‘As to be expected, the military retaliated and targeted our supporters. They were hunted down, arrested and subsequently disappeared. Civilian casualties ran out of control.’
They continued talking until deep into the night. It surprised her how much she had missed simple conversation with another human being. The scientists treated her like a lab rat. An object without perceived feeling or intellect. Not a person. The only thing remotely resembling conversations were orders to get her to do something and abuse when that didn’t go as planned. No one just spoke to her. Well the young scientist had tried once or twice, but he had been rebuked by Big-Nose. After the military had taken over, there was hardly any conversation at all, not to her, not to each other. All the tests were done with military precision.
Not that it helped. The results were the same.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They talked about the resistance in general terms, and what was going on in the outside world. She learned that the energy situation had deteriorated to such a level that the countries were fighting each other for it. Disease and war were the order of the day. She asked about the southern provinces—where they probably were. What was it like outside? He asked her about her life. Evading the whole story, she didn’t elaborate. She indicated that there was something strange about her that the scientists wanted though didn’t go into details, but that it had nothing to do with politics or anything like that. She was a personal prisoner, not a POW.
Julio was surprised about this strange woman he spoke to in the dark. Her voice was soft, but she emanated power and strength. There was something about her that spurred him on to keep talking. He actually enjoyed it.
His capture had been almost a week ago. He hadn’t been able to really talk to anyone—at least anyone nice. The mission had been to raid the pharmaceutical company to liberate the cure for LKX for everyone. It had gone hopelessly wrong. The military had been waiting for the resistance. They had known. There had been a traitor. In the heat of the fire fight Manuel had tried to run over to the soldiers, screaming at the top of his voice about the deal he had made with the commandant. They had cut him down, along with the rest of the group. As far as he knew, Julio was now probably the sole survivor. And the prize. The soldiers were ecstatic that they had been able to capture him. Congratulating each other in between the kicks and blows that were aimed at him. He was bundled in the truck and taken to the military enclosure. There they’d tortured him, attempting to gain more info on the resistance, but he had persevered, not telling anything.
An order had come down the line and he was once again bundled in the truck with a bag over his head. A painful trip of more than a day had brought him here, wherever this was. He thought he knew the general vicinity but could not be sure. The soldiers were jittery. The little conversation stilled as they neared the place, the tension in the air palatable. Something bad was here. He didn’t expect to leave here alive.
The next morning, they came for Julio. She was left in the cell on her own and missed his company already. The night had been very informative, and the contact with another human refreshing. In the course of the day she noticed some anxiety about her newfound roommate. That was probably the reason why the General had decided to place him with her to start. Nothing here was without reason.
But there was no way she could help. The destruction of the cell matter from her body was no conscious action on her part. She was equally perplexed as to why all this was happening. The way her body was changing, and the strange healing abilities she seemed to have, were just as magical to her as to them. Deep in her heart she knew that the military scientist and the General, knew this. However, the torture hadn’t relented. If at all, it intensified. The questions were asked pro forma—no one actually expecting any answers. They were just an excuse. An excuse to be able to test the extremes they could go to. The General was trying to break her, but she had no idea why or what for. That it could not be anything good was obvious. Plain sadism and sociopathic pleasure on the part of the military were also elements in the continuance.
Late in the afternoon they brought Julio back. He was covered in blood and had been beaten extensively. The light was left on and a bowl of water and rags placed in the room. While tending to his wounds, she asked him what had happened.
‘They torture me to find out where the resistance is.’ He answered meekly. ‘But I don’t know, the location is moved so often that I just don’t know. But I would never tell anyway. They can kill me—probably will—but no one else.’ Julio rested and slept. She watched over him. Waking him when their simple food came. He should eat. To gain more strength.
For three additional days they repeated the procedure. Dragging Julio out of the cell, on the third day beating her to keep her from intervening. She was worried, a few more days like this and it would cost Julio his life. But there was little she could do. They left her alone, in the cell, not subjecting her to any physical torture. Physical pain she could deal with, but this was killing her. The anxiety of what was happening to Julio proved to be more painful than anything they could have inflicted on her. Despite her resolutions, she was becoming attached to this quiet man. Their conversations deep into the night had given her hope. She wanted to see all the things he told her about: all the things and people outside of the cell. In the years she had been here her mind had gone into a kind of survival mode where the option of ever getting out was pushed to some dark recess. So that she could not dwell on the idea, could not be consumed with the loss of her freedom.
During the past days and nights, her mind had opened its restraints and she found herself dreaming of escape. Dreaming of a life outside of the walls.
Her moods darkened the more she missed her freedom. She became frustrated and depressed. And aggressive. Each time the soldiers came in, she wanted to attack them, rip their limbs from their bodies. Her thoughts became more and more bloody. Her body over-saturated with adrenaline. In the few hours that she slept, she dreamt ever more violent scenes. Strange creatures roamed her mind, killing everything in sight. Sometimes she would find herself as a spectator, cajoling and urging them onwards, other times she would be one of the killers, enjoying the slaughter and devastation. Her dreams coloured bright red. In her waking hours—pacing her cell and anxious about Julio—her dreams passed over the line of consciousness and invaded her senses. The tension ever building.
