The Escape

Chapter 4

Indecipherable visions float above. I can see swirling colours in various shades of purple, blue and violet. The sound coming from the distance has receded into the background as if from far away nestled in the corners of the forest. Luminous sparks shower the night above the trees. Warning flares decorate the sky. Each rocket splays across the air above in an enigmatic display of bright lights and sparks. The next few days pass by in a blur. I flit in and out of consciousness shifting between the boundaries of dream and reality. Day fuses with night. Time ceases to exist. Among the collection of unintelligible memories and images emerging from the depths of my past, doctors appear and fade as an overwhelming fug of tranquilisers and barbiturates send me back into a comatose. Reality no longer exists beyond the reaches of what I experience. An empty room waits. I’m still confused. Can’t be sure of what day it is. It could be winter. I’ve seen the sun set on the horizon, the evening sky darken as it sunk into the ocean. Listen to birdsong fill the morning air as I slept underneath the protection of bed sheets and drugs. Day, time or place remains uncertain. The world beyond my imagination may or may not be real. What I experience could in effect be the life of another man. Without consciousness there is only a brief shifting between fiction and reality.

I can hear people talking nearby. As if they are on the periphery of my dream. I fight to stay awake, battling the effects of the drugs administered earlier that morning. Keeping my eyes open proves too much of a challenge. I listen carefully, straining to hear what they say. Muscles remain pinned to the mattress. I’m trapped by this paralysis beneath the sheets of my hospital bed. I am only beginning to learn what my reason for being here truly is.

‘Have you got the files?’ a man asks.

‘Have them right here. What do you need these for anyway? It’s not as if he’s going anywhere.’

‘We can’t take any risks. He’s too much of a threat.’

‘What if someone notices?’

‘No-one will notice. He came here alone, he leaves here alone.’

‘But what if someone does? It’s not as if he’s exactly unnoticeable. He’s one of the leaders for God sake.’

A brief silence ensues. I can hear the dull hum of machines in the background. A metronomic beep resonates about the room. Their breaths are barely audible above the constant thrumming of medical equipment working at my bedside. I would give anything to see what they are doing.

‘Look. If we’re going to do this we’ve got to do this right. There’s no point stalling any longer.’

‘What about the guards?’

‘Never mind them. There’s always alternatives. We have to act quick. You have the equipment?’

‘Have it right here.’

I can’t be sure if I’m still dreaming. This episode could be an effect from the drugs. This feels too real to be a dream.

‘We can’t do this. What if my suspicions are right? What then?’

‘Then we follow the procedure as planned. Take no notice.’

I can hear a faint scuffle. Velcro being ripped apart. My breath quickens. I’m fighting to stay awake. The potent solutions running through my veins begin to take hold.

‘Take his arm,’ one the men whispers.

‘I can’t. Stick to the plan. Remember, as we agreed.’

I can feel cold fingers wrap around my bicep.

‘What if someone sees us?’

‘They won’t. Wrap him in the blanket. He’s out cold. He’s in a coma for Christ sake.’