Ash Ketchum: The Prisoner Of Cell 25

Ch. 19 Serena's Arrival

The van drove through the night, and Serena slept for most of the ride, waking only when a voice came over the two-way radio up front or when the van stopped for gas. Serena was given no food and only a bottle of water that Marnie held for her to drink, purposely spilling a good portion of it down the front of Serena's shirt and jeans.

"Gross, you wet yourself," she said.

The ride was mostly through desert until early the next morning, when they came again into city traffic.

Around 2:00 pm. the van pulled into a driveway with a guard booth and a tall gate lined with razor wire. The driver rolled down his window and showed the guard a badge, and the gate opened. They drove around to the back of the building, where a large overhead garage door lifted, and the van pulled inside. When the overhead door had closed behind them, the men climbed out and one of them opened the side door. Marnie stepped out, then leaned against the van, stretching her legs. "Hurry this up. I have to pee."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," one of the men said. "Just stay close."

"What would you boys do without me?" she said. "Ain't it awful? Can't live with me, can't shoot me."

"Don't tempt me," one of them said.

One of the men undid the bands around Serena's feet and waist and pulled her forward. Serena ducked down as she stepped out of the van to the orange-yellow painted concrete floor of the garage. She was trembling with fear, and felt like her legs might give out on her.

"Cyrus says to take her into the infirmary to get checked out," the guard at the door said to the driver.

Marnie and one of the drivers took Serena inside the building and down a well-lit corridor to a room at the hall. The sign on the door said EXAM ROOM B. Upon their entrance, a tall woman with cropped yellow hair, thin-rimmed glasses, and wearing a white lab coat looked up from her desk.

  "This is Serena Yvonne?" she asked the man.

  "Yes. Sign here," he said, thrusting out a clipboard. The woman signed the document, then handed the clipboard back to the driver. "Muchas gracias," he said, and walked away.

   The doctor looked up at Serena. "So you're Serena."

   Serena swallowed. "Yes, ma'am. Where am I?"

  "I'll ask the questions," she said sharply. "You're in my office. I'm Dr. Parker, the resident physician at the Galactic Academy." The woman turned to Marnie. "Tell Miss Yvonne what will happen if she doesn't cooperate."

  "She knows," Marnie said. "Don't you?"

   Serena nodded.

   The doctor walked up to Serena and cut off her plastic cuffs with a pair of surgical scissors. Serena rubbed her wrists.

  "Thank you," Serena said.

  "Remove your clothes," the doctor said.

   For a moment Serena just stood there, then a sharp pain pierced her skull. "Stop! I'll do it," Serena said quickly.

   She undressed down to her underwear. She didn't know if they'd make her take everything off, but she wasn't going to until they made her. To her relief, they didn't.

  "Lay your clothes on the chair."

  "Yes, Ma'am."

   The doctor lifted a tablet computer from her desk. "Relax," she said in a tone that only made Serena more uncomfortable. "We're just giving you a routine physical examination to see how healthy you are. Step onto the scale."

Serena did as she was told. The doctor checked the the number on the scale and wrote on her pad. Most of what the doctor asked Serena to do was no different than when her mother took her to her own doctor for her annual physical, with one exception. She had Serena stand against the wall and grasp two chrome bars. Then the doctor put on a thick pair of sunglasses. "I'm going to ask Marnie to leave for a moment," she said. "Are you going to behave yourself? Or do I need to bring in a guard?"

"I'll behave, ma'am," Serena said, looking at the ground.

She nodded to Marnie. "Stay close."

"Okay." Marnie walked out of the room.

The doctor said to Serena, "This device tests your electrical pulse." Serena remained silent as the doctor attached sensors to Serena's body. After a moment the doctor explained, "The electric children have a secondary pulse. Actually, it's more like an EKG. I made Marnie leave because she distorts the readings."

When the doctor was done running the test, she punched a series of numbers into a machine that spit out a roll of paper. "I shouldn't be surprised by this," she said. "Your readings are identical to your sister's."

"I don't have a sister," Serena said.

The doctor looked at her with a peculiar smile but said nothing. She walked to her desk and pushed the talk button on the intercom. "Marnie, come in, please."

Marnie walked back into the exam room. Serena immediately recoiled with fear.

The woman gave Serena a thin cloth jumpsuit. "Put this on."

Serena stepped into it and zipped it up, noticing the plastic zipper and snaps.

"Marnie," the doctor said, "it's time for Miss Yvonne's interview. Take her to her cell."

884 words

Small chapter but hope you enjoyed it.

As the Journey Continues. . .