Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  I’d lost track of the days but I knew the doctors only took me from my cell on a week day. I hadn’t seen them in two days, which meant I was waking up to a Monday morning. I never had liked the start of the week and this day was no different.

  My cell door banged open early, before I was ready to get out of my poor excuse for a bed. The same guard pushed me along the corridors before even giving me a chance to brush my teeth. He kept the hilt of his gun on my lower back all the way to the testing room.

  As soon as I was through the door, something felt different. The two doctors were excited and they wouldn’t meet my gaze. They busied themselves in the corner instead of watching my progress across the room.

  All the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I realized what was happening. Today was the day. They were excited because it would be the time when they could finally commence their autopsy. I doubted they would even let my body get cold before starting to cut me open.

  If I was strapped to that bed, that would be it. I could not let that happen. People were relying on me, both human and alien alike. I was not going to die today at the hands of those doctors. Not after everything I had been through.

  The guard wasn’t completely expecting me to turn on him. For all his gun-toting happiness, I’d never put a foot out of place before so I managed to take him by surprise.

  I pushed him aside, putting everything I had into that shove. Managing to get around him, I desperately tried to recall the layout of the corridor. I had known it so well before, I thought I had memorized every last inch of it. With my mind doing nothing but panicking, all that knowledge was suddenly lost.

  I ran.

  It was all I could do. I ran blindly with the sound of the guard’s pounding footsteps behind me. Any corner I saw, I turned down. There was no way I could get out with the guard chasing me so losing him was my first priority.

  My body wasn’t used to the physical exertion. After being confined for so long, my legs were like jelly after several corners. I couldn’t stop though, I had to continue on. I was running for my life, there was no doubt about it in my mind.

  My lungs burned, needing more air. No matter how much I gasped, it wasn’t enough to satisfy them and quell the pain. I needed water, but I needed my life more. I forced myself on, trying to keep my wits about me as I did. One mistake would be all it would take to cost me everything.

  I suddenly realized I couldn’t hear the footsteps behind me anymore. I risked a glance backwards and was alone. I had done it, I lost the guard and encountered no more in the chase. I couldn’t believe it.

  Now, all I had to do was find a way out. If I made it away from the prison, I could get everyone else out too from the outside. It would be much easier to plan a breakout if I had access to all the normal resources. Inside, I had nothing, which was painfully obvious every time I tried to strategize my plan.

  I could see Lochie again. He had to be okay and I’d find a way to make sure he was safe and well. I wouldn’t risk his life by going to him, but I would find out. My parents and Lola too. I would check on them all before focusing on getting all the aliens out of jail.

  We could heal them all then, get rid of the fatal disease that had claimed so many already. I wished we could save more, but it was already too late for so many of the humans.

  “Stop! Put your hands up!” The voice came from behind as dread washed over me. Those few seconds where I imagined everything being okay were wonderful.

  Now they were gone. I put my hands up slowly and turned around. I was at the end of a corridor, nowhere to go except through the door at my back. I should have known it was too good to be true.

  Not one but three guards faced me, their guns all pointed at my chest. If they shot me, I was pretty sure the doctors would kill them for destroying their specimen. That thought made me want to laugh like a crazy person. I guess facing my own death brought out my sense of humor.

  My eyes darted around the small space, looking for any way out besides going with the guards. Going with them meant death. Trying to escape meant death. It seemed no matter which way I moved, it was going to be all over soon.

  “Put your hands on your head and kneel on the floor,” the guard at the front ordered. If I obeyed, that would be the end of it. They would handcuff my wrists and return me to the doctors. They would be sure to make swift work of my death so I didn’t manage to escape again.

  But there was nowhere to run. One step out of place and their trio of guns would put a pattern of bullet wounds through me. I would bleed out before I even made it to the door.

  In the end, I didn’t really have a choice. It was a rock and a hard place and both ended the same. Death at the doctors’ hands was probably preferable. They might try to make it as pain free as possible. Might.

  My knees collapsed onto the ground as my hands went to rest on my head. I was only in the position for a few seconds before they surrounded me. With two guns still trained on me, one of the guards placed the steel bangles around my wrists.

  There was no gentleness to their movements. They jerked me to my feet and formed a human barricade around me as we walked. They made sure I didn’t get a chance to run again as they marched me to my death.

  Every part of my body wanted to scream and run but there was nothing I could do about it. No matter how many doors I saw, they were impossibly far away. I would have been shot to death before I reached any of them.

  The fight in me was stronger than ever but I just didn’t know how I was going to get out of the situation. All my muscles were tight and ready to lash out if I found a weakness in my escort. It would only take one and I silently promised everyone I loved I would spring on it.

  Each of the guards were wearing heavy black boots, they beat a pattern on the concrete floor as we marched in sync. Their guns, so large they cradled them in two hands, bobbed up and down never leaving me. I wondered if I would be able to use one of them if I had to. They had a trigger, surely it couldn’t be that hard? Would I be able to shoot anyone, morally? I wasn’t quite sure what I was capable of yet. I guessed we’d find out.

