Chapter 22
KEAN GLANCES IN both directions before we file out of the room. Everything’s gone decidedly stealth, just like being on the outside again. We half walk, half run with our arms linked together, leaving Jacob to trail along behind.
“Won’t Adrian still be in there?” Kean says as we round the corner.
“I don’t know.” He’s right. Adrian could be anywhere, and he’s not going to approve of us leaving. “I’ll check.”
I knock twice on the surveillance room door and listen to the sound echo in the empty space. “You want the code?” I say, raising my thumb to the code box. “Gather round.”
I punch in the digits and hear the tiny beep.
“Hey presto,” Jacob says, glancing over his shoulder. He pushes open the door and we follow him in.
“Whoa.” Kean looks around. “What happened here?”
I sidestep out of a puddle of juice that’s leaking from a cracked glass bottle, abandoned on the floor. The rest of the lunch Adrian collected is strewn about the place, splattered against the walls, crumbling across the desk surrounded by shreds of brown paper. Yogurt drips down the right bank of monitors.
Jacob steps on some broken bottle glass and kicks it away with his foot.
“Careful,” I whisper to Liss, as I press her back against the back wall.
“Seriously, who is this guy?” Kean grabs some paper and clears the right monitors of dripping dairy product.
“He doesn’t want us to leave,” I say.
Kean drops the paper and studies the monitors. “He doesn’t want you to leave. He doesn’t even know we exist.”
I search the monitors for signs of Henry and Trouble. The decontamination unit is clear, as is the first row of labs. There are scientists everywhere though, typing at computers, hovering at benches, reading paperwork, crossing the halls.
My eyes narrow and I peer closer. “There, what’s that?”
Kean leans forward and his chest expands suddenly. “It’s Henry. It’s them. Where are they?”
Henry’s sitting on the floor and Trouble is pacing back and forth in the small glass cage. The room has four more cages, each holding another two people.
“These are all labs.” I point at the row of monitors. “It’s like one long line of rooms and you need the code to get through each door.”
“So, the further along they are, the longer it takes to get them,” Kean says.
A voice stabs from behind. “What are you doing?”
We all spin and my heart seizes. Adrian hovers in the doorframe, staring at us, confused. His eyes land on me and his expression changes. His eyes darken, his lips peel back, his whole stance moves to attack mode.
I just stand there. My mouth opens to make up an excuse, but Jacob gets there first. He takes one look at Adrian, sees the name on his uniform, and head-butts him.
Adrian stumbles away but Jacob catches a handful of his jacket and drags him back into the room. The door shuts and Jacob has Adrian pressed up against the concrete wall.
“Get something to tie him up!” Jacob yells.
We start going through the draws, pulling out useless paper and stationary.
“Packing tape?” Kean holds up a roll.
“Bring it here.” Jacob wrestles Adrian’s hands into place, and keeps his mouth pressed into the wall. Adrian squirms against his grip and the concrete muffles his cries. I watch, only for a moment, then turn back to the monitors. I know what the first lab looks like, and that’s in the top corner, completely empty. If I count along, Henry and Trouble appear on monitor twelve, so they’ll be twelve rooms deep in the conga line of laboratories.
Suddenly there’s movement on their monitor. Two broad-shouldered scientists head towards the first of the glass cages, the ones at the opposite end to Henry and Trouble. I watch, eyes glued to the black and white figures, gripping the edge of the desk. The two scientists enter the cage and pin down the occupants, one at a time. A third scientist enters and holds up a strange gun looking thing. In seconds she presses it into the leg of each occupant, and then all three retreat out of the cage, sealing the glass door again.
The two occupants react differently. One scuttles back into the far corner, inspecting her leg while the other jumps up and goes nuts, banging against the glass and screaming.
The scientists remove their gloves, wash their hands in a long metal trough and return to the benches. The two burly looking ones pick up clipboards and return to the glass box, writing notes. One looks at his wristwatch. The small scientist replaces her thick gloves and fiddles with the injection gun. She reloads it carefully with a small syringe sized cartridge and places it down. She’s talking to the other scientists now. They converse for a moment, then drop their clipboards on a side desk and move along to the next cage.
“Why did they take them?” Liss asks, tugging on my arm.
“One can’t talk back, and one can’t walk away,” Jacob says, pushing Adrian to the computer chair. He holds him in place as Kean winds the tape around his torso, securing him.
I look back to the monitor and things have changed again. The scientists are holding down the occupants of the second box and injecting them.
