One week later and Tip still couldn't feel his legs. They had him strapped down to his bed after an incident his first night. He tried to drag himself from the bed and ended up injuring four guards when he slammed his fist down bringing a wall on them. The Twins were doing fine and were released from the urgent care center. The last thing they remember was seeing a man fly and they wouldn't shut up about it.
“It was crazy,” one of them said. Even clean I couldn't tell them apart. “He just fucking...zoom!” the other said as he slapped his hands together. “It was amazing,” the other said. “Wasn't that great,” I replied. “You should have seen the look on your face, Ron,” Raves said. “You came down flapping like
the world's biggest, ugliest Black bird, I swear!” They all got a good laugh out of that. I had to admit, being able to fly would be cool.
“Why do I need flight when I look this damned good?” I asked. “Hey, Tip. Do you think flying is all that great?”
“Fuck flight,” Tip muttered. “I just want to walk again.” We all looked at one another and then dropped our heads.
“You'll be fine soon,” The Corps said as he entered the room with the Hecksford’s in tow. “With a little bit more time we will have you up and about in no time.” From the look on Mr. Hecksford’s face I knew this was a lie.
“What about my eye?” Raves asked. “Beams aren’t normal. Beams aren't a side effect.” “Beams?” one of the Twins asked. “Tucker shot a fucking laser beam out of his eye,” I told him while looking at Mr. Hecksford.
There was something about this guy that I just couldn't stand. I knew he had more to do with this project than he was letting on. But he chose to let The Corps here do all the talking. I was getting tired of it. I already had one friend die and another crippled. Who knew what would happen when Tucker used that damned beam again?
“Look at it as a gift,” Mrs. Hecksford said as she stepped in front of her husband and The Corps. “We know that some of you have been experiencing dramatic effects from these...experiments. But please believe us when we say that they are for your own good.”
“Bullshit,” Raves said as I looked at him and smiled.
“Jones,” The Corps said to me. “Where would you be if I had not retrieved you from Las Vegas? Dead. And Raves. You would either be dead along with him or in prison. Potts and Grates,” he said to The Twins. Apparently he could tell them apart. At least I knew their names now. “You two would be in an alley drunk and filthy.”
“And?” Potts asked. “Is that bad?”
“And O’Reilly,” The Corps said to Tip. “You would be drowning your sorrow at the bottom of a bottle wondering where your life went wrong.”
“But I'd still be able to walk,” Tip replied.
“Ungrateful piss-ants!” the Corps shouted. “The whole lot of you!” He stormed from the room. Mr. Hecksford looked at his clipboard and then slowly backed out of the room. His wife stood there and held her gaze on me.
“Please be patient,” she said as she rested her hand on her stomach, slowly stroking her baby inside. “We will do everything in our power to help your friend here,” she said as she nodded towards Tip.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Tip said. She walked over to his bed and held his hand. She let go and patted me on the shoulder as she left the room.
“Bitch,” Tucker said as he rubbed his eye. “Everything in my brain tells me to fry that bitch. Idon't even know why. There’s something about her that I don't like.” “How you gon’ be mad at a pregnant chick?' I asked. “She ain't done shit to make us hate her.” “There you go again,” Tucker said. “'Go again’ what?” I asked. “Anytime pussy is involved you act different,” Tucker replied. “Different how?” I asked. “She is a part of this goddamned project, Ronald!” Tucker shouted. “For some reason if a woman
is involved you lose all sense of logic. She’s married. She's pregnant. She is a part of this secret government program that is giving us powers like Superman. We haven’t left this place in God knows how many months. Fuck, have any of us been allowed to contact anyone on the outside? It's like jail. The Corps talks about me being in prison if he hadn't 'saved' us? Fuck him, too. This is prison.”
“No, it’s not,” Tip said. “Food's better in prison.” “Fuck you, Red Eye,” I said to Tucker. “I still plan on leaving this place.” “No, you aren’t,” Tucker replied. “You’re in this shit for the long haul. What, do you expect
long-term employment from this place? As soon as you start acting up they'll bring you down like Old Yeller.”
“Whatever,” I said. “I’ll be out of here in a few months. All of us will be.”
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