CHAPTER TWO

 

CHAPTER TWO: ADRENALINE

 

            Waiting was the hardest thing to do. The thought of freedom was just tantalizing me; the sight of the sky and earth taunting me with a mocking face, the taste of air and real food locked up in my mind and refreshing my memory to make my mouth water. Jittering through the hours, I ran through the plan over and over again. I motioned my every movement that I would make. Hopefully that action would be as easy as the visualization.

Dinner would be the signal for my preparation to leave because exactly twenty minutes after I was fed, all the lights were extinguished and the aliens would fall asleep in their resting ward. But there was something nagging at the back of my head, sensing something was missing, some piece of information not obtained that would determine the entire outcome of the operation and I couldn’t figure it out.

             I figured it out, just as I was stuffing the rice ball into the ceiling; how I hated it when the obvious always hit last. I didn’t know how to navigate myself around here. I had only seen this prison floor that was filled with narrow halls, numerous turns, and decaying darkness. I slumped onto the cot; the plan was an utter failure before it even had went into effect.

“Why” I moaned, kicking the tray under the slot. I ran my fingers through my shaved, greasy hair... The door creaked open. I leaped onto my cot, backing up into the corner. Shadow Eater thumped in, his eyes, clicking as his lids closed harmonically together, staring at me from the doorway. He walked up to me and sat at the edge of my bed, watching me and my every movement, sure that I saw him flinch when I blinked. My mouth went dry as my heart wished it could forfeit life at that instant and hoping at the same time I could absorb into the walls I was pressing intensely against.

“Go away” I said sternly, my brows hurting just from narrowing them, rage bubbling to the surface. I was already aggravated at my loss, only desiring time alone to mourn. He scooted closer to me, as if he had really understood me and was doing the complete opposite of what I wished, reminding me of my sister. His arm stretched out towards me. I yelped, slinking down on the wall as his fingers extended towards me in their always freakish manner. The fingers going green as they stretched, black rings encircling each finger. One of the fingers reached my face, slowly stroking my skin, making me gag a t the rubber like texture.

“How unfortunate you must die” he clicked, his eyes only adding growth to the creepiness of this all, wishing he would leave “I’m just going to have to find some other resort of fulfilling my needs”. Wrinkling my nose, I slid back onto the cot to stare at the ceiling. I had already made the decision that suffocation of dirt would be my execution. I refused to wait for my death and mostly refused to die at the hands of them.

            He lay on top of me, his touch only raising my shame and shame’s tears, kissing my collar bone. My soul lurched in my flesh body. Ian’s face was painted on the ceiling, wishing it was Ian who would touch me last. Shadow Eater’s lips moved to my neck. I grunted, blinking away the tears, lifting my neck so I could see down his backside… if I was in a cartoon, a brilliant light bulb would be dinging over my head. There was my solution, a bloody miracle hanging off his belt loop; his identification card. Carefully I pulled my arm out from under his body, biting my lip hoping he didn’t notice… he was too preoccupied with my neck to notice that and the itsy tug at his belt loop. The tag easily snapped off, quickly but calmly shoving it under my thigh. I was saved.

“GET OFF OF ME!” I shrieked, pushing away his face. His growls rumbled from his stomach to his harshly frowned lips. He lifted his hand, I screamed instantly, turning my face away.

“Hey, Shades, let’s go. Lights are off in three minutes”

“Fine” he sleeked away, fading through the light past the now slammed door. My feet hit the ground, stumbling to the door, waiting for their footsteps to disappear. I stayed there for over ten minutes, scared he would realize that I had stolen his tag. 

He did not come. I kneeled onto my bed, clutching the card, wanting to bawl in the lighting of the moment when minutes ago I was verging on the event of my suicidal departing. My fingers stroked the card, it felt like any ordinary laminated card, however, my fingers passed over a circular, smooth eyeglass. Smiling I continued tracing until finally finding the rolling ball, that was totally operated and used like a computer mouse but of course much smaller to fit on the card. I clicked it, a three dimensional, light blue hologram popped up. The aliens were very advanced in technology.

