Noah didn’t want to startle her, but he didn’t know what to say. He began approaching her, trying to be just loud enough that she would know he was there. The only memory he had of their time together was the flashback he had remembered only about an hour ago. He thought of that devilish grin, as well as the life in her eyes and the feeling of her breath on his ear as she whispered. Those strong emotions he had felt were still with him. She was his everything. He loved her more than life itself. So now he wondered how he could have put her through all this? How could he have betrayed her with Riley, only to later terrify her that same day?
Standing over her contracted figure, unable to say anything, he saw that she was shaking. She was horrified, terrified, frightened beyond all reason. Gently, he placed his hand on top of her dark-brown hair. She immediately stopped shaking, frozen still, but kept her hands over her face.
Noah knelt down, kneeling in front of her, and wrapped his arms around her warm body. Her knees were pressed against his stomach, still tight together. Embracing her, he moved his mouth close to her ear and whispered.
“Madison, I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I would never hurt you. I…” Noah paused as his emotions caused him to choke up. “I love you.”
She finally let out a sob, followed by a deep breath. Her legs relaxed a little, and she spread her knees to allow Noah to get closer. She then pressed them tight against his sides. He wrapped her in an even tighter embrace and held on while she tried to gather herself. She had curled into him, her forehead pressing against his chest. Her brown hair was soft on his chin. Despite the smell of fresh blood, he could still make out the sweet scent of her favorite shampoo. She smelled like strawberries.
After a few seconds, Madison finally pulled her hands away from her face and began wiping her eyes. She took another deep breath and pulled away. Noah loosened his grip as she slid her hands up to the sides of his face. The makeup around her eyes was smeared from crying, and she had blood splattered on the side of her face, yet she still looked as beautiful as ever. Holding Noah’s face in her hands, her eyes were intent as she spoke.
“Noah…I love you too.”
He slowly reached his hands between her arms and cupped her face in return. Leaning in, he then pressed his lips against hers. They were soft and tender. The breath from her nose smelled sweet. As far as he knew, this was the first time they had ever kissed, and as far as he was concerned, this was the only one that ever mattered .
Her bottom lip began to tremble slightly as the kiss prolonged. He pulled away to look at her.
“Are you okay?”
She sighed before responding. “I just want you.” Her eyes were longing.
“I want you too.”
Noah had almost forgotten where they were, mesmerized by her presence. But a noise in the distance brought them both back to reality. Both of them looked towards the door, even though the sound was far away. He then glanced back at Madison to see that she was scanning the horrific scene in the room.
“Noah…how did you do this? What’s going on with you?” She then looked at him with intense concern in her eyes.
He wanted to tell her everything that had happened, even the things he hadn’t told Riley, but he knew it would have to wait. They needed to try to escape this facility first.
“We need to get out of here, and then I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
She nodded, knowing their escape took priority. But then a more pressing matter came to her mind.
“At least tell me what’s up with this Riley chick.”
Noah made a face, knowing that the only explanation for the situation with Riley was that the old him was a jackass. For now, he just told her the truth. “I honestly don't know. I can't remember anything prior to nine last night. Like, literally nothing. "
"Really?” Madison seemed even more concerned. It appeared that she had complete faith in him, believing his amnesia without hesitation. “But you remember me, right? I mean you must."
Noah’s face was somber. “I had a flashback of you about an hour ago. That's my only memory of you. When I saw you in the hallway this morning, you were just a stranger to me.”
“What did you remember?”
“I think it was your birthday. I had given you a small present.”
Madison’s eyes widened. “Noah, that was two days ago. You got me this.” She held up her left hand revealing a silver ring with tiny diamonds along the band. It was on her ring finger.
Noah’s jaw dropped. “Is that a wedding ring?” Had he asked her to marry him? And then cheated on her? What an ass!
Embarrassed, Madison explained. “It was expensive, but not that expensive. The jewels are zirconia, but the band is real white gold. You asked me to prom…and to be your girlfriend.” Her cheeks were turning bright red as she continued. “I just like it on this finger.”
Noah was concentrating too hard, trying to put all the pieces together, to think about the implications of her choosing to put the ring on her ring finger. “Why does no one at school know we are dating?”
“Well, because that was only Saturday. Today would have been our first day as an official couple at school. ”
Noah was even more confused. Why had they not gone to school together? He decided to ask. “Why didn’t you come over this morning, so you could ride with me to school?” He knew Madison would have seen Riley, but it made sense that she would have wanted to go with him to school, especially since they had just started dating officially.
“I have to be early remember? I tutor the middle school kids who have early bus, three days a week.”
It made sense, but Noah still didn’t understand how the Riley-piece fit into the puzzle. Another noise caught their attention. After glancing at the door, he looked back at Madison.
“We need to go.”
She nodded again. They were both ready to get of the room. Noah grabbed both of her hands in his and helped her rise to her feet. He then stopped for a second as he noticed that the blood on her face had disappeared.
