosenberg said. “But it is much easier to work when you don’t have the government breathing down your back every day.” He stopped walking in front of a wooden door and pulled it open. He walked in and the group followed. Rosenberg sat in a large leather chair that was on the opposite side of a larger wooden desk. “Please, take a seat.” He said, waving his hand at the five seats that were stationed in front of the desk, as if he were expecting this.
Adam walked over to one of the seats and sat down. Kasey sat on his left while Micheal sat on his right. Rosenberg smiled.
“You’re confused, you want answers. So we’ll start at the beginning of the process.” He said, as he pulled a drawer on the desk open and pulled out a stack of manila envelopes. He looked at the top on. The name ‘Adam Becker’ was written on it. “I’ll guess we’ll start with you then, Mister Becker.” He said as he opened to envelope, pulling out the documents.
“You were found unconscious in John Brain nature reserve, off the trail. There were no signs of what happened other than possible traces of drug within your system.” He said.
“I was attacked, someone attacked me.” Adam said. “I remember that.”
“You remember that?” Rosenberg asked. “That could be useful in solving your case.” He said, as he sifted through the pile. “Callista Everett, you were found in a ditch off the side of a highway. A driver saw you and brought you to a hospital, you were in a coma for over a week now.” He said.
“How did I get in a ditch?” Callista asked.
“I don’t know.” Rosenberg said. “Micheal Carter, you were found in your house. There were signs of an obvious forced entry. Samples collected from the scene have led to the arrest of two people in connection with the break in. You’ve been in a coma for the same amount of time as Callista.”
“What about my sister? Do you know anything about her?” He asked. Rosenberg shook his head.
“Up until this point, I was unaware that you even had a sister. I’m sorry.” Rosenberg said. “Kasey Grey, you were found outside a bar in downtown Dayton. You were beat up pretty badly. You’ve been out for a little under a month now.” Kasey’s jaw dropped.
“What? How? I don’t remember anything…” She said.
“Wade, you’ve been in a coma ever since your freshman year of high school, when you were hit by a car.”
“My freshman year? What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.
“Three years, Wade. You’ve been in a coma for three years.” Rosenberg said.
“Three years? But how?” He asked. “That’s not possible. It can’t be.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. I think it’s also appropriate to tell you now; Your mother died two weeks ago in a car crash. I am sorry.” Rosenberg said. Wade shook his head.
“No, that’s not true. It can’t be. My mother died when I was just I kid. I was the one that killed her.” Wade said. Rosenberg shook his head.
“That seems to just not be the case.” Rosenberg said.
“But then how do you explain the fact that I remember her dying? How do you explain the fact that I was only in that place for a few days?” He asked.
“Wade, the unconscious mind has no sense of time.” Rosenberg said. “You mind was lying to you.”
“How much of it is real?” He asked.
“Probably none of it.” Rosenberg said.
“You mean that everything that happened in that… Dream or whatever…”
“It was all false.” Rosenberg said. “What exactly happened in that dream?” He asked.
“We were all in a high school, trapped. There was a barrier keeping us from leaving Xenia. And these …creatures that kept attacking us.” Wade explained.
“And you all shared this dream?” Rosenberg asked.
“Yes.” Adam said. The rest nodded.
“Then it worked. I liked all of your minds into one. This is amazing!” He said.
“Wait, hold on. Liked our minds?” Adam asked.
“To put it simply, I plugged all of your brains into the same system so you would share on brain, one mind, but still function as separate beings. The dream was just you all being stuck in each other’s minds. The whole process worked, and it woke you all up.” Rosenberg said.
“Wait, so they were in my head? Are they still in my head?” Kasey asked.
“Yes, and no. Nobody was in your head, exactly. But everyone was in the mind of each other simultaneously.” Rosenberg said. “But, as soon as you woke up, the system destroyed itself. Nobody is in your mind, trust me.”
“I don’t know if I can.” Kasey said.
“Your experiment, did it do anything to us? Change us?” Micheal asked.
“Not that I know of.” Rosenberg said. “Why? Are you feeling different?”
“No, I just don’t like the idea of somebody messing with my head while I’m in a coma.” Micheal said.
“Of course to determine the full extent of your recovery, we need to do tests on each of you individually.” Rosenberg said.
“What kind of test?” Adam asked.
“A blood test, for starters, will help us get a good idea. We’ll go through CT scans and MRI’s. X-rays too.” Rosenberg explained.
“What if I don’t want to be tested?” Callista asked.
“We can’t force you to be tested. But honestly, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to be. You five are the best thing that’ve happened to science in a long time.” Rosenberg said. “Your families each gave me permission to use you all in my experiments, it was under their blessing that I’ve brought you here. I don’t want to force you into anything, or make you do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. But, the testing will help in possibly finding out what ended your coma.” He went on. Callista sat back in her chair.
“And our families, when can we see them?” Kasey asked.
“As soon as we can get you back to them the better. We don’t want to keep you here any longer than necessary, so you can get back to your lives.” Rosenberg said.
“I’m in.” Wade said. “Any test you want, I’m in.”
“Are you sure?” Rosenberg asked. “You don’t have to do this.”
“This entire time, I thought I was fifteen and stuck in some hell on Earth, I thought I killed my mother and my friends. Then I wake up, I’m apparently what? Eighteen and the only life I knew was a lie? This is simultaneously the best and worst day of my life.” Wade said. “If there’s anything I can do to stop this from happening to anyone else, I’m in. I don’t care what the others think, I don’t care that I don’t know if I can trust you. I’m in.” He said.
“Thank you, Mister Davis. Your willingness to contribute is heroic.” Rosenberg said.
“I guess I’m in too.” Adam said. “After all that’s happened, I don’t even know if this is even real.”
“I assure you this is real.” Rosenberg said. “That or we’re both inside another dream within a dream.”
“I fucking hope not. It’s already hurting my head.” Adam said.
“Fine… I’ll do it.” Kasey said. “I just hate needles.” Rosenberg smiled.
“We’ll try to be gentle.” He promised.
“If the kid can do it, so can I.” Micheal said.
“I’d hate to be the odd one out here, but…” Callista began, but then noticed everyone was looking at her. “Fine. I’ll do it.” She said gruffly.
“That’s good. But keep in mind, you aren’t being forced to do anything. If one of the tests makes you uncomfortable, you can back out at any time and no one will looks at you any differently.” Rosenberg said.
“What do we do now?” Adam asked.
“I guess we prep you for a blood test.” Rosenberg said.
……………
Adam sat in the cold room. Maybe the room wasn’t cold, but the dumb hospital robe he was wearing made it feel that way. He’d woken up in this thing. There weren’t any real clothes around here anywhere, so the robe it was.
Maybe he could nick one of the doctors sets of clothes. If any of them were his size, or even if they weren’t for that matter. Hey, they invented belts for a reason after all.
The room was small, just an examination bed, a sink and counter, a computer and a stool. Nothing else, apparently this Rosenberg guy wasn’t fond of decorations. And Adam really wasn’t fond of long waits. He was kicking his feet against the bed he sat on.
He’d been waiting for a doctor to come in for only a couple of minutes, but in a blank room, it felt like an eternity. He was beginning to get boarded… And curious.
He got up from the bed, his bare feet hitting the ground. That’s another thing, he didn’t have shoes either. What the hell is wrong with this place?
He walked across the small room and sat down on the stool, moving over towards the computer. He looked at the screen, a blank black one. Hitting the power button, the screen came to life. It was quick to load up, like a good new computer. Not the cheap ones they had at his doctors. He sighed as he realized the computer was password protected.
“You know, patients don’t usually use the doctor’s computer.” A voice said, as the door opened. Adam spun around on the chair and faced the doctor.
“Sorry… Just snooping around.” Adam said as he looked over the doctor. His sly smile faded and a pang of guilt hit when he realized it was doctor Peppers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she was wearing a lab coat. She had a shirt pulled up over her neck in an attempt to hide the bruises, which were pretty prevalent on her pale skin. Adam bit his lip.
“Why don’t you take a seat up there on the bed and we’ll get started.” She said, almost acting like nothing ever happened. Like Adam hadn’t tried to choke her to death not long ago. Adam nodded and walked from the stool over to the bed. Kiera sat down in the stool and typed into the computer, then turned to Adam.
“I guess you already know my name, so we’ll skip the formalities.” She said.
“Sorry… About that. I just didn’t know what was happening.” Adam said.
“You don’t need to apologize, it was just your response to fear.” She said.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked.
“I’m fine, just some bruises and a bloody nose.” She said. “But it would seem like it’s my turn to deal some pain. Blood samples are always fun.” She said. “It shouldn’t take long. All we need is one sample and after that we should be able to replicate you samples in our lab.” She explained.
“Sounds high tech.” Adam said.
“A little.” She said as she walked over to Adam, and grabbed his right arm. “Alright, can you make a fist for me.” She said. Adam clenched his fist tight. Kiera placed a finger on the inside of his elbow and felt around a little. “Good news, It seems like you have good veins.”
“That’s good? Never thought ‘good veins’ were high on the list of things that make people attractive.” Adam said.
“You’re cute.” She said. “You know, when you’re not trying to choke me to death.”
“I said I was sorry.” Adam said.
“I was just poking a little fun. We’re good, trust me.” She said. “Alright, I’ll go get some tubes and we can start.” She said.
“Yes, please drain me of the fluid that keeps me alive. I’m sure that’ll make me feel better.” Adam said.
“I just can’t help it. Being a vampire and all.” She said as she turned and walked out the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She said.
“Can’t wait.” Adam said as he watched her leave. As the door clicked shut Adam stood up and walked over to the computer. Now he knew it was working. The screen had by now shut off, so he gave the space bar a few taps before the screen blinked back on.
Adam was greeted by a picture of surprisingly happy people. Two of them. One of them was obviously Kiera, just a little younger. Her auburn eyes looked happily into the camera. Beside her stood a man Adam hadn’t seen before. He was a lot taller than Kiera, which really wasn’t hard. Kiera was pretty small. He was wearing sunglasses, but Adam could see his short dark hair. He was smiling too. The two of them were standing in front of what looked like the Rock and Roll hall of fame.
“That’s an old picture.” Kiera said as she walked back into the room. “I just can’t get it off the computer for some reason.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” Adam said.
“You obviously did.” Kiera said with a bright laugh. “Don’t worry, he’s nobody. Just a bad memory.”
“What happened?” Adam asked as he walked back over to the bed.
“His name was Derrick. We met in a bar. I was drunk, and thought it was love. He didn’t. He’s most of the reason I packed up and left Cleveland.” She said.
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam said.
“Don’t be.” She said. “I think it happened for a reason.”
“And what reason would that be?” Adam asked.
“I’m here now, aren’t I? Working on one of the biggest breakthroughs in history.” She said. “If it weren’t for him I would’ve never have thought of leaving Cleveland.”
“You’re very optimistic.” Adam said. “Like almost annoyingly optimistic.”
“I’m not optimistic.” She said. “I’m just trying to live before I die.” She said as she moved the stool over next to Adam. “You ready?” She asked.
“I was born ready.” Adam said. Moments later he had a needle deep in his arm and blood flowing though it into a tube that slowly filled up with the red life juice. When the tube filled, Kiera pulled it out and replaced it with a new one.
“How many of those are you doing?” Adam asked.
“Three.” She said. “Why? Is it starting to hurt?” She teased. Adam smiled.
“Not at all.” Adam said.
“That’s good.” She said. “One more to go.” She said as she put a new tube in.
“So you’re from Cleveland?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. Born and raised.” She said.
“I was born in Florida. I moved here after I got back from Iraq.” Adam said.
“You were in the army?” She asked.
“A few years.” Adam said.
“My brother served in Iraq too.” She said. “When he came back he was never the same.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam said.
“Stop being sorry.” Keira said.
“Sorry.” Adam said.
“Seriously?” She said.
“I just can’t help it.” Adam said.
“That might be a good thing.” She said. “It looks like we’re just about done here.” She said as she took off the last tube. She slowly pulled out the needle and held a wad of gauze to where the hole in his skin was. After a moment she took the wad off and threw it in a trash can. She placed a new wad where the old one was, and this time placed a Band-Aid on top of it to hold it on. “You should keep that on for at least an hour.” She said. Adam raised an eyebrow.
“A pink Band-Aid?” He asked. “Seriously?” He asked. She smiled.
“Revenge is sweet.” She said. “Though, I hardly call it revenge. It’ll just be funny watching your friends pick on you.” She said.
“You’re evil, you know that?” Adam asked.
“I know.” She said. “I’m pure evil. With all my pink Band-Aids and gauze pads.” Adam shook his head.
“I guess that means we’re done?” He asked. She nodded.
“You can go.” She said. “But hey, if you’d like, stop by my room after a while. I have something I’d like to show you.” She said.
