“Practices will be extended. My father was too easy on you all. All discipline will result in the room no matter the severity of the offense,” he said.
I opened my mouth to say something but Cassiella grabbed my arm. The new Leader took notice of this action.
“Salan, late night visitors are not allowed unless you inform someone higher up. So please don’t cause trouble for the staff during lockdown.”
Some of the Abundans giggled. Cassiella went red with embarrassment. This pissed me off; she did not deserve this. I raised my hand.
“Yes Salan,” said the Leader.
“I don’t have a question. I’d just like to state that I was grief stricken to hear the news of your father's passing. I’ll take that into consideration the next time I invite a friend over.”
They weren’t giggling anymore. Good, I could use his passing to gain control. Oddly enough, the old Leader had taught me how to use people. The new leader gritted his teeth, smiled and said, “Apology accepted.”
The Leader left with his bodyguards into the bright white opening. Tras was glaring at me. He seemed to understand what I was doing. We began training. Jefora walked over from her post to make fun of the situation.
“Oh, wow you two lovebirds were with each other huh?”
“Listen Jefora. I’m flattered you get jealous so easily, but I’m not interested. You’re too mean and dim-witted for me.”
Jefora’s aura went off and she was about to unleash havoc until the twins pulled her back. I smiled at her the entire time. We began our sparring drills. I noticed how much faster and stronger I had become. Cassiella still managed to get more strikes in and knock me on my back.
We kept sparring, her wings gave her a significant advantage. After the tenth time of being knocked down, I had an idea. I waited for her to launch her wing at me while I stayed on the outside. As soon as she tried hitting me with it, I side-stepped and got an arm bar. She had no choice but to tap out. I was so happy to beat her fairly for once. Just like Mr. Finch.
“Don’t look so happy; you still can’t beat me,” Tras said mockingly.
“Wait your turn, Tras.”
“The only way you’re gonna beat me is if I die of old age first. Even then I’ll beat you. Let’s switch partners, Cassiella,” said Tras.
She agreed, stood up, and I faced Tras. This would be my second time. As soon as the fight began, there was a flash of white light.
When I woke up, my squad was standing around my bed in the hospital.
“What happened?” I asked, touching my head.
“You got your butt kicked, that’s what happened,” said Tras.
I still had a long way to go. Tras was one of the best fighters.
“What about practice?” I asked.
“We kept going until 5 pm. The Leader had no problem letting you go due to being knocked out; however, you will be penalized with low grade pills. Here,” he said, handing me a glass of milk and a pill.
“Can you teach me more about being a shade Abundan, Tras?” I asked.
“Usually we go to the training room for that, but sure,” said Tras.
I got up and stared at the clock; it was 6 pm. This gave me enough time before lockdown.
“I might as well come too; you’ll be hopeless without me.” said Cassiella.
“Why not,” said Craw.
We all left for my room. I wanted to speak to Tras alone. This new Leader made me nervous, and we needed an escape plan just in case. I trust my squad now but I didn’t want Cassiella and Craw involved. When Cassiella and Craw were talking, I leaned in close to Tras.
“Follow me and play along,” I whispered.
Tras seemed curious and followed me into the washroom.
“Where are you two going?” asked Cassiella.
“I’m getting Tras to inspect my shower; it’ll only take a few seconds. I don’t know why the warm water won’t work,” I said.
“OK,” said Cassiella.
I made the door mostly shut but did not slam it to cause attention. “Listen Tras: we have to break out of here, we’ll talk about this more later,” I whispered.
His eyes widened at what I said. I pulled the handle for the shower and the water came out to drown out our words.
“This is the only safe place to talk. Cameras are everywhere, but we can always communicate outside the shower room with notes.”
Tras agreed and nodded his head. A person I could trust. Finally, some good news.
“What about the other two?” he asked.
“I can’t trust them yet. Things will get worse around here quick. I hope they’ll be willing to help when that happens. The only escape is through the authorized personnel door in Section C. You need the barcode from one of authorized personnel to get through the door or the electric shocker will go off. Also, the reason the hallways are so long is to have a smoke system for knockout gas. We’ll need something to cover up our faces. The electric collars and the one attached to my right arm must be deactivated. Lockdown was the best time to escape because there are fewer staff members. I’m guessing the windows will break if you hit them dead center with something hard and heavy. Also, the barcode on our valuables won’t work either, and will set off the alarm. The reason this facility is white is to counter camouflage the black material we’re forced to wear. It makes us easier to spot,” I whispered.
I stopped and waited for Tras to react to what I said.
“You really gave this some thought, haven’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, but I can’t do it alone. We’ll need to combine our strength to destroy the window, to find a way to cover up our faces, and to deactivate the shockers. The barcode for the door is also important. Beyond that door, we’ll have to wing it,” I whispered.
“We could use Doctor Mengel's arm for the barcode. How are we gonna get his arm code?” asked Tras.
“We’ll have to knock him out of course,” I replied.
Tras started to think for a second and had a good idea. “What if we escaped during the times where we recruit more Abundans?”
“That’s brilliant, but I’m not on that squad,” I said
“Neither am I, but Cassiella is. If you can convince her to help you, she may be able to give us more information.”
