Inexplicable

10. Aiden

The streets of Northern California are worse. Sick, dying people roam the streets coughing and hacking. The government has no interest in trying to actually help their own citizens. A lost cause in their eyes. So, they removed all sanitation stations and just wait for everyone to just die. I try to take as much precaution as I can. I'm wearing a black mask that covers my nose and mouth. My hair is tucked into a black cap, and my hands are in blue, latex gloves, matching the color of my eyes, or one of them at least, but there's only so much extra layers can do.
A young girl, half my size, strolls past me. She has dark brown hair and a toothless smile. She reminds me of Elle.
Elle, a child that was only 7 or 8. Elle, a child, that was capable of knowing the difference between right and wrong, and instead of freeing me from the hellhole laboratory, she walked away, knowing my fate. Because of her, I killed. She ruined any chance of true happiness, or even survival, I thought I had at only the age of nine.
I shake my head. I shouldn't be thinking about the past when there's nothing I can do to change it, no matter how much I wish I could.
The sound of an airplane taking off pulls me out of my head. The transparent plane blends in with the gray sky.
"Hey! Aiden!" Rolland is jogging up to me with his blonde curls bouncing with him. He stops in front of me.
"I didn't think you'd make it." His brown eyes level with mine.
I met him a couple months after I escaped. He's been the closest thing I've had to a friend, not that I want any. He's been following me around, and saying how he's going to help me exploit the government for what they really are, starting with the human subjects.
"Wouldn't miss a chance like this." I smile under my mask. His face lights with mischief.
"Come on." He leads the way through the dark, disgusting allies that inhabit most of Northern California. There's not many buildings here, unlike South California. But, there is one that lies in the center of the region. Rolland climbs up the wooden steps in the mediocre building. The walls were once red brick, but now are covered with ivy and grime. The stairs are covered in mold and look ready to break at any moment.
"I think these stairs will kill us before the government does." Who actually makes wooden stairs? Rolland doesn't respond but continues up two flights. He stops at a rusty metal door with 7Z imprinted next to it. This place must've been made for the poor, hence the various materials and scraps. A building made from a junk yard. Great.
"Home sweet home." He grins. I start towards the door, but he stops me. "Wha-?"
"Watch." He places his hand on a brick on the right of the door. A red light scans the palm of his hand and the door opens. Only officials and SZ's have access to locks like these. What is this place?
"Welcome to the Crate." he pushes me in. I take off my mask to make sure I'm seeing right. There are six sets of eyes staring at me. Two girls and four boys. I can see why they call it the Crate. There are tons of computers and weapons stored all around the area. The main room is huge. There is one long, black screen on the wall to my left with plush, embroidered couches in front of it. The lighting is bright, allowing me to see the impossibly high ceilings. I look back to the people. They don't seem to pay attention to me anymore. Each person seems to be doing their own thing.
I look back at Rolland behind me. "What is this?"
"This, is what I've been doing for the past week, while you were off with some girl."
Sadie. How does he know about her?
"Well I'm here now." I take another look around. "How the hell did you pull this off?"
He grins again. "It was simple. I looked for people like us. Handsome, funn-"
"I'm serious."
"Okay. Calm down, mate. But, yeah, I found people who had suffered like us. I bought this place from an ex-militant that was drunk enough to actually believe I was an SZ. Only four hundred points!" He laughs to himself. "Then I did the normal. You know, I stalked- I mean observed, the scientists who put us through hell and devised a plan. And I have to say, it has an almost guarantee of working." He lifts his chin, proud of something that hasn't even happened yet.
"Chief, you wanted to see us?" A tall girl with light brown skin walks up to Rolland.
"You make them call you chief?" The thought of it makes me laugh. He shrugs. The six people stand in a circle around Rolland. The guy next to me is twice my size and is covered in tattoos. I have to look up to see his face and it makes me flinch. He only has one ear and a crooked nose. His bald head shares similar tattoos to the ones on his arms. Rolland clears his throat.
"So, the plan starts with getting the records from the experiments, and to do that we have to break into a house."
The big guy scoffs. "That's it?"
Rolland stands taller. "We have to break into the house, of Dr.Elias."
Big guy goes quiet.