“Alright!” The highest ranking Healer called. “Get all those who have a chance of survival on a stretcher and back to the NSSMC.” The NSSMC was short for Nation Security of Super Humans Medical Center. Even as the girl gave every ounce of life she had to be free, in the end she still ended up as their wild animal in a cage.
Chapter 2
The Girl on the Seventh Floor
Ian and Trey were loaded into an ambulance of their own. The youngest of the pair watched the unnamed girl get loaded into the ambulance opposite of them, but unlike the girl Trey and Ian had an NSSH representative riding with them.
“Now.” The man with slick black hair and a pointed nose adjusted his glasses. “My name is Cirri Shor and I am here to take account of tonight’s events.”
Without caring for what Cirri had to say, Trey reached over towards his head and pulled out a single strand of hair.
“Ouch!” The pasty pale excuse for a NSSH officer rubbed the spot that was now one hair short. “And what was that for?!” He demanded, ready to pull rank on Trey.
“Eh?” Ian raised a brow. “What?”
The burning mass of stone and lava bellowed while slapping his knee. “You saw that did you?” Trey quieted down. “Not too many people can see me when I collect their DNA. I can slow the time around me in order to gather samples of people for my tracking purposes. That single strand of hair I took from you will allow me to track you all over the world and beyond.”
Cirri was unnerved. He had fallen into a Hunter’s trap. Now Trey would be able to follow him and find him where ever he was.
“Give it back!” Cirri reached for the hand that had stripped him of a strand of hair.
“Too late.” Trey explained. “As soon as DNA touches my skin, it is burned and imprinted into my memory.”
Ian scouted away from the golem. “Uh, Trey...” He stammered. “Did you ever take a piece of my DNA?”
Trey pulled Ian back to his seat. “Of course! The first time we met all those years ago. It is sort of a habit or hobby of mine if you will.”
Cirri readjusted his glasses once again. “Now if we can get back on track, I need you two to fill out these lines here.” He pointed to their personal information on the forms. “And you can use the last two pages to write your statements of tonight’s events.
Trey watched as Ian did as Cirri told him to, but he would not be subjected to such humiliation.
“And why are you not filling out your report, Trey is it?” The NSSH officer let his glasses hit Trey's eyes with their glint.
He leaned his massive body against the back of the ambulance sending it tipping dangerously close to the asphalt. The driver gave the steering wheel a sharp jerk in the opposite direction before the vehicle had stabilized.
“Heh, because the same reason,” He reached over and grabbed the forms that Ian had been so diligently filling out. “That my buddy isn't either.”
Ian did not dare challenge his mammoth’s friend’s intentions. For whatever Trey's reasons were, he knew what he was doing.
“And those reasons are?” Cirri indulged the man.
“I arrived on the scene not but seconds before you guys did and I found Ian here passed out.” He did not look at Ian although he could count on him to take his side.
“Umm...” Cirri looked Ian over looking for possible tells that Trey was lying. What he did not count on though was Ian being a very gifted liar. “Is that so, Mister Ian?”
“Yes, I had fainted from low blood sugar.” The boy came up with a very plausible lie. “If you check my files you will see that I am diabetic and was working late when the call came in there by not giving me a chance to get anything to eat. Shortly after helping the others secure the sight I had passed out and I guessed they did not bother to check on me.”
Trey was proud of his friend. He had come through for him like he knew Ian would.
Cirri processed all the information, going over all details presented before discovering one vital flaw in the duo's story.
“If everyone was either dead or unconscious at the scene, then how is it that you,” He pointed to Trey. “Knew there was something going on? This is... Was a classified mission and from what I was told you were not on this case.” His thin lips curled into a wry smile thinking he had the pair beat. There was no way they were going to get out of this lie now.
Ian started to shift. “Oh no! He found out! No, no, no!“ His heart beat increased thinking to himself. “How is Justine going to react when I don't come home! And how will she take it when they tell her that I am being held at a NSSH jail division?”