Choice
[Meet Keira at her room]
[Decline]
[Meet Keira at her room] Well... I ship it already XD
That part indeed answered some of my earlier questions, but at the same time, it gave me a couple of new questions. Most importantly, I am curious about Dr. Rosenberg's goals. While I don't doubt that he told them the truth in this part, I doubt he told them the full truth. The line about how easy it is to work without the government breathing down his neck gave me a bad feeling about his true intentions. While he seems friendly, he also strikes me as the shady kind of person and I bet he has some sort of ulterior motive. I wouldn't even be surprised if he ends up being connected to Leland as some sort of secondary antagonist, or maybe even as the man behind the man. Then there's the deal with Wade and his fake memories. As far as we know, none of the others have these fake memories, though in his case it might be an aftereffect of his long time in a coma. Finally, something I just realized while I was writing this, what happened to their super powers? Were they also just part of the shared dream, or are they actually real? And if they aren't real, I am curious what this means for Julia, Gilligan, Dana, but also for Leland, Piper and the other mutants we encountered. I'm loving how every new part gives me two new questions for every answer
I really wish I could just say everything that ran through my mind. But that would ruin the story, so I can't. So, Like a broken record I say, Stay tuned!
[Meet Keira at her room]
[Meet Keira at her room]
I dont fully trust Dr. Rosenberg but Keira seems to be alright. Cant hurt to find out what she wants to show him.
Julia Carter
“Fine. We do it.” Julia decided. “But you’re taking the fall if we get caught.” She said. He smiled.
“So you’re going to blame your mistakes on the kid?” He asked.
“My mistakes?” She asked. “It was your idea in the first place.” She said.
“It was a joke.” He said. “Now let’s get moving, we’ve got some ground to cover between here and the SEM’s.” He said.
“Great.” Julia said. “You know, this is exactly how I pictured my day going.” She went on.
“I could say the same exact thing.” Gilligan responded as he started walking, with Julia following right behind him.
Dana Grey
“I’ll talk to her, I guess.” Dana said.
“Good luck, Zombie.” Tank said. Dana looked at Ghost, who sat on the edge of her cot staring at one of the cabin’s walls. She pursed her lips as began walking over towards her. She sat down on the adjacent bed.
“So…” Dana began, trying to start a conversation.
“So what?” She asked.
“The guys just wanted me to find out what was up.” Dana said. Ghost huffed.
“Absolutely nothing is wrong.” She said. “So just do us all a favor and fuck off.”
“I wish I could.” Dana said.
“Then why don’t you? Why don’t you just run away, or maybe try to kill yourself again?” She asked. Dana sighed at the comment.
“Because I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.” Dana said. “I don’t know why you hate me so much, but I intend on finding out.”
“Who says I hate you?” She asked. “I don’t hate you at all.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Dana asked.
“Do you know how long I’ve been here, how long I’ve waited to find out what my power was?” She asked.
“No, I don’t.” Dana admitted.
“More than half my life.” She said. “Half of my life, going from this cabin to training, then to psych so they can experiment on me and always come up inconclusive. I know that the tests are screwy, and the first and second tests usually don’t even yield anything at all. But the seventy-fifth? I should have something by now. I should be out of here by now.” She said, her eyes not moving from a fixed point on the wall. “But you, you just walk in there one day and all the sudden you’re the star of the show. I don’t hate you, I envy you.” She said. Dana shook her head in disbelief.
“I thought that is was that easy for everyone.” She said.
“No. It’s not.” Ghost said. “By now they even doubt I have powers anymore. Which is what scares me.”
“What scares you about it?” Dana asked.
“Do you know what they do to people that have no purpose?” She asked.
“What do you mean?” Dana asked.
“Just follow me. I’ll show you what fuels my nightmares.” She said.
Julia Carter
The base was mostly empty right now, thankfully. Most of the people seemed to have gone home for the day, and the ones that are still here were easy to avoid.
“There it is, right there” Gilligan said, pointing out a large brick structure. Julia nodded.
“Looks empty.” Julia said.
“Of course it’s empty.” Gilligan said. “It only operates during the day, the workers go home for the night.” Gilligan said.
“How do you know that?” Julia asked.
“I don’t know.” Gilligan said. “I just know.”
“Let’s go then.” Julia said. Gilligan stood and walked out of their hiding spot behind the bushes, with Julia tagging along close behind. “It’s pretty big.” Julia stated, looking at the structure.
“It’s pretty nice.” Gilligan said, as he neared the door. Without looking, Julia walked straight into somebody. Julia jumped back, and looked at them. There was a brown haired, brown eyed woman looking just as surprised as Julia looking back at her. There was another person with her, a younger girl.
“Oh, shit. Sorry.” The woman said. “I didn’t see you there.” The fear in Julia’s chest began to recede as she realized that the woman wasn’t here to go throw her in some military prison.
“I didn’t see you either.” Julia said.
“Can we cut the shit and get inside before we get caught?” The younger girl said, come to think of it, she looked a little around Gilligan’s age, maybe.
“Just tell everyone the plan, why don’t you.” The woman said. Julia noticed the girl has a crowbar.
“Are you guys headed in?” Julia asked. The woman huffed.
“Look, I don’t want to hurt anyone, but if I have to I will. You’ve got to keep your mouth shut about this. We were never here.” The woman said.
“If you’re planning on breaking down the door, think again. It’s bulletproof glass, it’s going to take a little more than blunt force to open it.” Gilligan said.
“You got a better idea, pretty boy?” The girl said.
“Yes, actually.” Gilligan said, pulling out the security card.
“Shit! They’re one of them.” The girl said, reading the crowbar for an attack.
“Wait! We’re not one of them.” Julia said. “We stole it. We stole the security key.” She said.
“So now we’re dining with thieves?” The woman said.
“Better than what we had a second ago.” The girl said. “On with it, get the door open.” She said
“On it.” Gilligan said as he stepped up to the door and swiped the key in the card reader. After a few seconds the red light flashed green and the locks unlatched.
“So what brings you guys here on his fine night?” The woman asked.
“Safety.” Julia said. “And you?”
“Just the opposite.” She said as Gilligan pulled the door open and the four of them stepped inside. Gilligan began to walk forward, but the girl stuck her arm out and stopped him.
“Don’t make another move.” She said.
“Why?” He asked.
“Security, dumb ass.” She said as she pulled out what looked like a cell phone and began typing into it. Julia looked up and saw what she was talking about, security cameras. The red light was on on the security cameras.
“So you were going to smash the door to get it open, but you took into account the security cameras?” Gilligan asked.
“Maybe I don’t have the best plan for everything.” The girl said as she continued typing. “Zombie, take two steps to the left.” She said. The woman complied and stepped to her left two steps.
Zombie? What kind of name was that?
“Okay.” This ‘Zombie’ said.
“Turn around, on the wall is a box.” The girl said.
“Got it.” Zombie said.
“Open the panel.” The girl said. “Then flip the switch.” She said. There was a rattling sound.
“It’s locked.” Zombie said. The girl sighed.
“Okay, I don’t know your name, but come here.” The girl said, in the dark it was hard to tell who she was talking to, but Julia figured it was her since she was standing right next to Gilligan.
“It’s Julia.” Julia said.
“Did I say I cared?” The girl asked. “Come here.” She said, Julia cautiously stepped forward, the girl reached back and placed the crowbar in her hand without turning. “Break the box open.” She said. Julia nodded and backed away, and then realized that she wouldn’t have been able to see her nodding.
Julia got to the box on the wall and looked at it, there was a key hole on the right side of the box, hinges on the left. She slid the crowbar under the lip of the panel and began to pull on it.
“A little help maybe?” Julia asked.
“On it.” Zombie said, Julia felt her warm hands brush over hers and grip the crow bar.
“Ready?” Julia asked.
“Yeah.” She responded.
“Pull.” Julia said. The two of them put all of their strength, backed with their weight, in to the crowbar. They heard the panel bending out of shape and the a snapping sound. The panel swung open and the crowbar flew from Julia’s hands. Luckily for her, Dana had seemingly fast reflexes and was able to grab the bar before it hit the ground.
“Okay, just hit the switch?” Zombie asked.
“Yeah.” The girl responded. Zombie put her hand on the switch that was near the top, and gave it a flip. It seemed like nothing happened. Julia turned around. “We’re good.” The girl said, not whispering anymore. Julia saw that the red light that was on the cameras was out.
“Where are you two headed?” Zombie asked Julia.
“We didn’t have any particular place in mind.” Julia said.
“You two can tag along.” The girl said. “But you may not like what you find.” She said.
“Where are you two headed?” Julia asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know.” The girl said. “All I know is I want to know what’s happening behind the sealed door.”
“What sealed door?” Julia asked. The girl looked at Julia.
“I’ve been here for a long time. I know a lot of things, I know most things about this base. But I’ve come to find out that they’re hiding something down under this building. I’ve been near it a few times, but the door is locked. Sealed tight. I’ve also come to notice that people that are no longer useful tend to disappear without a trace. I think I’ve put two and two together, and I think it has something to do with the door.” The girl said.
“This is getting a little creepy. We came here for safety.” Gilligan said. The girl nodded slowly as she continued walking.
“I wanted to ask you about that.” She said. And Julia jogged the catch up with her.
“About what?” Julia asked.
“What exactly are you looking for safety from?” She asked.
“It’s not what so much as Who.” Julia said. “His name is Leland Frey.” The girl went dead silent.
“So you have the powers?” She asked.
“Yes.” Julia answered. “Do you?”
“I don’t.” She answered. “Zombie does. She’s a time traveler.”
“I got shot in the heart and didn’t die.” Julia said.
“Nice.” The girl said as she looked to her right. “We go down from here.” She said.
“I’m not sure if I want to go.” Julia said.
“How about this, you head down with us and check it out. After that, if you don’t want to head in, we go our separate ways.” Zombie said.
“I’m not sure.” Julia said.
“Would you rather be completely alone in this entire facitly?” The girl asked.
“You bring up a good point.” Julia said. “Fine, lead the way.” Julia said. The girl nodded and started down the stairs, with Gilligan beside her. Julia followed behind her with Zombie next to her.
“This place give me the creeps.” She said. Julia laughed. “What?” She asked.
“I just thought someone named Zombie wouldn’t be afraid of something like this is all.” Julia said. She laughed.
“It’s just a nickname.” She said.
“I never would’ve guessed.” Julia said.
“It’s because I died.” She explained. “I tried to kill myself with a heroin overdose. My heart stopped, but they brought me back.” She went on. “My real name is Dana.”
“Why did you try to kill yourself?” Julia asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It was stupid. I was stupid.” She said. “I don’t know if I want to talk about it now if that’s okay.”
“No, that’s fine.” Julia said. “That’s your business, not mine.” She said. “How far down does this staircase go?” Julia asked.
“Sublevel five.” The girl responded.
“Damn that’s deep.” Julia said.
“I never once in my life ever thought I’d see the inside of Wright Patt, and here I am. Breaking in.” Dana said, waving her hand around. Julia caught a glint coming off a small band on her finger.
“Are you married?” Julia asked.
“I was engaged.” Dana said. “It kind of ended after I tried to kill myself.”
“Why do you still wear the ring then?” Julia asked.
“Because I still hope I can fix it before it’s too late.” She said.
“That’s admirable.” Julia said. “What was his name?” She asked.
“Her name was Sophie.” Dana answered.
“Oh, sorry.” Julia said.
“You two, cut the chit chat.” The girl said. “We’re getting close.”
“Is she always like this?” Julia asked.
“No.” Dana answered. “Most of the time Ghost doesn’t even talk at all.”
“Her name is Ghost?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
The four of them came to a stop on a landing where the stairs ended. The darkness was only subsidized by a single red light the shined above a large metal door with the marking ‘S-5’ on it. Ghost ran her hand across the doors surface.
“Holy shit.” She said.
“What is it?” Dana asked.
“This door is made out of a MMC.” She said.
“Can you repeat that in English?” Julia asked.
“It’s made out of a Metal matrix composite. It’s a composite material, like carbon fiber.” She said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Julia asked.
“Because MMC’s are not only useful building materials, but they’re also useful at absorbing powers. Your powers won’t work on the other side of this door.” Ghost said.
“So your saying if I get shot I won’t be walking away?” Julia asked.
“Not a chance.” Ghost said. “But I’ve lived this long without powers. I don’t see why you can’t live without yours for a few minutes. There shouldn’t be anyone in there, the building’s supposed to be empty. Besides…” She went on, grabbing the door handle and giving it a tug, the door squeaked open. “If it was important enough to be guarded, they wouldn’t leave the door unlocked.”
Choice
[Go in and look]
[Stay]
Adam Becker
About half an hour had passed now. He promised he’d stop by after the exam, but he was just waiting. He didn’t want to show up to quickly and look weird.
“Are you waiting for something?” Kas asked as she appeared next to him. He was the first one to get back from the exam, but they were all going back to the same place, the observation room. The same room they woke up in.
“Not particularly.” Adam said. “How’d the exam go?” He asked.
“You mean other than the fact that I totally passed out once they brought out the needles?” She asked. “It went great. I’m the pinnacle of health.” She said.
“You passed out?” Adam laughed. Kas punched him in the arm.
“I’m scared of needles.” Kas said, almost angrily.
“It was brave of you to do it anyways.” Adam said to her.
