by Kip Nelson
“We're not from the institute. We came across someone else who escaped from the institute, Miranda--” The man's face lit up at the mention of the name.
“You mean Dr. Cotton? I am pleased she managed to make it out safely. She always was kind to Billy, and one of the few who actually took the time to talk to me properly. Lots of good people are suffering now because of what happened. Where is she?” he asked abruptly as though he just had noticed Miranda wasn't with them.
“She went back into the building with two of our friends. The plan was to rescue the people who were being kept there, but they're taking longer than we expected. We were supposed to stand guard, but then we heard you, er, I mean Billy, and we thought you might need help.”
The man pursed his lips and tapped the tip of his finger against his mouth. “It seems as though we could help each other.” Grace and Saul looked at each other and then nodded.
Grace didn't know if it was ethical to ask someone in Billy's condition to do something like this, but it seemed as though they needed all the help they could get. So who was she to refuse? It certainly was easier and better than standing in front of a huddled man who wouldn't speak to them at all.
As they walked back, Grace kept a close watch on Billy (she refused to think of him as Captain Avenger) in case anything happened, for she didn't know what had triggered the transformation. He strode forward purposefully, his body primed for adventure and battle. There were so many questions she had about his history and background that she dared not ask in case they brought back Billy, but also because she didn't want to offend him either. She was sure she had read somewhere the best thing to do in these situations was to play along with the delusion and let it run its natural course. Yet here she was leading him into actual danger, and if she hadn't been so desperate she would have questioned herself more. As it was, she needed the help, for all she wanted was to get Mack and Luis back safely. Right now there was an anxious twisting in her gut telling her that something had gone wrong.
The three of them walked back to the wall, and just before they reached their sentry point, Saul increased his speed and walked up beside Grace, leaning down to speak so Billy couldn’t hear.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Grace continued looking straight ahead. “No, but it doesn't look like we have many options,” she replied.
“How do we know he's even going to help us, and he wasn't sent out there by them to lure us in?”
“I don't think they have thought that far ahead. From what it seems to me, they're only concerned with what's going on inside the building, which could mean that they found the others already.”
“But if they're keeping close watch then how are we going to get in?”
“We'll find a way. We have a superhero helping us now, remember?” Grace said, tossing him a glance. Saul scowled and huffed as they reached the packs.
Grace opened them and dug in for some weapons. She also handed out some food and water to provide a little boost as she was feeling tired, and assumed the other two were as well. The last thing they needed was to lose their focus or concentration when it was needed most. Billy took the offering gratefully and it was gone within seconds. Grace wondered what he had managed to survive on. Billy didn't seem like the type to go hunting, and from the way his other persona spoke, it didn't seem as if the heroic side of him had been seen since they had left the institute.
Grace and Saul armed themselves, taking a gun and a knife each. As she took the knife the blade caught the moonlight and gleamed slightly. All of a sudden, the image of her stabbing someone crashed into her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force it away. It seemed as though this world was dedicated to putting her in violent situations in which she would have to harm people. Although Saul had stopped her from killing Mr. Smith, he wouldn't always be there to do so, but at what point did killing become necessary, and at what point did it become easy? Unfortunately, the only person she thought could give her the answers she sought was Mack. So the questions burned in her mind and ran down into the fabric of her soul. Before, in her old life, she had thought about death and killing, but it always had been an abstract concept. Now it was all too real, and it had actual implications for her and the people around her.
She shook those thoughts away and placed the knife in her belt. Turning, she saw Saul offering Billy a weapon. He refused, saying he didn't believe in the use of guns. Saul rolled his eyes but he didn't say anything and Grace was glad as she didn't want to have to act as a mediator, not now, not at this crucial time.
“Are you really sure you want to be doing this? Mack did say we should wait for a signal,” Saul said.
“And there's been nothing. I'm not going to sit out here all night when they could be in trouble. I know Mack wouldn't stay sitting there if it was us in there instead of him, so I'm not going to either. If they succeeded we would have heard something by now, so something must have gone wrong and they haven’t been able to signal us for help. We're going to have to go in and find them ourselves,” Grace replied through gritted teeth.
“Is there any use going in the same way they did?” Saul asked.
Turning to Billy, she asked him if there was another way in or out of the building aside from the coal cellar, and the front door, which they didn't want to use, for obvious reasons.
“Billy escaped through the window of a supply closet on the far side of the building. He closed it behind him, but it's unlikely anyone actually has locked it. We should be able to get in there,” he said.
“This Billy is quite a crafty man. If he had put as much effort into helping the doctors as he did into escaping the place, things might have turned out differently,” Saul said, apparently unable to prevent himself from making a snide comment. Grace glared at him and Billy hung his head, for it was clear he was ashamed of his actions, but he didn't revert to Billy yet. Grace hoped he would stay in this persona until it was all over.
