Insolation

by Bradlyn Wilson

  Saul threw the closest thing he could grab. Hadley watched the clock sail through the air and shatter into pieces against the invisible wall. She just stared at him. Liani was practically bouncing around the room and Saul was ready to murder her, rightly so. Hadley could feel herself starting to get drowsy again. Her head lulled to one side. Her eyes closed for just a second before she snapped her head back up to focus on reality. The holographic form of Saul took a step forward and looked into Hadley’s eyes.

  “Everything?” He nearly choked on the word. It came out as a whisper.

  “Everything,” Hadley said breathlessly.

  She immediately flashed to the image that had sent her marriage crumbling to the ground. The moment she had walked in on Liani and Saul in bed, the day she had woken up from decades of Cryosleep.

  “How? You, Kane and I formulated the newest serum ourselves,” Saul said to Hadley, breaking her away from the images running rampant through her mind.

  “You three aren’t as smart as you think you are, even if you did somehow manage to convince people to let you be in charge,” Liani muttered looking at her nail beds.

  “Liani, you were once my friend,” Hadley stated trying to reach any part of her humanity she had left.

  “You once told me what I needed to hear so I would be your friend,” Liani hissed at Hadley. She was feral.

  “Liani you were the deceitful one!” Hadley exclaimed.

  “Everyone is deceitful. I used to worship Hemmer.” Her statement radiated like it was the craziest thing in the world. But even Hadley knew that they had all worshiped Hemmer at one point. He had been the messiah, the saviour, the one who had turned out to actually be Lucifer.

  “Hemmer is still your Uncle Liani!” Saul screamed rolling his eyes.

  “But as of today dear old uncle’s daughter is dead and gone,” Liani cackled.

  Saul looked at Hadley confused. “I thought Kristen survived.”

  Hadley just shook her head. She honestly couldn’t formulate words. Flashes of memories danced through her eyes until they settled on Kirsten’s dead blue eyes staring right through her soul.

  Liani rolled her eyes. Her constant need to be in control bugged Hadley, and it always had. Hadley promised herself as soon as she was out of her restraints that the first thing she would do would be to punch Liani. If she could still move her arms that was. Everything was becoming strained Hadley noticed to herself.

  “Now Hadley, I need a very important piece of information. I need to know—”

  “How to activate it?” Hadley replied tiredly.

  “Yes!” She was almost bouncing off the walls. She looked at Saul’s hologram, “I just wanted to show you her one last time. Your perfect poster girl will be dead by morning.” Liani clicked the button again and before Saul could say anything else he was gone.

  Her face was smiling in anticipation. “I can’t tell you.” Hadley said. Liani’s face fell, just as Hadley knew it would. The smile turned to anger almost instantly. Her gaze narrowed and her mouth became a thin line. Hadley just took a breath. Sick of explaining the same thing to everyone.

  “I have ways you know—” She went to a wall and placed her hand on it. A drawer clicked open and revealed an assortment of torture devices. She picked up one covered in spikes and walked towards Hadley who struggled against her restraints.

  She took a sharp breath in. Hadley didn’t want that device anywhere near her. Liani raised her arm and brought it down as hard as she could into Hadley’s stomach. Hadley screeched in pain. Tears pouring from her eyes. She looked downwards and saw the perfect rows of red dots form across her midriff, soaking the white linen clothing. The dots spread until her stomach was a large red blob.

  “Liani I can’t tell you because I didn’t erase that memory. I killed it.” Hadley had to get across what she was trying to say. The words barely making it out.

  “What?!”

  “Take a brain scan. You will see a spot on my brain where I permanently damaged a piece of my cerebral cortex. Permanently erasing that memory, so no one could do what you want, what Hemmer wants to.”

  Hadley’s words hit Liani like a slap in the face. She stared at Hadley for a moment before turning on her heel and leaving the room. Then Hadley was all alone again and soon her head lulled to the side and she was out cold, blood running down her bare legs.

