by Alex Fall
I knocked off the ice spikes then used a martial art technique to punch through the thick ice. Two more blows and the thick ice broke apart enough to exit my room. Everything was still now, only the sounds of more people coming up the stairs, severely injured ones groaning, and the building catching on fire from explosions and my fires I had made. I dashed from room to room, trying not to let pain overcome me. After checking many rooms, I found it in a room full of other confiscated medicines. It felt like a mini victory, but there it was, my medicine bag. Without delay, I grabbed two needles, drew medicines, and gave myself two shots of sorely needed drugs. After popping a couple of pills, I fit the medicine bag down in my backpack and took off toward the stairwell. A loose couple of people had already made it to this floor. Hopefully they are wise enough not to follow.
Running as fast as my injuries allowed, I frantically made my way to the roof. There were several people on the way up that I ran across. Two I blasted, one I had to make a small burn then beat unconscious, and the last just surrendered, begging not to die. And then, the roof.
I ran to the edge and stuffed my shotgun into the backpack. I kept only a pistol and two grenades, both smokescreen. Then, I swung the backpack off the roof and onto the roof of the warehouse. I kept anything breakable inside the armor, so everything should be fine from the landing once I get back. I spotted the ladder for the fire escape and made a run toward it. I stopped and opened fire on a Greater that popped out on the roof. Another two stepped through, a blond, youngish, white man and a rough, middle aged Latino. The Latino flicked his hand, landing a cord on me. I jumped in the air to keep myself from being grounded, then melted the cord off of my arm. I fired again, ran out of bullets, then finished him with a quick flash of fire.
The next man approached calmly. I lit up again to finish him off as well. Suddenly, as soon as I let the flame out of me and go billowing towards the man, the fire stopped and contained itself in a sphere around my upper body. The flames, so freakishly intense and hot, were trapped against my body. They clawed, shredded, seared, and destroyed my skin. The flames finally snuffed out, revealing that the calm youngish man was holding his hand out.
The pain!
So much pain!
IT HURTS SO BAD!!!
I dropped to my knees, my arms involuntarily shaking very hard as I brought them in, and had the strength for only one thing. I screamed as loud as my voice would let me for as long as my lungs would allow.
I screamed...
And screamed...
And screamed......
"How in the world did your hair not burn up? Or your bra for that matter?" The man asked.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I broke down into a sobbing cry, gasping for air and wishing to die. The fire that got trapped against me was meant to be a finishing blow for someone else. How did I make it out of that? I have only been burnt this bad a few other times in my life, once being right after the Directorates instilled my power in me and I hadn't learned to control it. Some parts of me didn't even feel anything, on account of nerve damage. But other parts...
The man just stood and watched me suffer. "This is a prime example of fighting fire with fire. Everyone knows the best way to fight a Burn, is to use another Burn!" He explained, as if he were proud of himself.
I HURT SO BAD! PLEASE! PLEASE KILL ME!
I went to reply but only a crying scream came out. My entire body was shaking, and the pain shut down my mind. Every time I went to think, I could only feel pain. I wanted to vomit, cry, go to sleep, but most of all, I wanted to die.
PLEASE! END MY LIFE!
Other men came onto the building top, but they all stopped on the Burn's command. He seemed to relish in my sheer agony.
"PLEASE!" I managed spit out while I was crying. The word itself was mixed into my screaming cries.
"Please? Please what, kill you? No my job is done, this is pretty much what the big man wanted. You'll get better...maybe."
I cried louder and let my screams keep sounding out, still slumped on my knees, holding my arms by my sides. THE PAIN!
"But hey! The fun's not over yet! I'll try to keep you around for a little while," the Burn said. The few others that had gathered almost seemed disturbed at the scene.
Some part of me told me to get up, to save myself. I absolutely couldn't do anything but howl in pain. Yet, that part of me pulled my body back under control of my mind, and woke my mind back up. The pain was so intense that everything actually was red from my point of view, and darkness pulsed with each heartbeat. But somehow through it all, I had the presence of mind to pluck the pin off one of the smokescreens. Smoke spewed out and began covering the roof.
"Really? Why are you still bothering?" The burn said mockingly. Him and the others moved forward to grab me, but discovered I wasn't there.
Every step was the essence of pain, but doing them quickly so that I could make it down onto the fire escape without being seen? I honestly don't know how I didn't black out. I forced myself with intense raw willpower to walk down the fire escape. Now I was moving slow, trying eliminate the screams that came from me. There was for certainty, no way that I could make myself stop crying or drawing sharp breaths. The only reason I was even still conscious was because of the medicine in my system. If I didn't hurry though, I may swell to the point of asphyxiation.
My burnt ears still picked up that the Burn went back inside the building. His presence was required to help keep the building from burning down. Still, there were others searching for me, and I was in no condition to fight. I kept going down the fire escape, though my progress was slow. I had to keep myself hidden as well, which I did by poking in and out of windows that would open and taking the time to wait as long as I could before needing to pop back out onto the fire escape.
After what felt like an eternity of stairs, I pushed the ladder until it dropped down and I could climb off. People were scouring the area, and it was all I could do to limp out of sight. Unfortunately, it wasn't entirely out of sight.