“You should’ve seen the nurse’s face. When I woke up, he looked like he saw a ghost.” She said. “And then he look like he was just trying not to laugh.” She said.
“It does sound pretty funny.” Adam said.
“For who?” She asked.
“For me.” Adam said.
“Good for you.” Kas said as she stood up. “Oh, and nice pink band-aid by the way.” She said as she walked away.
“You weren’t supposed to notice that.” Adam called after her as she walked away. He knew she wasn’t going far. She was most likely going to lay down on her bed. Adam sighed and forced himself to stand up. He probably shouldn’t wait any longer. He began walking towards the doors to the room.
“Where you going?” Kas called after him.
“Just going on a walk.” He said.
“Uh-huh.” Kas said, unconvinced. Adam ignored it and pushed through the doors. Keira had given him detailed directions to get to her room. Hopefully he’d be able to remember them… Hopefully. He began walking through the halls, seemingly lost. It was obvious he didn’t remember any of the directions, and everything in this place looked the same. He swore he’d been walking in circles for the last five minutes.
As he walked, he did remember something: He wasn’t totally lost. He was just… lost. The rooms had numbers on them, every room had a number. He was walking past room 23 right now, Keira said her room number was room 3. Up ahead was room 24. He was walking in the wrong direction. He turned around and began walking back the way he came, now ashamed of getting lost inside a confined area.
The numbers began counting down until he finally reached room 3. He paused at the door, looking at it. It was a plain white metal door with no window. Hopefully this was the right one. He lifted his hand to the frame and knocked on it. After a short pause he began wondering if he’d gone to the wrong place.
“It’s not locked.” Keira’s voice called from inside. Adam grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, walking into the room. The door began to swing shut behind him. He looked around the room. It was cozy, the walls were all white, but Keira seemed to have found a way to cope with that. The walls were adorned with multiple pictures that looked as if they were printed off an old polaroid camera. The pictures were of different things, but most of them had lots of people in them. Or animals.
There was a desk against the back wall, it had multiple books on it. Lots of sci-fi novels by the looks of it. A laptop was sitting shut on the middle of the desk with multiple stickers covering its lid. The door was situated on the right of the room. Looking to his left, he saw a bed. The covers were a dark orange color.
Keira was laying on the bed, throwing a ball at the ceiling, catching it every time it came down. She’d traded her lab coat and dress pants for a rusty orange hoodie and dark blue jeans that hugged her body tightly. Her shoes were laying at the foot of her bed, but her socks, oddly enough, were an orange color.
“I’ll take it you like orange.” Adam said. She smiled as she put the ball on her night stand that was next to her bed and sat up, dangling her feet off the edge of the bed. Her long dark hair now fell free and cascaded down her shoulders. She looked over Adam with her eyes.
“What gave it away?” She asked. “I try to hide it so well.”
“You might want to try a little harder then.” He said. She laughed.
“I’ll take that into account.” She said, moving over on the bed. She patted the spot next to her. “Come on, sit down. You don’t have to be such an awkward person and stand there.” She said. Adam smiled.
“Me, awkward?” He asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “How’s your nose?” He asked. She looked at him with an honest look.
“I’m fine, seriously.” She said. “It only stung for a few minutes. I’m fine now. You don’t have to feel bad about anything.”
“You are freakishly calm about this, you know.” Adam said.
“I have to be, otherwise I’d blow a gasket being trapped in this place for as long as I’ve been here.” She said.
“How long have you been here?” He asked.
“I’ve been here an entire week.” She said. “Regularly we’re switched out every three to four days to prevent cabin fever.” She said.
“Why have you been here so long then?” He asked.
“The person who was supposed to replace me came down with the flu. I still could’ve left, but one of the crew here on base got sick and I felt like it was just wrong to leave them.” She said.
“So you’ve trapped yourself in this cage for a week because someone got sick?” Adam asked.
“It seems to have paid off.” She said.
“How’s that?” He asked.
“For the first time in my life, I’m part of something important. I’m actually doing something that might change the world. It was always my dream to be part of something big, and here I am.” She said. “I think my next step is going to be… World domination.” Adam laughed.
“Don’t get a big head or anything.” He said.
“What?” She asked. “I think I’d make a great global dictator.”
“I’m sure you would.” Adam laughed. “So, uh, what was it you wanted to show me?” He asked. She smiled and stood up from the bed, walking over to her dresser, her bare feet hitting the weird office-type carpet they put in the room, which was an offset grey.
She pulled open one of the drawers and rummaged through it for a second. She pulled out something, a certain blue something, actually. Scrubs. She handed the scrubs to Adam.
“I thought you were getting a little tired of the robe, so I got you these.” She said. “They’re not much better but at least they cover more.” She said. Adam smiled.
“There’s no way your clothes are going to fit me.” He said. She laughed.
“And that’s why I borrowed them from doctor Randall.” She said.
“You say borrow in such a way that I don’t believe you actually borrowed them.” He said. She smiled at him.
“He won’t miss them.” She said. “He’s about your size so they should fit okay.” She said. Adam took the cloths.
“Thank you for this.” He said.
“No problem.” She said as she sat back down next to him.
“You seem… Normal.” Adam said.
“Explain normal.” She pressed.
“Normal as in the type of person that wouldn’t sign up to pretty much get abducted.
pretty much get abducted.” Adam said.
“I came here on my own choice.” She said. “I thought it would help me clear my head after all the junk that was in my life. And for the most part, it did.” She said. “You know, I could say the same thing about you. You look normal too, but there’s obviously more to it than that. People are complex, no one set of rules are standard for human beings.” She said.
“Don’t go all philosophical on me now.” Adam said. She laughed.
“That was one of my top career choices actually.” She said.
“A career in philosophy?” He asked.
“Kinda.” She said.
“I’ve ever been big on philosophical stuff.” Adam said.
“Neither was I.” She said. “That was my dad’s choice.” She laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “But he died when I was young so I gave up on that idea.” She said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, I know what that’s like.” Adam said.
“I know. He was a good man, just a little hard headed is all.” She said, with a heavy sigh at the end. The two sat in silence for a little while. “You know, if you want to change into those new cloths you can use my bathroom.” She said, pointing out an adjoining bathroom that really wasn’t big at all.
“Thanks.” Adam said as he stood up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He quickly ditched the robe and pulled on the scrubs, happy to find they fit him well. Once he was content, he opened the door and walked back into the room. Keira whistled at him.
“Look at you, the new model for the ER collection this fall.” She said. Adam laughed and faked striking a ridiculous pose. Keira laughed and fell back onto the bed. Her laugher proved contagious, as Adam was soon falling to the floor laughing.
Keira wiped a tear away from her eye and looked at Adam.
“I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” She said.
“I didn’t know I could laugh.” Adam said as he stood back up.
“You know, this is quickly turning out to be the best mistake I ever made.” She said, with a smile. But it quickly faded when a metallic sound filled both of their ears. The door’s lock had just engaged. Adam turned towards the door. Seconds after he heard a muffled alarm go off out in the hallway. He turned and looked at Kiera.
“What’s happening?” He asked.
“I… I don’t know.” She said. “This could be one of two things.” She said quickly like her mind was racing.
“And that is?” He asked. She look at Adam, fear in her eyes. Her eyebrow quivered.
“Either it’s an unannounced drill… Or there’s a containment breach.”
Guys?
[Stay] Sure, Julia survived the first two decades of her life without regenerative superpowers. However, at the same time, all it takes is a single, well-aimed shot and she's dead. Considering how quickly and unexpectedly her first (albeit thankfully temporary) death came, I don't want to risk it.
Also, there's something I noticed that made an odd amount of sense and kinda answers some of my earlier questions. There is the thing that Adam, Michael and co. had powers in their simulation, but not after they woke up. There's also the thing Dana just said, about the area behind that door absorbing powers and the containment breach that happened in Adam's part, just after Dana opened the door. It might just be a freaky coincidence, that one door gets opened and that there's a containment breach in the facility at the same time, but it seems likely that the area behind the door is in fact the facility the rest of our heroes is currently located at and that the absence of their powers is the result of this MMC stuff. Now, as much as I'd love a reunion between Michael and Julia, the security inside of this building seems to be the kind that is not fucking around, considering that their first reaction apparently is to lock the scientists inside of their rooms. It is likely that the facility security is the kind of security that shoots first and asks questions later, which is something I won't risk for Julia.
That makes me think, what if the facility people, Rosenberg and co., end up as the bad guys and Leland ends up as a misunderstood freedom fighter and the big good guy in turn? That's probably super-tinfoil, but the only ones who ever claimed him to be a dangerous serial killer are the military people, who might as well have their own nefarious goals with the mutants, especially if my earlier theory about Rosenberg lying to Adam and co. turns out to be true. Yeah, I know, it's probably a bit too far fetched, but its still an interesting theory, right?
[Stay]
Safety should come first. If they all go through the door and if it turns out to be a bad idea, the chance is higher that they all get captured. Someone should stay behind to provide backup if things get bad in there. And if Julia gets in danger while staying back, all she has to do is to step through the door and she will be safe, at least from Leland. It sounds safer for everyone that way.
[Stay]
If there's anything I've learned from watching movies it's mind your own business and you won't die. Well you still might die, actually... Probably even have higher chances if I'm honest..
Dana Grey
Dana looked at Julia, she knew Julia probably wouldn’t want to go into the mysterious room, Dana didn’t fault her. They barely knew each other. She shook her head.
“No. There’s no way I’m going in there.” Julia said. Dana saw Ghost’s face change as if she was going to say something, but Dana beat her to the punch.
“That’s fine. Nobody’s making you do anything.” Dana said. “Just stay safe.” Dana saw Julia’s face shift.
“So you’re really going in there?” Julia asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah. We are.” Dana said. “We both want to know what’s behind the door.” She said.
“But your powers will be gone. What if you run into trouble?” Julia said. Dana sighed.
“Last time I used my powers, I was high.” Dana said. “I don’t have any control over my powers anyways. I won’t miss them.” She said. Julia furrowed her brow, biting her lip.
“Okay.” Julia said. “Good luck in there.” She said.
“If everything goes right, we won’t need luck.” Dana said as she turned away from Julia and faced Ghost.
“Let’s go.” Ghost said, as she pushed the door, letting it swing open on its own. Dana looked back at Julia, looking at her worriedly. It didn’t feel right to split up.
“Don’t worry.” Julia said, as if reading her mind. “I’ll stay here with Gilligan. If anyone comes this way, they’ll have to go through us.” Julia said. Dana nodded to her.
“You two stay safe out here.” Dana said.
“That’s the plan.” Gilligan said. Dana gave the two a half-hearted smile before she turned away and walked through the door, following Ghost. As soon as she was through the doorway the large steel door drifted back shut with a loud thud. Dana looked around. The room they were in was no bigger than a janitors closet.
“There’s nothing here.” Ghost said.
“There has to be something.” Dana said as she kept looking around. “What about this?” She asked, as she spotted a panel in the floor. Ghost crouched down next to it, looking it over.
“There’s something under this panel.” She said.
“Can you lift it?” Dana asked.
“It’s not bolted down.” Ghost said as she gripped the sides of the panel. She pulled upwards and the panel easily came up, revealing a large open spot in the floor. There was a ladder leading downwards.
“There’s a ladder.” Dana said looking down the hole.
“How far down does it go?” Ghost asked.
“Not far. It can’t be.” Dana said, looking back up at Ghost. “I’ll go first.” She said.
“You sure?” Ghost asked.
“Yeah.” Dana said as she gripped the ladder and began climbing down, as she suspected it wasn’t far down at all. She was on the ground within a few seconds. “You can come down.” Dana called up to Ghost. She quickly began climbing down the ladder and was soon next to Dana. Dana could see light seeping in through the cracks of a doorway and she moved over towards it. She reached around and found a door handle. “You ready?” She asked Ghost.
“Not really.” Ghost answered. Dana pulled the door open, and soon as the door opened a loud siren was set off.
“What the hell is that?” Dana asked.
“Security?” Ghost asked.
“Come on, we can’t just be out in the open like this.” Dana said as she began walking down the hallway.
“Hey! Stop right there!” A man yelled. Dana looked over her shoulder and saw a group of three armed men at the opposite end of the hallway,
“Run!” Ghost yelled as she darted forward. Dana dashed after her. She knew those men were following them. As they ran, Dana saw a set of doors to her right.
“In here!” Dana said to Ghost as she grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. She and Ghost ran inside and Dana threw the door shut, leaning into the door just in case those men tried to come in. Out in the hallway she heard multiple sets of heavy feet running down the hall, right past the door. Dana breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re good. They went by us.” She said.
“That’s good.” Ghost said. “But what do we do now?”
“I don’t know.” Dana said as she turned away from the door and looking into the room they were in. It was a large open area with multiple cots set up. But that’s not what drew Dana’s attention. What had her attention was the young girl that stood in the room. The girl with long blonde hair, big green eyes and pale skin.
“Dana?” She asked.
“Kas?” Dana said. Kasey instantly rushed forwards towards her and Dana wrapped her arms around her, burring her head into her sister’s shoulder.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Kas said.
