The Only

CH 14

I paced the floor of our room, trying to come up with an escape plan. Jesse kicked the window twice, without luck.

I punched the button for the door one more time, knowing that it wouldn't open. "Come help me with the window," Jesse called.

"What's the point? Even if by some miracle we manage to open the window, it's miles to the surface. We could never make it." I mumbled. "You would think I've watched enough McGuiver to know how to escape from these things." I punched the wall, then slid down and put my head in my hands.

Jesse crouched down in front of me and lifted my chin. "We're getting out of here." he said, matter-of-factly.

At that moment, the door slid open and a pawn in a white lab coat stepped in. Jesse wasted no time in standing up and punching him in the stomach. When the doctor doubled over in pain, Jesse knocked heads with him with a sickening crack.

Jesse threw him into the room and stepped out into the hallway. I stood up and took the plasma pistol from the doctor's waistband and stepped into the hall with Jesse, locking the door behind me. I fired the pistol at the two doctors running toward us and hit them both.

Jesse pulled me in the other direction, away from the sick bay. We turned twice before we ran into Timmy. "Come on, Tim. Let's go," Jesse said, walking past Timmy.

Timmy grabbed Jesse by the arm and twisted it. "No. You're not."

Jesse turned and punched him with his left hand, impacting with his nose, leaving a bloody mess. Timmy pulled something long and shiny from his back pocket and slammed it into Jesse's side. I fired the pistol once and missed over Timmy's shoulder.

He dropped Jesse at my feet and moved toward me, bloody knife in hand. He tried to slam it into my shoulder, but I was faster. I kicked the knife out of his hand and sent it flying far out of his reach. He threw a punch, but I ducked and weaved out of the way. He brought his foot up and kicked the back of my knee, causing me to fall on my face. He kicked my side once, twice, and I felt my ribs cracking in protest.

I grabbed his ankle and pulled him down. His head bounced off the ground like a basketball and I prayed to a god I didn't believe in that he wasn't dead.

I picked up the pistol and the bloody knife and shoved them both in my waistband. Then I helped a barely conscious Jesse to his feet and pulled him down the corridors, turning three more times until we came to the room with the circle of light in the center. I shoved him toward the circle and ran to the computer in the corner.

I didn't understand the labels on any of the buttons, all labeled with a language similar to Chinese. I saw a button going red and took a leap of faith. I pushed the button with all the hope I had, and ran to the center of the circle.

I closed my eyes and felt my molecules separating once again.