  One thing was certain though her mind couldn’t handle everything that was happening and she knew Liani would be back to play with her drawer of toys.

  Chapter Sixty

  Hadley was moving. But not by her own free will or ability. At that point she really had neither. Her feet were being dragged down a hall, her knees scraping along the ground. Two men were on either side of her holding each of her limp arms. She had been tied up and tortured for hours in that small grey room and now she had no more willpower to fight.

  Liani hadn’t listened to Hadley’s constant pleas about her brain. Liani had used every torturous tactic in the book, and now Hadley was a fragment of what she was.

  At last Liani ended the torture and they had scanned Hadley’s brain over and over. Finally, Liani had conference called both Hemmer and Saul. They reiterated what she had just found out. Now everyone who cared knew for certain that she had risked her life by frying a part of her brain to hide this secret. Even if she hadn’t, she would rather die than tell anyone what she had known. She had made a mistake when she had created the program and it was a mistake she had proved over and over again that she would die to stop.

  At that moment she was barely conscious due to the blood loss, her lungs were filled with water she kept spitting up and she had more broken limbs then she could count. But besides that she wondered about the safety of her team and whether Jeremiah, Vanya and the rest of them had made it out alive. If not, this had all been for nothing.

  All she knew was that she was being dragged to her execution. Finally, it would all end.

  Outside the storm was raging. Hadley could hear it whistling through the depths of the tunnels. There was a low buzz from the blowing wind. Through her semiconscious state she knew was going outside.

  The buzz was getting louder and they were walking upwards. She could just picture how outside would look. The snow blizzarding around her. How her grey skin and the circles under her eyes would show what Liani did to her. The blood falling almost poetically in tiny drips from her body, making art in the snow. She imagined the peace most though, as she went in and out of consciousness.

  One face kept coming back to her, despite Liani. The face of the man she loved more than anyone, no matter what he had done to her in the past. She hoped, actually prayed, that he knew how much she cared about him.

  Hadley knew that after this, and after everything, her face would no longer be one of hope, but of disparity. It would teach everyone that fighting for what you believe would only end in ruin. She had tried, valiantly, and she knew that. She had succeeded according to her, but no one else would know that. She would take that to her grave. The only thing she could do is hang her head in shame.

  She took her last bit of energy and tugged on her arms, trying to get them loose. She tried with all her might to break free. She thought about how running down the passage would feel. That last moment of freedom. But the men didn’t even look down at her. They ignored the frail form she had become.

  Then Liani opened the door to the blizzard that lay beyond.

  The wind and snow hit Hadley like a train as they walked into the cold air. It didn’t even make the men who were holding her flinch, they were wearing heavy clothes, and Hadley really only had a thin tank top on.

  The door swung open and banged backwards against a wall. The sun was a small spot just over the horizon. It was blurred around the edges from the falling snow. Hadley stared into its tiny form breathing in the last moment of sunshine, of hope. The most powerful thing in this universe became no more than the glimmer in the distance every night. As though it was a distant memory. Thou
gh it reappeared every morning to bring new life and new hope. It gave the world a moment to realize why it needed it. The darkness brought out the evil and the hatred and the fear. The sun, with each new day, vanquished all that night had brought. But the sun couldn’t stay alive always. It needed time to show what it was fighting against. So no one ever took it for granted.

  Hadley had made it back from death time after time. Each time resurging the hope of a new and better world. But this would be her last sunset. This time was the absolute end. This time she wouldn’t be able to be the light. She was vanishing forever into the darkness. Not only did she know that, she fully accepted it. In some ways she was tired of fighting.

  They walked into an open area free of cars and debris. Hadley was pushed to her hands and knees on the ground. Her skin immediately froze from the cold. She pushed back to sitting, her hands fell limply to her sides, she could already feel the frost bite on her palms, and she was unable to lift her arms back up. Her head lulled forward and there she sat. Unable to move or think.

  Quite a few others followed the group out. Hadley hadn’t even realized they were walking behind them. She hadn’t heard the footsteps. Everyone was dressed in snow gear. One of the women held a camera. She was focusing on Liani’s face.