“Me too.” Dana mumbled. “Where have you been?” She asked. Kas was silent.
“Here, apparently. Wherever here is.” She said. Dana pushed back from her sister, but kept her hands planted firmly on Kasey’s shoulders, looking her dead in the eye.
“You don’t know where you are?” Dana asked.
“No. They never told us.” Kasey said.
“We need to get out of here. It’s not safe here, whatever this place is.” Dana said.
“Why? The people here are nice.” Kasey said.
“Who are you?” A new voice asked, butting into the conversation. Dana instinctively pulled Kasey closer to her.
“Who are you?” Dana asked him.
“I asked first.” Dana said.
“It’s okay Micheal, this is my sister Dana.” Kasey said, defusing the situation. “Dana, this is my friend Micheal.” She said. Dana looked at him. He was very muscular with dark hair and blue eyes. Within seconds a large grin appeared on his face.
“Why didn’t you just say something?” Micheal asked. “A friend of Kasey is a friend of mine.” He said. Dana’s eye drifted back down to her sister who she was holding close to her side. She just didn’t want to let her go. Not now, not ever.
Adam Becker
Adam watched as Kiera paced around the room, looking for something. She hadn’t completely torn her room apart, but it was no longer in its completely ordered fashion anymore. Adam sighed. He hadn’t known Kiera for long, but this seemed very out of character for her. Something was really wrong.
“Kiera, just tell me what you’re looking for and maybe I can help.” Adam said. Keira ran her hands through her hair and looked over at Adam. Her eyes conveyed not fear, not anger, but something completely different, confusion maybe?
“The doors all have emergency releases. Just in case, so we don’t get locked in and die.” She said. “I need to find that so I can disengage the lock on the door.” She said.
“Why would want to do that? We’re safe in here.” Adam said. She stopped moving all together and eyed Adam.
“For how long?” She asked. “I said it was a containment breach, meaning there’s probably some sort of chemical floating in the air right now. When it’s in the air, they lock down all they ducts and ventilation so the contamination doesn’t spread. This room is air-tight. We’re not getting any fresh air. At the rate we’re consuming the air right now. We don’t have long anyways.” She said. “I have to get to the observation room and take care of the patients. That’s my job. And I can’t do that if I’m trapped in this God dammed cage!” She yelled, punching the door to the room. She staggered a few steps back, placing her hands to her temples.
“Kiera, just calm down.” Adam said. “It’ll all be okay.” He said.
“I have an idea.” She said as she walked forwards towards the door, she grabbed at the LCD screen that was displaying things like room temperature and humidity. She yanked it hard and the screen came off, exposing wires.
“Kiera, what are you doing?” Adam asked.
“If I can short the circuit the locks will disengage.” She said. “All I need to do is…” She trailed as she looked over the mess of wires. She grabbed at two of them.
“Kiera…” Adam said, trying to dissuade her from doing anything rash. She looked at the two wires and then brought the over to each other. As soon as the two wires touched there was a big spark and Kiera jumped back, tripping over a copy of The War of the Worlds which sent her to the ground. Adam rushed over to her.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” She said. “I just shocked myself.” She said. Adam looked over at the wires and at her.
“No shit?” He sarcastically asked. He held out his hand to Kiera and pulled her back up to her feet. She walked over to the door and tried the handle.
“It worked.” She said, her smile returning to her face. She looked a lot calmer now, back to the normal Kiera. “We need to get to the observation room.” She said as she pushed the door open. Adam was partially glad he didn’t instantly die the moment the door opened, it meant that whatever was in the air wouldn’t kill instantly. There’s still time.
Adam began following Kiera through the halls back towards the observation room.
“How do you not get lost in here?” Adam asked.
“Trust me, when I first got here, I couldn’t tell left from right. If you do something over and over, you get used to it.” She said.
“Seems like.” Adam said. Just as they were approaching an intersection in the hallway, a group of three men rounded the corner. The one in the lead glared at Kiera.
“What are you doing out of your room Peppers?” he asked.
“I have to take care of the patients, Cyrus.” She said. Cyrus looked at Adam.
“You need to go back to your room now.” Cyrus said.
“We can’t.” Kiera said
“Why?” He asked.
“The locks kinda busted.” She said. He looked angrily at Kiera.
“Do you realize what’s going on in here?” He asked her.
“A containment breech.” She responded.
“No, it’s a perimeter breach. Someone from the outside came in, putting us all at risk. We don’t know what they want or what they are doing. We haven’t found them yet.” He said. “And now your two have no safe place to go.” He said.
“We can go to the observation room with the rest of the patients.” Kiera said. Cyrus looked at her.
“Looks like you’ll have to.” He said. He pulled his pistol out of his holster and shoved it into Adam’s hands.
“If you see someone that doesn’t belong, shoot them.” He said, looking back at his men. “Let’s move.” He said and the three took of down the hallway. Adam looked to Kiera.
“Come on. You head Cyrus. It’s not safe out here.” Kiera said as she began walking down the hallway again. They rounded the corner and the set of doors that lead to the observation room came into view. Adams grip on the pistol tightened. Something just told him that something was off.
Adam walked up to the door and pressed his ear to it. He could hear an unfamiliar voice inside there.
“Someone’s in there.” He said.
“Who?” Kiera asked.
“Someone we don’t know.” Adam said as he cracked the door open. He saw a woman with brown hair holding Kasey to her side. He quickly ducked back behind the door.
“What’s going on?” Kiera asked.
“They have Kasey hostage.” Adam said. Her eyes widened.
“What are we going to do?” She asked.
“We have to save Kas.” He said, looking to the pistol in his hands. Her eyes got even wider.
“You’re going to shoot them?” She asked.
“We don’t have much of a choice.” Adam said as he pulled the door back open. Standing in the doorway, he brought up his pistol, aiming right on the woman’s back. Adam took quick breath to steady his shaking hands, then calmly pulled back on the trigger. The woman’s back exploded into a fountain of red and she stumbled forwards, crashing to the ground. Once she hit the ground she quit moving. Adam walked further into the room. He saw Kas look over at the woman.
“Dana?” She asked, stepping towards her. She crouched next to the woman, placing a hand on her and shaking her gently. “Dana? Get up.” She said, sounding worried. She looked up at Micheal. Micheal rushed over to her side and looked at the woman. Kas looked over her shoulder and saw Adam standing nearby with a gun in his hand.
“What did you do, you bastard!?” She screamed at him.
“I… I thought you were in trouble.” Adam said. “I thought she was trying to hurt you.”
“She’s my sister you asshole!” Kas yelled at him.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Adam muttered to himself, realizing the error in his judgment. That woman hadn’t been holding Kasey hostage, she was just hugging her. Adam could see tears welling in Kasey’s eyes. He heard Kiera walking in from behind him.
“Holy shit.” She said, stepping forwards towards the woman he’d shot. She looked back at Adam, with a look in her eyes. She was afraid of him. “You… You shot her.” She said. Before Adam could say anything Kiera stumbled to the side and doubled over, throwing up onto the floor.
“Oh, Jesus.” Micheal muttered. “That’s gross.” He said. Kiera stood back up and looked at the woman. She took a few staggering steps over towards the sink and turned it on, running her hands through the water. She dried them and pulled on a pair of latex gloves and rushed over to the woman’s side.
“Move, let me see.” She said. Micheal scooted out of the way, but Kas stayed right where she was. Kiera went to work looking at the wound.
“Dana? What’s going on, I heard a gunshot?” A girls voice asked. Adam saw her walking towards them and as soon as she saw Dana her eyes widened. “What happened?” She asked, looking at Adam and back at Dana.
“Adam shot her.” Kas said gruffly without looking up.
“You fucking piece of shit.” The girl growled as she started marching forwards at Adam. Adam lifted his gun at the girl, about to shoot her but Micheal stepped between them.
“Whoa.” Michela said. “We can kick eachothers asses later. Right now we have bigger problems.”
“Like what?” The girl asked.
“Wade and Callista.” Micheal said. “They never came back.” He said.
“I’m right here.” Callista said, approaching cautiously from behind Micheal.
“Adam accidently shot Kasey’s sister.” Micheal said to her.
“I saw what happened.” She said.
“So where’s Wade?” Micheal asked.
“He said he was going to walk around the halls for a little bit.” Callista said.
“Great.” Micheal said. “We’ll never find him out there.” He went on. Adam heard the doors open behind him and turned around he saw Wade walk in the room.
“Dudes, something’s going on out there. There’s an alarm and everything.” He said, then his eyes fell on the woman lying on the floor. “Shit…” He said.
“Kiera, how’s it looking?” Adam asked.
“I, uh…” She stuttered. “I can fix her.” She said. “Just not here.”
“Where do we need to take her?” Adam asked.
“Not here.” Kiera said. “This facility doesn’t have an infirmary capable of dealing with a gunshot wound.” She said.
“Then we take her out of here.” Ghost said.
“What do you mean?” Kiera asked.
“We go back up to the base and go to the hospital.” Ghost said.
“What do you mean go back up?” Kiera asked.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ghost asked. “This place is buried under Wright Patterson Air Force Base.” She said.
“Under?” Kiera asked.
“Yeah.” Ghost said.
“Do you know the way out?” Kiera asked.
“Yeah.” Ghost said.
“Can we move Dana?” Micheal asked.
“It’ll be a risk trying to move her like this, but it looks like the only chance we have unless you want to try your luck with the on-sight infirmary.” Kiera said.
Choice
[Leave]
[Stay]
Okay, now I am glad that Julia remained outside of the no-power zone, because I knew that someone would be a bit too trigger-happy in there. I just never thought it would be Adam. I hope Dana survives. At the same time, I am sort of glad that I was right with my earlier assumptions about the facility being below the Air Force Base. However, I'm afraid this opens up very sinister possibilities about the true intentions of Rosenberg and the military and the plans they have with the mutants. I start to get the feeling that most of the things that happened went according to their plan. It seems possible that they are even behind the abductions at the beginning of the story. I'm a bit baffled that Kiera doesn't know about any of this, but unlike Rosenberg, I still trust her. Her surprise seems to be genuine.
[Leave]
Several reasons point at this being the better choice. First and most important, Dana is heavily wounded and Kiera herself said that the infirmary in the facility likely won't be enough to treat her. Considering that Kiera seems to have quite the knowledge about medicine, I trust her with this. Then, there's the fact that the infirmary is likely to be guarded by the facility people. It will at least be a place where they are likely to look for them. The hospital in the military base sounds equally risky, but while we know that the facility people have been hiding something, we don't know yet if the military was in on this. It is extremely likely, but at least worth a try, if it saves Dana's life. Also, on the outside their powers should work again, so Wade could try to heal her, though I am not sure if that is worth risking the negative side effects of his power. Finally, Julia and Gilligan are outside, and while every new revelation makes me less convinced that Leland is the big danger for them (although I still would never trust him), the military is definitely going to notice that the alarm just went off and they are likely to check on them, so for their safety, the group should reunite with them.
[Leave]
Liquid said it, there are many reasons for leaving. It is risky to move her but it sounds even more risky to stay.
Adam Becker
“Keira’s right.” Adam said. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe for any of us.” He went on.
“Are you sure?” Micheal asked.
“No, but we don’t have much of a choice unless we want to sit around and wait for Dana to die.” Adam said.
“Then we go.” Callista said.
“Looks like it.” Adam said as he walked forwards towards Dana. He stooped down over her, taking his gun and shoving it in his waistband.
“Adam, be careful.” Kiera reminded him. Adam nodded as he slowly picked her up. As soon as she left the ground she let out a soft, pained groan.
“Shit.” Adam mumbled.
“What?” Kasey asked.
“She’s still awake.” He said.
“No, that’s a good thing. But we need to hurry.” Kiera said.
“Ghost, lead the way.’ Micheal said. Ghost nodded and led them towards the door. Adam could feel Dana’s soft breath on his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep an eye out. Those guards could be anywhere.” Wade said. They all followed Ghost through the hallways, unsure of where they were being lead.
“Where are we going?” Callista asked Ghost.
‘We’re going back up. Julia and Gilligan are waiting for us at the entrance. If anyone was going to come down here to mess with us, they’d have to go through them first.” She said.
“J-Julia?” Micheal asked. “Julia Carter?” He asked. Ghost shook her head.
“Hell if I know. Let’s not worry about that and worry about getting the hell out of here.” She said.
“I can agree.” Wade said. Ghost paused at a door.
“It’s through here.” She said.
“But that’s a janitor’s closet.” Kiera said. Ghost spun back and looked at her.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” She asked. “I know what I’m doing.” She said.
“Okay. Jeez.” Kiera said, backing off. Ghost grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open, walking in.
“I’ll go up first, and then Micheal will come up. After that, you hand Dana up to us.” She said.
“Okay.” Adam said. He watched as Ghost disappeared into the room, he heard the sound of someone climbing a ladder. She wasn’t joking then.
“Micheal.” Ghost called.
“Coming.” Micheal said as he began climbing up the ladder. A few moments later he called down.