“Um… guys?”
Kean looks up.
“They’re injecting the others with something.” I meet his eyes. “Only three more boxes until they reach Henry and Trouble.”
“Go now,” Jacob says. “I need ten minutes. If you can get yourselves in, I’ll have your distraction ready so you can get out.” Jacob studies the monitors and when we don’t move he glances back at me. “What are you waiting for? Go!”
Liss is still holding my arm, Kean doesn’t need any more persuading. We dash out and head toward the labs.
“What, are we just going to run in?” Kean says. “We’ll get caught.”
I don’t say anything because I’m thinking, mapping out the area in my mind. Through the glass door is a long corridor. On the right is the empty decontamination unit. Further up on the left are the offices. Then it’s the T-intersection, the x-ray room to the left, the labs on the right. It’s a straight run but one that puts us completely on display. There’s no where to hide.
“Florence…”
“I’m thinking,” I say. We slow to a jog and stop at the glass coded door. I look at Kean. There’s a vulnerability in his eyes that almost kills me on the spot.
“I think we have to just go for it,” I say, “and hope luck is on our side.”
Kean nods once and I punch in the code. There really is no other way.
We slip through the door and move in single file, keeping Liss between us. I lead the way since I’m the only one that has actually been past the decontamination unit. For the moment it’s silent and scientist free. We pass by the empty decontamination unit and creep towards the offices.
We’ve hardly gone anywhere before our luck runs out. The nearest office door opens and voices pour out into the corridor. I can even see the hand on the door handle — that’s how close we are. I scramble backwards, dragging the others with me.
We don’t have time to do anything, so I punch the code into the decontamination unit door with shaky fingers. Kean’s head flicks between the office and us. The scientist is backing out of the doorway now, still in conversation. The situation is so tense I feel like I can’t breath.
As soon as the code box beeps we burst into the room. Liss actually goes sprawling onto her stomach as I push her in. I drop down and Kean leaps back to the door to stop it from slamming.
Liss and I crawl to the wall so we can’t be seen if the scientist comes our way.
“All clear,” Kean says under his breath. “She went the other way.”
“Great. That’s where we need to go.”
Kean puts his index finger to his lips suddenly, still peering out into the corridor. Liss and I freeze.
After a few seconds he turns back. “There’s a lot of movement at the end of the corridor.”
I
take a deep breath. “What are we going to do? How do we get past?”
Kean stares at me for a moment, then his gaze lifts and locks onto something behind me. A glimmer of a smile appears on his face. “I have an idea.”
I turn around and see the row of white lab coats hanging on a small metal bar. Jackpot.
“But surely they’ll realise we don’t belong. Plus Liss is to young to be a scientist.”
Kean chews on the side of his lip, thinking. His knee bobs up and down with urgency.“
The idea comes to me suddenly. “Unless we use Liss.”
“What?” Liss looks between us.
I nod to myself. “Liss, get that clipboard. I’ll get the coats.”
Liss keeps low, scampering over to the desk. She slides the clipboard towards herself, while I pull down two of the closest lab coats. I flick mine on and take the door watch as Kean slides into his. Liss passes me the clipboard.
“Right, this is how it’s going to go. Kean you’re carrying Liss⎯”
“Why?” Liss looks alarmed.
“And if we run into anyone, Liss, you have to make it look like you’re struggling. Make it look like we’re kidnapping you.”
Kean blinks. “We’re just going to walk straight into the labs and pretend she’s another test subject.” He almost grins. “That’s brilliant.”
“You be the muscle, and Liss, it doesn’t matter if people see you but you need to cover Kean’s face,” I say, nodding. “Ok? I’ll duck behind my clipboard and lets just hope it’s enough.”
Liss bites her lip and nods, reaching for Kean without a moment of hesitation. I glance through the gap in the door. The hallway is clear so I stand up and swing the door fully open.
Kean hoists Liss into his arms and she sits quietly for the moment. I step out and they follow. I look down, burying my head in the clipboard as we pass the offices. A door opens to the left and dread flows through me.
Liss begins to struggle against Kean and I hope to hell it’s convincing. I march onwards, pretending not to care. The man overtakes us on the left and just as he does, I flick my head over my right shoulder, to check on Kean’s progress and to hide my face. The scientist rushes onward as if we’re invisible.
I let out a tiny breath of relief, but it’s not over yet. We’re about to hit the intersection. Here we go.
