by Tanya Lisle
“Legs,” Clyde said, pointing back at the grass. He went back towards the spot and parted the grass, resisting the urge to back away yet again.
There was a woman there, lying on a flat slab of rock that appeared to have grown out of the earth. She was pale, like she had never been touched by the sun high above her or the haze around her, and there wasn’t a scratch on her naked body. Long, thick, black hair pooled under her head like a pillow and she looked like she was sleeping.
Kitty dropped her gun, letting it fall back over her shoulder, and took off one of her gloves. Her hand hovered just above the woman’s mouth and waited a moment before she nodded. “She’s still breathing,” Kitty said, turning to Clyde. “I need the med kit. Do you have a stretcher in there?”
Clyde quickly slung the kit off his back and dropped it to the ground, narrowly missing where his camera had fallen. “There’s usually one in the bottom. Hey Dave? You know how to put together this stretcher?”
“What did you find?” David asked, leaving his samples behind.
“Random naked chick,” Clyde told him. “Take a look.”
David looked over, Kitty checking for concrete signs of life and trying to gently wake her up to no avail. “You actually found a naked chick. And neither of you think this is weird?”
“That there’s a random naked woman on a mountain taking a nap?” Kitty asked, putting away the equipment. “Of course it’s weird. But she doesn’t look like she’s got poisoning, so we’re taking her back. When she wakes up, we can ask her what the hell is up with this place.”
“Weren’t you the one who wanted to get more samples?”
“She’s probably the most interesting sample you’re going to find.”
“Don’t worry,” Clyde said, pulling the stretcher loose from the bottom of the medical kit and getting a block of heavy material. “It’s not like we can’t come back. I mean, it’s a mountain. It’s not going anywhere. And how often do you find Snow White taking a nap?”
“Snow White?”
“Disney,” Clyde explained, looking over the block. “She was this girl who ate a poisoned apple and they put her in this glass casket in the woods until this prince comes along and kisses her to wake her up. Because it’s not assault if it’s a prince, see? Anyway, she had the skin as pale as snow and hair as dark as whatever too.”
“Then I hope we don’t need a prince,” Kitty said. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have any of those left.”
David joined them and took the block from Clyde’s hands and pulling a tab on it. The stretcher popped open in front of him and he moved it out of the way to let it expand into a transparent block made out of the same material as their suits with a larger air purifier built into it.
Clyde opened it while David helped Kitty get the woman inside of it. She was light, but not unnaturally so, and warm under his hands. It was surprising how little she reacted to being moved, not so much as twitching at the hands picking her up and placing her inside the stretcher. At least she wouldn’t be too difficult to carry back.
“Pack up,” Kitty said. “I think I saw another path on the other side of this thing. We’ll take it down. And I swear, David, if you say a damn thing about it not being there before...”
There was no more to the statement and they all knew it. While they gathered their things, they could all feel eyes on them. The animals in the area were watching their every move as they packed, gathering closer and trying to see the woman in the stretcher better. They made no sound, leaving that to the humans who put their suits back on and strapped their equipment back on themselves.
Kitty took the front of the stretcher while Clyde took the rear, David too bulky with his samples and equipment to comfortably help. He felt it was for the best that Clyde separated him and Kitty, since he knew this path was not here before. It extended out the other side of the outcropping and away from where they had come from, winding back and forth down the mountain. It felt like it was a much longer march down, but they made it in silence until they hit the bottom and dove back into the haze.
“Janus is farther away than it used to be isn’t it?” Kitty asked, peering across the wastelands for the small silhouette of the complex across the horizon. “Must’ve gone further than I thought.”
No one said anything in response, though they all knew that wasn’t the case. They were much further than they had been when they started going up, but the trek back would be long enough already. They had a potential survivor on their hands that might know just what the hell that mountain was. At the very least, she might be able to tell them what brought her to take a nap in the middle of nowhere.
Regardless, they would likely be back. They would analyze the air sample and determine just how bad of an idea breathing it was, as well as going through everything else to try and figure out much more of the puzzle before they went back. They would be more prepared the next time.
Something was still off, though, and David couldn’t shake the feeling. He looked back and stopped. “Hey?” he asked, his voice very small as it echoed in their helmets. “Where did the mountain go?”
Chapter 2
White. It was white everywhere.
She closed her eyes against it, recoiling back against the blinding light. The sun was not usually this white. It normally had a much more yellow tint, even filtered through the clouds. She turned away from the light and slowly opened her eyes again, adjusting slowly to the strange white light as she took in her new surroundings.
This wasn’t where she’d laid down to take a nap. The rock underneath her was soft and unnatural, as was the rest of the room. For the first time in her life, she was in a manmade structure. The walls were so unnaturally flat and the light so unnaturally white. The cushions below her, this bed, was far more comfortable than the rocks or the ground she usually slept on.
