A Great Fall [ #Wattys2017]

Chapter 10: No Escape

                          Minnie

"Right now, I have to figure out, who these goons are, what they have got to do with me and how will I escape from this place?" , Minnie thought.

She had been struck in this unknown place for 3 days now. She was sure that her parents must have got the whole task force scouting around for her.

Too many unanswered questions frustrated her and she gripped the edges of her bed tightly, her hands bound to it with a rope.

She closed her eyes as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. As she opened her eyes and looked at her hands, she couldn't believe what she saw.

Grey color crawled up her hands slowly. It was like a snake crawling up her arm menacingly with its teeth bare.
When she let go of the bed, the color started draining out. Again she gripped the bed tightly and the result was the same. 

Her head was reeling now. Was this some kind of disease or a side effect of a drug which those goons had administered to her?

As she contemplated her next move, an idea struck her.

After every  five minutes a guard would come and peek in through a transparent pane on the door frame to ensure if the subject was in it's place. 

"If my mathematics was good anytime, I guess it's two minutes before he appears with his repulsive face carved on the pane",  Minnie told herself. 

She wriggled her hands in a pattern which she had learnt on internet. After a minute,  her hands came free and she rubbed them to circulate the blood. 

When almost thirty seconds were left, she gripped the edges again.

It was impossible to say if Minnie was even present on the bed, her eyes fixed on the door, seconds  lying in wait for her prey,  the clock ticking away.

After thirty five seconds, a smug face peeped through the door.

His face immediately showed a mixed expression of fear and anger at the same time.

He fiddled with the swipe card before the door slided open and he rushed inside.

The room was empty except for a bed, a table with many files on it, liquids in plastic and glass bottles and other medical equipment stacked on the wall and a x-ray machine to the left of the guard.

As he took out a black device from his pocket, Minnie jumped off the bed to her left towards the wall and touched it with both her hands. 

The momentary appearance and disappearance of Minnie caught the guard off guard. As he moved in her direction, she moved with her back against the wall, one hand touching it,  towards the door while her eyes were fixed on the guard. 

As she was about to reach the door, she collided with the table,  lost her balance and the files fell down.

The guard rushed towards Minnie. Minnie stooped down, took some files and rushed out through the door. 

She was in a long corridor which stretched as far as the eyes could see on both sides. It was lit by yellow lights at regular intervals.

Suddenly, the lights turned red in color and alarms blared throughout the corridor. 

Minnie turned to the right and started running at top speed,  clutching those files tight.

She could hear the sound of approaching footsteps amidst the shrill of the blaring alarm and her own ragged breathing. 

After what seemed like eternity and that her legs couldn't move anymore, Minnie spotted a door at the end of the corridor. On the top was a sign- "Exit" .

The corridor narrowed till the door, allowing not more than a single person. The door was her only escape from her predator.

But it was closing.

The alarm must have triggered a mechanism which could shut the exits.

As Minnie reached the door, it closed. Her heart throbbed rapidly. Sweat trickled down her body like water. She couldn't dare to turn back and watch the guard standing behind her, ready to take her back. 

Suddenly,  the doors swished open. Minnie didn't wait to consider that it could be a trap and ran through the doors only to be met by a blinding glare of light. 

She was in a place what looked like training grounds for army personnel. Surveillance posts,  high towers, strong searchlights sweeping over the entire area, which was fenced all around and the walls had electric wires on top which could toast you in milliseconds.

There was no escape. 

She looked at the files in her hand. The top green file was marked- "Subject - 35A".

She opened it. It was a medical report of tests carried out on a person.

Minnie was horrified to see the type of drugs used. Something at the bottom caught her eye. 

"Life expectancy of the subject- 19 years from birth".

She looked at the name of the subject on the top. 

"Subject 35A-Minnie Rai"

____________

"Minnie surely didn't realise that you were watching all her movements through the camera in the room", told Jenny. 

"Now we know, that we have someone with very strong powers who would eventually lead us to the whole group", said a man from the dark shadows of the projection room. 

"I am coming for all of you".

A/N :

Minnie's escape from the place,  a trap or part of something planned big? How will she escape from the place?  Who is the man and what does he want from all? Whom does he refer to as "all"?

To be Continued.