Her muscles hurt. Twitching, straining and growing even though she was not actively using them. She encountered a sense of detachment. Her mind and thoughts felt separate from her body. Separate and ever more violent.
When the soldiers finally brought Julio back they had to use the dog and Tasers to keep her from attacking them. She managed to swat one of the soldiers hard against the wall before they retreated. The dog went mad, his nose assaulted by a strange wild scent that permeated the cell. The handler just barely managed to restrain the dog. They fled the small room, leaving her to tend to her friend.
Julio collapsed on the floor the moment they let go of him. He could not stand on his own two feet. Her rage subsided a bit and she took the water and rags to clean his new wounds. Even though they were shallow and not directly life threatening, loss of blood was becoming an issue. She tried as best she could to stop the slow seep, wishing she could project some of her healing abilities onto him.
The next day brought a change in the routine.
Most of the day was quiet. Late in the evening they came for both of them. Carrying Julio and dragging her with a collection of Tasers, cattle prods, baseball bats—whatever they could think of to restrain her—they left the cell. Her sight coloured red again, she found herself half growling at the soldiers. Strange sounds emitted from her throat, her body strained, feeling as though she was going to burst. The same strange wild smell permeated the hallways, somehow intensifying her thirst for blood. Beating her almost senseless, the combined soldiers and scientists managed to strap her to one of the two operating tables in the brightly lit exa
mination room. Her wrists and ankles were encompassed in thick leather straps. The locks were extra reinforced. Still she struggled. They stripped her naked for some reason. Sensors were attached to her chest and head. Her table was rotated so that she was positioned vertically, as though standing up.
Julio was bound to the table opposite her with a lot less force. He was resigned to the idea that this would be his last day on this earth. He could not take any more of this.
Her demeanour visibly rattled the scientists. They huddled near the stationary tables against the wall, not daring to come anywhere near.
The door opened, and the General entered the room.
The pressure in her head and body was increasing, blocking out any semblance of thought. The red haze descended over her and she had trouble concentrating on anything other than the sound of her own heart pounding madly in her ears. She could feel the blood running in her veins. It burned wherever it passed. All the nerves in her body screamed out in defiance. Never had she encountered such pain and agony. She felt herself losing control over her mind and body, consumed by rage and raw primal violence.
Through the pain she felt more that heard the General giving orders and the Major approach Julio’s head with a scalpel in his hand. Julio’s scream sent her over the edge and everything turned bright red.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I stood in the centre of the laboratory and tried to catch my breath.
The smell of all the blood and gore assailed my senses. I was covered in the stuff. Felt tainted, and unbelievably tired.
It was quiet.
Even the whimpering had stopped. I turned to face Julio on the table. He met my stare.
Fear shone in his brown eyes. He did not know what to make of what had just happened. But then again neither did I. I had no conscious knowledge of the past few minutes. They had seemed like hours but had been blurred at the same time.
All around me were dead bodies. The scientists and military had been massacred, pulled apart, horrendous wounds covered the corpses.
Images played in my head. I just stood there.
‘We should leave’ Julio brought me back to reality. He was right. There was no way this could go unheeded. The guards in the direct vicinity had all died after they had come into the room when the General called. But there were more in the building and on the grounds. We needed to get moving. Try to get as far from here as possible before they found out we were gone. No way would they leave this alone, that much was clear. I was counting on surprise and chaos. But that was just wishful thinking.
I moved to the table and freed Julio of his restraints. He focused all his energy and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the metal plate. He dropped to the floor and almost collapsed. I managed to catch him, and he steadied himself. I looked around searching for something to wear. I was still naked and covered in blood. This was bound to raise questions. No time to clean up, so I would have to cover myself as best I could. I grabbed a spare lab coat I saw hanging on a peg on the back of the door. Covering my head and hair with a cap that one of the scientists had been wearing. He wouldn’t need it anymore.
I supported Julio as I moved him to the door.
We looked around the corner and slipped silently into the hallway. No one barred our way. It seemed as if the building was devoid of life. This would be temporary at most and we hurried up the flight of stairs at the end of the hall, through another door and out into a courtyard. There was a door at the far end of the courtyard and we silently made our way there, circumventing the middle of the open space.
No one challenged us.
It was dark. I estimated it to be late in the evening, almost midnight. The interrogation session, as the General had so lovingly called them, had not lasted long. It had been timed for the night when no one was around. It looked as though the rest of the building and grounds had long since gone into slumber.
We reached the door in the courtyard wall. I tested it, it was locked. But the lock was old and looked worn. With one wrench it splintered. I strained to hear whether the noise had alerted anyone. All remained quiet.
I pushed the door open and we slid out into the night. Hugging the wall, we moved to the right. It was darker there.
