Slowly Drowning (Under Construction)

Chapter 11

The inside is covered in buttons and levers, the seats placed by each other that are more cushiony than I knew was possible, the hatch left just the right amount of space above me.

"I've never flown it before. I'm waiting till I can get out of this place." She looks down. "I'm sixteen and I've spent ten years here."

"Really? You were taken when you were six? That's outrageous. Is that why they trust you?" I look at her in the eyes. I can see the same hurt, lost, and vulnerable person that I saw in me.

"They have let me out before. They said when I was seventeen they would let me out and one other person out for good." There's a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes then it's gone. "I don't know if I believe them."

"Why? They promised you didn't they?" I look at her sullen eyes.

"They promised a lot of people only a few got out. Not many." She opens the hatch and gets out, I follow. She looks at a clock. "We should probably go. It's almost time to go back." She takes me back to my cell then walks off in her own direction. Austin, or 905, is standing in front of me waving his hand in front of my face.

"Rayne. Are you ok?" He stares at me worried.

"Yeah. I just spaced out for a second."

He looks at me like he doesn't believe me. "Ok, follow me." As we are walking down the hall I notice that almost everyone is staring at me and Austin.

I walk closer to him. "Why are they all staring at us?"

"Because this is the way to the confinement facility and nurse. You are clearly not hurt but you not in cuffs, they are curious." I know he's hiding something. "In here." He opens a heavy steel door that scrapes the ground as it moves.

"I-I don't want to. What is that place?"

"Please just go into the room. I won't hurt you." Me and everyone else watch him with weary eyes.

I nod silently and walk into the dark room. I hear the door scrape the cement ground as it closes with a thud. The lights flicker on, going from pitch black to heavenly bright light and blinding me. I wince and look around the room. "It's an old surgery room."

"Yes." He rubs his arm with an alcohol pad. "Your going to get this thing out of me and we are going to escape." He walks over to a table and drapes a towel over it. "How do you know how to do this?"

"I took a few classes in college but then dropped out." I grab a scalpel, scissors, gauze, and stitching thread. "There's no numbing stuff or anesthesia."

"It's ok, I'll just bite down on a piece of cloth." I place the scalpel on the surface of his skin but can't bring myself to cut it. "Do it, please." A single tear slithers it's way down his cheek. I nod and slide the scalpel down his arm. I try not to pay attention to his cries muffled by the strip of blue cloth dangling from his mouth.

After an hour of careful precision to not cut an important vein or artery I finally get it all out and stitched. Austin sits up. "What happened?"

"You passed out about halfway and I put you on blood. Right now I'm trying to take this thing apart but it's not working out too well." He tries to step down off the table. I run over and push him back down. "You lost a lot of blood. You need to rest." I hand him a ham and cheese sandwich. "Eat." He takes it and slowly eats it.

"I need to report for work."

"How are you going to explain the red, puffy cut on your arm?" I smile at myself as I continue to try to tear apart the mechanism.