“Send Dana up.” He said. Adam stepped into the small room, no bigger than a closet and hefted Dana upwards. Micheal hooked his arms under hers and pulled her upwards. She sounded like it hurt her, but seemed to weak to do anything about it. Adam stepped back.
“Kas, you’re next.” He said. Kasey nodded as she went in and climbed up the Ladded. Wade followed, and then Callista. Once they were all up the ladder, Adam turned and began to walk in.
“Not so fast, Adam.” A voice called. Adam turned around and saw Rosenberg holding a gun right at him. “Come on back out here.” He said. Adam sighed as he raised his hands and began walking out.
“What the hell do you want from us?” Adam said.
“I don’t want anything from you.” He said. “That being said, I just can’t let you go.”
“Why?” Adam asked. “Why are we so damn important?” He asked.
“Because I made you.” He said.
“What do you mean ‘made’ us?” Adam asked.
“I changed you all.” He said.
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Adam asked.
“The brain is a delicate thing, Adam. It is easy to mess with.” He said. “Just little poke here at the right time and you can do anything.” He said. “I’ve made you above the human race, Adam. I’ve made you superhuman.” He said.
“Bullshit.” Adam said. “None of that even happened.”
“And you really buy the fact that you were all simply in a random coma at the same exact time?” He asked. “You think that was just a coincidence?” He asked. “I handpicked each and every one of you. Because you were special in a certain way that only a few can boast. The genetic drift altered you. Made you a prime candidate for my experiment.”
“You mean… We didn’t help them?” Kiera asked. “We didn’t find a way to bring them out of a coma?” She asked. He sighed.
“Kiera, we’ve done so much better than that.” He said. “We’ve found a way to give the average man the power of a god.” He said.
“You lied to me.” She said.
“Sometimes it’s better to be in the dark than the light, Kiera.” He said.
“Why did you lie? I trusted you! The families trusted you! They trusted me to take care of them!” Kiera yelled at him.
“That’s something you don’t have to worry about Kiera. Their families simply just don’t know we have them.” He said.
“You kidnapped them?” she asked.
“It was for the best.” He said. “Look how far the science has brought us! With this technology, I could have the world on its knees.” He said.
“None of this is for the best, Rosenberg.” She said. “Human genetics aren’t something that are supposed to be played with like some toy.” He smiled dryly at her.
“That’s what you want to think. You want to think I’m the bad guy, because I want to change the future. You want to judge me because I did what the entire world didn’t have the balls to do.” He said.
“Kidnapping people isn’t the way to be remembered!” Kiera said.
“Kiera, you’re just as guilty as me.” He said. “This entire time, your ambition to change the world has kept you here, hoping your name will go down in the history books. You’ve stayed here, you’ve watched, you’ve taken care of the patents. And never once did you ever thing this way wrong.” He said. “You never tried to stop it. Somewhere deep inside you, you knew this was wrong. You just didn’t want to admit it.” She shook her head.
“That’s not true!” She said.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” He said. “This place has been a secret for years now, and now all of you are going to let that go to waste.” He said, adding a humorless laugh. “Leland was right about mankind. They’re better off with someone to lead them every step of the way. Because without a ruler, they’re lost in their own greed.” He said.
“Rosenberg, you said you wouldn’t hurt us. You said we were to important.” Adam said.
“That’s what I said earlier. Before I replicated the results. Now, you’re just old data.” He said, then looked at Kiera. “And you’re a loose end.” He said. Kiera stepped forward, standing right next to Adam.
“Rosenberg, you know this isn’t right. Just let us go.” Kiera said.
“It’s too late for that, Kiera. I’m sorry.” He said as he lifted his pistol to her head. Adam felt Kiera’s body freeze. He slowly reached for his gun, something he should’ve done a while ago. “Don’t even think about it.” Rosenberg said, switching his aim to Adam. As soon as his attention was away from Kiera, she grabbed Adam’s gun from his belt and swung it up at Rosenberg. He quickly turned to meet her. He shot first, then she shot.
Her shot tore through his stomach, and he dropped the gun, gripping his stomach instead. He looked up at Kiera.
“I’ll see you in hell.” He said. Adam watched as Kiera pulled the trigger again, this time the bullet found its target right on Rosenberg’s chest. He fell over on the floor, not moving, not breathing. Kiera dropped the gun, her hands shaking. She wrapped her arms around Adam and buried her head into his chest as she cried.
“I’m sorry Adam… I’m sorry.” She stammered. “I should’ve known. I should’ve done something.” She said.
“You did everything you could.” Adam hushed her. “You did what was right.” He said.
“I, I just killed someone.” She said. Adam sighed.
“He would’ve done the same to both of us, Kiera.” He said.
“I know…” Kiera said. “But it still doesn’t make it right.” She mumbled. Adam glanced over at Rosenberg’s unmoving body and took a deep breath.
“Kiera, we need to go. Somebody had to have heard that gunshot.” He said. She pulled away from Adam and nodded, wiping tears out of her eyes. Adam placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her towards the ladder. He noticed that there was blood seeping through the torn sleeve of her hoodie. “You’re bleeding.” Adam said. She nodded wearily.
“He shot first.” She said as she placed her hands on the rungs and began climbing upwards. As soon as she was up Adam took one look back and climbed up the ladder. Once he was on the ground again he looked around. They were both in another room that seemed to be a closet. Adam looked over to the large metal door, shifting over to it. He placed his hand on the handle and swung it open stepping out. There he saw the others standing in the hallway. Micheal was embracing a woman Adam had never seen before.
“What took you so long to get up here?” Ghost asked. “I thought you were right behind us.” She said glaring at Adam, but her look softened as she saw Kiera step into the light holding her wounded arm.
“Rosenberg is dead.” Adam said.
“Jesus.” Ghost muttered.
“Yeah, let’s not stick around for long.” Adam said. “How about we get to the hospital?” He asked.
“Sounds good.” She said, as she turned to the rest of the group. “Just stick together. We don’t know if we can trust these people.” She said as she began walking up the stairwell. Callista, who was now carrying Dana, Wade, Kas, and a boy Adam didn’t recognize began climbing the stairs leaving Adam, Kiera, Micheal and the unnamed woman. Adam walked over to Micheal and looked at the woman.
“I’ll take it you know her?” Adam asked.
“She’s my sister, her name is Julia.” He said. Adam smiled.
“The more the merrier.” He said. “We should get going before we fall to far behind.” Adam said.
“Yeah. Wouldn’t want that.” Julia said. The three of them began climbing the stairs. Adam looked over his shoulder and saw Kiera walking behind them, looking lost in thought.
“What’s wrong with her?” Micheal asked.
“She just killed her boss.” Adam said. He eyes widened.
“You mean she killed him?” He asked. “I thought it was you.”
“You thought wrong.” Adam said. “Let’s just focus on getting Dana out of here alive.” He said. Micheal nodded as they continued to climb the stairs.
Nathan Zabek
“Mister Zabek.” A voice faintly called. Nathan sighed and opened his eyes to the world. Somehow, in the middle of all this, he’d managed to fall asleep. Not only that, but Bastet had also fallen asleep on his shoulder. Nathan cracked his stiff neck and looked up at the doctor.
“Yes?” Nathan asked.
“The surgery is complete.” He said.
“And? How’d it go? Is Alina okay?” He asked. The doctor nodded, with a smile.
“She’s perfectly fine. It went without a hitch. She should be waking up soon.” The doctor said. Nathan felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders .
“Thank you.” Nathan said. “Thank you so much.” He said.
“You don’t need to thank me.” The doctor said. Nathan looked around the waiting room and noticed something missing.
“Where are my parents?” Nathan asked. “Are they still not here?” He asked. He shook his head.
“Any attempt we’ve made to contact them has failed.” He said. “We can try again though.” He said as he walked off. Nathan mused over this for a few moments but brushed it off. They’d be here soon. He gently brushed Bastet’s head off his shoulder and stood up. Bastet yawned as she sat up in her chair. She looked at Nathan.
“So?” she asked.
“My sister is fine.” He said. “I’m going to go see her.” He said.
“That’s good.” She said.
“How’s your mother?” Nathan asked. She shook her head.
“No word yet.” She said.
“I’m sure she’s fine.” He said. “Thanks for sitting with me.” He said. She laughed.
“Not like I had much of a choice.” She said. “Go on, don’t keep your sister waiting.” Nathan nodded to her.
“See you around.” Nathan said.’
“See you around.” She agreed as Nathan began walking off towards his sister’s room. Nathan decided to skip the elevator and go for the stairs; stairs just felt better right now. She was on the second floor anyways.
Once on the second floor he began walking down the hallway towards Alina’s room. He had it memorized already. Once he neared her room, though, he saw a man standing outside her door, looking in like he was afraid to go in.
“Can I help you?” Nathan asked. He turned and looked at Nathan. He was about his height, African-American and was wearing a Oakland Raiders hat. Nathan paushed. “You’re… Tyler, right?” Nathan asked. He nodded.
“Yeah.” He said.
“Are you going in?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” He said.
“Come on, she won’t bite.” Nathan said, giving him a slight nudge. He sighed and walked in the room. Nathan followed. “You saved my sister’s life, you know that?” Nathan asked.
“Me? I didn’t do anything.” He said.
“You don’t have to be humble.” Nathan said.
“I’m not being humble, I really didn’t do anything. I put her in the back of my car and drove here trying not to go crazy.” He said.
“And if you didn’t do that, she’d be dead.” Nathan said. “So, you like football?” Nathan asked, looking at his cap. He nodded.
“I’m a linebacker.” Tyler said.
“I used to play.” Nathan said. “I don’t know why I quit, I guess it just wasn’t my thing.”
“Where do you go to school at?” Tyler asked.
“I’m in collage now, I used to go to Wilmington.” He said.
“I go to Xenia.” Tyler said. “But after what happened at the game, it kind of looks like school won’t be open again for a week or two.” He said. Nathan nodded.
“Yeah. It’s really horrible that somebody could do something like that and never get caught.” Nathan said.
“They’ll find them. They have to.” He said. He heard a small sigh.
“Can you quit talking about football?” Alina mumbled. Nathan smiled.
“So you like the Raiders?” Nathan asked with a sly smile. Tyler nodded. “I’m more of a Cleveland Browns fan myself.” He said.
“And I like San Francisco.” Alina said.
“San Fran? Since when?” Nathan asked.
“Since always.” Alina said. “At least they can actually win a Super bowl.” Alina said.
“Ouch, low blow there Alina.” Nathan said. She weakly smiled.
“Not getting involved.” Tyler said.
“That’s for the best.” Alina said.
“How are you feeling?” Nathan asked her.
“Like I just got a hole bored in my head.” She said.
“Just be happy they let you keep your hair. I told them they should just cut it all off.” Nathan said.
“Yeah well, not all surgeons cut off a patients hair for surgery.” She said.
“Who knows? Maybe you’d look good with a buzz cut.” Nathan said.
“I’d rather not find out.” She said. Nathan laughed. She sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked.
“Nothing.” She said. “I’m just tired.” She said. Nathan nodded.
“We should probably get going then.” Nathan said, looking up at Tyler who nodded back at him.
“You don’t have to go.” She said.
“It’s best if we let you rest.” He said. She laid her head back on her pillow.
“Okay.” She said. “If that’s what you want.” Nathan and Tyler both turned and walked out of the room. Nathan looked at Tyler.
“Thanks for coming out.” Nathan said.
“Not a problem.” Tyler said. “You doing anything right now or are you just going to stay here?” He asked.
“Why do you ask?” Nathan asked.
“Me and a few friends were going to go out to the train bridge, I thought maybe you’d want to come? But it’s fine if you don’t. Stay here with your sister, it’s cool.” He said.
Choice
[Go with Tyler]
[Stay at the hospital]
Once again, I was on the right track but not quite. I called it, Rosenberg was responsible for the kidnappings. But what seriously surprised me was that he was responsible for creating the powers in the first place. So, that means he is responsible for the powers of basically every mutant in the entire story, right? Not only Adam and co., but also Julia, Gilligan, Piper, probably even Leland. It's a shame that Kiera killed him, even though I can't really blame her for it. If they would have kept him alive, he might have been able to give some answers about the questions that are still open. Since he was definitely one of the bad guys, the most important thing they should find out right now is if Leland and the military are bad as well. But even aside from that, there are still many questions to be answered and Rosenberg's death complicated things quite a bit.
[Stay at the hospital]
I'm glad Alina survived the surgery. That's also my reason for staying with her. I mean, she almost died and even aside from that, things haven't been that great for her lately, so I am sure she could need her brothers support right now.
I can't answer that fully, but there will be answers. There always is answers, but sometimes the answers only give you more questions... >:3
So before I forget, I just wanted to do a little check-in with you all. Just a few quick questions if that's alright.
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
Who's your least favorite character and why?
What's your favorite part so far?
What's your least favorite part so far?
What would you like to see more of in my writing? (other than blood. There'll be tons of that.)
What would you like to see less of in my writing? C'mon, be honest. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Just warn me ahead of time if I'm going to need tissues.
Do you have any questions about the story so far? Anything that confuses you or you don't understand? I'll do my best to answer without giving away to much...