  “To everyone who is watching. This is the ultimate end of Hadley Evans. Her revolution is over. You are either against us or with us. May fate take the GOVs to their graves.” Liani made a dramatic solute to the camera. She reached into her jacket and extracted a hunting knife. It was long and jagged.

  She ran the cool metal over her palm. Liani walked around Hadley overly dramatically. She was putting on a show. She kept circling, like a hawk. She stood behind Hadley’s back and leaned down so she could whisper in her ear. “Goodbye Hadley. Die for good this time.”

  Liani cracked her neck and exhaled with an ecstatic moan.

  Liani brought the cool metal to Hadley’s throat. Hadley inhaled sharply. She was ready for the pain. Ready for the end. She immediately felt the tip of the knife bite into her throat. The warm trickle of blood ran down her chest and pooled on her breast. It just added to the red in which she was already covered. The knife was pressing against her airway and she was struggling for breath. Hadley wanted her to get it over with.

  She just wanted it to end.

  Hadley closed her eyes, took a breath of the cold and waited for the pain that didn’t come.

  “Put the knife down!” a voice blared over a speaker in the distance. It was deafeningly loud.

  She opened her eyes hopeful. She looked up through her eyelashes and saw helicopters descending from the sky. Liani obviously saw them as well as she had lightened her hold of the knife on Hadley’s throat, who was finally able to take a deep breath in. She felt like she was breathing in life.

  “Hemmer—” Liani hissed.

  Liani was dumbfounded. Hadley used the pause to reach up and push Liani’s hand out of the way. She then rolled to the side and landed on the ground. The snow covered her face and body, burning her. She tried to push herself to her feet but she had no energy left.

  Hadley was so weak and still losing so much blood from the torture. She watched the snow as her blood pooled around her.

  Shots exploded. She felt bullet casings fall against her body. They landed in heaps across her back and head. The hot metal leaving little burns across her.

  Then everything stopped and it was silent. Liani and her minions were retreating in the distance. One of them slammed the door behind them, locking it with a click that would only keep out Hemmer for a second. Hadley didn’t know how far the tunnels led but she knew they had gotten away for this moment. Hemmer wouldn’t find them in the labyrinth. He didn’t even care to try.

  Hemmer was the one who picked Hadley up off the ground. She just looked up at him dazed and confused. “Why are you helping me? You want me dead—”

  “Yes but not just yet—” He raised his eyebrows and gave a curt laugh.

  Hadley was pulled into the helicopter and as soon as they were inside it lifted off the ground. Hadley was shoved onto a stretcher and they were off. No one said anything but Jeremiah and Vanya were also sitting in the copter. Both were injured but looked all right.

  “How?” The word came out as a garble from Hadley’s mouth.

  Vanya rested her head against Jeremiah’s shoulder, “They all wanted to watch your execution. Gave us just enough leeway to escape.”

  Hadley tried to smile but it probably looked like she was oddly contorting her face. So she settled for a small yet noticeable nod. Dr. Emily came from out of nowhere and unzipped a large first aid kit. She pulled out a spray can and sprayed a mist around the entire cabin. Hadley was in a cloud. Then she started with the med bots. She placed them all over Hadley’s body and they got to work with little buzzing sounds. They all watched as they zoomed around, fixing Hadley’s body the best they could. Fixing all the holes. Emily placed one under Hadley’s nose, it was the size of a pinhead and she felt it tickle as it went up her nostril. Hadley was scared of what it was going to do.

  “What?!” she choked out.

  Emily looked at her with pity, “It’s just going to repair the internal damage. Don’t worry Hadley.”

  Emily grabbed a steaming mug out of the bag and tilted Hadley’s head up. Hadley felt her neck crack as she took a long sip letting the hot liquid warm her from the inside out. It tasted like chocolate and wine. In this moment it was the best thing she had ever consumed.

