Piercing Through the Silence

by James Sandepp

  As I continued to battle my thoughts the lift came to an abrupt stop and a sealed door stood in front of us. I realized this was the point of no return as Oliver looked at the both us before pressing the button on the door panel. The sealed door opened, and we were met by a long corridor with doors on either side and fluorescent lights on the ceiling extending out from the lift. It looked like something from a hospital, but there were no guards to be seen anywhere and the corridor was empty.

  I gave Oliver the thumbs up, he gave me the whatever look and I knew I had seriously annoyed him but who cared. Susie got out first as we followed and walked to the first door on the right and, trying to open it, found it locked. Then, she tried the next door beside it, which opened, and the three of us sneaked into the room as we heard footsteps. We peeked through the glass panel at the top of the door to realize it was another group of workers walking by, but with empty baskets. I could not see where they disappeared to but there must be another way by which they left this place. No wonder we never saw them come up the lift but it was something we needed to look for later when we had to get out of here.

  “Look at this,” Susie pointed to some shelves in the room.

  I turned my attention to the room, which was square shaped and small with a bunch of shelves in one corner and a steel cabinet on another end.

  Oliver took his position at the door. “I will keep a lookout.”

  I nodded, walked over to where Susie was standing near the shelves and realized there were hundreds of small empty vials. Picking up one vial I noticed there was no label on it either and I got the feeling that it wasn’t used for simple experiments.

  I walked over to the cabinet, opened it and found several white coats, which was exactly what we needed right now.

  I pulled out one coat. “Here’s our disguise for the day.”

  Susie grinned, and Oliver gave me a serious look, but he needed to relax a bit. I threw one coat to Susie and one to Oliver. It wasn’t the best fit but, at least, this would help us blend in better with this place.

  “Let’s try another room guys,” I motioned.

  I didn’t know where this new take charge attitude in me had come from, but I liked it and Susie didn’t seem to mind but I doubted Oliver was happy with it. Oliver signaled it was clear to leave the room and we slipped out of the room and went into the next room.

  This was a much bigger room more like a lab and there were many big cylinder-like tubes in the center of the room. While Oliver stood guard at the door again Susie and I walked over to the tubes, which extended from the floor to the ceiling.

  Each tube was filled with crystal clear blue water but what intrigued me was what was at the bottom of each tube. There were several of the purple fruit things sitting in small glass containers inside at the bottom of each of the tubes and each of these purple fruits had small tubes extending out like branches of a tree. These branches connected to some external enclosed pipes which left each tube, going upwards, crawled past the ceiling and went somewhere beyond the room.

  “What is going on here?” Susie motioned.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know but the purple fruit is the key to whatever is happening here. This is probably why they were bringing those fruits here.”

  Susie pointed at the pipes. “What do you think is inside those pipes?”

  “I don’t know,” I gestured. “It could be some liquid from the fruit.”

  One step forward, several steps backward and this was getting frustrating because whatever was going on here brought with it another round of questions. I wondered when we would ever find the truth about “the process” since it was the only reason we came to this farm.

  I walked over to some cabinets on the side, opened one of them and my eyes widened as inside it were hundreds of purple fruits. I signaled to Susie and she walked over and was as surprised as I was by the sheer number.

  “This farm is all about the purple fruit,” I signed. “I think the apples and grapes are just distractions to keep the people away.”

  “I wonder what is so special about the purple fruit,” Susie motioned.

  “Those pipes lead to somewhere,” Oliver pointed to the ceiling. “But it would be hard to follow the pipes since not all rooms may be open.”

  “Come on, let's keep going,” I signed and head to the door.

  “Take it slow, M,” Oliver warned me.

  I nodded and we left the lab room.

  THIRTY-NINE

  This time we decided not to try any more rooms, but instead kept walking forward towards a dead-end with two corridors, one going to the left and one going to the right. Once we reached the dead-end I pointed at a lift at the end of the right corridor, the others nodded and we all walked towards it.

  “I don’t know if we should go in a lift again,” Oliver signed. “The last time was quite a drama.”

  I looked at Oliver.

  “It will be different this time because we are in disguise remember,” Susie signaled.

  Oliver reluctantly agreed and, deciding not to irritate him any further, I nodded at Susie.

  Susie pressed the button, we got into the lift and, as the lift doors began to close, another white coat individual rushed in. I caught my breath, tried not to make any sudden movement, could see both Susie and Oliver were like statues and I seriously didn’t know how they did it.