Anything else? Here you can put anything you'd like to say that I didn't ask. Fan mail is always welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, assuming you do, you guys are really what makes the story happen. Without you guys, I'd have nothing. And I'd like to seriously thank you all for sticking with me through all of this. All my random absences, awkward dialogue, and painful plot developments. Seriously guys, thank you.
[Stay at the hospital]
No way would I leave her after that. Personally, I would think that if Nathan left then whoever wanted to kidnap her could come back with a vengeance. But that's just me. And also the parents not showing up worries me. And strokes.
I just worry to worry.
Worry is what keeps us alive... And kills us at the same time.
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
That question is always hard for me to answer and in this story it is exceptionally hard, because you did a fantastic job when it comes to make me care for each and every character. Just looking through the character list, there are so many names I like and I don't think I'm able to name a single favourite. Julia is without a doubt among them, but Adam and Dana are also among my favourites. Even though she hasn't been featured as much as the names before, I also like Alina a lot. And while she is the newest character in the list and hadn't had that much time to shine, I grew quite fond of Kiera.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
That one's only slightly easier than the question before. Usually, villains are among my least favourite characters, because well, I think being hated is the purpose of a good villain. However, most of the villains only had relatively small roles. There was Gerald, aka. the shithead that shot Julia and there was Rosenberg, the guy who likely was behind all of this, but both of them died relatively soon after their introduction. Of course when it comes to recurring villains there is Leland, but his strangely infuriated reactions any time something happened to Julia, and the newest revelation about Rosenberg make me think that there might be more behind him than just a simple, hateable villain. I guess among the bad guys, my least favourite character is Gerald, while among the good guys, my least favourite character is... well... Wade maybe? I still like him and I care for him, but I like him less than any of the other good guys in the story and I don't really know why.
What's your favorite part so far?
The first that came into mind is the one where Julia survived her own death, because it revealed probably the most important thing about the whole story, the existence of superpowers, and because it left me completely stunned at what happened. I also loved the part in the simulation, where Adam, Michael, Callista and Kas used their powers to help these people. That is definitely one of my favourites as well. The Xenia simulation parts in general have been nice. I also found Dana's introduction really well-done and the latest part, where Kiera shot Rosenberg, was amazing. And while it is not a single part, the early parts with Julia in general, from the baseball game to the showdown with Gerald at the supposed safe house, had incredible suspense and were full of memorable moments.
What's your least favorite part so far?
Honestly, I don't have one. While there have been parts which I have enjoyed less than my previously mentioned favourite parts, I don't think I am able to name them. In some way, I have enjoyed every single part so far and while I am sure there has to be one part that is my least favourite, I have no idea which one it could be.
What would you like to see more of in my writing?
Well... does Julia count as an answer? Just kidding, just kidding... sort of...
Though when it comes to characters, I feel like Alina, Nathan and Tyler have received a bit less focus than the others, especially since they are the only ones who currently don't seem to be involved in the apparent main plot. Also, since I previously mentioned the villains, I love a villain character that actually survives for longer. Gerald and Rosenberg were villains with potential and I think it could have been interesting to find out more about them before they die, so... maybe the next villain could stick around for longer. God, I'm sure I'm going to regret this.
What would you like to see less of in my writing?
Let me see, maybe I find something to nitpick. Probably not though. This story is great, one of my favourites, and there is nothing I would like to see less of.
Do you have any questions about the story so far?
I think I have way too many questions to write them down here and you know I have the habit of always asking them directly when they come up. I love how every new part answers one of my questions and opens up two new XD I'm also sure that they all get answered in time. Though in general I am absolutely sure that I understand what's going on. Unless of course another big ass twist like the superpowers happens, because that one basically changed everything I previously thought to know about the story.
Anything else?
Keep up the awesome work
This story is awesome and among my favourites here, so I'm looking forward for future parts.
Yes. I know I have a problem with doing that. I've never really kept villains around for long. That being said, careful what you wish for.
Yes, Yes, I know this. They haven't become part of the 'main' storyline so it's a little bit harder to work them in, though I will defiantly try.
Ha. That means I'm doing it right! And, as for more twists, I can't really say anything about that....
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, it means a lot. Thanks for sticking around and reading my story also. thank a lot.
[Stay at the hospital] If I would be in Nathans situation, I would stay with my sister.
Adams part was awesome! It is among my favorite parts in the whole story for sure.
thanks man!
Who's your favorite character so far, and why?
I hate naming my own but I love how you write Adam. Julia is cool and Tyler is also a nice character whom I would like to see more of, so they are also part of my favorites. But I like all of the characters.
Who's your least favorite character and why?
I dont have a least favorite character. The characters who could become my least favorite characters usually dont live for very long. The characters that are currently alive are all characters I like or characters I have no opinion about.
What's your favorite part so far?
Probably Adams last part. In general I also like the parts where the superpowers are used, for example when Julia healed her bullet wound or when the group in Xenia found out about their powers.
What's your least favorite part so far?
No idea. I dont think there is a part I did not like.
What would you like to see more of in my writing?
Nothing I can think of right now. I enjoy the story as it is.
What would you like to see less of in my writing?
See my answer above. It is awesome the way it is but I am also open for any change you want to do.
Do you have any questions about the story so far?
Yes, there is one thing I havent fully understood about the origin of the powers. Rosenberg said that he unlocked them with his experiments and that this is the reason why Adam and the others have their powers. But why do Julia and Gilligan have powers even though they never encountered Rosenberg? Have they unlocked their powers on their own?
Anything else?
I love this story and I am excited for how it is going to continue.
Okay, so there's one thing I've yet to address. I'd love to say so much about it right now, but the thing is, I just can't since it would give away much too much. But I can say that it definitely will be answered in the upcoming parts.
That being said, thanks for answering these questions. And thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my story.
Adam Becker
“Jesus Christ, what happened?” The medic asked. Callista looked back at everyone else, but nobody had an answer. What were they going to say?
Yeah, she got shot while we were trying to escape from a hidden bunker under the base. Apparently some guy was down there messing with our brains while we were in a coma. But don’t worry about it, Kiera shot him dead.
Yeah, that would go down really well. Really well. They’d all probably be thrown into some insane asylum. Adam stepped forwards, looking at the medic.
“We’ll explain everything, as soon as we can.” Adam said. “But right now, please, just help her.” Adam said.
“We’re doing everything we can, I promise you that.” The medic said. “We just want to know what a bunch of civilians are doing on an Air Force base without any sort of clearance to be here.” He said.
“If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.” Micheal said.
“So you’re telling me you don’t know how you got here?” The medic asked. “Are you all stoned or something?” He asked.
“I wish I was.” Callista mumbled. Her shirt was stained with blood, not her own but Dana’s. It was pretty horrific.
“Look, some people calling themselves the PFDF brought me and Julia here. They said it was for our protection.” Gilligan, as Adam had learned, said. The medic looked at him, confused.
“What are you talking about? I’ve heard a lot of shit in my time, but the PFDF? The hell is that?” He asked. Adam himself knew the answer, Julia and Gilligan had explained everything during their trek here. Even the fake Micheal that turned out to be Leland Frey. It was creepy, just thinking that anybody here could be someone they weren’t.
“Look, we’ve all been through a lot today. So why don’t you just save the interrogation for later?” Callista asked.
“You’re the one who’s illegally on US military grounds! I’m just doing my job!” The medic retorted.
“We’re just as confused as you for fucks sake!” Kiera yelled at him, breaking her until now silence. Adam looked back at her, he felt bad for her. He just didn’t know what to say.
“What happened to your arm?” The medic asked.
“I got shot. Just like Dana.” Kiera said.
“Fuck… Come with me. The rest of you don’t go anywhere.” He said as he grabbed Kiera and walked her off down through the double doors that separated the hospital from the reception area.
“Are you guys okay?” Adam asked, looking to the group. It was a little late to be asking, but he felt obligated to ask anyways.
“I got my sister back.” Micheal said. “I’m just fine.” He said.
“I guess I’m good.” Callista said. “Given the circumstances.”
“I’m not dead, if that’s what you’re asking.” Julia said.
“Could be better.” Gilligan said. “Could be worse.” When nobody else answered, Adam looked back.
“Wade? Ghost? You good?” He asked. Over to his left he saw Wade and Ghost standing together, Ghost was actually smiling. So was Wade. They seemed… Happy. He looked over towards the double doors once again and saw Kas sitting against the wall, her legs pulled close to her chest.
Adam looked to Micheal, who nodded to him. Adam walked away from the group and over towards Kasey. He sat down next to her.
“Hey.” Adam said softly.
“Hi.” Kasey responded.
“How are you doing?” Adam asked.
“I wish I could say I was good. But that would be a lie.” She said. “I’m sitting here, wondering if I could’ve done anything to stop her from getting shot.” She went on.
“It wasn’t your fault, Kas.” Adam said. “It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” She said. “You didn’t know she was my sister. You thought I was in trouble, you were trying to help.”
“I wish I hadn’t pulled that trigger.” Adam said.
“But you did, and we have to move past that.”Kas said. “And if it counts for anything, I’m sorry I yelled at you like that.” She said.
“You had every right to yell at me.” Adam said.
“Doesn’t mean I should’ve.” She said. “What’s going on over there?” Kas asked, pointing towards the rest of the group. Adam looked up and saw that multiple armed soldiers had appeared. Of course. It wasn’t like they could just end up here without anyone calling in the MP’s. Adam stood up and began walking over towards them, Kas followed behind him.
“I’m telling you, we came from underneath the SEM building, there’s a hidden bunker or something.” Micheal said.
“Yeah, sure.” One of the MP’s said.
“You don’t believe me?” Micheal asked.
“Why would I?” He asked.
“Because I’m telling you the truth!” Micheal said.
“Okay, Okay.” The MP said. “How about this; you take us to this ‘hidden bunker’ and show us around?” He said.
“I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” Micheal said. The MP grumbled unhappily.
“Fine, you two lead the way.” He said.
“Wait, I can take you to the PFDF camp.” Ghost said. “I know where it is.” She said.
“Okay, you take us to this ‘superhero camp’ and I swear, we’ll just set you free.” The MP said. “No, tell you what. I’ll give you my security badge and send you on your way.”
“I’ll take that offer.” Ghost said.
“Fine.” The MP said. “Henderson, you’re with me. Granger and Soho, you go with the girl. Davids, you stay here and watch the rest of these crack heads and make sure they don’t fuck anything else up.” He said.
“Copy.” The all said.
“Lead the way.” He said to Micheal. Him and Julia began walking out the door with two MP’s on either side of them. Another two left, following Ghost. One was left guarding them.
“It’ll be fine.” Adam said. “They’ll show them everything, and they’ll let us go.” He said.
“No talking. Just take a seat.” The MP said.
“Yes sir.” Adam sarcastically said as he walked over to one of the chairs and sat down in it, next to Gilligan and Callista.
“They’ll come back.” Gilligan said. “They have to.”
Dana Grey
Dana lazily opened her eyes to the early morning sun. She could feel an arm wrapped gingerly around her waist and could feel the heat radiating off the body the arm belonged to. Her head rested against her pillow, she didn’t need a mirror to know her hair was a mess.
She rolled over and came face to face with the beautiful blonde haired woman who lay next to her. Her eyes were still shut and her breathing was even and natural, peaceful. Dana smiled as she looked at her, it had been two days since she’d proposed to her, and the giddiness still hadn’t worn off yet.
She took a deep breath and her green eyes slowly fluttered open. A smile formed on her face when she saw Dana.
“Good morning.” She said, her eyes looking to the clock behind Dana. “You’re up early.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Dana said. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She said as she shifted closer, their lips touching. “I love you.” She said as she pulled away.
“I love you too.” Dana said. She just stared into Sophie’s eyes for a few minutes before she lay back again. Sophie lowered her head onto her shoulder.
“Did you talk to your mom?” Sophie asked.
“No.” Dana answered. “She’d never understand.”
“What about your dad?” She asked.
“I called him yesterday.” Dana said. “He won’t be able to make it.” She said.
“That sucks.” Sophie said. “I’m sorry.”
“At least your family will be there.” Dana said.
“They said they would.” She said.
“I like your family.” Dana said. “They’re nice.”
“Pretty soon you’ll be part of it.” She said.
“I’m counting the hours.” Dana said.
“So am I.” Sophie said as she shifted forwards and sat up. She stretched her arms and yawned. “I don’t want to go to work.” She said.
“Neither do I.” Dana said. “But at least you have a real job.” She said.
“You have a real job.” Sophie said.
“Yeah, working in a fast food restaurant. That’s real work.” She said sarcastically. “And there you are every day busting your ass.” She said.
“I so love you.” Sophie said as she got up from the bed, the bed sheet falling from her body. She wore her T-shirt she got when they both when to Graceland and a pair of blue plaid pajama pants. “It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it just matters that you’re trying. That’s the first step.” She said.
“I am trying.” Dana said. “But it’s so hard.”
“I know it’s hard.” Sophie said, turning to look at her. “But we’ll get through this, together.”
“I don’t know where I’d be without you.” Dana said as she got up.