“Lieutenant Sean.” Trey took over seeing how anxious Ian was starting to become.
The nervous boy officer sighed in relief. He knew Trey had his back, even though it was Trey who had started the whole mess in the first place.
“Being the accomplished telepath as he is, Lieutenant Sean sent a distress signal that I just so happened to catch wind of.” Now it was Trey's turn to smirk and watch Cirri ramble.
In the second ambulance, the girl found at the scene was being given immediate medical attention. Although she was still breathing and had a pulse, it was like she was an empty shell. She did not respond to any of the medicine they had administered her. Reports done on her body showed that there was no brain activity present. It was almost as if she had been this way all her life.
“The hospital is coming up.” The driver shouted back to the medics who were still performing various tests on the girl.
“Alright!” A woman shouted. She shook her long lemon blond bangs from her face. “I need force fields all around this girl. When we enter the building, all precautions must be taken and maintained!”
The girl everyone had been talking about was nothing more than mere flesh and bones strapped to a stretcher. Her long mauve hair hung loosely over its side. Both her hair and body was covered in dirt, sweat, and the damp morning air. She looked uncomfortable like she had just crawled out of a sewer as she slid all over the stretcher. But no one seemed to give the girl any mercy or pity. All they wanted was to try and salvage what body was left of hers for medical testing.
An ambulance zone for special cases, like the one they were dealing with, was coming up fast. In its door way stood several Combat teams. Each one stood ready for this girl’s arrival and kept track of each move the ambulance made. They were dressed in dark black t-shirts and denim jeans with the same sturdy, determined look on each of their faces.
“I heard she took out two teams of the best ability enabled humans that NSSH has in its employment.” One officer chattered to his teammates.
“Yeah.” Another one started all while keeping his stance and eyes on the approaching vehicle. “Plus a dozen high ranking government members. She even got General Harold of Division three.”
The young men oowed and awed at every little piece of information they feed each other, whether the information be true or just tall tales and rumors. This young girl was on the grid for less than seven hours and their whole continent seemed to know of her existence.
For the rest of the ride the ambulance was quiet. Cirri was busy writing down the 'new' information that Trey and Ian had so easily given to him. As for Trey and Ian, they were having a conversation about what really did happen that night. Luckily, for the pair, they both were psychic and they could talk freely without anyone not involved in the chat sticking their noses where they did not belong.
“Why did you make me lie, Trey? You know they could have us murdered for this?” Although Ian was a terrific liar, at heart he was still too pure for his own good.
“Easy. Ease on up little man. I started the lie and you followed with it. Not once did I force you to do anything you didn't want to. Therefore, I owe you no explanation of my actions.” But Trey had just given his explanation for everything he had done that night.
It was just like Trey, employed to the NSSH, but a true loner at heart. He knew how far he could push the government before they s
tarted to push back.
Being born a Hunter had afforded him with an ability not many other super powered humans were given. But this ability was not supernatural, more political than anything. With the title of a Hunter, he was able to travel where ever he wanted with almost unlimited access to any part of the nation. No checking in to any of the higher ups and not being confined to a Zone. Trey chose his path for freedom and not to help his country, although that sometimes happened along in the job.
Ian stopped their little conversation, they were right up at the front entrance of the hospital and he had to go over the lies he had told to Cirri in case someone would ask him to repeat it.
“Justine!” One name popped into his mind. “Oh no, I will have to explain this all to her. Ugh!” He groaned at the thought.
Cirri was too busy finishing his report to notice they had almost reached their stop. His companions had already gotten out of their seats and were ready to jump out the back door as soon as the vehicle parked, or even before that. Trey was still unsure how fast and how much he wanted out of that tin death box with wheels. After all, he did prefer walking to riding any day. Ian, on the other hand, only wanted to get over with whatever was coming next.