"There! By the fire escape!" A voice yelled out. “I KNEW it was the fire escape!”
I limped away, used my last smoke grenade in a strategical location, then changed directions and disappeared around the building, going in and out of the city until I could start making it back to the warehouse. Those tracking me were growing more furious the longer they went without finding me. Before long, I wouldn't even be near enough to hear them.
It felt as if it took a couple hours to make it to the the warehouse sanctuary. I moved slow, still crying to myself from the excruciating pain and aching that set in, so I had to find a hole to slip under the fence instead of hopping over it. Dragging myself inside the door, I found it very quiet inside. The only noise was my weeping and heavy breathing.
"Sharon?" I whispered in a shaky voice.
No response.
"Sharon?" I asked out loud. Oh my god, it hurt so bad just to talk. I peeked in one of the offices to find her holding a pistol that I left in the backpack. As soon as she saw me, she gasped and aimed it at me. Everyone gets a hold of guns these days.
I swallowed, trying to suppress the pain enough to talk. I could only speak in whispers. "What are you doing?"
Sharon's eyes were teary, as she was weeping as well. "You killed them didn't you?"
"Why..." I paused to draw a breath in. "..does that matter?"
She aimed the weapon at me with shaky arms, trying to keep herself from openly crying. "Because...I'm scared!"
I rested my forehead against the cool doorpost. I hurt to touch anything, but I was too tired and in too much pain to care. I closed my eyes as I struggled to think. Under normal circumstances, her response would have irritated me, but now I didn't have the energy to do anything but hurt. I didn't even care that she was pointing a gun at me.
"Sharon." To speak the word stirred up pain in my chest. "Scared of what?"
"Of you! Of the greaters! You're going to kill me aren't you?!" It was the first time I've heard h
er raise her voice at me. The sound hurt my head.
I kept leaning against the door with my eyes closed, breathing heavily for a few seconds. My mind was shutting back down. I worried that my body might be going into shock. "Sharon, I would," I interrupted myself by whimpering and trying not to yell in pain. Once it calmed down enough to speak, I continued. "....would never hurt you."
She stared at me through teary eyes with gun still pointing. After a moment, she started openly crying, and she let her arms down. “What happened to you?” She wept in panic.
I was running out of energy pretty quickly, so I began repeatedly mouthing "My bag..."
Sharon left the pistol on the ground and picked herself up. She disappeared for a moment, then came back with my backpack.
"Medicine..." I mouthed.
Still sniffling, she unzipped the bag and dug through everything until she found the medicine bag. She handed it to me while looking at the ground, saying "I'm sorry," over and over again.
"It's ok," I barely managed to whisper.
It took everything I had left to draw another shot. I gave it to myself in the leg, because the pain from doing it in the burns would have knocked me out. I kneeled down and gently sat, leaning against the wall in case I blacked out.
"Get all our stuff," I whispered. Sharon complied quickly, still silently beating herself up for threatening me. The medicine eventually caused the pain to ease up just enough for me to stand again. I drew another needle, but saved it until I was ready. The Greaters would no doubt search this place, if they haven't already, so I had to find a safe place for me and Sharon. I remembered a utility basement outside, so I had Sharon grab my pack, and everything we brought so that we could move down there.
We went outside, me dragging myself and Sharon dragging our stuff until we came up to a metal panel in the ground. I had to heat a toe to melt the lock. The burn and pain it left was enough to make me stifle a scream, and tears poured from my eyes as I started crying all over again. The utility room was small and dark, but once we went down the steps and the door was shut, it felt safe enough. Fortunately there was a deadbolt that we locked the panel with from the inside. I had Sharon gently put a coat on my body and roll a soft coat for me as a pillow, then laid down. I pulled the needle back out and gave myself a shot of anesthetic.
Just a few more seconds and it'll all be done, no more pain. It's almost over...
* * *
Alarms were blaring again. They always had tests and drills. THEY made sure no one would ever find me, that no one could ever learn of my existence. They constantly had drills and preparations in case, on the off chance, anyone actually tried. This must be yet another drill. But wait...was this one is real? Someone actually broke into the facility. Doesn't matter, they'll just kill whoever it is, like the last two groups that made it in. Sounds of running soldiers and gunshots tickled at my ears, but I was so unconcerned with it, I stayed tucked away in the corner of my cell with my head down, trying to get some sleep. The noises were getting louder, and I grew more irritable. But then something glorious happened....
My cell door opened, and there, standing like a champion, was my savior. There, standing at the door with a puzzled look on his face because of seeing me for the first time....was Arty.
My eyes cracked open at the sounds of nearby people. It actually hurt to open my eyes. My body was still in pain and a terrible aching set in. Because of the medicines in my system, I didn't hurt as bad as before I went to sleep, which I was thankful beyond words for. It sounded like several people were wandering around outside, searching the area. Sharon was awake, staring with a frightened face at the metal panel that served as a door. From her point of view, my eyes and the cracks around the door must have been the only light source in this room. It wouldn't be long before the greaters found this place, so we needed to hide. I couldn't move almost at all, and I certainly couldn't fight. Some of my scabs even sort of glued me to the floor. This is bad...