Dana quickly changed into her work cloths, nothing more than a T-shirt with the restaurant logo on it. She pulled her shoes on over her socks and walked into the bathroom. She brushed her hair until it didn’t look like an absolute mess, and even then decided to just put it into a pony tail. She quickly brushed her teeth and headed out towards the front door, grabbing her coat on the way.
“You’re heading out already?” Sophie asked. Dana nodded.
“Yeah, boss said he wanted me in a little early today. I’m not sure what it’s about.” Dana said. She knew it was a lie. She knew it and it hurt her so bad. But she just couldn’t tell her the truth. Sophie walked towards her.
“Okay.” She said. “Just be safe. I’ll see you after work, okay?” She said.
“Yeah. Of course.” Dana said. Sophie planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
“I love you.” She said.
“I love you too.” Dana said as she turned and walked out the door. Dana always walked to work, it would’ve just been a waste of gas to drive every day since it was just a few blocks away. She started walking down the sidewalk, looking back over her shoulder at her house. She told herself she was looking back just because she wanted to, but she knew she was looking back for a reason. She wanted to make sure Sophie wasn’t watching her.
There on the corner of 5th and King street stood a man wearing practically all black. He saw Dana as she started approaching. Dana zipped her jacket up all the way and pulled the hood over her head.
“You’re late.” He said.
“I know.” Dana said. “But I’ve got the money.” She said.
“Good, let’s see it.” He said. Dana withdrew her hand from her pocket holding a wad of cash. The man grinned. “That’s good. Really good.” He said. Dana looked around timidly.
“Okay.” She said quickly. “Do you have it?” She asked. He nodded to her as he took the money from her hand and shoved it into his pocket. Dana saw him reach into his pocket and before she knew it, she was on the ground, with a pair of silver handcuffs on her wrists. “What the hell are you doing?” She asked.
“Sorry to do this to you.” He said as he pulled her up. “But I’m placing you under arrest.” He said. Dana looked at him with fear in her eyes.
“No.” She said. “No, you can’t do this. Please.” She begged. But he didn’t listen. Dana had heard that justice was blind. She never was told that Justice was deaf.
Dana quickly shot up, her eyes darting around the room. From what she could tell, she was in a hospital of some sort. How she’d gotten here, she had no clue. There was a pain in her shoulder, but it was numbed. Dana could see the needle in her arm that was dispensing a clear liquid into her blood stream. She almost wanted to throw up thinking about it.
She grabbed the needle and pulled it out of her arm, it stung. Faintly. She ignored the pain as she stood up from the bed she winced in pain when she moved her shoulder.
She swore when she closed her eyes, she was facing the wall. But when her eyes opened, she was right in front of the door.
“You’ve come a long ways, Dana.” A voice said from within the room, Dana spun around and saw a man she’d never seen before lounging in a chair. He was wearing a black suit with a tie, his dark hair neatly combed. He stood up from the chair and looked at Dana, extending his hand. “I don’t mean to frighten you. I’m just here to talk.” He said.
“Talk about what?” Dana asked tentatively. The man lowered his hand seeing that Dana was not going to take it.
“Your powers, of course.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at the man.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“Most people call me Cooper.” He said. “D. B. Cooper.” Dana’s eyes widened.
“The D. B. Cooper, like the guy that hijacked a plane, got the money, jumped out of the plane and was never seen again?” She asked.
“Don’t act surprised.” He said. “You knew I was a time traveler.” He said, he waved her back into the room. “Come on and sit down. We have a lot to talk about.” Dana obliged and walked back to the bed, sitting on the edge.
“Why are you here?” Dana asked.
“To talk about the future, of course.” He said.
“Just a second ago you said you wanted to talk about my powers, now the future?” she asked. He scratched his chin and looked at Dana.
“Your powers are the future.” He said. Dana knit her eyebrows. “I’m not permitted to give you details, since it’s against the rules of time travel.” He said.
“There’s rules to time travel?” She asked. He nodded.
“Yes. But it’s nothing you need to be concerned about.” He said.
“If you can’t tell me why I’m important, then why are you still here?” She asked.
“I’m here to help explain to you how your power works.” He said. “Now, controlling your power is different. I can’t help you with that. Nobody can.” He said.
“What do you mean by how it works?” Dana asked.
“Time is a delicate thing. A misplaced step at the wrong time, and you can kill thousands of people. I’m here because this timeline is in danger from a time traveler who’s been stepping out of line. And you need to stop him.” He said.
“Who?” Dana asked.
“His name is Leland Frey.” Cooper said. “He’s the oldest of all of us, he’s manifested multiple powers in his lifetime.” He said. “And he’s trying to use them to go back in time and start a war between the humans and our kind.” He said.
“He’s trying to start a war? Why?” Dana asked.
“Because in the future, humans turn on us. They hunt us down and try to kill us all, experimenting on us, segregating us, burning us alive just to see if we feel pain.” He said. “He wants to stop that from happening.”
“Why?” Dana asked. “Your future sounds horrible.”
“But it’s the future Dana.” He said. “If Leland succeeds in his war against the humans, the timeline will destroy itself and be replaced by a new one. Everyone in the old timeline, our current timeline, will cease to exist.” He said. “You have to stop the death of the entire planet.”
“Why does it have to be me? Why can’t one of the other time travelers do it?” Dana asked. Cooper looked at Dana with sorrow in his eyes, as he bit his lip.
“Because your death won’t change the timeline.” He said. “You have to do it because you’re not important. You have to identify the space in time where the break between the real timeline and the old one occurs, then you have to go back and stop it from happening. It’s all you have to do.” He said.
“And I’m going to die because of it.” She said, looking to the ground.
“You might, we just had to prepare for the worst.” He said.
“I’m not important to the future.” She said. “Why?” She asked. He looked at her.
“In our timeline you kill yourself six days from now. You jump off a bridge. You’re not important to the future… Because you’re not part of it.” He said. Dana shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
“So much for trying to make up for my mistakes, huh?” She asked. Cooper leaned into her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“That’s what we’re going to do right now.” He said. “We have to clear your mind so you can think easier.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I want you to think of someone you’ve wrong, something that you’ve done that bothers you.” He said. Dana’s mind instantly went to Sophie. “Do you have it?” He asked. Dana nodded. “This is where the second part of your power comes in, teleportation. You’ve already shown you have it, you teleported halfway across the room. Now all you have to do is teleport to wherever it is you need to be.” He said.
“And how do I do that?” She asked.
“Close your eyes and focus.” He said. “You seem to be able to use your powers only when under the influence of drugs, the morphine is still in your body. So just focus.” He said. Dana nodded, closing her eyes. She pictured Sophie’s face. She thought about going back to her, she thought about what she’d say.
“It’s not working.” Dana said as she felt no change an opened her eyes. She looked around and she was no longer in the hospital room. She was standing in front of a house. Her house.
Dana’s legs began taking shaky steps forwards towards the door, her finger extending to ring the doorbell. She heard the same familiar chime she’d heard a thousand times, from the inside of the house. Now here she is, ringing the doorbell to her own house. She’s a stranger in her own home.
After a few moments she heard the deadbolt unlock itself and the door swung open inwards. Dana instantly felt a lump in her throat as she saw Sophie standing on the other side of the doorway.
“Dana?” She asked. Dana didn’t answer, she just wrapped her arms around Sophie’s waist and pulled her closer, burring her head into her collarbone, like they’d done a thousand times. Dana could feel Sophie’s soft hands on her back.
“I’m sorry Sophie.” Dana said. “I’m so sorry.” She said, she could feel the tears coming but refused to let them fall. Not yet.
“I was so scared.” Sophie said. “I heard you went missing, and thought it was all my fault.” She said. Dana brought her head up and looked Sophie in the eye.
“None of this was your fault.” Dana said. “It was mine. I lied to you again and again. I put you through so much misery and I don’t blame you for leaving. All I want for you is to be happy, I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” She said. “But if you give me one more chance, I swear I can make this right. I swear.”
“Dana.” Sophie began, but Dana hushed her with a kiss.
“Like you said, we’ll make it through this together.” She said.
“Who’s this?” A new voice asked. Dana looked up and saw a man standing in the doorway. She noticed that Sophie’s eyes had closed tight as if she was in pain.
“Dana…” Sophie said. “This is Eric. I’d like to say I meet him after we were over, but that would be a lie. We’ve been meeting in secret for a few months.” She said softly. Dana let go of Sophie and took a few steps back. She could now feel the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Yeah… Yeah. Okay.” Dana stuttered as she turned away. “I-I’ll just go then… I’m sorry.” She said.
“Dana, please don’t be mad.” Sophie said. Dana couldn’t answer her, she just kept walking. The tears were falling uncontrolled now. She walked briskly down the sidewalk towards the bus stop and sat down under the old bench under the graffitied shelter. She pulled her knees up and buried her head into her legs as she cried. She heard someone take a seat next to her but didn’t look up.
“You know she loves you, right?” The man asked. Dana didn’t have to look up to know it was Eric. “She talks about you every chance she gets. You really left a mark on her.” He said.
“I just wanted to fix everything.” Dana said between sobs.
“And you still can Dana, you still can.” He said. “If you still love her, you have to forgive her.”
“I just want her to be happy.” Dana said.
“I know that. And you’ve known her long enough to know that she’s not happy being alone.” He said. “If you want to be mad at somebody, be mad at me. This is my fault, not hers.”
“I’m not mad at anyone other than myself.” Dana said. He reached an arm out and placed it on Dana’s knee.
“Maybe this will all work out for the best.” He said. “If you ever need anything, just call me. I’m serious. Maybe we can get you enrolled in one of those rehab centers.” He said. Dana wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded.
“Sure.” She said. “Just not now. Right now… I just need time.”
“I understand that.” He said. “Do you have a place to stay?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Dana nodded.
“Do you need a ride? It looks l
? It looks like it might rain.” He said.
“I’m good. I’d rather walk.” She said.
“Are you sure?” He asked. She nodded.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She said.
“Well, good luck out there. I’m sorry this all happened.” He said as he stood up. “See you again sometime maybe?” He asked.
“Maybe.” She said and he began walking away. “Treat her good, okay?” She asked. He look back and nodded.
“I’ll do my best.” He said and then continued walking off. Dana lifted her hand and looked at it, the ring on her finger shined in the sun. She pinched it in-between her two fingers and pulled it off. She spun in around looking at it, watching how the light danced of its polished surface.
“I’ll always love you.” She whispered and she placed at ring on the bench next to her, and closed her eyes. Thinking of the only person she had left to go to. Kasey.
Micheal Carter
“You weren’t lying.” The MP said, looking at the ladder that led downward.
“Of course I wasn’t.” Micheal said. He noticed that Julia seemed a little timid standing here in this room.
“I’m going down to check it out. Henderson, you stay with them. Make sure nothing happens.” He said as he began descending the ladder. Micheal watched him disappear. Micheal leaned over towards Julia.
“What’s wrong?” Micheal asked.
“Ghost told me that our powers won’t work in here.” Julia said. “I just don’t like feeling… Powerless.” She said. Micheal placed an arm on he shoulder.
“There’s nothing to worry about Julia.” He said.
“Do you see anything?” Henderson asked into his radio. There was no response. “Do you copy?” he asked. “Fuck. Stay here, I’m going down.” He said as he walked forwards and began climbing down the ladder.
“See? Something bad is happening.” Julia said.
“Julia, we’re like five levels below the surface, radio signals can be blocked.” He said.
“I still don’t like it.” She said as she looked down the hole. Moments later Micheal heard a blood curdling scream coming from within. He jumped back and looked at Julia.
“Run.” She said.
“But what about the MP’s?” Micheal asked.
“What about them? They’re dead!” She said.
Choice
[Go in after the MP’s]
[Run]
I loved the revelations in Dana's part. Now that his goal is revealed, Leland reminds me of Magneto from the X-Men, a little bit at least. Unless D.B. Cooper (I'm absolutely loving that name by the way) lied to her, which seems unlikely, it also firmly and finally put Leland into the position of the antagonist, as I've expected. Still, his goal is more understandable than I thought, but at the same time very extreme. He clearly has to be stopped. However, there is one thing where I am not sure if I understood it correctly: The first few paragraphs in Dana's part, with Sophie, are some sort of flashback, right? And then when she wakes up and meets Cooper, she's at the military hospital after Adam shot her, right?
[Run]
If Michael had his powers, then going after them might make sense. However, someone or something down there is strong enough to make a whole group of armed MP's scream, either in terror or in pain or both. Without his powers, Michael might still be a strong guy, but I doubt he's any better than those MP's. Julia is right, they have to run if they want to have any chance at surviving this.
Yes, I think I failed to make that clear.
D.B. Cooper is a real guy, who disappeared after hijacking an airplane and was never seen again. I gave his story a little twist of my own.
Huh, now I've learned something new
That's indeed interesting. I also knew that name sounded familiar, but I had to do a bit of backtracking to remember that you already mentioned him in one of Dana's parts back in November, after she returned from her first time travel. Nice detail!
[Run]
Oh shit, run for your live Michael and Julia
This is not the time to be a hero!
