Daughter 4254

Chapter 26

The next morning was much the same as all the rest in corridor W. Lights on, a breakfast of protein and vegetable hash and bread slid into our cells. I dipped my finger in the meager supply of butter and smeared the cement wall with another mark - sixty days. I stared at the marks. I used to wonder how many more days I would be able to endure. This morning I no longer cared, my mind felt numb. But instead of apathy and defeat causing my lack of concern, a new feeling had sprouted from the seeds Thomas had planted in the night.

I didn’t know if my memories of last night had actually happened or not. I had experienced very real dreams in the past, dreams of being back at home, of being back at school. Even dreams where I was in the forest with Thomas just a few trees away from me and some how I could never get closer to him. But unlike those dreams, the feeling from this dream was lingering much longer, much more powerfully in my conscious day.

Plus the idea of actually seeing the sun and breathing clean air again, of possibly touching the grass.... it was too much to think about. There was still the chance of nothing happening today, of it being like every other day, only louder or more foul smelling.

I turned back to my plate but before I had choked down the nutrient rich concoction a strange sound filled the already loud corridor. Guards were coming.

“Back!” They were using clubs to pound the cells and shouting at the gawking prisoners who chronically hung their arms between the bars.

“Make room! Stand back!”

A strange swishing noise was accompanying the racket. I couldn’t imagine what it was, but as the procession drew nearer, I didn’t dare approach my door for fear of being hit and yelled at or worse, lumped in with the rest of the desperate crazies, starving for a glimpse of any kind of new scenery.

Still, I watched the door from my bed, eager not to miss the show, whatever it was. As the guards passed the crazy woman in the cell next to mine started to shriek crying, “No! Not yet! No!!! Devils! You can’t take me!!”

I steeled myself to see what might have set her off. The first guard passed and whacked the bars of my cell door just for good measure, which made me jump on my cot. But immediately following him a strange man with white hair and a beard walked passed. He was covered head to toe in some sort of golden robe that shimmered in the harsh prison light and swished and scraped when he walked making a sound almost like running water. Behind him I counted three more men. Each unique in face, but each dressed in the same robe with the same stark white hair and beard. There was another guard and then two more men in golden robes. At sight of the second to the last man I stood, dropping my tray with a clatter to the ground. I bolted to the door, but I was too late to see his face again. It didn’t matter. The image of his profile as it passed was lodged permanently in my brain and there was no doubt at all, Professor 789 was here in the prison with me.

The last guard stopped to bang on my neighbor’s cell and threaten her to stop screaming. I stepped back for a moment then returned to gawk after him once he’d left and she’d settled down to a low moan.

I couldn’t imagine what this might mean. He must know I was here as well. If he cared or not  was another matter entirely. It just seemed so strange to see him in this context. A man I had spent so much time hoping to find and then hating once I had. After having gone so long without seeing anyone I knew it seemed a cruel irony that he would be the first. Possibly the last.

I watched them walk the rest of the way down the long corridor then turn and disappear into a passage I hadn’t known was there. Thomas popped his head out at that moment too.

“Nice parade eh? I suppose they’re trying to scare the willy wills outta us.”

“Who was that?”

“Those, my dear, are the Wipers.”

“The Wipers?”

“Mind Wipers. You thought they did it with a nice little plink on the head? eh?”

“I didn’t know how they did it really, I mean, I guess I’d heard about some sort of hypnosis and machines?”

“Right O.” He clucked and winked at me before continuing. “They hooks ya up to the machine and then pushes the buttons and the boys in the shiny golden wash robe club beat your brain up with their own minds. They’re supposed to be trained in some sort of super human hypnosis.”

I thought of Marion, of her research. How she had said she had been trying to discover a more humane way of leading the minds of those to be wiped.

“Funny they should show up today right after we was promised some fresh air and leg stretchin’.” He looked at me then, no crooked smile, no hint of sarcasm. He just looked me in the eye and I knew that the night before had not been a dream. I couldn’t help but smile. Some how that brief moment, of his hand on mine in the dark - his lips on my fingers - had healed a piece of my heart. His talk of fate and faith, while hard to accept, was still warm in my mind and coupled with the phrase: what if?

I turned from him and bent to cleaned up the mess of my tray before the collectors made it to my cell. They had already started on the cells at the far end of the corridor.

It was only an hour or less after the passing of the Mind Wipers that the guards returned to make good on their promise of time out of doors. They took only four at a time and those who were deemed mentally unstable were bound at ankles and wrists with chains. The rest were merely shackled at the wrists with a lighter cuff. An announcement was made each time groups were traded, that any attempts at escape or defiance would result in immediate discipline by force. I noticed that all of the guards were armed today with what seemed to be larger versions of the device my Flora and Fauna teacher had carried for dealing with pests in our atriums. I shuttered to think what something like that might do to a human being.