  After that she drifted in and out of consciousness as they went. The storm was blowing snow in through the cracks in the helicopter. They went up and down. The turbulence almost took the copters down more than once.

  Finally, they arrived and landed. Hadley felt warm and stronger. Though she still couldn’t really shake the ill and wobbly feeling and she stumbled out of the helicopter and onto the ground, which seemed to be spinning.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  She could only see six inches in front of her face because of the snow. She was dizzy and disoriented, and somehow lost hold of the helicopter and the people around her. She flailed her arms around searched, grasping for anything solid. All she got was air.

  She stumbled forward unsure of which way to go. She looked around and she had lost sight of the helicopter and the others. Her knees were about to give out as she walked forward. Or what she thought was forward. She was hoping to get inside, away from the cold.

  “Hello?!” she yelled into the seeming abyss.

  “Hadley!” She heard a recognizable voice somewhere in the distance.

  “Saul?!” she yelled back, remembering the thumb drive suddenly. Her hand instinctively went to her bra. One of the few things that Liani had left on her. The thumb drive had been tucked unnoticeably out of the way and she still had it.

  “Follow the red light.” He yelled. The wind whistled all around her. In the mass of white that engulfed her she saw a faint red light blinking in the distance. And she started towards it.

  “FIND HER!” Hemmer yelled only a few feet behind her, she could hear his footsteps. She felt the energy of arms waving behind her.

  She did the only thing she could think of and started running. She knew they were behind her but it didn’t matter. She only needed to make it a few more meters. The red light was getting brighter. She could see dark figures around the red light. Her feet were sliding around beneath her on the icy ground. She looked down but couldn’t see her feet or the ground.

  The snow was suffocating her but still she ran faster and faster. She went as fast as her suddenly frail body could but it was the hardest thing she had ever done. She was getting closer to them when she heard bullets explode behind her, whizzing past her head. One of the figures ran towards her, it was Saul she was sure. She could see his outline against the vivid red dot. His arms outstretched trying to get to her faster.

  The bullets rang past her ears. Still she kept running. They were so close when she felt a shot hit her thigh and
then another to her stomach. The pain was blinding.

  She fell to her knees and as she did so she pulled the flash drive out of her bra and held it out. She watched as Saul got closer to her. He grabbed her hand that held the flash-drive and pulled her to her feet. He tried to get her to go with him.

  She thrust the flash drive into his palm and clutched both her hands to her stomach for a moment. She felt nothing, no blood pouring out of her. Something was wrong.

  Without thinking she threw her arms around Saul. He looked at her stunned for a moment.

  Then she kissed him. Their mouths pressed together familiarly.

  “I love you.” She said simply.

  Tears filled his eyes. He started to shake and couldn’t find the words.

  “Go!” She said suddenly, urging him to get away. She was slumping over, everything was numb.

  “I’m not leaving you again.” He bent down to help her, trying to throw her over his shoulder. But they were losing time.

  “Go Saul! I’m begging you. Finish what we started. Do it for me. You won’t make it back with me”

  Saul knew she was right. He needed the information on that drive to bring Hemmer down. Hadley was no good to him right now. He clenched the flash drive to his chest and stood up. “Fine. But I’ll always love you Evans, and I will get you out of there.”

  “You better always love me Saul,” she joked in a whisper.

  With one last look and without hesitation he ran back into the whiteness towards the dot. Before Hadley knew it the dot was gone. They were gone, and safe. She knew after that her co-SPaDIs wouldn’t be able to find them.

  Hadley looked down and saw the blood pooling around her knees. Finally, she thought.

  The bullets were still flying around her. She turned around and saw Jeremiah limping towards her just two feet away with the automatic rifle. She had to blink to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

  She had nothing left and fell onto her side in agony, no longer able to sit up. The pain pumped through her whole body. Jeremiah took the last two steps towards her. He pointed his gun at her face. She blinked up at him as her vision started to go blurry. She glanced at her hand and saw it was covered in blood again from her stomach; Doctor Emily had only healed the top portion. They knew she would try something like this.