Genesis

Chapter Thirteen

Getting in to Glenn was easier than he imagined. The sewers had not been blocked off and he found it quite simple to lift up the manhole. Ryo hoped that he wasn't being lulled into a safe sense of security.
He pressed himself against a building and eyed the hospital across the street. There were no windows with light, but that didn't mean that no one was there.
He crossed the street wearily and found his way towards a back door of the hospital.
Ryo looked around. No cameras moved. No alarms. Nothing.
He opened the door with a lock pick and snuck inside.
Quickly, he ducked behind the front desk as a camera swiveled towards him. It stopped just short before powering off and facing its lens towards the floor.
"What." Ryo crawled to one end of the desk and poked his head out. All other cameras had been disabled as well, and he knew certainly well that it wasn't his doing. The stair case was just to his right. He could reach the doors easily, but he wasn't sure if the cameras would suddenly turn back on and point at him.
He took a leap of faith and bounded towards the doors. They swung open to reveal the same stairs he had raced down with Genesis before.
No cameras had moved.
He took a deep breath in and clung to the railing of the stairs. He made sure to not make any sound as he made his way downstairs.
3 floors below ground. That's where Genesis is.
He took another deep breath before quietly pushing open the door. Again, no cameras, or they were all pointing towards the floor.
Ryo knew something was up. It couldn't be this easy.
The lab door he entered before was unlocked. The only light in the room was a little lamp by a computer. Ryo adjusted the bag on his shoulder. He was uneasy now.
"What if they knew he was coming?" He still had the ID card he stole from before. He swiped it on the card reader and the door to Genesis's room slid open.
There was no light. Even the massive digital window was turned off.
"Genesis?" Ryo whispered. He took a few steps forward in the darkness.
The door behind him slid closed. Ryo turned quickly, but he could barely see anything.
Someone grabbed him from behind and he was shoved to the floor. His cheek pressed against the cold tile. His arms were pulled behind his back.
Then, there was a small crunch as Ryo's head was pushed down hard by someone's foot. That's all he remembered before blacking out.
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Genesis woke up in the infirmary. Or what passes for the infirmary. Her entire body ached when she tried to turn. She felt her side and realized that she had a large bandage wrapped around the entirety of her stomach, and she had on her short camisole top and bloomers.
Genesis forced herself to sit up, a stinging pain in her side. She swung her legs over the edge of the hospital bed. No one else was in the room. No doctors, not even her 'father'. She pushed herself up off the bed and balanced. A pain shot up her side. She sucked in her breath, but still managed to make her way over to the hallway door.
She found herself reaching for the door keypad.
She had to find Ryo. Ryo. Ryo had actually come for her.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat.
Genesis thought for a second before typing in the reset code which she had been studying doctors enter for weeks now.
The door slid open with a satisfying thunk.
She lumbered down the hall. Her side burned with every step.
The door to Ryo's room was open, and there he was. Fastened to a chair in the middle of the room.
It's probably a trap. Genesis thought to herself, but it was Ryo.  It was really Ryo.
Genesis rushed to his side. Her pain seemed numb to her now as she held his head up in her hands.
"Ryo? Ryo? Are you okay?" She held her breath.
"Genesis?" Ryo opened his eyes and his regular sly smile spread across his face. "I knew I'd find you."
"Well. Actually it was I who found you." Genesis laughed. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. She rubbed Her thumb along Ryo's face making sure not to hurt his bruises.
All of a sudden, she heard the lock of the door behind her, and a light switched on to reveal her father behind a lab window.
"And what's your plan now Genesis?" Her father paced. "I raised you, took care of you. After your mother died I felt obligated to carry out the work she would have wanted. That she designed. Now, you think you can just turn around and leave? The world needs you Genesis."
"No it doesn't. In some ways it might be better off without me."
"We need you, here. For the greater good. To help the world. We are so close-"Genesis got up from the ground and faced the window.
"I would never help you. I never wanted to help you."
"You already have. All the cities are building their armies waiting for the day when we can march across the entirety of the wasteland, and rebuild with only the purest blood and finest materials."
"You would slaughter thousands of innocents?! Just for what!"
"Control." Mr. Abbott snapped.
"Isn't that what you already have though?"
"We can't control wastelanders, they don't listen! But they will. As they watch each other get stripped to pieces they will beg for mercy! For our forgiveness!" Ryo grabbed ahold of Genesis's hand which was leaned against the side of his chair. She curled her fingers in his, and found new strength. New hope.
"You can't control them without me." Genesis snapped.
"If you're so bent on getting out. I'll have you know that we are nothing if not persistent, and we can always find a way. We've been studying what makes you so different from every other subject we've had for a while now."
"And what is that?" Genesis mocked.
"You carry an immunity to the disease which travels through the wasteland."
"An immunity? Wouldn't everyone in the city have an immunity then as well?" Genesis questioned.
"No. We simply just have medicine to make it go away. Your mother must have had this immunity. Or perhaps your father. If I ever knew who he was." Mr. Abbott stopped pacing and faced the window with a wicked smile. Genesis turned around to look at Ryo. He was hurt, but Genesis knew that he was listening intently.
"So then what?" Genesis snapped her attention back to the window. Her father chuckled.
"We take what samples we have of your DNA, blood, anything and everything that we can use. Eventually we won't need you."
"But you do. At the moment you don't want me to leave or your plans will go down the drain." A sly smile spread across Mr. Abbotts face.
"It won't take much to convince you to stay." He motioned behind Genesis to Ryo.
He was now stuck in this mess too, and if there was one thing Genesis knew about her family, its that once they have the right pieces, they will win any game.
"Fine."
"Genesis." Ryo spoke up. "You don't need to do this." His fingers held tighter to hers.
"I do. I don't want to see anyone else hurt anymore. I don't want to see you hurt." Genesis looked down at Ryo. For once it was such a change. She was not weak or afraid. She was sure of herself and strong. She had held on to hope for so long, she didn't want to abandon it now.
"I have one condition though." Her attention snapped back to the window. "You won't kill or hurt anyone from Viowood, including Ryo. If you do, then the deals off and I will find a way to destroy what you've created, or destroy you." Genesis furrowed her brow.
"Deal." Mr. Abbott grinned.
The door unlocked and slid open. Genesis didn't want to let go of Ryo's hand. She knew that this could be the last time she ever saw him.
The doctors had to pull her away from Ryo's grasp. The only thing she had left to hold onto now, was hope.