The air was strange, though. The air was old here, like it had gone through several lungs before and never gotten the chance to see the outside. It scratched at her throat, but she could get used to it if she had to.
She knew she would have to. It was part of her plan, after all.
She sat up and looked around the small room, letting the blankets drop off of her. Someone had fastened a piece of clothing around her, reminding her that typically people wore clothing. After watching humans for so long, she should know how they behaved and what their more common customs were. She was one of them, after all.
A rectangular device with a glass screen on one side hung at the end of the bed. There were many small instruments and devices on a small ledge on the other side of the room. Hidden away in the cupboards were vials and materials to keep samples of bodily fluids that were largely not meant to leave your body. This was a hospital.
A short woman walked in with wild, unnaturally red hair that resisted being tied back and it was clear she gave up the fight to keep it behind her. Her skin was dark and almost leathery, but her eyes were a brilliant green when she looked up. She dressed in white and regarded at her patient, looking like she was only here because she had to be.
“Finally woke up?” she asked, taking the device off the end of the bed. “I’m Miranda. I’ll be your nurse for the next however long you’re stuck in here.”
These humans used speech to communicate. She would have to remember how to do that. It had been far too long since she had used her voice for anything at all. The last time, she tried to remember, it had something to do with screaming. She would remember how she made those sounds originally and figure it out from there.
Mirada looked over the device, her finger making movements on the screen and her expression changing from boredom to thoroughly unimpressed. “Well,” she continued, “aren’t you an anomaly. You got a name?”
English. She was fairly certain that she could remember how that language worked. She continued to watch Miranda as she tried to remember everything she would need to communicate with these people. There was so much she had to learn in order to experience wh
at normal humans experienced.
“Snow White it is, then,” Miranda muttered, moving her fingers across the screen again. She put it down a moment later and picked up several other instruments. “Now that you’re conscious, I’ve gotta check to make sure you’re in good shape, okay? First thing’s first. Open up and say ah.”
She opened her mouth and let Miranda do what she wanted, though did not comply with any commands for vocal response. She tried to remember how to talk and just how the English language worked. Hearing it for herself and having someone speak to her with it was much different from watching others converse with it from far away. She could understand the meaning in their words, but she realized now that she never fully grasped how to use the language itself.
No matter. It would not be difficult to pick up. Miranda spoke it without even thinking about the words that came out, so it couldn’t be difficult.
Miranda placed cold instruments on her bare back and wrapped devices around her arms, as well as placing another device around her wrist to monitor her better. There were requests to cough or say if something hurt or to move a limb one way or another, but she did not respond. There was too much to consider already.
Finally, she would get a chance to see humanity as it actually was, rather than from so far away. It had taken so much energy and effort to stop the mountain long enough to draw the attention of someone who would take her away from it. It took more to make sure the mountain would allow passage to those who did try to find her to actually access her.
She’d tried so many times. She started to lose hope that she would ever be able to manage it.
“Snow!” Miranda barked at her, snapping her fingers directly in front of her face. “Pay attention! God, how difficult do you have to make this?”
She needed to make sure the mountain was gone before she let herself get too comfortable. As much as she wanted to see humanity up close for herself and see what her own people were like, she knew that she would only be dragged back if she was not careful. Hopefully the mountain continued to move once she no longer anchored it in place, but she needed to know for sure. She couldn’t feel it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still there.
She turned, her bare feet landing on the cool floor, and started to rise, turning towards where the mountain last was. Miranda grabbed her by both shoulders and pushed her back down.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t move unless I tell you that you can move. I’ve given you plenty of chances already to do it. Not my damn fault you didn’t take any.”
She looked back at the wall. She just needed to see with her own eyes to make sure that the mountain wasn’t just hiding itself. Once more, she started to rise.
Once more, Miranda pushed her back down.
“Do. You. Speak. English.” Miranda spoke the words slowly and loudly and received no response. She shook her head and backed away, removing her hands, holding them up and taking a deep, steadying breath.
“You know what. I’m not dealing with this right now,” she said, turning around and walking out the door. “I’m getting someone else.”
There were two heavy clunks after the door closed as a mechanism fell into place. It was meant to keep her in, she knew, though it would not stop her. She had to see if the mountain was gone and if she would be permitted to stay at least until her absence was noticed.
Within three steps, she was gone, leaving behind the fabric covering and monitoring bracelet.
Chapter 3
“They found her, Mac,” Ed said. She wondered how much longer he would to keep this up, but worried that she wasn’t going to like the answer. He’d already been following her around for an hour. After all, he wasn’t allowed in the hospital wing to interrogate patients after previous incidents and Ed was the only one who could change that for him. Not that she planned on it. “She was on Mystery Mountain and they brought her back. You know, like you trained them to.”