“What?” Madison asked in response to Noah’s disturbed expression.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s go.” He then led her to the doorway and peered into the hall. Again, no one living was in sight. Madison then tugged on his hospital gown, wanting to speak quietly near his ear. He leaned in closer to listen.
“We should grab my purse and your clothes. They are in a room just down the hall. You can’t go walking around in public in a hospital gown. Too suspicious. ”
Noah knew she was right. He had to get something on – he was naked underneath the gown. Nodding in response, he allowed her to take the lead down the hallway. The room she had mentioned was only a few more feet away. She tried the doorknob and it opened. No one was inside.
Their stuff was in white plastic bins, side-by-side, on shelves against the far wall. She handed Noah his clothes and dropped his phone and keys in her purse. She then began checking inside to make sure nothing of hers was missing. Madison’s purse was a fairly large, black leather bag. While it had pockets, and the overall resemblance of a purse, it was almost as large as a tote bag.
Shaking his head, Noah ripped off his gown and began getting his pants on.
“Hey!” Madison yelled, her face bright red. “Give me a warning or something!” She abruptly turned around and dashed for the door.
Noah hadn’t thought much about exposing himself to her, since they were in a hurry. “Where are you going?”
“To be a lookout!” She didn’t turn around. She stood in the doorway looking down the hall.
Noah just shook his head again, smiling. He held up his shirt to pensively examine the massive hole through the chest. How had he survived that? He was surprised the shirt was only slightly dirty. It had no blood on it at all. His body must have reabsorbed any that had escaped. As he began to get ready to put the shirt on, he suddenly heard someone yell .
“What the hell?!” An unseen soldier
down the hall had come upon the dismembered bodies. Then he saw Madison. “Hey! Stop there!”
Chapter 8: Fight and Flight
The soldier must have been really freaked out, because without being provoked he held up his gun to fire. Madison didn’t have time to move. Noah could sense the bullets being fired, as if it was happening in slow motion. He didn’t have time to reach her. Without thinking, tiny threads of blood shot out of his arms, heading straight for Madison. They went straight through the tiny spaces between the fabric of her shirt, hitting her skin, and entering her body. He could feel himself inside her, spreading through only her veins, careful not to cause any damage.
The bullets were coming, traveling through the air just as fast as his blood. He felt his blood reach her skin on the front of her body. Noah knew he should be able to protect her in this way, since his blood had been strong enough to slice through handcuffs and metal restraints. Surely it would be able to stop a bullet. Just as it filled her skin cells, he felt the first bullet collide with her chest.
Abruptly, a thicker tendril of blood erupted from his side, zooming past her down the hall. It reached the soldier quickly, about to destroy him, when Noah stopped himself. He had never consciously killed anyone before, and he didn’t intend to begin now. At the last microsecond, he changed trajectory, wrapping the tendril around the gun and yanking it from soldier’s hands. Several branches from the tendril then shot off and surrounded the man to keep him from escaping. The guy immediately raised his hands in surrender.
Three shots. The soldier had only been able to fire three shots in the second it took for Noah to reach him, two of which had hit Madison in the chest. The last shot had missed as the gun had been torn from the soldier’s grasp. Noah carefully withdrew his blood out of Madison, relieved he had prevented her from being killed.
She immediately dropped to the floor.
“Madison!” He yelled as he rushed to her side. The blood coming out of Noah’s torso moved with him, while the tendrils surrounding the soldier remained still. Reaching Madison, he saw that she looked fine physically – no bullet wounds – but she was completely unconscious. He quickly checked her breathing and heartbeat. Both seemed normal. At least she was still alive.
Dammit! He thought to himself. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with her. He had been so careful inside her body. The threads of blood had been so thin that her back didn’t even show signs of penetration. Yet she remained limp on the floor.
Attempting to consider his options while trying not to panic, he realized he only had one choice. He needed to get her to a hospital immediately.
Looking down the hall, he saw that the soldier looked to be about the same age as Noah. He couldn’t be much older than eighteen, maybe nineteen as the most. Noah’s blood hovered in the air around the soldier like the giant bony hand of death itself. The guy was wearing the standard military uniform, except for the terrified expression. Seeing his face, Noah was glad he had stopped himself from killing the soldier. However, getting Madison to a hospital was his top priority now, which meant he would do whatever it took to accomplish that goal – even killing, if needed.
Looking at the soldier, Noah spoke. “You see these bodies?”
The guy was already looking at the dismembered corpses in the hallway, the blood drained from his face. He already looked like a ghost.
Noah continued. “Do you want to end up like them?”
The soldier vigorously shook his head in response. He looked like he was going to pass out.
“I need your clothes. Take them off and leave them on the floor.” The guy hesitated for second, before slowly complying.
“Faster!” Noah demanded. He didn’t have time to waste.
The soldier quickly sped up pulling his clothes off, almost falling several times as he removed his shoes and pants. Once done, he looked completely humiliated and defeated standing in only his underwear.