  My hands started to curl, my heart began its race around the track, I could feel a shiver run across my back and tried not to make any eye contact with either Oliver or Susie. Then I began to feel something deep inside of me rising to my throat and I realized I was about to make a sound, but I tried my best to control it. I knew it had been a while since my last episode, but this wasn’t the time not here and not now and remembering the cracks in the Wills’ kitchen window I didn’t want to even imagine what my sound could do inside this small lift. The sound wasn’t only about speaking as it had some raw power behind it and I tried to focus on something else thinking of my gold birthday card and even of my list of things I had always wanted to buy.

  Oliver turned slightly to look at me and I wondered if he noticed something different in me or was the tension on my face like a billboard. His hand touched mine gently and the single touch was like magic as it took away my tension, my heart rate returned to its normal rhythm and stopped its race immediately. I was beyond relief, was back in control and glanced at Oliver as he winked at me.

  The lift ride going up was equally long as the one we came down from, except for the fact we were not alone but the white coat in front of us never turned around and I couldn’t even tell if the white coat was a man or a woman. After the longest ten minutes of my life the lift stopped, the white coat pressed the button, the door in front of us opened and the white coat walked out and away from us.

  What met my eyes was beyond what I expected. It was a large room, filled with extremely bright light as if the sun had somehow made its way into the building, with many floors and multiple staircases. There were many white coats roaming around with some of them standing around gurneys like the one in the Compound building.

  As the three of us walked out, Oliver pointed to the right, I decided to let him take charge here and it felt like we were about to walk amongst the enemy as we followed Oliver around the large room.

  I noticed there were about two white coats standing around each hospital-like gurney and, as the three of us walked a bit closer to one of the gurneys, there was a male patient lying flat on it with an IV-like tube going into the back of his neck. My eyes widened when I realized the tube was filled with a purple liquid, which was probably the same kind we saw being extracted and sent along those pipes in the bigger lab room below, and now it was being injected into this man.

  Oliver stepped back a bit and we followed him as it was too dangerous to stay too long in the same spot in such an open space. The three of us moved to a corner near one of the staircases and, so far, no one had noticed us, which was because there were also other
white coats standing around in groups talking to each other.

  I tried to observe their conversations and picked up the following bits and pieces: “how much more do we need to inject into him”, “the females are in another holding area”, and “there will be more coming tomorrow.”

  Oliver signaled for us to go back down the lift.

  “What are they doing to those men?” Susie signed as soon as the lift doors closed, and the lift started its descent.

  There was no answer to her question since whatever was going on here was really beyond science.

  “Obviously this whole farm is a cover,” Oliver motioned. “The things we saw up there is the main operation of this farm.”

  “Were we just inside the enclosed building?” I gestured.

  “Most likely and it makes sense you know,” Oliver signed. “I don’t know if this is the process or not, but it is something important enough to have a complete underground corridor system to access it.”

  “I saw some people discussing about the female patients, but I didn’t see any,” I indicated.

  “I saw some rooms on the second floor,” Susie highlighted. “They could be inside there, and I saw some guards standing outside of them.”

  “Oh really,” Oliver motioned. “I hope they never noticed anything unusual about the three of us.”

  “I doubt it,” I signed. “If not, we won’t be standing in this lift.”

  I seemed so certain in my reply, but my insides were still shaking from what we had just done.

  “Whatever is going on in here is a secret,” Oliver signed. “There is no need to do such things on a farm unless you want to hide it from the rest of Thomson.”

  The lift stopped, and we retraced our steps back to the bigger lab room.

  FORTY

  “Do you think the purple fruit has some special ingredients which make people talk?” Susie signed. “Like what happened to you Marinette.”

  Susie read my mind again.

  “Hmmmmm ….,” Oliver motioned placing his left hand on his head, which was his classic way of showing he was in deep thought.

  Where did the purple fruit come from or did some scientists create it? Did it mean the purple liquid was injected into my biological father many years ago too and were my parents another random couple here?

  Oliver motioned for us to stay still and pointed to the glass panel on the door as two white coats, a man and a pregnant woman walked down the hall.

  Oliver peeked out to see. “They went down the corridor and turned left.”

  I now knew what I needed to do, and convincing Susie and Oliver was going to be difficult, but it was the only way.

  “Those are parents-to-be like my parents were many years ago and we need to find out where they are going and what is going to happen to them,” I signed.

  Oliver was quick to reply. “It is too dangerous M. Going up the lift earlier was insane already and there were so many people up there and even guards.”

  “I know and it is why we all cannot go this time,” I signed.

  “Oh no we aren’t doing what I think you are saying, M,” Oliver motioned.

  “What’s going on?” Susie gestured.

