PANIC ROOM II

Seven

"This makes no sense." Mike paces staring at my hair. The brand was burned so hard into my skull, the blood covering my head clumps around the hair follicles, which have been coloured light shade of cherry red, indistinguishable from the blood itself.

"So they only tell 020 about the virus and only spare her?" Lucas has returned from his guard.

"Whatever the reason is, it is not 020's fault. I don't want to hear anything different-" James says firmly.

"That judgement would have nothing to do with the fact you enjoyed sleeping next to her last night, would it, James?" Chris inquires sharply. James's ears flush pink.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm psychic, cunt, I know everything." Chris replies coolly.

"There's nothing weird about it. We're just friends." I add hastily. I eat my soup loudly to fill the deafening silence.

"She's traumatised, I'm an insomniac, it's basic maths-"

"It's cute alright, we get it!" Mark laughs, refreshing the atmosphere like perfume as others begin to laugh too.

"We need a plan to stop this thing. It'll kill us off like rabbits otherwise." Johnny says, the serious mood returning with his voice.

"It's simple," Chris spits out a chicken thigh bone, and begins to articulate the plan.

~

A deliberate coldness lingers between us on the silent slabs of stone. James and I lie, facing opposite walls. We don't know whether the disease is transmitted through the air yet, and besides James is already infected and I don't want to make things worse for him.

I can hear him breathing, but he isn't sleeping. My mind is in pieces, recounting fragmented memories and broken thoughts.

Why did Tommy react like that when he heard my name? Why was I chosen to be immune? What happened in the dream hearing? Is this my sentence for those unknown crimes?

I rise, sitting upright suddenly. No one stirs around me. I step over a series of slumbering candidates. Kun sits at the end, his back to me, guarding wearily, his chin resting on the hilt of his rifle.

"I'll take over if you want." I shrug, taking a seat next to him. He jumps slightly, but takes the offer gladly, handing over the torch. He removes his mask, revealing large bags under his intelligent eyes, reflecting like bruises under the low light.

He takes my place, facing the wall, and falling into a deep sleep almost instantaneously. I watch him enviously, wishing I could do the same.

I draw my sword and watch the steps in front of me, searching for a threat in the shadows. The bloodhounds won't fit on the stairs, the stone would merely crumble under their weight. And I doubt PANIC ROOM would let their small Fallen army get demolished by a group of candidates who have proved their ability to destroy the accursed creatures.

I feel this task is not based on monsters at all. It's merely a puzzle, to fuck with our heads. I can't help but link the disease to this strange never ending stairwell.

I shouldn't be protecting them from outside forces. But from each other. Trust is sparse as it is, and the little trust that exists sparks an outbreak of blood clots and retinal bleeding.

My previous thought of the link to the Black Death feels inexplicably wrong now. It's not a disease, it's a curse, something created by Panic Room to force us apart.

A muffled shout above. I jump up, sword ready. I shake the nearest body awake.

"I don't have the antidote!" Jacob mumbles in his sleep, cowering away as I shake his shoulders. He wakes up, discombobulated and confused.

"Guard the others. I'll be back."

He nods, still dazed and takes my place. I run up the steps, towards where the shout came from. As I begin to doubt whether it was a audio hallucination of Sam dying or genuine, a horrible sight meets my eyes.

Lucas is pinned to the wall by thick bonds, barbed wire pointing into the skin of his wrists and ankles, threatening to draw blood if he moves a single muscle.

A faceless creature appears in front of him, its grey back to me. I press myself against the wall, breathing shallowly. It unties Lucas's chains, allowing him to fall to the floor.

My sword scrapes loudly against the stone.

The creature whips around, goosebumps prickling over my whole body. It has my face. Silver features that match my own with precision. Its eyes are white, glistening with malice. It stares into my soul with its cruel eyes. Then it evaporates into thin air.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Don't know. It'll come back. Now help me save the kids." Lucas pants, grabbing my arm and running up the stairs, three at a time. Save the kids? My mind immediately shifts to Harry and the other youngsters. My blood runs cold.

But to my shameful relief, these kids are new. Two of them, no older than fourteen. A girl and a boy. Five Fallen surround them, slicing with their talons. A short girl slices a Fallen's torso, flecking blood onto the wall and floor.

But The Fallen reacts faster. Lucas and I run in, as The Fallen's talon severes her thin neck. The realisation doesn't register until her head hits the wall, a couple metres away from her body, which slumps, headless.

Candidate 036 was eliminated.

The boy moans mournfully, surrounded on all sides. The Fallen clamour around him. His hand is raised up, and blood flies from the Fallen's talons.

I sink back, the sight of his bloody hand seizing unwanted memories. Eric's bloody hand, his "SAINT" tattoo glowing.

But now, I have the chance to retry what I couldn't do before. I grab the boy's hand over the heads of The Fallen, and pull him through. Lucas stabs the first Fallen, which tumbles down the stairs, blood trailing behind.

I drag the boy the corner, defending him from four of The Fallen. I slit the throat of one, kicking the one behind me in the groin, down into the hole. Lucas stabs another's head from behind as one slips past.

In slow motion, the talon reaches for the boy's face. The tip pierces his eye. The boy howls with pain, as a gunshot echoes from behind me. Lucas pushes me against the wall, my face pressed into his neck, as the bullet strikes the Fallen's neck.