I swing to the right and it’s a gauntlet of scientists, running back and forth. Liss kicks the wall behind me and practically rolls up onto Kean’s face. I drop my head even further like I have the cure right here on this very interesting page. We collect a few wayward glances, but no one tries to stop us. I think most people actually look away, so they don’t have to think about what’s going to happen to the little girl.
My heart is thumping as I try to march along like I’ve every right to be here. I can hear the tiny scuffling sounds of the other two, and every now and then Liss says something like, “Get off!”
This hallway is so much longer than I remembered. It’s so busy too. I feel like we’ve been dumped into a shark enclosure and they’re all circling, waiting for the perfect moment to devour us. There’s no escape if the scientists get us now, just narrow concrete halls that are easy to block.
I’ve been reading the same line over and over on this page. Decontamination protocol form Arcadium 1:419 Subject Suitability Assessment. Usually when you read something over and over again it loses all meaning, but this time for me, it’s the other way around. At first it means nothing, just a whole string of overblown words, but the suitability assessment part makes me realise we’ve been lab rats from the very beginning, just waiting to be plucked from our cages.
A white uniform appears in front of me. I snap my head up at the last moment, just managing to avoid a collision, and step around the startled man. I huff and make unimpressed noises and march on, trying to pretend I’m on important business. He stops for a moment and I feel him watching us. I straighten my back and walk faster. Behind me Liss gives a low growl.
At last we reach the mirrored walls of the labs. I can’t see into the admin room so I just punch in the code and take a chance, aware that the man is still watching. We enter the room and thankfully it’s empty. The door seals behind us and we walk toward the next room but I see two scientists sitting with their backs to us.
“Crap.” I drop to the floor and Liss and Kean copy. “There are people in the next room. We’ll never get past.” I glance around the room for something, anything we can use. It’s not until I look up that I remember. “The air-conditioning system.”
Kean follows my gaze. “Watch the door,” he says. “I’ll go first.”
I kneel beside the door, peering up to make sure no one’s watching. It’s not like anyone can see in from the corridor, but if the scientists in the next lab turn around and spot us it’s all over. “Go, quick.”
Kean jumps up on the desk, almost sliding sideways on some loose paper. He gathers his balance and taps the air-conditioning grate back into the duct. With both hands he grips the sides and pulls himself up. First his head and shoulders go, then his torso and finally his swinging feet disappear.
“Liss, get ready,” I say, ducking as a scientist passes by outside. I pop my head up again, knowing that they can’t see me, it’s just habit I guess. “Ok, go. Up on the desk.”
Liss climbs on and Kean leans out of the duct, both hands extended. Liss reaches up and after a few moments of wriggling she disappears too. I do a quick check of the hallway and the second lab, and I’m just about to step up when the code box beeps. I whip my head back. Two scientists are standing in the corridor, seconds from entering. I look up and see Kean’s horrified expression.
There’s no time. I clutch my clipboard and I wave Kean on.
This is the worst possible scenario. We’re split up and time is running out. I gulp back my horror and pretend to be sorting through some papers. I pick one, add it to the clipboard and head straight to the next lab door. I punch in the code and in the second of pause before the door unlocks, I feel like I’m going to explode.
The scientists are in the room now, footsteps coming toward me.
My code-box beeps and I push through into the next room. Urgent strides carry me to the next door in a flash.
There are four scientists in here, three at desks and one working with some kind of liquid in a beaker, right next to the rat cages. I think it’s a guy, but I can’t risk staring so all I’ve got to go on is my peripheral vision. He glances up, watches me for a few seconds. I punch in the code and he drops his head, returning to his work.
There are four in the next room, all seated at desks. I push on, striding through the gauntlet of locked doors and dormant scientists. I can’t believe I’ve actually made it this far without anyone raising an alarm. I guess they see the coat, the clipboard and the code and don’t need to look any further than that.
Scientists occupy the next four labs and I’m starting to wonder what I’m going to do when I get to lab number twelve where Henry and Trouble are being held. I could probably walk straight in, but then what? Keep going? That’s not going to help anyone. And I’m no physical match for three scientists. If I stop moving someone might realise I don’t belong. I just have to wing it. There’s no choice. I keep pushing through the rooms.
Finally, lab number ten is empty, and I stop at a desk and pretend to shuffle papers in case someone is watching. The air-conditioning grate above me looks empty and I wonder if I’m way ahead or way behind the others.
The scientist in lab nine is typing at a computer, totally absorbed, so I take my chance. I stand up on the desk slowly, keeping close to the wall and bump the grate from its seated position.