The plan seemed pretty good: deactivate the collar while outside.
“You better leave now and come up with an excuse. It looks fishy if we both stay in the washroom too long off camera,” I whispered.
“Alright, Salan. For the last time, the shower turns this way, OK? I gotta go,” Tras said as he left the room.
I pretended to be practicing the shower controls for the benefit of the camera. I’m going to need allies to escape this place. I will include Cassiella later; I can’t worry her yet with this information. I made an excuse and said I was tired to my squad, they understood, and left.
Three weeks went by Cassiella was gone getting more Abundans. Recently, she came back. On top of that, some of the Abundans were starting to show side effects from the P.S.O. treatment. No one had died yet, but one of the twins from Jefora’s squad seemed paler than usual. Class 4 Abundans had side effects such as dizziness, light-headedness and fatigue. Operations every third day took a toll on the body. I felt it even with my rare abilities. But I did become more powerful and won against Cassiella more often.
There were other bad developments, some concerning the new Leader. When the weaker twin in Jefora’s squad couldn’t go anymore one day, the Leader shocked him for failing to perform his duties. That day I talked to Cassiella after target practice.
“I need you to come over to my room alone.”
“OK.” she said shyly.
We both walked back to my room and I asked her some questions.
“Why did the old Leader let you outside?” I asked.
“Why do you ask? Do you want that privilege, too?”
“Yes. I’d like to serve the current Leader to the best of my ability, so I need to kno
w what you did.” I said this mainly for the benefit of the camera.
“After Scott passed away, the Leader told me and Jefora to go out. This was only if the count fell below 24, but it seemed like there are more cells, so who knows?”
“Do they only allow squad leaders?”
“I don’t know; Scott was the first and hopefully the last to die here.”
“It seems like the Class 4 are getting weaker each day, so I doubt that will be the case.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, knowing I was right. Instead, she said simply, “I miss the original Leader.”
She seemed on the brink of tears, so I grabbed in a hug.
“Why are you hugging me?”
“Well, you looked upset. My mother would do the same whenever I held back my tears.”
The memory of my mom still hurt and came in waves of sadness. Cassiella smiled. She started petting the top of my head, so I grabbed her hand to stop her.
“Why do you care so much if I pet your head?”
“It’s embarrassing, that’s why.”
“Wait, Cassiella…Can I ask you a question?”
“Trying to change what's going on, kitty?”
I ignored her teasing. “Listen Cassiella, what did they do before you went outside?”
“They put me under knockout gas, and when I woke up, I was in on a wagon going to the bar. The Leader put on an explosive tracker and a shock collar. This was covered up by the turtlenecks. You came walking right in to greet us. Then you got knocked out from the milk. Once we arrived at our destination inside the wagon, they used gas on both of us. I woke up back here again.”
I gritted my teeth; she had no information about what was behind the Authorized Personnel door. Furthermore, the Leader took heavy precautions when outside the facility. Also, even if we deactivated those shock collars, there were explosive collars to worry about. If one broke, the other would probably activate. Which meant we couldn’t escape from outside, but only from inside the facility. This information just made my job harder than I expected.
“You are full of questions but let me ask you one. Why did you really bring a girl to your room?” asked Cassiella.
She had caught me off guard big time. I didn’t expect her to say this at all.
“You’re adorable. What a cute kitty. Tomorrow is my birthday. I’ll be 19 years old – two years older than you.”
“I don’t know what to get you for your birthday.”
“Just be sure to be there for cake,” she put her hand on my thigh and was about to kiss me.
We were interrupted by an announcement blaring out from the speaker.
“Cassiella and Jefora please make your way to the Section C door. Please come alone,” said the Leader.
I stood up with her, “Going to pick up more Abundans?”
“Probably.”
She smirked and kissed me suddenly, embracing me in her wings. Her arms wrapped around my neck. I grabbed her waist and kissed her back. After a while, she moved back.
“I’ve known you all this time and I never got your full name.”
She giggled “My name is Cassiella Lenos. And yours?”
“Salan Alkacheta.”
“See you later, Salan Alkacheta,” she whispered nibbling my ear.
I smiled as Cassiella left, then I made my way to Tras’ room. I used my barcode and opened it up. His room, like all our rooms, was identical to mine except for his basketball.
“What’s up, Salan?” asked Tras.
“Can you show me how the shower works again?” I asked.
“Again? God you’re stupid. Follow me; it’s the same in my room.”
When we walked in together I turned on the water to cancel the noise.
“What’s going on?” Tras whispered.
I filled him in on everything. Tras seemed very upset by the news.
“That sets us back.”
“I know, we’ll have to find a way out of here from inside at night with my plan. If we get enough people hitting the window as hard as possible, get the doctor’s code, and deactivate the collars, we can still do it.”
“But we don’t even know how to deactivate them or how to discreetly get the doctor’s arm scanner.”
“What if we drew the lines on his wrist?” I asked.
“How would we do that? It’s specific, and you would need black ink as well as a precise hand. Also, he can’t notice any of this. There are cameras everywhere.”