“Now, I want you to go into that room…” Noah motioned towards the operating room where he had been restrained, “…and close the door. Wait twenty minutes before you come out. ”
The soldier immediately complied, realizing he was going to live another day. Reaching the doorway, his face turned even more pale as he saw the horror that resided within. Noah knew he was forcing the guy to wait in a living hell for what would seem like an eternity. After a brief pause, the soldier stepped over the corpse in the doorframe and began pushing the door closed.
Noah immediately regretted telling him to close the door as the bloody body parts slid across the floor from his efforts.
As the door closed, he retracted all his blood and ran over to the military uniform laying on the floor. Quickly stripping off his own tattered clothing, he began changing. Once finished, Noah ran back and scooped Madison’s limp body into his arms. He was frightened she might be dying, but her breathing and heartbeat reassured him. Still, he needed to get her medical attention as soon as possible. He made sure to grab her purse, knowing she would kill him if she woke up and found out he had left it.
With her in his arms, Noah rushed down the hallway to find an exit. He was surprised that Madison felt so light. She was thin to begin with, but he felt like it should require at least some effort to carry a teenage girl with a woman’s body. Yet carrying her felt almost effortless.
It didn’t take long for Noah to find a door leading outside. He was surprised it was still bright. The last he remembered, it had instantly turned to twilight from the meteor strike. How long had it been since he had been in the car with Mitch, Laura, and Sam? He shivered briefly when he remembered they were all dead…and recalled how they died.
Putting those thoughts aside, Noah carefully looked around the parking lot before fully leaving the concealment of the facility. Surprisingly, the military campus was almost entirely empty of both vehicles and people. Where was everyone? Noah was certainly thankful he didn’t have to worry about meeting resistance, but he needed someone to drive them to a hospital. He doubted they just left their keys laying around.
Considering his options again, he noticed a few helicopters in the distance. There appeared to be someone in one of the cockpits. Without time to waste, Noah dashed across the parking lot, shocked he could run so fast while carrying Madison. As he approached, he saw that the guy in the cockpit was holding a clipboard.
Hearing Noah’s footsteps, he began turning around to see who was running. Noah immediately reached out a tendril of blood, creating his death-hand to prevent the guy from moving. The soldier dropped the clipboard and held his hands up, bewildered at the bloody vines hovering in the air around him.
“Shit man!”
The guy looked to be about twenty-five years old, probably nearing the end of his service with the military. Noah hoped he was a pilot. He needed him to fly them to a hospital downtown.
“Everyone inside is dead. Do you want to be next? ”
Stuttering, he responded. “No man, I've got a wife and kid. My boy’s only two years old. I'm supposed to be out in three weeks.”
Noah was right about him being at the end of his obligation to the military. That meant he had less to lose for assisting an escapee. “Then I need you to fly us to the nearest downtown hospital.”
“Shit man, if they find out about this, it’ll mess up my life.”
Noah didn’t have time for elaborate discussions. He abruptly moved a blood tendril closer the guy's face. “Being dead would really mess up your life. Would you prefer that?”
“No! Shit, just get in. I'll take you there.”
Noah retracted his blood and lifted Madison into the doorless cabin of the helicopter. He then proceeded to get in himself, while the pilot started the engine. As he began strapping Madison into a seat, the pilot instructed him to put headgear on her that was hanging up. He then put the purse straps through seatbelt to ensure it didn’t go anywhere during the flight.
The propeller blades began to spin as Noah got himself into a seat and put on a headset. A micr
ophone was attached, so he could talk to the pilot.
“Are you ready?” Noah asked. He could hear the pilot’s response in the earphones.
“Almost…” There was a brief pause as the guy flipped a few switches. “Okay, here we go. ”
Noah looked over at Madison, still unconscious, as the helicopter lift off from the ground. He watched her carefully to make sure she was still breathing, wondering if she would be alright.
As the helicopter left the facility, the pilot became curious about her. “What’s wrong with her?”
Noah was blunt. “I don’t know. We just need to get her to a hospital.”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
Noah hesitated before answering, but then decided there wasn’t any harm in telling the truth. “Yes.” The pilot dropped the conversation after that.
Riding in a helicopter was surreal. Looking down at the few vehicles on the military base, everything was small yet had the illusion of being physically close. Noah felt like he could just reach his hand out and grab one of the cars like it were a toy. Wondering if he was hallucinating, he asked the pilot about it. “Is this normal? The cars all look like toys.”
The pilot laughed at his comment. “Yeah man, at certain heights the distance can kind of play games with your head. Your brain thinks it’s a toy because it’s the right size at this distance.”
Noah was glad he wasn’t going crazy. He looked up at the sun noticing it was still far from the horizon.
“Hey, what time is it?”
“It’s about 16:45.”
“What’s that in English?” Noah wasn’t familiar with military time.
“Oh, right. Sorry. It’s 4:45. ”
Forty-five minutes. It had only been about forty-five minutes since the meteor strike. He wondered if that was where all the military had disappeared to.
The Keras Genome Page 7