I have to rip the tape and splints from my hands so I can grip. I reach for the grate and jump, but my weak hands just slide off the metal. This time I wedge my foot in one of the wall shelves and use it to propel myself through the gap. As soon as my arms are through I flatten them and swing my legs for momentum, until I’m c
ompletely up. My splinted fingers stab with pain every time I try to curl them, but the thought of Henry and Trouble allows me to tune it out, just enough to keep going.
Ahead it’s shadowy, just grey light bleeding in from the other grates in the next labs. The metal is ice cold too; chilled air flows around me.
I twist around and look for the others. They’re still far back. I wave to Kean and he acknowledges so I keep going, crawling on my belly as quietly as I can. My breath is the loudest thing, so I work on controlling that as I slide forward. I carefully navigate past the grate for lab eleven and stop at lab twelve.
I peer through into the bright light, trying to orientate myself. I’m hanging above the row of glass boxes. The two big scientists stand in front of the fourth box, taking notes, and the woman is refilling the injection gun. I slide further forward and see Trouble. He’s standing at the glass, watching calmly. I’m pretty sure they haven’t been injected yet, but it looks like they’re next.
A hammering noise comes from the first box and I look over. Inside are two people, showing the signs of infection. Pale skin and abandon for their safety, slamming violently against the glass and roaring some kind of outraged groan. The scientists wander over, just as the occupants of box two go completely insane and start clawing at the glass, drooling and banging their heads together in an effort to get to the scientists.
Something taps me on my foot. Kean’s worried green eyes beg for an answer.
“They’re alive. But they’re next,” I whisper. I twist around and cross the grate silently so that Kean can see for himself. He lifts it gently and pushes it towards me. The skinny female scientist says something and the two bigger ones wander back, deep in discussion. Kean senses his moment and slides through the grate hole, dropping quietly onto the top of the glass boxes.
I want to scream and reach for him, drag him back, anything. But I can’t. Liss is hovering in his spot now, watching, and Kean moves silently toward Trouble and Henry.
Henry spots Kean first, from his position on the ground. Trouble is still distracted by scientists. Suddenly Trouble turns and follows Henry’s pointed finger. The look on Trouble’s face when he recognises Kean is the purest look of relief I have ever seen.
Kean moves closer and I see what he’s about to do. Each glass prison has a code pad hidden on its top edge, just out of view to anyone on the ground. He taps out the code and to my surprise the door actually slides open, moving so quietly that the scientists don’t even notice.
But they will soon. The skinny scientist raises the loaded injection gun and they begin to move. By some miracle they’re all looking at one of the burley one’s clipboards, totally oblivious.
Everything is happening so quickly. I can’t see it ending well. Trouble could probably take on one scientist but then what?
There’s no more time to think. The trio reach the box and Trouble explodes out, spear tackling the two big guys at once. They sprawl backwards across the floor, shock freezing their expressions, but they recover quickly. The first man to his feet kicks Trouble in the stomach. Kean launches from his glass box perch and lands on the attacker’s back, flattening him with his momentum. Chaos erupts, legs and arms fly everywhere; strangled cries and the muted thumps of landed blows fill the air.
The female scientist hovers over the fight, holding the injection gun out like it has bullets. Suddenly I realise her intention. She’s going to infect whoever she can, to stun them.
Oh, crap.
Kean is no match for his scientist and he’s pinned quickly. I glance at Liss.
“Stay here,” I say, and drop through the grate hole.
The woman seems to move in slow motion as she lowers the gun to Kean’s leg. I take two running steps and fling myself off the top of the boxes, aiming straight for her.
She gasps and looks up at the last moment, just before I crash into her side. We slam into the floor and oh my God, blunt pain races the length of me, like how I imagine the infection feels spreading through my blood. When all the tumbling stops I realise she’s almost got the gun against my shoulder. I reel back, landing on Kean and the big scientist.
For a second I think the woman might have already injected me, but I glimpse the cartridge and it’s still full of the glowing green liquid.
In the scramble, I manage to kick the big guy pinning Kean down. I get him right in the face and blood sprays from his nose. I slide to my feet and suddenly it’s a three on three fight. Kean and Trouble have the two big guys, and I have the small lady with the deadliest weapon of all. All Henry can do is sit helpless in the corner of the box and watch.
And then the weirdest thing happens.
The lights go out. Simple as that. They go out and suddenly we’re all swamped in pure darkness.