Eventually my turn came around. I compliantly held out my arms to be chained and looked eagerly to see if Thomas would be included in my group of four. Upon first count I had realized we were off by one. But the guards next door were having trouble chaining the old woman and so decided that she would be too much of a bother an was probably not physically strong enough to be worth preserving anyway. They moved on to the next cell, Thomas’, where he presented himself with a grin like a cherub and walked out behind me, a smile spreading on my own face.

The walk to the out of doors was surprisingly short. We only turned two corners before I could see daylight streaming through a window in a door at the end of the corridor. A guard posted there pushed it open well before our arriving and a gust of cold winter air met my face. I looked at my guards and realized that they were much more adequately dressed for this sort of excursion. I had forgotten that the season was still cold outside. Somehow time had frozen for me on the outside once I’d been imprisoned. I expected to meet the beautiful colors of deciduous leaves and a fading, but still green grass on the ground. I was grateful to see that they had a box of soft, fur lined boots for our feet and jackets to drape over our shoulders in boxes next to the exit. I took mine gratefully and had to mentally check myself, so strong was my urge to skip over the threshold and spin out into the day.

We left the building behind us and found ourselves on what could only be described as a precipice. It was about fifty feet square. Behind us lay the prison, before us, sparse trees dotted the area that was covered in a light blanket of snow. Beyond that, a large drop off and a sharp mountain rise on the other side.

I breathed in heavily, trying to clear my lungs of the last few weeks of filth. I had to blink several times and shield my eyes from the sun reflecting on the snow. It was so bleak, and yet so glorious. I felt a sharp poke in the small of my back.

“Move.” A guard had his club out and was prodding me like a farm animal. “Orders are to keep you walking, make the most of this opportunity. You are to make a circle and walk the perimeter for the next half an hour and then back inside you go.”

We filed together obediently and started to walk. Thomas had given me a sly grin and nod when no one was looking. I felt my chest rise, but at the same time wished he wouldn't’ do that. I didn’t know what it meant. Did he have a plan right now or was he just teasing me, trying to keep my spirits up?

We filed along in silence and I eventually found myself thinking of the music I’d recorded. Our footsteps seemed to be in perfect rhythm with Spring which made me smile again. I wondered if it had played through the school enough times to cement it into the minds of the other students as it was cemented into my own.

We made two laps and as we came to the edge of the cliff for a third time I realized our time was at least halfway done. We were several steps from the edge but I could still see clearly that it was a long drop, at least 100 feet or more, to a large river far below. Craggy rocks and alpine trees dotted the cliff side, jutting out like arms and legs gone astray. I wondered if any animals lived among the rough and rocky terrain.

I was staring at the opposite side of the gorge, walking and humming in my mind, trying to get every breath of good air I could when a familiar sound broke my reverie. A chirping chime, a melody from another life. I whirled to catch a glimpse of the little yellow creature I knew had followed me here. My heart was bounding out of my chest. The guards started to yell at me to keep moving and turn around, but I kept searching and there was no bird. There was no yellow. I met Thomas’ gaze then and he smiled his wicked smile, pursed his lips and let go of a chirping chime himself. I stared at him in amazement, how had he copied the song bird so perfectly. He winked at me then as the guards grew more angry and started to march towards us, Their weapons were out now. Thomas took two steps towards me, close enough that the white fog of his breath was hitting my face now. And close enough for me to see that he had picked the locks of his chains with his little metal key.

“It’s time to go Imani me love.” He leaned in and kissed me quickly on the lips. I was so shocked it took me a moment to reach out and grab for him, I wanted to hold him in my arms. I wanted the kiss to last forever. But he had already bolted to the left, and the guards were coming from the right. I watched in horror as Thomas took three running steps and jumped off the edge of the cliff. I started after him crying out, “No! Thomas!!”

I knew he had wanted me to follow, but how could I? How could I? What was he thinking? That fate would carry him over the boulders and past the river? Or was he just not willing to give the government his body and lose himself in the process. The guards were almost on me, I had to choose. I took one more deep breath and before they could reach me I started to charge the edge after him. We knew what lay behind us. Maybe death would be better.

I was almost there, I hesitated one more time, fear gripping my every muscle, freezing them in place, and that’s when I was hit. Something like a fist pounded into my back and I was paralyzed. I couldn’t even breath, all the air was frozen like bricks in my lungs. My eyes were stuck open and I felt myself fall backwards hitting the snowy ground like a fallen tree. I couldn’t cry out. The pain was excruciating, not only my body, but my heart was wracked with pain. Why did I hesitate? Where was he?

I heard guards hollering back and forth. I saw them rush past me with draw guns. Actual guns like in our history texts. I hadn’t noticed them before, I’d thought they were outlawed. Then they were firing, loud cracks shocked the mountain air and echoed off the surrounding ridges. More shouting. My vision started to blur, even without being able to blink the world started to grow black and my hearing warped and buzzed and finally all was gone.