The Project

Chapter Forty: My Control

I looked between our group and noticed someone missing. "DaN?" Tyler tapped my shoulder, pointing at him struggling his way toward the group of guards. "DaN? WhAt ThE hElL ArE yOu DoInG?!" 

He looked back at me, his face dripping with sweat and emotionless. One of them snorted with laughter. A man with a white lab coat pushed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of us, looking us up and down. He scrunched up his nose.

"Vell.. Dear test subject," He pushed his glasses back onto his face, smiling at me. I snarled at the name and curled my hands into fists. "Ah, ah, ah!" He shook his finger in front of my face and I snapped at it, missing it by centimeters as he jerked away from me.

"No need to get testy, you... you savage!" He cleared his throat, some of the guards shifting their weight, getting incredibly impatient. "Now," He put his hands on Dan, squeezing his shoulders and shaking him a bit while he stood stock still.

"Zhis.. glorious creation, doesn't HAVE free vill." He snorted again, doubling over with obnoxious laughter. "Your friend is as much of a pawn to me as zhese goons are!" He waved his arms around the room of soldiers.

"Dan here, responds to my voice and my voice only. I vill demonstrate." He turned Dan around with great effort, huffing and puffing from the amount of energy he exhausted to do so. My right eye started to twitch as I resisted the urge to punch this nerd in the face.

After all, he holds our friends life in his hands. "Dan," He hummed, eyeing me. He stepped back into the middle of the hall, between us and the guards. "Bring me Mr. Mcloughlin." As soon as those words left his mouth, Dan's hands clamped onto my forearms, making me wince.

"Gently now, don't vant to ruin zhe poor man, do ve?" Dan loosened his grip on my arms, tugging me to the science nerd and positioning me in front of him. The nerd made a face at Dan standing right next to me.

He waved at him, "Be gone, brute." Dan obliged, filing in next to the first line of guards. The nerd smiled at me, tracing me with his eyes. He started circling me, kicking me every so often and whispering under his breath. He stopped in front of me after a good minute and a half.

He raised an eyebrow at me, sticking out his bottom lip and nodding thoughtfully.

I had had enough. I growled, barring my teeth at him. He flinched back, throwing up his arms to protect his face. "Pleasedontkillme!" I crossed my arms, looking down at him as he cowered in front of me. After a few seconds he popped his head out to look at me. 

He scrambled back upright, dusting off his lab coat and clearing his throat. "I'm DoNe MeSsInG ArOuNd. YoU'vE gOt My FrIeNd AnD I wAnT hIm BaCk." The scientist nodded, backing up into the safety of his guards. 

Someone coughed behind me, startling me. "Our friend!" Tyler put in. I almost forgot they were here. I nodded. "YeS. OuR fRiEnD." The scientist smiled and rubbed his hands together. "You may have your friend back.." 

Dark spoke up, groaning. "I never said he was my friend.." I ignored him, turning back to the scientist. "On one condition." Of course.. I rolled my eyes. "-AnD tHaT iS?" 

"You participate in a game.. Of chase!" The scientist snickered, covering his mouth. After a few seconds of him laughing, he stopped and looked around at the guards. "I said.. A game, OF CHASE!" 

Our group took that as an opportunity to run past them, through the doors to the outside world. Which turned out to be just another hallway.. except this side of the building had power. 

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Dark tripped, slipping on a fallen piece of paper. They're gaining on us. I turned back, helping him up. "I'm not handicapped you know!" I rolled my eyes at him. "I wOuLdN't HaVe HeLpEd YoU iF yOu WeReN't UsEfUl!"

"So you admit that I'm useful?!" Dark's laughter echoed down the hallway, papers floating back to their place on the floor from where we flew by. "Guys! Stop your arguing and focus and running from the giant firefly!" The giant firefl-

My question was answered when I made the mistake of looking behind me. Dan was barreling toward us at full speed, his eyes glowing with fury. I sped up, passing everyone and turning left down another corridor. I'm getting sick of hallways..

After what seemed like hours of corridor after corridor.. we finally ran out of juice to run. I slowed to a stop, trying to catch my breath. "I tHiNk.. We LoSt ThEm." Tyler collapsed to the floor, completely exhausted from the run. "Jack.. How can you-" He took a deep breath, holding up a finger for me to wait.

"H-How can.. run so f-fast?" 

"WhEn ThE tHrEaT oF iMpEnDiNg DoOm CoMeS bArReLiNg tOwArD yOu At FuLl SpEeD.. yOu LeArN tO aDaPt." He nodded, his head lolling to the side as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Ethan sat next to Tyler, patting him on the back. 

"-And I thought your years of being a cough potato would pay off someday.." Tyler glared at Ethan, punching him in the shoulder. Ethan winced, rubbing his arm. Dark rolled his eyes and turned away, crossing his arms.

"I think what Dark is trying to say is.. we need to keep mov-" A sound like glass shattering stopped Felix midsentence. I almost forgot him and Marzia were here.. "WhAt-" Felix pointed to a door. "I think it's coming from over there!"

I grabbed his arm before he could make a run for it. "I tHiNk It'S bEsT iF I gO fIrSt ThIs TiMe." I looked at all of them, narrowing my eyes. "-AnD dOn'T tOuCh AnYtHiNg!" They all nodded in unison and I opened the door, peering inside.