Chapter 8

A Chapter by Amy Skye

Cress comes face to face with a new threat, or so she thinks.

Cress

With the fire quickly put out by my remaining water, I stood armed with only my dagger in the corner of the room behind some hanging linens, my heart pounding as the door down stairs opens and the group enters Red’s. I could hear them walking around down stairs, talking amongst themselves.

“Hey, there are some stairs.” Said a woman, as I hear the steps creak under their feet. “Eyes sharp.” She said, holding her weapon out scanning the room, she walked into the bedroom as the remaining three stepped into the living room. They swept the room, nearly missing me. One of the men looked at the fire, that I had just put out and stiffened.

“Someone is,” but before he could get out the words, I leaped from my corner, shoving him into the wall and ran quickly down the stairs and outside. One of the men quickly on my tail, I ran as fast as I could down a side street and behind some buildings. He was still advancing on me, so I turned down another narrow street and didn’t stop until I knew he wasn’t on my tail anymore. I took a breath in as I was knocked over with such force, I became disoriented and dropped my dagger. The man had a slight hold of me but I rolled over out of his grasp and swung at him, missing completely as he dodged. He quickly knocked me over again, grabbing my wrists and pinning me down under him. I tried to pull away but I couldn’t move, my breathing heavy.

“Who are you?” He questioned, as the rest of the group runs up, all pointing their weapons. The women walked up, pulling down the sleeve on my jacket, and scanning it with a handheld, revealing my code.

“Anifa,” she hisses, as the others stiffen targeting their weapons more intently. I struggle to get free from his grasp again to no avail.

“Who are you?” The man says again, but I remain silent.

“Kit, we need to get out of the street.” Said one of the other men, who still had his gun targeted to my head. The man who held my wrists, Kit, still breathing heavy, nodded and said,

“We need some questions answered,” he looked down to me. “Don’t try to run, or we will shoot.” He said getting off of me slightly, but I listened. Not knowing what they would do if I was shot and captured and began healing immediately from a gunshot wound right in front of them. Kit grabbed my arm and led me back to Red’s, the others followed after still pointing their weapons at me. I was set down and tied to a chair in the back office behind the bar and left alone in the room for a moment. I could hear for a moment the group talking about who would speak to me first. Then in came the women who sat across from me, her face stern and harsh. She set her firearm down on the desk and pointed it in my direction, keeping eye contact.

“So,” She began, “You’re going to tell me what I want to know, so that I don’t have to send Kit back in here, you understand?” I remained silent. “What are you doing so far outside of Anifa?” Again, I remain quiet. “What do you do for them?” I looked away; I was getting the very clear hint that these people had nothing to do with Anifa. My question was, who were they and how did they survive out here out of Anifa’s grasp. “Look,” she continued, “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.” I took in a deep breath, still keeping my mouth shut. I needed more answers before I said anything about who I am and why I am out here. The women stood up and took her gun off the table shouting, “Give me answers!” She placed the barrel of the gun on my forehead, my heart pounding. Would I heal from a shot to the brain? I thought to myself. But before she could continue, the door flew open, Kit standing in the frame.

“Cage,” He said confused, “You were supposed to be nice.” He said crossing his arms. “Go on, I’ll talk to her.” he opened the door for her to leave. As she exited the room closing the door behind her, Kit walked in, holding my backpack, and the scanner that was used on my code earlier. He sat down, with a sigh. “Sorry about her,” he said to me, “She can get a little hot headed.” He chuckled a little, crossing his arms and slouching down in the chair a bit. “So, your name is Cress?” he said, as my eyes widened, he must have gotten it from my code, I reassured myself. “You’re probably not going to tell us anything that we don’t already know, so you might as well just chat with me for a minute.” He tapped his foot on the ground. I still kept my silence, studying him. He was a handsome young man, with scruffy dark brown hair and a thin round nose. He had a slight, well kept beard and mustache. The muscles on his arms flexed as he readjusted. He tilted his head, and smiled at me, my eyes squinted. “You hate them as much as we do.” The words caught me off guard; I shifted in my chair. “What did they do to you in there?” he asked empathetically, I swallowed the knot in my throat. With a sigh, he reached down and grabbed at my pack, noticing I had only wrappers of rationed protein bars and an empty canister of water. He took the canister and left the room, only to return moments later, the jug full of water and a bar of rations. He set them on the table next to me, and slowly reached down to untie me. Our eyes met, “I am trusting you not to try anything reckless.” He said as he cut the ties on my wrists. I slowly reached for the water taking several large gulps, as he sat back down across from me. “Now,” he said, “As you can see, we aren’t your enemy.” He leaned forward and placed his arms on his knees. “Is there anything you’re willing to tell me about yourself? Maybe start with how you got out.” I swallowed another gulp of water and set down the flask.

“A nurse help me escape.” I said, he seemed a bit shocked that I said anything.

“Okay,” he said nodding, “Why did they help you?” I stayed silent; how could I tell them things even I don’t know. How was I supposed to tell these people that I was immortal? I just shook my head and shrugged. “They didn’t tell you why they were helping you?” He seemed confused.

“No.” I said finally, “Just that they didn’t want Anifa to have me.” As I said the words, it seemed like a distant memory. “They said they would be back for me, but that was weeks ago.” Kit tapped his fingers on the table, a nervous tick? I thought.

“Why didn’t they want Anifa to have you?” he asked. I tapped my foot on the ground, how was I supposed to answer that.

“I have no idea.” Was all I could say.

“How long were you inside the rehab center?” I started to get angry, how was I going to give his guy any information. I regretted saying anything at all. I think he could feel that I was getting agitated so before I could say anything he said, “Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.” He stood up to leave the room, “I think we have enough to go off of. I’ll be right back.” He left the room leaving me alone. I slouched back in my chair, tilting my head back with a sigh. Damn, I thought to myself, couldn’t just lie? Say that I ran away, or something. I rubbed my face with my hands. Quickly I stood up and grabbed my pack, shoving in the water jug and ration bar. I picked up and examined the code scanner, trying to see if it told them anything about me, the screen read,

ANIFA EXPERIMENT C426-0017H

CRESS HAYES

STATUS: ELIGIBLE FOR PROJECT R 2.0

Kit walked back into the room, his team standing behind him. I turned to them, still holding the handheld and backpack. He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms.

“Alright Cress,” he began, “You’re coming with me.”

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© 2020 Amy Skye

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Ballpark Frank

I think the story is great. I love reading it. ❤️ Yeah, there are some punctuation things going on, but I'm really just enjoying the story so much that I barely care about that. I think you've got something great here. Congrats.