  The door to the experiment’s lab loomed at the end of the corridor as we rounded the corner. It wouldn’t take them long to usher me inside, strap me down, and deliver the lethal injection. My eagerly anticipated autopsy would follow shortly after.

  I was not going to die today. I grit my teeth with determination as the panic went to a whole new level. I had to find a way out of there. Would the doctors listen to me? If I begged for my life, would I be able to show them my humanity?

  No, I needed a better plan. The doctors had never treated me like anything other than a scientific specimen. They would never be able to view me as a real living being.

  That only left being able to overpower the guards and make another run for it. Perhaps it would work out better for me a second time around? Somehow I doubted it but it couldn’t get any worse than my current situation.

  “Keep still,” the guard to my left ordered. I hadn’t realized I had been fidgeting.

  “I don’t feel well, I want to go back to my cell,” I said, giving it a shot.

  The guard reacted exactly as I thought he would. “Tell it to someone who cares.”

  “Really, I think I’m going to vomit.”

  They kept going. “That’s the docs’ problem. We’re almost there.”

  Being nauseous wouldn’t stop them killing me. They might even think they were doing me a favor by ending it all. At least I wouldn’t feel ill if I was dead. I wouldn’t feel anything at all.

  An ear splitting alarm sounded suddenly overhead. Red lights flashed in unison, casting an eerie glow along the corridor. The guards all looked toward one another before looking at me. I hoped I looked confused enough to satisfy them because I really didn’t have a clue what was going on.

  They started talking very quickly amongst themselves. “We need to go.”

  “What do we do with her?”

  “She needs to b
e secured.”

  “The docs will have locked the door if they’re following protocol.”

  They hesitated as the alarm continued wailing around us. I desperately wanted to cover my ears but didn’t dare make any sudden movements.

  The guard at the front made the final decision. “Take her back to her cell. The whole place is about to go into lockdown.”

  The others nodded and we turned around. Considering I was getting exactly what I asked for, I remained silent. They made me hurry along, my body protesting with the sudden change of pace.

  When we reached the main cell block, it was complete chaos everywhere. Truconians were being ordered back to their cells, the doors slammed behind them as anxious guards hurried away again. Whatever was causing the alarm and angry flashing lights couldn’t have been a good thing.

  My door was closed and automatically locked behind me. It was quieter in my cell and the lights weren’t flashing in there. The inmates obviously weren’t supposed to be bothered by what was happening outside. The contrast was bizarre.

  But I was grateful for it anyway. I peeked out the slit in my door and watched all the bodies scurry about. I saw Garrick being pushed into his cell across from mine. He wore a look of nonchalance, there was no way of knowing whether he knew any more than I did. My curiosity was burning inside me, combined with a sense of temporary relief.

  I knew my time was limited. The alarm would only buy me days, if not hours. The autopsy would still go ahead once they had dealt with the problem at hand. The doctors wouldn’t choose to call it quits because of a few flashing lights.

  The scene outside my door eventually started to settle down. As all the cells were filled, the guards running around became less and less. The alarm stopped its wail before the lights ceased their flashing. The regular fluorescent bulbs were returned to their position and left to illuminate the block.

  Bile was caught in my throat at the thought of the guards coming for me again. I was all too aware that I was a sitting duck with a timer counting down over my head. Remembering my earlier resolve, I couldn’t just sit on the bed and give up.

  I waited until it was completely void of guards outside and pressed my lips into the slot. “Garrick?”

  My ears strained to listen for a response. “What?” He sounded grumpy, I wasn’t surprised.

  “What happened?”

  “There was a fight. The guards panicked and put us all in lockdown. We aren’t allowed to leave our cells for at least a full day.”

  So that meant no visits to the lunchroom. I wasn’t sure if it also meant no visits to the doctors. There was no way I was going to risk my life on that assumption. I had to believe I was an exception to that rule.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked. I didn’t care who was fighting, just as long as it was nobody I loved involved. The rest could look after themselves.

  “Yeah, just bored as hell,” Garrick replied. I smiled despite the situation. I could imagine him pacing in his cell, tearing his hair out just to do something. He was probably crazy with worry about Ella too. “Can you see any guards?”

  I lowered my head to look out the slot. It was completely deserted. “No. Can you?”

  “No.”

  “We have to get out of here, Garrick.”

  “I know.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I need to get out of here before tomorrow. They’re going to kill me.”

  I couldn’t be sure, but I was pretty certain Garrick muttered a string of curses under his breath before he replied. “Then you have to get out.” He made it sound so simple. I wished it were.

  “I don’t know how,” I confessed. I had to hold back the tears, I needed to be strong. I could crumble into a mess later on, when I was safe. Until then, I would not let them fall.

  “We need to do what we talked about before,” Garrick said cryptically. I knew what he was talking about, but the guards wouldn’t.