“There are curtains at the medical area, and during the P.S.O. treatment we can knock him out and keep him there for a few moments. What if I used the knock out gas?” I asked.
“You would need to contain it somehow.”
“If I could use my aura, I might be able to redirect the gas, and bottle it up while holding my breath. I could put it in container and hide it under my bed. When I throw the smoke at him, he’ll get knocked out, and I’ll copy the bar code on a piece of paper. Then I’ll break it from the patient’s bed,” I said.
“Test it out on yourself first. Draw your original barcode on your own wrist and that way you know it’ll work.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll ask for ink and paper to write down musical notes for the flute.” “Alright. Before we get excited, you need to test it out,” said Tras.
We acted out the usual skit in front of the cameras. We couldn’t let them know, but this shower routine had to stop or they would suspect something sooner or later.
I went back to my room to sleep before lockdown. When I woke up, Cassiella wasn’t there to greet me. Later, I kneeled in the training room. Everything seemed normal until the Leader arrived. He seemed distraught.
“Sam, one of the members of Squad Jefora, died of cardiac arrest last night. It is my hope that you will take this as a warning to train harder and not make me replace Abundans. I need to be getting more from you at this facility, not less. And remember,” said the Leader.
“Work will set you free,” we replied.
One of the twins stood up in anger with tears streaming down his face.
“You did this! You killed my brother!”
The twin charged him with full intent to harm. He was immediately shocked to the highest pain threshold. His body contorted and he screamed in agony. The Leader didn’t reduce the intensity for three minutes. When he did, the twin brother lay on his back unconscious.
“Now escort Will to the room for two weeks,” said Leader sternly.
The punishment was severe but no one spoke up, including me. After training I went in the direction of the doctor’s office at 5 pm to ask for the ink and paper I needed. It was time to start this plan.
“What is it Salan?”
“Remember when you rewarded us with sporting equipment?”
“Yes get on with this I’m busy,” replied the doctor.
“Can I make a request for some paper and ink for musical notes for my wooden flute?” I asked.
“Yes, I will give those to you if you prove yourself in training, now go away Salan.” he said hastily.
At least there was some good news today. Cassiella and Jefora must be gone getting more test subjects to fill those rooms. I walked back to my bedroom and decided to make this my first step in escaping. I want to save everyone here, but the hate for the new leader was not strong enough for such a revolution. They were too scared and the more help I try to seek out the more of a risk someone will tell of my plans. As of now, Tras is the only one.
Over the next few weeks Cassiella and Jefora brought in more people to make the number of Abundans increase from 23 to 27. I kept trying to work on myself and eventually beat Tras, it was a lucky submission victory though. Two days later Dr. Mengel gave me my ink and paper to test out. To be undetected, I went to the washroom. I wrote out fake musical notes and, on the back, I copied my wrist scanner. When the barcode lined up, it opened. This was perfect. However, I need Dr. Mengel’s barcode. Now I need to bottle up knockout gas int
o an air-tight container. I informed Tras with a note and question how we’re going to get knockout gas. He read it and nodded with a smile.
“Come on Salan I’ll get you something to eat,” Tras said.
I was curious as to what he was doing. When we walked into the kitchen he ordered food but to have it preserved for later. The Cyclops’ started to wrap the food in aluminum.
“Hey I have a question?” asked Tras.
“Shoot” said the chef.
“Is there a way to keep my food airlocked so that it doesn't go bad. It’s just one meal I won’t store them up in my room.”
“Well I’d cover it with aluminum foil but longer periods, so I’ll give you Tupperware,” said the chef.
He handed the food in the container and we walked with me back into my room. Now I just needed to get the gas out of there and into the Tupperware container. I waited that night till the lights were out to carry out the plan. During the night, I moved my hands up to the ceiling as if stretching, I tried to grab the gas and put it in the container. My aura had to try and seek it out through the pipes. I only got small amount and shut the case. The smoke was grey. It was potent enough for me to keep this up for only short periods of time. I continued doing this night after night until the Tupperware was full of knockout gas.
The next day arrived and I told Tras of my plan. During the P.S.O treatment I’d walk in and before he administered the liquid, that’s when I’ll knock him out. The curtains will be drawn so no one will see him and the dosage is small. There is a smoke delivery system over each bed. I’ll quickly break it. Once he’s unconscious, I’ll say it malfunctioned. When the time came, I nodded at Tras.
“Good luck,” Tras whispered.
When I got to the room, I sat down on the hospital bed. The doctor started moving towards me with the needle. I had the Tupperware hidden underneath me. I tilted my head up.
“Why is that leaking?” I asked.
As soon as the Doctor titled his head, I threw the smoke at his face. He inhaled it, was stunned, and dropped like a fly. I took out my ink and paper and started to draw out the barcode. The lighting allowed me to trace quickly. Then, I put the sheet away happy with my work. I laid down on the bed and promptly broke the smoke delivery system with my aura. Smoke filled the room as I tucked everything away. The small Tupperware container, pen, and ink fit in my pockets. I ran out of the hospital room and used the PA system. The smoke made me feel dizzy.
Untold Deception Page 15