Eek! The ambulance pulled to a screeching halt. Cirri dusted off his deep navy blue suit and put all of his papers in a black leather suitcase. Without warning or assistance, Trey turned the handle and hopped out of the back door leaving his foot prints burning in the cement below. Ian was a little more hesitant in jumping from the back of the ambulance and over Treys newly formed foot prints. After having failed to put out the fire himself, he summoned all the courage his lean body held and crawled off the ambulance, passing right by the ever shrinking flames.
With his company gone, Cirri poked his out the door and was surprised to see that no one was there to greet them. Where the help was were busy getting Lieutenant Sean out of the ambulance in front of him. Having sustained critical injuries they had to take great care not harm him further. The Healers exhausted themselves doing everything they could to patch up Sean, but Healers really do not have too much energy to begin with.
Ian was right by his superior’s side as he was taken into the hospital, wishing he could have done more for Sean. The lieutenant was Ian's mentor and being an orphan, Sean was also the only father figure he had ever known. He followed the surgeons and Healers taking care of Sean onto the elevator.
“Is he going to live?” Ian shook a surgeons white sleeve.
“Huh?” The man who Ian had been bugging turned and stared wide eyed at the boy. “Who are you and how did you get here.”
He placed a gray bony hand on Ian and in less than a second, Ian was back on the first floor. Ian grabbed his head with both hands, trying not to tip over.
“Ugh.” His head was still spinning after being transported, another form of psychic abilities. “A warning would have been nice.”
Even though this was not his first time experiencing the effects of transporting via psychic ability, Ian had never been one to hold too well to the feeling of all his particles dispersing and then reconfiguring themselves. He leaned to his left, and then put all his weight into his right side unbalancing his stance.
“Whoa!” A woman coed as she caught the falling boy in her tan boney arms. “Now I thought I was told you were unharmed from tonight’s escapades.”
That voice was a familiar one to Ian. Standing on his own, he turned to find a face that matched the arms he was now wrapped in.
“Justine!” Ian’s hands slipped around the woman’s tiny waist, pulling her closer to his chest.
Sweet perfumes flowed off her body giving him a warm and familiar feeling. He needed this too, being close to Justine, his fiancée. As a vision of beauty itself, she was different than most other people who worked at the NSSH. At six feet three inches tall, with shinning lemon blond hair that reached her knees, Justine could have anyone she wanted, but she settled for Ian. Like Ian, she too was in her thirties although she lacked his similar abilities.
They stood under the golden glow of the waiting room lamps for what felt like an eternity. Justine was the one to break away from Ian, leaving him puzzled.
“Since you have already been cleared.” She twisted a lengthy strand of her blond hair between her bones like fingers. “We can leave the hospital now.”
Ian was stunned, she was not usually this straight forward or forceful. “Umm…” Was all he could manage to mutter.
“That is.” She recoiled. “If you are not feeling well, we can stay a little while longer and have you checked out.” Justine reached out and gently stroked his elbow.
“Uh, no that’s okay.” Ian finally responded his voice low and dragging. “It looks like you have been waiting up all night. Sorry to cause you so much worry.” He let Justine's arm fall from his. “You should go home and get some rest. I want to stay until I get word of Lieutenant Sean's condition.”
This left Justine feeling exactly as Ian had a moment ago. It was not like him to be so inconsiderate of her feelings, but Justine had done the same with his.
“Uh, eh...” The towering woman tugged at him again. “Then I will stay with you.” She motioned to the empty seats in the waiting room.
Being a private clinic for employees and members of the employee’s families, the Disten NSSMC was empty during most nights. Nights were very much like this one. Ian was emotionally and physically stretched, so he decided to take Justine up and her offer. He laid across two conjoining seats and Justine was even kind enough to let him put his head on her lap.
In the busy half of the hospital, the girl was being wheeled out of the ambulance. Several Combat teams hovered over her with their loaded riffles even though two teams of force field ability humans already had her secured. Then again, after hearing that she had single handedly destroyed so many of their best, all precautions were being taken.