Julio hung on to my shoulder and tried to walk. I bent down and picked him up. I would make better time if I carried him. He protested for a second, but his energy deserted him, and he surrendered. My astute hearing detected the first stirrings back at the buildings. It seemed that someone had finally found the courage to sound the alarm. I increased my speed, leaving the relative safety of the wall. I moved through small streets, keeping to a general southerly direction. Why? I didn't consciously know. I didn’t know where I was, or where I was going for that matter. Just away, away from all that had happened in the past years and, most of all, away from what I had done in the laboratory. Because somehow, I knew that I was responsible for the carnage. I ducked into an open gateway and stopped for a moment. Julio was silent. I listened to the sounds of the small town around us. In the distance I heard the commotion behind the walls we had fled. It seemed to be chaos. That would give us time.
‘We need to keep moving south, get out of this town’ Julio whispered. ‘I know where we are, there is a small village hidden in the mountains about ten miles from here. There we have Sympatico’s.’ The urgency in his voice spurred me on. I picked him up again and moved out of the gateway. There were no cars or other vehicles around to steal. There was no fuel, so there was no use anyway. We neared the edge of the town and moved out into the desert. A lone dog started barking but I silenced him instinctively with a low growl.
We travelled all night. Near dawn we found refuge in a dense patch of weeds. A small indentation in the ground offered some camouflage. I heard dogs in the distance. But I was not afraid that they would follow or track us. The effect I had on canines did not invite close contact. I could hear the chaos and defiance of the dogs. The angry shouting of the handlers was not audible enough to distinguish individual words. But the sentiment was clear. They were getting nowhere. It seems that what had happened to me last night had some use after all.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We rested.
I tested the air for the scent of water. We had left in such a hurry that we were not able to take anything with us, so we had to find some moisture ourselves. The scent was most prevalent in the cacti that dotted the desert scenery. Waiting till dark we finally cut open one of the cacti with a sharp rock and moisturised our lips and mouth. There was barely enough to swallow but it refreshed us. Julio insisted on walking. He lasted about three steps before collapsing. I waited a few seconds, then picked him up and started out over the cooling sand.
We travelled almost all night. Diving into a rift when a helicopter flew overhead. It’s strobes piercing the night and turning it almost into day. By early morning we reached a small outcrop.
‘Go to the right here’ Julio motioned ‘There’s a small cave up in that rock wall. It leads into a valley.’
Cautiously I picked my way between the boulders and thorny bushes. My feet were calloused, but even they were hurting on the sharp stones. We entered the cave. Julio struggled out of my arms and moved gingerly across the floor of the cavern.
Though it was dark, his eyes had been accustomed to little light and we picked our way to the back. The cave wall halted our progress. There were two corridors that led off the back of the cave. ‘This one.’ Julio motioned.
I tensed—we were not alone. Julio continued. I grabbed hold of him and pushed him behind me. Growling inside. There were three others in the corridor. Two in front of us and one to the left.
‘Stop, don’t do anything rash’ Julio cautioned me. He turned to face the two men who had materialised out of the gloom. He called out in a language I didn’t understand. I had heard him speak it when he was delirious in the cell back at the spa. One of the men answered him gruffly, a question it seemed. I stood and waited, trying to push down the rush
of emotion that I felt. The skin on my back pricked and moved. In the dark my fingers started to disjoint. I felt the nails grow into claws.
Julio answered, and it was silent again. The turmoil inside of me was overwhelming. It was all I could do not to let the fury and pain engulf me. Julio put a hand on my arm. He felt the fur underneath his fingers and tightened his grip. It worked—his touch restrained me. Slowly I started breathing again. I willed the chaos to subside.
The answer Julio had given was obviously the right one. A lamp was lit, and the first man peered into his face. A happy cry left his lips and all of a sudden, the cave was filled with enthusiastic banter. I remained where I was, willing my body to regain its normal form. The happy voices trailed away as the light moved my way.
‘She is a friend.’ Julio stood before the man who was obviously the leader of the three. ‘She saved me and brought me here—she freed me.’ He said it in English for my convenience.
Reluctantly the man turned the light from my face and headed out of the corridor the way he had come. I supported Julio once again and followed. Once the men realised that Julio could not walk on his own, then hastened to carry him, rebuffing me as they pushed me aside.
At that moment I wanted to turn and vanish, leaving Julio to their care. He must have read my mind.
‘No please, continue with us, our journey has but begun’ he pleaded. The men stopped and turned to me. Waiting for my decision. I looked into Julio’s pleading face and resolved to stay just a short time.
We resumed the trek through the corridors in the mountain. After about twenty minutes we left the compressing darkness of the caves and moved out into the early light of the morning. Before us I saw a small sandy valley dotted with trees and bushes. The floor turned and changed direction in course with the meandering spring that dissected it. We walked for another two or three minutes until we rounded a corner and came across a small gathering of camouflaged tents.
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