“Just found her there?” Mac insisted. His six foot five stature towered over her, a five o’clock shadow quickly turning into an eight o’clock one. “Doesn’t that sound a little suspicious to you? Some chick out in the wastelands, she’s probably going to infect the entire complex with left over radiation.”
Ed looked back up at him, meeting his eyes. She was five foot six with grey hair fading into white at only thirty five, and she let her long bangs hang over her cloudy right eye. There was nothing intimidating about her physically, but commanded a certain amount of respect from being in charge of the complex as a whole and keeping it running smoothly. She wasn’t going to let him try his usual tricks with her today.
“They checked her for radiation poisoning before they brought her back,” she told Mac. “Just like you trained them to do when dealing with survivors. Unless you’re telling me that none of your people have been properly trained, because if that’s the case, I’m sure no one would object if you stepped down and found someone who was better at managing Security.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“She’s not a threat until she proves she’s a threat, Mac,” Ed told him, turning back down the hall. She still had work to do and couldn’t keep entertaining him for much longer. “You know we aren’t under constant threat of attack, right? You don’t have to be so paranoid.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Of course you…”
Ed trailed off, the ringing filling the air. She picked up her phone, seeing it was a call from the Medical Wing. “I gotta take this,” she said, answering the call and putting it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey Ed,” Miranda said. He could already hear the hesitation and an excuse brewing in her voice. “So you know the new woman? Snow White?”
“Is she awake?” Ed asked. Mac hovered over her, but she tried to ignore him as she kept walking.
“Oh, she’s awake. Healthy, too. Like, unnaturally healthy. I looked over her bloodwork and it’s the weirdest thing. There’s just nothing there.”
“No… blood?”
“Of course she’s got blood. It’s that there’s nothing in her blood. She’s got no antibodies, like she’s never had a vaccination or ever even gotten sick in her life. There’s no sign of her being out in the haze even. She’s clean as a newborn that hasn’t had any of her shots. And that’s after we actually gave her shots.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mostly.” Mirada paused as if she was looking at something before she let out an irritated noise. “There’s some notes here about how they were having difficulty processing the samples.”
That was a mystery that could wait until later. There was usually something strange about people they found in the wastelands, and she expected nothing less from someone they found unconscious on a disappearing mountain. “But she’s awake. Talking?”
“Don’t even get me started. She doesn’t even make eye contact. I was talking to her and she doesn’t say a thing back to me they whole time. Like she wasn’t really even there, you know. Probably a bit off in the head. And then she keeps trying to get up on me when I’m telling her not to. I don’t know if there’s any way to make someone that far gone useful around here. I know you have something against tossing people back out there, but if she can’t pull her own weight-”
Ed could tell she was stalling. “So can I come by and see her?” she asked, keeping her voice neutral as Mac continued to look on, lingering even closer than before. “I know there were some initial questions Mac wanted to ask and-”
“He’s still not allowed in here,” Miranda said.
“Of course not, but I can ask a couple things and get her set up in the system. I’m sure we can find something for her to do, even in her condition. Can I see her?”
“Well…”
Ed said nothing. She waited patiently, changing her path towards the Medical Wing. They would stop Mac at the door, but she was probably going to be needed there from the sound of this.
Miranda let out a sigh. “
I locked the door. I definitely locked the door behind me when I left. And no one else saw her wandering around either, so-”
“You didn’t.”
“No, I definitely did not!” Miranda snapped at her. “Something’s probably wrong with the door!”
“Dammit,” Ed muttered. Mac blocked her path and crossed his arms, looking at her and waiting patiently to tell Ed that he was right.
Shaking her head, Ed straightened up and walked around Mac. “Keep an eye out for her. I’ll see what I can do to find her.”
“Fine.” Miranda disconnected.
Ed pocketed her phone and turned around the nearest corner. It couldn’t be that hard to find a missing hospital patient wandering around. Chances were as soon as she made the announcement, someone would find her and bring her back to her room in minutes. She just needed to get somewhere a little quieter.
“So she broke out of her room,” Mac asked, sounding a little too smug. “Still think I’m just being paranoid?”
“Yes,” Ed said. She had trouble keeping her temper with him following her around. “She woke up in a place she didn’t recognize and she’s been poked and prodded by us while she was unconscious. She probably got scared and Miranda forgot to lock the door behind her.”
“You’re making excuses. Those doors are always locked. If I can’t get into them, then some random chick you picked up in the wastelands can’t get out of one unless there’s some real skill and training behind her.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do right now? Maybe a fight to break up?”
“Security over all of Janus is my job,” Mac said. He towered again. “And she poses a security threat.”
“I think you’re just bored and looking for something.”
“You should have alerted me as soon as she entered the complex.”
“No,” Ed told him, barely managing to maintain her composure. “That is actually not my job around here. You want to know when your people bring someone in? Why don’t you ask them? Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a missing person to deal with.”