“Bingo” I whispered, glorifying over the popped up list of links, all in the alien language. Scanning over it, my eyes stung; I hadn’t been exposed to this much light before. Muttering softly to myself, I found what I was looking for. Pivoting the ball beneath my finger, the links brightly highlighted when the indicator bar passed over them, finally stopping on the right link: LOCATION MAP OF GROUND 025. I clicked the ball, hoping it wasn’t as loud as I over reacted it being. The list disappeared, a model popped up in the same highlighter blue, a series of tabs jutting out of the side with only one red dot amongst them, assuming the red dot was me. I glimpsed to the side for the tab that read: Floor Four Prisoner Ward. At the top of the diagram was a bright orange tab that read: Entrance/ Exit. My finger slipped on the ball, the diagram folding and spinning, stopping on its side. “Ugh” I slowly maneuvered the ball so the diagram was up right again. Grimacing, I realized I needed a more specific diagram, wondering if I could find a route out. With a finger, I poked through the Entrance/ Exit tab, a green box zapping up, biting the tip of my tongue in surprise.

“Do you wish to reach the Entrance/Exit from your location…? Yes or no?” it read. I poked the yes, which felt like stabbing chilled air. The box disappeared, showing me a new diagram. It looked like a maze. A red dot sat in front of me and another green box appearing bellow the diagram.

“Follow the yellow arrows” a little beep echoed softly in the room, making me grit my teeth and my ears pricking up for any sounds of movement. My arms tightened up, seeing the lit up arrows now. My breath got heavy; this was now the real deal. I carefully lifted of the cot, flipping it over and gracefully placing it on the ground, listening for any pattering of feet. Reluctantly I snapped one of the foldable legs; my only weapon. I walked to the door, using the light of the diagram to guide me there. I shoved my fingers beneath the slider, biting my lip as it lifted up, a little rustic screech issuing from it. I froze, afraid that possibly someone heard it and was now charging at me. Seconds passed by before I got the nerves to finally move. Looking at the sliding door made me nervous.  I hoped I would fit. Head and arms first, I dove through, unable to see anything but the few feet of powdered light from the glowing diagram. It was a bit snug. The hard part next, getting my hips and legs through. I had to pull a bit hard on my lower body before getting through. I smiled as I slid through, holding up the little door to retrieve my weapon before letting it slide back down. I’m out… now don’t screw it up. I scrambled off the ground, leaning against the door so I could calm down now knowing the full extent of my punishments if I failed. I looked at the diagram that had mildly shifted. The yellow arrow shone to my right. I followed it, lightly jogging on the balls of my bare feet, hardly making a sound on the stone covered ground. My eyes were onto the blue diagram. The arrow hardly changed, but than made an abruptly turn. My shoulder rammed into the brick wall as I turned, hoping the dull thud of bone against brick could hardly be distinguishable in this silence. Shortly after making the turn, I ran into steps, biting the side of my tongue to diffuse my cursing. My shin had run into the first step. I didn’t loiter around to fend for it, continuing up the stairs. The next floor was, basically, like the previous, dark and unpredictable but I was more cautious with my steps so another shin collision would be avoided. I relaxed a little bit more as I climbed the next staircase, as far as noise came. I plunked on the next floor, taking a left, able to see a dimly lit, open doorway a few feet away. Running towards it, without knowing was running to. I had no way of preparing for it; halting in the doorway, I shuddered at what I saw as my stomach heaved. The room was a gigantic laboratory, dimly lit by special curved glass lamps hanging by chains on the insolated roof. The light, unfortunately, bright enough to reveal the glass jars that littered across every black counter toped desk. The jars were filled with a gel goop, recognizable human parts floating in it. The walls were tacked with bagged humans’ skins, and to top everything off, a giant cylinder tank of more goop rose in the middle of the lab, a human body stripped of all its skin buoyed in it, its lipid algae green eyes still locked in the skull.

