After (#3)

Chapter One

Val peered into the room through a small, square window, as Max and Lizzie's peaceful chests rose up, and sank softly with every calm breath. They had been unconscious since their dramatic arrival, at first kept on a drip to rehydrate them, but for the past few hours they had been kept in a room once used to quarantine highly infectious patients.

The walls and interior were blindingly white, and clean to an obsessive standard. The grubby shoe prints left behind by the two occupant's soles bothered Val greatly, she liked everything just so, and would ensure that the room's integrity was restored as soon as Max and Lizzie were moved.

"How are we looking on that bloodwork?" Val asked the nearest white coat.

"I'll go and check right away ma'am!" the lab technician replied obediently, before pottering off in search of the results.

Val smiled and shook her head, people often misconstrued her direct approach as anger or aggression, but that wasn't the case, she just wasn't one to waste time beating around the bush. At the same time, she didn't want her people to be intimidated by her, but she would rather have an intimidated colony than a dead one.

"Okay, action stations people, looks like the little lady is waking up," Val announced, pressing her face slightly closer to the glass.  

Lizzie's eyes eased open groggily, immediately slamming shut once more as the alarmingly bright, white room flashed into focus.

"What the..."

She shielded her eyes from the worst of the glare and glanced around the room, her movements growing sharper and more agitated the more she saw.

"Max...Max!" she cried softly, roughly shaking her companion by the shoulders.

As Max began to stir, Lizzie leapt to her feet, tracing the four walls with both her eyes and her movement before settling firmly on the door. She ran towards the exit, her eyes now locked with Val's as she slammed her fist against the metal frame.

"Hey! Excuse me! Where the fuck are we? You need to let us out! There's been a mistake!"

Lizzie's thumps echoed around the room, but the face in the window never blinked, not so much as a flutter of a single eyelash.

Max had finally hauled himself to his feet, battling his own hazy mind as well as the dire situation they found themselves in. Just as Max appeared next to her shoulder, weighing in with all the hollering and pounding of the door, Lizzie stumbled backwards.

She could feel her chest tightening and it was becoming harder and harder for her to breath properly. It felt as if the four walls were slowly edging in, with the promise of crushing her to death in the centre of the room.

"Max..." she wheezed.

He swivelled instantly, spotting Lizzie on a crumbled heap on the floor.

"Shit," he exclaimed, as he leapt down next to her, rubbing her back in a panicked attempt to ease her breathing. "Look! Look what you're doing to her!" he screamed.

For the first time, Val's cool demeanour buckled, as she urgently reached for the button to control the Tannoy.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked with a mix of concern and suspicion.

"She's claustrophobic for God's sake!" Max barked, while desperately urging Lizzie to steady her breaths.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She might be, if you'd open that fucking door! I thought this place was meant to be the damn safe haven!"

"We prefer Novus, but I'm afraid that it's that very door that is keeping our haven 'safe'," Val explained, keeping a steady eye on Lizzie's condition. If the girl showed no sign of improvement, Val wouldn't hesitate to open the door, but it had to be a last resort, risks got people killed.