Limp and practically lifeless, the medics allowed the girl to continue to flop helplessly in the harnesses on the stretcher. They had her loaded into the waiting elevator where a group of soldiers were already anticipating her arrival. The whole trip had been quick. From her being brought through the doors until she was unloaded on the seventh floor and hooked up to various monitoring devices machines of every sort, it only took four minutes.
One machine showed that her heart held a steady and normal rhythm, while another showed her brain activity. This information caused some surgeons and scientist great grief. They were hoping that this being would have no chance of survival so they could pull her plug and dissect her six ways from Sunday. But this new revelation meant they would have to care for her until she regained consciousness or died of her own accord.
Upset, everyone did their jobs to make sure her life was preserved such as hooking her up to a ventilator and even cleaning the dirt and grime from her moist pale, tan skin. Once the last person had gone, they turned all lights off and left the girl alone in the dark. It was obvious that anyone could not care about her past their own selfish desires or mere job description. For the time being, this would be her life, dark and lonely, until someone, anyone would step up and keep her company.
Trey was headed out the front entrance of the hospital when he spotted Justine leaving a snoozing Ian on a chair in the waiting room. It looked like she was in a hurry to get to where ever she was headed to, probably needed to use the restroom, or something. The morning sun cast its orange glow on Ian’s dirt smired face. But that is not what made Trey go over to and examine Ian. It was more about what Ian was whispering in his sleep.
“Disaster... Wind Child...” The man repeated these phrases over and over again.
Now he was intrigued. Was this why Justine had left in such a rush?
At the same time, and if anyone had given a care, the girl and only patient on the seventh floor was twitching. Her actions only started out as twitching, but as Ian’s rambles quickened so did her convulsions. The many monitors she had been hooked up to were screechin
g and overheating from the readings. Everything was happening rapidly. Too rapid for them to compute all the information they had been receiving. An alarm was sent off and the entire nurse's staff was alerted to the situation.
Trey grabbed Ian by his narrow shoulders and rocked him. He heard an alarm somewhere in the hospital go off and with the response it was getting, the Hunter had concluded it was all due to their star patient, the girl on the seventh floor.
“Hey kid.” He shouted just above a whisper. “Wake up!” But all was to no use.
Ian’s speech sped up and his body started to move all on its own. Trey stood back and kept an eye on his friend as he sat straight up. His eyes were still shut, but he seemed completely awake. Something had control of Ian’s will and it was acting through him. This was no coincidence and Trey knew it.
“That girl...” He reached out and held Ian in place. Raw strength pulsed through his veins allowing Trey to easily over power Ian's weak body, even if someone else had been controlling it.
“Hehgwtanuis?” Ian's words were running together and Trey could no longer hear his words clearly.
He rolled his head around on his shoulders all while still maintaining his speech. The whole scene was beginning to look like something straight out of a horror movie, a movie Trey wanted no part of.
Inside an operating room, surgeons were finishing the final parts of stitching together Lieutenant Sean. In all, they had corrected four broken ribs, a punctured lung, both broken legs, and popped his right shoulder back into place. It was nasty work, but this NSSMC was the best one in the country and they had the survival rate to prove it.
“There!” The last stitch was sewn and Sean's condition was downgraded from critical to stable.
Several nurses swarmed his body, finishing left over work. They did things such as cleaning the body and making sure no surgical instruments were left inside Sean.
Clinque. The invisible bell rang again, this time to signal all electricity in the hospital shutting down. First the florescent lights above the operating room fizzled off and on, and then the whole hospital followed. On the seventh floor, the girl rose off the bed, her body emanated the same glow of crystal white energy that had escaped her body several hours earlier. Still held on to the bed by restricting straps, she was only able to get an inch off the bed. Almost all the onlookers, who included all forms of hospital staff, knew what she was going on.
Misery Saves the Night Page 3