On the count of three they sprinted across the entrance, making their way to the other side of the gate, staying low and hoping they would remain unseen in the darkness. Grace breathed heavily and was grateful they hadn't drawn any attention. They kept close to the wall as they skulked around the side of the building. On the other side there was a path that led around to the gardens, although the three of them were not going that far. They passed into the shadows, and with bated breath they walked on, almost expecting somebody to jump out and capture them, but nobody did. Grace ran her hands along the building until Billy told them they had reached the window leading to the supply closet. Saul and Grace looked backward and forward, making sure nobody was watching them (although it was hard to tell in the darkness). Grace walked up to the window, which was long and narrow. It began from the middle of her chest and rose to just above Saul's head.
“What are we going to do when we're inside?” Saul asked.
“We're going to carry out Mack's plan. We're going to sneak around the place and free those who have been captured.”
“You make it sound so simple,” Saul said. Grace merely shrugged in reply.
She placed her hands underneath the cracked white paint of the window frame and strained to lift it open, as it was virtually painted shut. Saul helped her, and together they were able to get it open. Once it had opened partially, the window was easier to push up. They both looked through at the dark room awaiting them. It seemed to be about eight feet wide and ten feet long, and they could just about make out the door on the other side. Grace nodded as she caught her breath after the burst of energy it took to push open the window.
“Okay then, first problem solved,” she said.
“Since you know where you're going, do you want to go first?” she asked, turning back toward “Captain Avenger.” Yet, her eyes fell to the floor and her hopes sank as he had reverted to his scared persona, Billy He sat with his knees drawn into his body and he looked at Grace and Saul with wide, worried eyes.
“Great, jus
t great,” Saul said, and although she wanted to have sympathy for Billy, Grace couldn't help but echo the sentiment of her companion. She stared at the open window that awaited them and wondered what she was to do.
Chapter Sixteen
Mack was laying on his back with his hands stretched around the back of his head. He tried to close his eyes and get some rest, but it was impossible. He stared up at the ceiling, and as he moved his eyes further up he caught the stars that were shining so brightly outside, the stars under which they would be sleeping if he hadn't decided to follow Miranda to the institute. The best laid plans were often destined to be thrown into disarray and making it to the city was taking longer than he would have liked. He sighed heavily, and heard Luis breathing in the bed next to him.
“Are you awake?” Luis asked.
“Yeah,” Mack said.
“I'm not exactly in the mood to sleep right now. Do you actually think we're safe here?” he asked.
“I don't know. I want to think so, but there's something about Gary that doesn't seem quite right.”
“At least I'm not the only one,” Luis said, turning and propping himself up on one elbow so he could talk to Mack properly.
“I know I'm not as good at this as you, but it seems as though there's something going on. I feel bad for Miranda...”
“I know, but I didn't see any choice. If we had sided with her, we all would have been taken down with her. I just hope we can figure out what's going on before she comes to too much harm. She'll probably never forgive me...”
“So, you're sure Gary isn't telling the truth? I mean, you're the master at this whole body language thing. Haven't you been able to pick up anything?”
“Unfortunately, it's not always as clear as that. If Gary is lying then he's a talented liar, and everything he's done can be interpreted in two ways. I keep trying to think of our interactions with him, but it's not made any easier by the fact that I'm tired.”
“At least he gave us a good meal.”
“Yes, but then again was that just to catch us off-guard? Right now, I feel as though I'm in the middle of a chess match, but I can't see what moves my opponent is making. I know one thing for certain, though. If we make a mistake, then it's going to cost us dearly.”
“You think we'll be able to make it out of here?” Luis asked, concern creeping into his voice.
“If Gary is who he says he is then he has no reason to keep us here, and maybe if he is Ethan he'd rather that we got on our way instead of interfering with him, but I can't leave until I'm sure. I never could live with myself if the only thing I accomplished here was to deliver Miranda back. I'm getting the feeling that even if Gary or Ethan is a good liar the people around him wouldn't be, but I don't have the time to tease out the truth.”
“I noticed you trying with the patients.”
“Yeah, and he barely gave me any chance to breathe. If I had more time I'd be willing to stay and work through it, but with Miranda down there, and Grace and Saul outside, I don't want to waste any more time than is necessary.”
“What do you think they're up to? Grace and Saul, I mean?”
“I hope they're just waiting. The last thing we need right now is them doing something reckless, but we've been in here for a while now. So I wouldn't put it past them. It's probably just the tiredness talking, and I feel bad for even saying it, but do you ever wish that sometimes you hadn't encountered someone at all? I mean, I know she would have been in a worse situation out there on her own, but it would have been easier for us if we hadn't found her.”
“Oh yeah, her name was Charlotte. I'd known her for most of my life, but we barely spoke to each other, and even when we did it was only in passing. She had her group of friends and I had mine, and then one day we were paired up together in chemistry. We studied together and we laughed and she was even my first kiss. She told me she really liked me, and I thought that actually meant something. But as soon as the project was over, she went back to being the popular girl, and believe me, if you were popular then you didn't want to hang around with someone like me.