            I put my hands over my head, trying to shake away the horror and dizziness overwhelming me, my body going rubbery at the sights. I looked at my diagram, pointing through the room. Sprinting out, I closed my eyes, not wishing to see any more bile images.

“Ugh” I tipped over the next staircase, my elbows scraped on a poor excuse for a staircase. From the way my elbow felt, they were slabs of cement resting on molded dirt. I wanted to get out of here so bad. I sprinted past the next two floors, every step I took I feared seeing something horrific or running into one of the aliens. As soon as I took my first step on this fifth or sixth staircase, the little arrow began to flicker excitedly, matching my insides as I reached the floor brightly lit to show a business like waiting room with its blood red couches and dark wooden chairs to go with. Coffee tables adjacent to the furniture, gigantic desks across the opposite end of the room with a small desk of what looked like brochures and information pamphlets, but this was all examined later, what I was looking far was right across from me. In the ceiling at the end of the room, probably purposely placed next to the head desk, was an open hatch and a step ladder leading up to it. I hyperventilated, running across the room. My hip jabbed into the end of one of the couches, but I didn’t feel the pain. I stopped at the step ladder. Night’s compatible playmates lightly lit the opening and everything in its way. The diagram disappeared, tossing it onto the paper scattered desk did I notice one of the headlines of one of the pamphlets.

“ALL GROUND STATION LOCATIONS” it said in bright pink, bold letters. I grabbed it, leafing through it. All the pages were printed with maps, red bubbled circles dotting across them with a little tabs on the side. My curiosity beckoned me to look further into the pamphlet and rummage through the rest of the papers, but the call of the real world was screaming in my ears; having an invisible grasp on me, my core tightening out to the edge of my skin. I shoved the paper in my holey pocket, not even bothering to look back as I climbed up, lifting myself up through the hatch. As soon as my feet hit the asphalt I zoomed away. My eyes brimmed with wetness, the smell of clear, clean air slamming me. The night sky dotted with ever so beautiful stars amazed me, if it wasn’t for the intense sprinting, they would be the thing leaving me breathless. My feet scraped against the chunky asphalt, weeds crinkling through the street, the traffic paint almost completely diminished, wild, frizzed plants stood on the side of the street creeping in and seeming to extended their bristled branches and leafy chunks at me as I continued running. So many thoughts catapulted into my cranium, adrenaline plunging into my veins in an overdose, looking back nearly every second to see if any of the aliens were crawling out of the now far distant hatch with their eyes licked by the moonlight and capturing my hysterical figure running away. My nostrils were throbbing from flaring, so immensely tense and frightened. It would take more than physical commands of my brain to stop me. Think, think, think… there! The street became lined with small shops with ill tasted architecture, my eyes scanning the store signs, so overjoyed to see English again. Pretty Boutique... no. Sport Shack… possibly… Corona’s Gun and Sport Store! I spotted it, limping over to it, my feet padding over the gravel parking lot, diving into a crouch beneath one of the windows, scanning the area. Clear. Taking my snapped wooden stake, I crashed it into the window, the glass shattering and raining down the side of the decaying wooden planks, cringing at the loud sound. Swiftly, rubbing the plank of wood on the sill for still lingering fragments of glass stuck in the pane, tossing myself over it and thumping on the wood floors, wincing away at the spot with broken glass. The store was quiet, a good sign, blanketed by dark shadows. My eyes darted to the glass case counters, slinking to them, the guns luxuriously placed on green velvet pads and pillows. I would need something harder to break this glass. I racked my head for a sight of something sturdy, ignoring the light switch, knowing that there was electricity two hundred feet of the alien Ground stations, but totally traceable.