Sharon saw my blue eyes. "Sapphire, get up! Please help me! Please don't let them find us!" She whispered frantically.
It hurt so much to move, but it was life or death if I didn't. I had too much gear to hide, too much litter with me. Wait...litter, that's it!
I forced myself to sit up, biting my lip so I wouldn't scream out in pain as I peeled myself off the ground. I could see the room just fine, but I knew Sharon couldn't, so I'd have to guide her. "Sharon, listen very carefully." Whispering didn't hurt so much now. "Turn around and feel for a metal box on the wall...no, not that one, the next one. Is it locked?"
"No."
"Hide as much of our food stuff in it as you can. I'm going to unlock this other thing."
I crawled gently over to the single large electrical box with a padlock on it. I took the metal bar out that I had earlier and pried the lock open. I seriously hope they didn’t hear that. Pain was coursing through me, making me move slow, and it took everything in me to force myself to keep going. Inside the metal box were strange panels and gadgets for reading and controlling electrical flow for the warehouse. No doubt, all of it was long out of service.
"Sharon, grab my bag, all the clothes, everything else. Ok, follow my voice. Watch your right foot....put everything in here. Now, I need to ask you to climb in."
A scared look crossed her face, but she nervously felt around until she began to lower herself in.
"It'll be tight in here. I'm going to close the box."
"No! Please no! Don't leave me alone!" She whispered in panic.
"I'm going to just be underneath the box. Don't make any noise, no matter what happens. If you make noise, they'll find us. Hold your breath or do whatever it takes to stay silent. Oh, and take off your shirt and shoes."
"....what?"
"I need your clothes. We're going to trick them. And hand me the bag." She slowly slipped off a dirtied shirt and worn shoes, then I armed myself with the pistol, just in case. I could tell she was very scared. "OK, I'm shutting the box. I'll be back to get you out."
I lowered the lid and replaced the broken lock. Slowly dragging along on account of pain, I scattered the food trash, tossed Sharon's clothes in the corner and gathered whatever food wasn't put in the first box into another corner. I grabbed a few loose pieces of mechanical garbage, all that I could find, and gently slid myself into a slot under the grating around the large electrical box. I replaced the grating, then slid under the box in between all the wires and cables, arranging the junk I took with me to hide as much of my figure as I could and working on trying to silence my whimpers of pain. Then... We waited.
As if my physical pain wasn't enough, it was painful in its own way waiting for the greaters to come. I fingered the pistol, just in case something went wrong, and stayed silent. I could still hear them rummaging around outside, but they drew nearer. I rested my head on the ground while we waited, trying not to make any pain related noises. Everything on me seemed as if it hurt. Well...that's because it did hurt.
One minute.
I shifted slightly to keep my leg from falling asleep. My burns throbbed, but I could tell that already my advanced healing was doing its magic, no thanks to the Directorates who instilled this mess into me. It would still be days or weeks before the burns healed up, but a normal person would have probably died by now.
Two minutes.
A noise of something moving on the door made me hold me breath. It was just something small, probably being blown in the wind, but the noise was so loud to my anxious ears. While I was holding my breath, I swore I heard something else, something like a deep, faint, bassy thud that kept bumping to some beat. I had no idea where it was coming from...
Three minutes.
The wait was torture. My body throbbed and ached terribly. Maybe they wouldn't find us? Maybe they wouldn't even look here?
Four minutes.
Finally, one of them noticed the melted lock and called another to him. The door jarred when they tried to open it.
"Bah, it's
locked," one guy said.
"That's usually a good sign. Here let me..." An energy bolt blasted the lock off and singed the ground. The noise was deafening compared to the subtle sounds before. The panel creaked as they pulled it open. Light poured into the small area from outside.
"Whoa, lotta smells in here."
"Is it her?" The other guy asked. They both walked down the steps and one turned on a flashlight.
"Hard to tell. Smells like a couple people have been in here, but she's at least stopped by this room."
"How would you know, have you sniffed her before? Oh, check this out." I heard some scuffling as they picked up things off the ground. "Looks like a dweller lives here."
"Wouldn't surprise me. Must've run away, look how small the clothes are. Man it reeks of Dweller in here."
Something else in the room creaked, the box with our food. Packages and bottles dropped out. "Whoa, didn't see that coming. Oh hey, a cosmic brownie! I love these things!"
"Dude, don't eat that, that's dweller food. No telling where they got that mess from."
They walked around for a few more seconds before talking again. They sounded like they were fairly young, not very focused on the job. I wished they would leave. I found it irritating. "Any sign of her or her stuff?"
"Other than smell? Nah not really. Hey did you hear what Manny was saying about her?"
"No, what?"
"You know how she's got all those burn scars right? He was saying she looked good on her chest, even with all that."
What?! Furious irritation sparked in me. They were ACTUALLY talking about my breasts?! My anger boiled, and I struggled to stay silent.
"Really? I thought she was small in that regard."
"Yeah maybe so, but she's fit so of course she's small. I bet she's got nice legs."