  “Do you think they’re ready?” The plans we had discussed in the lunchroom involved a lot more people than just the two of us. We couldn’t sneak out together like we did in the Complex.

  “Does it matter?” He asked.

  He had a point. “We’re good to go then. Can you help spread the word around?”

  “I will.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Amery?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Make sure you save yourself, no matter what happens to the rest of us. You get out, that’s the deal, okay?”

  I appreciated his sentiment but had no plans on being the only one who got out of the prison. He was sweet, but it just wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t need to know that though. “I’ll do my best.”

  “No, you promise me.” In my mind I could see him rolling his eyes at me, crossing his arms with stubbornness. I don’t know why he and Lochie weren’t great friends, they were very similar in so many ways.

  I wasn’t about to make a promise I had no intention of keeping. But I also wanted to make sure Garrick was satisfied enough to go ahead. “I promise I’ll try.”

  He sighed, making sure it was loud enough for me to hear. “Fine. Good luck, Ame.”

  “Good luck to you too, Garrick.” There were so many more things I wanted to say but didn’t trust myself to start. I hoped Garrick knew how much I cared about him. If I said goodbye now, it would seem like I was sealing our fates to be doomed. I didn’t want that. I had to believe we would all be reunited safely on the other side of the bars or I couldn’t go ahead with it.

  Without even having to question or worry about it, I knew Garrick would help organize the others. He had my back without a doubt.

  All I could do now was lay on the bed and wait for lunchtime tomorrow. If I made it that far.

  CHAPTER 14

  Everyone was nervous. While we all tried to act normally and pretend to be eating our meals, the air was alive with the electrical hum of our collective nerves.

  The prison warden had lifted the lockdown just before lunch. The two that had caused it all by getting into a fistfight the day before were still in solitary confinement. They weren’t allowed out. Which I hated to say, meant they weren’t coming with us. If we managed to pull the whole thing off anyway.

  For all the drama of the previous day, the guards hadn’t increased in number like I had panicked about. I guessed they only had limited resources and housing an entire prison of aliens was probably stretching it as it was. They stood at the exits with their guns and kept their beady eyes scanning the room.

  Senph sat at my table finishing her lunch. If she was nervous, she didn’t let it show. It was what made her such a good leader, the way she managed to build up an army of followers. She had agreed to follow me now, which meant her healing powers were at my disposal. A part of me couldn’t believe she would go through with it, not until I saw it with my own eyes.

  The anxious energy was freely flowing through my veins. I tried to focus it on going over the plan in my head, look for new holes I hadn’t seen before.

  Who was I kidding? The whole thing was full of holes – large, gaping ones. The trouble being there was nothing to fill them with. We didn’t know the layout of the jail beyond our own area, we didn’t know the guards’ protocols and how they would react, and we certainly didn’t know if we’d all make it out alive.

  All we had was the element of surprise and our collective abilities. No matter how much I had practiced in my cell, my own powers were yet to appear. Clearly I had waited too long to try and foster them. A last ditch attempt didn’t succeed, so I had nothing to help my fellow Truconians with.

  “Lunch is over,” the guard at the main door declared. He was a few minutes early but it shouldn’t change anything. It wasn’t like we all synchronized our non-existent watches beforehand.

  We all started to stand and looked to be filing out. I hung back, making sure the right people were at the front of the procession.

  They were.

  Mom, and two others that could manipulate t
hings, were walking closest to the guards. All we needed to do was wait for them to work their magic and we’d all bounce into action.

  My ears strained to listen. I heard the first door slam, followed by someone banging on it. The guards were locked in a cell, exactly as planned. There were plenty more to go, but it was a start.

  In the moments that followed, all hell broke loose. Mom and the larger team of manipulators pulled forward and started opening doors as they charged along. Because we didn’t know the way out, we had to increase our odds by taking multiple routes.

  Behind the manipulators came those that could control the elements. Dad led that group, setting fires and floods in front of any guards that got in our way. Between them and the shape shifters, they could keep most threats at bay.

  Garrick led the team to the west, I led the team to the east. We had split the powers so we were equally armed. We would regroup outside when we both made it. If we both made it. There was a five minute window to wait for the other group. If they didn’t make it, then the group were to leave without them. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  My group followed me closely, huddling around and moving like an army unit. We didn’t have the luxury of training, or even a trial run, but our instincts to stay alive were stronger than anything else. The thought of dying did that to you.

  Any guards that confronted us were quickly dealt with. Just like I had suspected, they didn’t seem aware of our abilities. Their guns were worth nothing when a wave of a hand could disarm them. A few of the braver ones tried some hand-to-hand combat and were subdued. The remainder ran in the opposite direction, terrified of the alien invasion.

  The corridors were endless, making me start to believe we might be in the middle of nothing more than a gigantic maze with only dead ends. At times it felt like we were walking around in circles. We might have done, there was no way to tell. Every hallway looked exactly the same as the last.