“Ouch” I grunted, the middle of my back running into a metal rack, brushed over with a layer of dusk, holding up barbed wired hangers with ski jackets on it. My arm knocked over the row of strangely heavy jackets, hoisting the rack stand into my arms and bashing it into the glass. I fumbled through the shatters for the revolvers. This was taking too long. I ran around the counter to the stack of bullet cartridges, having difficulty finding the right ones for the two hand guns I miscellaneously picked. I finally found it, grabbing two boxes, tearing away the seals on them and loading up the guns with numbing fingers, flicking the barrels into place with a snap. I shoved the two guns in my waist hem, tucking the bullet boxes under my arms as I searched for other necessary objects, stumbling, quickly, on a camouflage, durable backpack that I dumped the guns and boxes in, nearly forgetting the pamphlet in my pocket. I was growing impatient at my time killing, locating some weird boots that I didn’t bother to lace, some old granola bars and water bottles from the employ lounge and a small traveler’s flashlight completed with batteries. I threw my bag out the window and was about to follow it when I noticed a wooden case on display, in it was a small collection of overly sized, not to mention, sharpened knives with black handles. Debating was for chums, quickly grabbing the largest one and carefully climbing over the window ledge, grabbing my backpack just as I learned to retract the blade, throwing it too into my bag, and sprinting off, making my way to the highway entrance. From there, I ran the straight line of the free way. The abandoned cars, which I did not bother to waste time to see if I could start up, were shoved to the side of the wide road and made me feel even more vulnerable.

The night was still young, running mindlessly on the highway as my feet blistered from my first steps, my knees ached, feeling like a cotton ball being compacted against the bone, my entire body sapped of energy only supplied with adrenaline that was sure to give out sooner or later, and my lungs, a hot thermos collected in my chest pounding in unison with my heart. No matter how much I wished to stop and collapse, I continued on; not knowing yet which way to go, as long as it was farther from the aliens and closer to Ian. Several times I looked over my shoulder for any pursuits, a great sensation of rifting panic and relief oozing from the cracks. For hours I ran, scared that if I stopped I couldn’t go again. My legs trembled with every stride, my knees buckling occasionally, in general, if my legs had a mind and will of its own, they would rip themselves of me and plunk down on the side of the road that was a jungle of weeds. My eye lids struggled against my will to stay awake, my lungs and throat burning from the constant friction of forced inhaling and exhaling of the sweet air that made my head feel lighter. My speed was melting down, as well as the night sky; the edge of sky was tinkling of fading pinkish light. With shaky legs I got off the nearest exit that was, of course, up an incline, hacking away at my sore legs as I climbed it, nearly reaching the top when I spotted the nearest building, a giant two story department store wading across a deserted parking lot. Instincts prodding me to lie low, I dove into some tall shrubs, the chunky lush branches softly cuddling me and at the same time hiding my existence from any wakened aliens. Patiently I waited, looking for movements, any flashes of figures, sound that could easily betray a nearby passer; any trace of life other than me. It was clear. My legs were glued to the spot, trembling in their place like licorice attached to an upright candy bar. I staggered across the parking lot, tears forming at the corners of my eyes that were issued by movement, my entire body wailing to stop. I made it to the doors that would have automatically opened if things were actually normal, using my knife to the pry the doors open, my arms shaking to keep the doors open as I ducked under, pausing, scanning over the empty store, still in stock. Tiredness swept over me, all I wanted to do was sleep, too tired to even patrol the rest of the store for life, grabbing some vases off a musty shelf and sending them shattering in front of the door so if anyone came in, I would hear their crunchy footsteps. I threw my bag in a cash register station by the door, musing lethargically through the aisles until I reached the bedding area, in total awe at all the plushy comforters and satin pillows and wanting to cry at my haste from cuddling into one. I finally picked a luxurious turquoise silk comforter with royal purple plush pillows to go with. I sighed at its comfort and squeezed it close to my chest as I returned to the cashier station. I tore the comforter out of the plastic bag and enveloped myself inside of it, lying down in the cramped cubicle with my head resting on the pillow. I had almost forgotten what this all felt like, pulling the blanket tighter around me and tucking my arm below the pillow. I sunk into sleep. 

 

Author's Note

Please ignore grammar problems. I know they're there and have countless times looked over and edited my work but still can't fix every single one. I would appreciate comments (good or bad) and would love ideas since I'm constantly on writer's block.

SONG OF THE CHAPTER: "Die Another Day"- Madonna

Reviews

[Ben]

You are a talented writer!