  Susie didn’t pick up on my plan as quick as Oliver and looked at me in confusion. Oliver knew me too well and it was a benefit of being best friends for so long as you were able to sense each other’s intentions quickly.

  “Someone has to follow those couples. I am sure more will walk by soon and it has to be me,” I signed.

  It’s done, and I had said the unthinkable about the mission with no return but, in the end, it was the right way forward.

  “Noooo!” Susie finally got it. “This is insane! We reached this far together as one and we should stay together and not split up.”

  Out of nowhere I got this urge to say what I needed to say as my mind started racing with thoughts.

  “Look I am so glad you are both here with me,” I signed. “You both have sacrificed so much for me and I can never thank you enough. Oliver you have always been my best friend and you have lived up to it and beyond during this whole thing. You nearly died because of me and you were kidnapped because of me. What more can I ask of a best friend?”

  Oliver looked down at the floor and I knew I got him cornered on this. One down and one to go.

  I turned to Susie and continued. “Susie, we had never even spoken before this whole thing began and I will honestly say I was initially very suspicious of you, but you showed me so much genuine concern I began to trust you. You really are an awesome friend to have by my side and I would have it no other way. You gave up your home and your parents for someone you only got to know recently, and your sacrifice touched me so deeply, but I cannot ask more of you now.”

  My heart was thumping but, for once, it wasn’t about making a sound and I didn’t know where I mustered the courage to say all this.

  Susie’s eyes turned teary, which I didn’t expect from her, but I sensed she knew I was right on this.

  I turned to them both now. “I need to go alone and follow them. It is not because I have a death wish, but this whole journey is about who am I and what they did to me. My heart cannot take it anymore if something would happen to either of you. You are both so important to me because you have become the only family to me now with Felix gone. I am not asking you to go back to your lives. I still need your help to find out more about this place.”

  “But we don’t know what is out there when you follow those couples. What if you cannot come back to us,” Susie gestured.

  I pulled out the secret code Oliver gave us. “Well it is time to put this to use right? I will find a way to send messages to you if something goes wrong.”

  “What if they capture you?” Susie motioned.

  I realized Susie was not giving up so easily.

  “Well I am a silence breaker, right?” I signed. “I will find a way out.”

  Oliver eventually looked up, nodded and he knew he could not talk me out of this anymore.

  “Anyway, we are all thinking way too ahead on this,” I motioned. “Once I follow a couple maybe they just go to another lab and then I return back to you quickly.”

  Although I was trying to convince the both of them, somehow, I got the sense it wasn’t going to be easy returning to them and, in fact, I got the feeling I may not see them for a while.

  “I hope so,” Susie signed.

  Susie wasn’t happy at all with my decision, but she didn’t argue anymore.

  “If you don’t hear from me within one hour get out of this place,” I motioned to them. “And wait for me to contact you.”

  Susie and Oliver both nodded.

  Susie hugged me, Oliver followed, and I did my best to control my tears because I needed to be strong now.

  “Try to be very careful M,” Oliver gestured. “We still don’t know a lot of things about what is really going on. And control yourself.”

  And control yourself. The last reminder was very important because I needed to control my emotions more than ever now since I knew it was the trigger to making a sound.

  FORTY-ONE

  Oliver watched for the next couple walking by as I waited patiently to join them, and Susie was standing at another corner of the lab and was unusually quiet. Oliver signaled for me a couple was walking closer with one white coat, which was exactly what I was hoping for.

  Just as they passed by, I slipped out of the lab room and joined the other white coat who turned to me, nodded, continued walking and I was relieved because I did not have a back-up plan should the white coat try to talk to me.

  I glanced around to see Oliver’s face briefly before I turned a corner hoping it wasn’t the last time I would see him.

  I was on my own again but this time it was different as the odds of getting caught was much higher because I was amid people who wouldn’t stop for a second to hand me over to the Magistrate. This was real enemy terrain and, while I had heard of stories from my history t
eacher about wars and how soldiers had to survive inside enemy territories, whenever I heard these stories I would lose interest because, unlike Oliver, history, to me, was so boring. Now I could relate to those soldiers walking secretly inside the enemy areas and I knew I needed to be extra careful with every step I took, and I must keep every distraction aside as the stakes were very high and one wrong move would be the end for me.

  I noticed the woman was holding her stomach, the man had one of his arms around her to comfort her and I wondered if my parents once did this same walk. Did they know what they were getting into and did they agree to it or were they tricked into doing this?

  We kept walking until there was another lift ahead and I realized this was where they were heading to, which was expected as this maze of corridors seemed to have so many lifts everywhere. The white coat pressed the button and the four of us entered the lift.