“So, I tried getting her attention and talking with her, but she treated me like I was nothing. She and her friends just giggled at me. The worst part was I could see in her eyes she still liked me, and maybe she even resented herself for not being strong enough to go against her friends, but it was easy for her to find another guy. Meanwhile, I had to watch from afar, having come so close to something real and good, only to have it snatched away from me. It would have spared me a lot of heartache if she had only ever been just another girl.”
“Well, it's her loss, for sure,” Mack said.
“I appreciate it, but it's really not. It's funny, isn't it? Thinking about all the people you used to know, wondering how they're coping with all this, or if they're coping at all.”
“Do you miss your family?” Mack asked. Luis fell back onto the bed.
“I don't know, I guess. I mean, when I left them I always figured that one day I would go back and I'd be this experienced traveler, a completely different person. Then they would be wowed by how much I'd changed, but now I don't know if I would go back even if I could.”
“I appreciate how you've stuck with us for so long even when you've had opportunities to stay in one place. I just want you to know that if you do ever want to get anywhere you can count on my help, and I'm sure the same goes for Grace as well. Saul, I can't speak for,” he said, and both men chuckled.
“What are we really going to do if Ethan is in charge here?” Luis asked, growing serious once again.
“I don't know, but something tells me we're going to have to get used to being in situations like this,” Mack said gravely.
“But I do know that I need to find out the truth, and the only way to do that is to get into the records office. If I can get Gary's file it should have a picture of the man, and I can see if we've been talking to the real Gary Richardson.”
For a few moments, the conversation between them died down until Mack swung his legs over the bed and sat up.
“What are you doing?” Luis asked.
“I'm going to get into that office now.”
“But they'll be watching us.”
“If I don't do it now I won't be able to do it when the sun comes up, there will be too many people around. At least now I have the darkness to rely on.”
“Do you need any help?”
“No, two of us going would be too risky. Stay here and pretend you're asleep. If they catch me just say you had no idea what I was trying to do, and that you've only known me for a few weeks. And then try getting a message to Grace and Saul, if you can,” Mack said as he arranged his bed so it looked as though there was a figure laying in it.
Luis nodded and watched fretfully as Mack crept toward the door and peered out of the window. It was difficult to make out any details, but from what he could remember there was someone posted at the far end, near the stairs. Gary should have been on the lower levels now, so Mack liked his chances.
He took a few measured breaths and tried planning his route. The office was to the right, on the other side of the corridor. He would have to be fast and hope the orderly at the other end was not alert enough to catch him. He also had to hope the door to the office was unlocked. It wasn't the perfect plan, and he would have to rely on the fortunes of circumstance rather than completely on his own skill, but he didn't see that he had any choice. If he was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, then he was going to have to take some drastic measures.
Knowing that any noise potentially could cause his downfall, Mack slowly curled his fingers around the door handle. The whole endeavor could fail at that moment if the stars did not align for him, and he winced as he slowly opened the door. Even Luis, who was pretending to be sleep in bed, had his eyes cracked open and was hoping against hope that Mack would be able to remain undetected. As the door opened and nobody shouted or raised the alarm, Mack exhaled slowly and silently, letting the tens
ion flow from his body. As he pulled the door open farther and stepped through the doorway, he still kept hidden, but peered out to glance down the corridor. At the very end, there was a man leaning against the wall. He was looking the other way, out to the night, and evidently had more on his mind, and Mack was grateful for that.
Mack glanced down the corridor. The records office was about ten yards away. It wasn't much, really, but in this situation, that distance seemed like a huge chasm. If he made it to the other side he liked his chances of staying close to the wall and avoiding the guard’s view, even if he did look down the corridor. Yet getting across to the other side would require speed and dexterity. He looked down at the shafts of moonlight that slashed across the checkered floor and counted down in his head. When he reached zero he skipped across the floor as fast as he could, not bothering to look in the guard’s direction, because if he was seen then there was no hope anyway.
When he reached the other wall, he flattened himself against it and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about the next stage of the plan. Mack looked down toward the guard, but he still was gazing idly out toward the night sky. Mack's confidence grew, although he knew not to grow complacent as that would cause mistakes. He sidled along, always staying close to the wall, moving ever closer toward his target. Then, in one moment, it all threatened to come crashing down as the shuffling of feet approached and one of the patients stopped in front of him in the middle of the corridor.
Mack was standing in between two shards of moonlight, pressing his body up into a convenient recessed doorway. The patient turned her head slowly and looked at him. Mack mouthed 'no' and shook his head, then placed his finger on his lips to indicate that she should be quiet. She tilted her head at him and he wasn't sure if she was going to speak or not, but she definitely got the guard's attention.
“Hey! You! You should be in bed! Get back in your room!” he yelled.