[Run]
Julia Carter
Julia looked at Micheal, honest fear in her eyes. She may not have been inside that bunker herself, but she’d heard enough to know she didn’t want to be in there.
“Run.” She said, again. Micheal nodded at her.
“Run.” He agreed as he gripped Julia’s hand and began bolting off away from the entrance to the bunker and towards the stairs.
Julia thought of herself as fit, she honestly was. But Micheal was faster, she guessed that years of football would do that to you. Micheal was practically dragging her along with him as he ran.
Julia could feel a cold chill working its way down her spine, she knew something was off. But she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Where are you going Julia?” A voice echoed off the walls as they climbed the stairs. “The fun is only beginning.” He said. Julia swore she remembered that voice from somewhere, but couldn’t put her finger on it. Judging by the look on Micheal’s face though, he hadn’t heard the voice. “I’ve given you multiple second chances, Julia. Not it is time for you to return the favor. Come back to me.”
“No. Get out of my head.” Julia said.
“Who are you talking to?” Micheal asked. Julia looked up at Micheal, but someone else caught her eye. She saw a man standing on the landing ahead of them. Julia stopped dead in her tracks, as did Micheal. The man was more a shadow than a man, there but containing no substance, only a black cloud. His eyes seemed only to be two floating red orbs.
“The boss asked to see you, Julia.” The man said, his voice, his ghostly appearance. She knew him. She knew him, but just couldn’t put a name on him. But she swore she saw him once before. Wait, no…
“This isn’t possible.” Julia said as she took a step back. “You’re dead.” She said. He laughed as Julia stepped back again, falling right into someone’s arms. They gripped her tightly as she tried to kick away, but Julia couldn’t get away. She looked at the arm around her, seeing it was the same as the man in front of her. Black fog-like structure. But apparently, it still held substance.
“Micheal!” Julia yelled out.
Micheal spun around and his eyes widened as he looked at her. She could see fear, surprise and anger all rolled into one in his expression.
“No.” He said. “You’re dead. Kiera killed you.” He said. The thing holding Julia let out a laugh.
“You can’t kill something that was never living.” It said. “You’ve only killed the body I’d inhabited.”
“Let my sister go.” Micheal said.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” It said. “Leland would like to see her.”
Julia could see Micheal’s fist clenching moments before he lunged forwards towards the creature holding Julia, but the other one moved with incredible speed. One moment it was standing, or floating, at the landing ahead of them, then in the blink of an eye, it was restraining Micheal.
“Let me go!” Micheal yelled.
“Not yet, little human.” The one restraining Micheal said. Julia put the last piece of the puzzle together, Gerald. The thing restraining Micheal is, or was, Gerald. Julia swallowed hard as she looked at him.
“What does Leland want with us?” Julia asked, her voice now shaken.
“He wants nothing other than submission.” Gerald said.
“Submission?” Julia asked.
“Swear your life and everything you do to Leland and his cause.” Gerald said. Julia suppressed a delirious laugh as she looked at him.
“I’ll never do that.” Julia said.
“He has ways of making you agree with him.” Gerald said.
“He can try.” Julia said.
“He will.” The one holding Julia said. And with that the two dead men began leading them both back down the stairs and back towards the bunker. Julia would’ve fought back, but her feet weren’t on the ground. The thing was carrying her a foot off the ground and no matter how much she kicked or squirmed, it wasn’t letting go.
“I’m going to die.” Julia thought to herself as they began their decent into the bunker.
Adam Becker
Adam watched the MP, whose name was ‘Davids, as he paced in front of the door, every so often looking back over at one of them as if they were a threat. He had his finger resting over the trigger as if one of them may attack him at any moment.
He seemed to be wary of Adam in particular. He occasionally looked over at Callista or one of the others, but Adam could feel the MP’s omnipresent eye boarding into him.
The door separating the lobby from the hospital swung open and a doctor walked out, with Kiera with him. She winced as if in pain but kept walking, taking a seat next to Kas. The MP walked over to the doctor and pulled him aside.
“Did she say anything?” He asked.
“No, she hasn’t said a word.” The doctor responded.
“Are you sure she’s safe to be out here?” He asked.
“There’s nothing more we can do.” The doctor said. “We patched up the wound, the only thing left to do is let her go.” He said.
“That’s not what I meant, but okay.” The MP said, allowing the doctor to walk away.
“Davids, do you copy?” A voice asked through the radio on his chest. He grabbed the radio.
“Copy, Soho. Go ahead.” He said, sounding a little relieved.
“We’re at the camp the girl was talking about.” Soho responded.
“And?” Davids asked.
“There’s something here.” Soho said. “Or used to be. It’s all abandoned though. I checked the maps and this place isn’t marked. The girl was right, they weren’t lying.” Soho said.
“That makes everything a lot more complicated.” Davids said as he resumed his nervous pacing.
“Have you made contact with contact with Henderson or the boss?” Soho asked.
“Negative, why?” Davids asked.
“Neither of them are responding.” Soho said.
“Hold that thought.” Davids said, replacing the radio to its pouch on his vest. He walked over towards Adam. “Now that we know you’re not lying, would you mind explaining a few things?” He asked.
“What do you want to know?” Adam asked.
“What exactly was in that bunker?” Davids asked.
“It’s hard to explain.” Adam said.
“I have time.” Davids said.
“It was some sort of laboratory.” Adam said. “The head researcher was doctor Rosenberg, he told us he was researching a way to bring people out of comas.” He said.
“Rosenberg.” Davids mused. “Sounds familiar. Were there any armed guards down there in that bunker?”
“Yes.” Adam said.
“How many and where are they?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look.” Adam said. He just couldn’t remember how many there were.
“Okay. Okay.” Davids said as he stepped back. “I’m going to need you to take me to the bunker.” He said.
“What? No way.” Adam said. He could see Davids speaking, saying something, but now words came out. No sound came out. Nothing. Adam couldn’t hear anything, nothing at all. His head began to hurt, feeling as if it had just been split open.
“Adam.” A distinctive voice called. “Come to me.” It echoed.
“Rosenberg.” Adam stuttered.
“Don’t waste any time, Adam.” He said, echoing into the depths of his mind. “We have all the time in the world. But your friends don’t. Surrender to Leland. Join us.” It said, and then just as it came, it was gone.
Adam looked up and saw that it was not only him that had heard the voice. Everyone had heard it. Adam looked to Kiera and Kiera looked to him before her eyes drifted to the ground.
“What just happened?” Davids asked. He hadn’t heard it. Adam looked up at him.
“Nothing good.”
Dana Grey
Dana opened her eyes and found herself staring at the door to the hospital room. She was back. She reached out to the doorknob, carefully avoiding moving her injured shoulder.
Her head ached. It was probably just from the morphine working its way through her body.
The door swung open and she stepped out into the hallway. She looked down and noticed that she was wearing her own cloths, not a hospital gown. She didn’t know how or when that happened. And right now, she wasn’t going to question it.
She walked down the hallway, not completely sure of where she was going, not completely sure of where she was. She just decided to follow the big red ‘exit’ signs posted every so often.
A few of the doctors and nurses stopped and looked at her as she walked by, but nobody stopped her. They probably had better things to do than stop somebody that looked seemingly healthy. On the outside at least.
On the inside, she wanted to scream in pain every time she moved her shoulder, even though the pain was still muted with morphine.
She pushed through a set of doors and sighed with relief as she saw a familiar face.
“Kas.” She said as she walked forwards towards her. Kasey looked up and as soon as she saw her she jumped up from the chair she was sitting in, and threw herself into Dana’s arms. Dana bit down hard as pain soared through her shoulder, but said nothing.
“I’m so sorry.” Kas said.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Dana said to her as she ran her fingers through Kasey’s long blonde hair. She noticed a man was standing nearby. He walked up to her, his hands in his pockets.
“Hey, I just wanted to say I was sorry for shooting you.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at him.
“You shot me?” She asked. He nodded. Dana looked at Kasey. “You did it to protect her?” She asked.
“Yeah.” He said.
“Then we’re good.” She said. She looked around at everyone in the room, noticing a few absences. “Micheal and Ghost, where are they?” Dana asked.
“Micheal and his sister went back to the bunker. Ghost went to the PFDF camp.” He said.
“Why would they do that?” Dana asked.
“We had to prove we weren’t lying.” He said.
“But now we have to go back and save them.” Callista said as she stood up.
“What? Why?” Dana asked.
“A dead friend of ours showed up again.” He said.
“Dead?” Dana asked, then shook her head. “Don’t even try to explain, let’s just go.”
“Wade, Callista, and Gilligan are staying here.” He said.
“Why?” Dana asked.
“Wade’s staying because his presences blocks out our powers.” He said. “Gilligan and Callista are staying because we need a backup plan.” He explained.
“Your powers will be blocked out anyways as soon as you go into the bunker.” Dana said.
“Not if we counter it.” Gilligan said as he stood up.
“Explain.” Dana said.
“I got suspicious about something. I got our friend Davids to call up and ask for a reading on power usage, as it turns out the SEM building is still drawing a shit ton of power.” He said.
“The bunker is running on separate energy?” Dana asked.
“Yes.” Gilligan said. “The energy has been sub routed into the bunker, bypassing the SEM building itself. So even though we knocked out the power to the building, the bunker still runs.” He said.
“And how does that help us?” Dana asked.
“When they ran the power reading, they found that the amount of energy the bunker was taking is insane. The amount of power they’re taking matched with the small relative size of the bunker itself, it didn’t make any sense unless they were electrifying the walls themselves.” He said. Dana narrowed her eyes at him.
“So you’re saying that they’re electrifying the walls?” She asked.
“No, something in the walls.” He said. “You see, Ghost was only half right about the MMC’s. It’s not the MMC that blocks our powers, it’s what’s in it. I happened to notice that the MMC in the bunker was weird, it had something living in it.” He said.
“Living?” Dana asked, alarmed.
“Not living like humans kind of living, but living.” He said. “And that ‘living’ part of the MMC needed a way to be activated.”
“So they were pumping energy through the walls to activate this power-blocking living thing in the wall?” Dana asked.
“Yes.” Gilligan said. “And we’ve isolated the sub route on the electricity grid, they’ve prepared to shut it down.”
“And once it’s down, we can go in with our powers?” Dana asked.
“Exactly.” Gilligan said.
“How did you know this?” Dana asked.
“I just did.” Gilligan said. “I think it might be some sort of power, one way or another.” He said.
“It might’ve just save a few lives.” Dana said.
“We’re ready to go.” An MP called from the doorway. Adam looked at Dana.
“That’s our que.” Adam said.
Adam, Kasey, Kiera and Dana all began walking towards the door, but Adam stopped Kiera and Dana.
“What are you doing? You two are injured.” He said.
“I’m not going to let my sister go in there without me. If you don’t want me to come, you’re going to have to shoot me.” Dana said. “Again.” She added.
“I killed Rosenberg and now he’s back.” Kiera said. “I think that’s enough reason on its own.”
“Fine.” Adam said as he turned and walked out the door into the street where a troop truck sat. Adam climbed up the back and turned around, offering a hand to Kiera. She took it and climbed up. Dana gritted her teeth as Adam helped pull her up. Pain soared through the entire side of her body, but she said nothing.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” An MP said as the truck lurched forwards.
Nathan Zabek
Nathan looked at Tyler and slowly shook his head.
“I’m sorry man, I’m not going to leave my sister after all of this.” He said. Tyler nodded.
“I can respect that.” He said. “See you around, I guess.” He said as he began walking away.
“See you around.” Nathan agreed. He walked back into Alina’s room and took a seat in the chair next to her bed. She was fast asleep already, though it was only around 1 O’clock. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. The first channel that came on was news, and the caption made his eyes widen.
‘Chad Sparks Found’
Chad Sparks had been missing for days now. And they just found him? Nathan quickly turned up the volume enough to hear, but not to wake Alina.
“Chad Sparks was found today at noon after being missing for over two days. He was found outside the Greene County Memorial Hospital. There are no signs about how he got there, but there are signs of head trauma. He is currently being held in the hospital but is currently not responsive. We’ll update you with new information as becomes available.” The news caster said.
How does someone go missing for two days and then turn up outside a hospital and nobody knows how he got there. That’s a little strange. Nathan looked to Alina and back to the TV. This all was a little strange.
He heard a knock on the door frame and looked up, he saw Bastet standing there in the threshold.
“I got bored of waiting.” She said.
“Take a seat.” Nathan said. Bastet walked in and sat down on the chair that was on the other side of Alina’s bed.
“Did you hear about Chad Sparks?” She asked.
“I just saw.” He said. “Crazy.”
“I know. Just showing up without a trace after being gone for two days. What, did he time travel here or something?” She asked.
“Who knows.” Nathan said. “Maybe now’s a good time break out the tin foil hats.” He said.
“Don’t get me started.” She said. Nathan looked out the window into the parking lot and something caught his eye. He could see Tyler standing next to a car and another man approaching him, with what looked like a gun. Nathan looked back over to Bastet. “What?” she asked.
Choice
[Stay in the room]
[Help Tyler]