OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

Saturday Night's Alright, For Fighting

She moved decisively and knelt over Olivia to couple her wrists and wound the cords around them. Meg's usually mild demeanor had been replaced with a laser-focus driven by the betrayal she felt.

She wasn't angry with Olivia, it didn't take a genius to know that Olivia's quick temper and desperate need to be the smartest woman in the room, was easily exploitable. It was her own eyes that had deceived Meg.

She'd allowed the momentary kindness Olivia had shown her to taint what was right in front of her nose. Meg tugged harder at the wire until the bulging edges of Olivia's skin turned a fiery purple, then, got up.

Harrison watched, completely staggered. Meg scurried over and began working her nimble fingers around the buckles holding him captive.

With a groan of satisfaction, he rubbed his free wrists and stretched upwards to tower over Meg. Her eyes were inscrutable before they flickered away, evaluating their best escape route.

When she brought her gaze back to him, he said one of the few phrases he remembered with his hands.

Thank you, he mimed by bringing his hand to his chin and moving it back down in a gentle arc.

"You're welcome." She replied solemnly and out loud for his benefit. "We need to get out of here, the fastest way is to the left."

"Two more are guarding the floor." Harrison shook his head in defeat. "The rest are all over looking for you."

"Then we invite them in." She told him, grabbing the candle Olivia had somehow smuggled in and tossed it on the bed.

Flames shot to life on the fibers of the woven blanket covering the cot and climbed toward the ceiling.

A dull popping from overhead startled Harrison into a defensive crouch, but Meg already knew what was coming. Spigots ejected from their hidden shells to spray a fine mist of water, soaking everything in the room to quell the fire.

Thick smoke billowed out, mixing with the sprinkler systems wailing siren, making a baffling situation for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the room.

Meg nodded to Harrison before they disappeared into the fog, readying their attack. He crept for the door, staying as low to the ground as he could get, while she did the same, the knife securely gripped in her good hand.

First to come was a bot investigating the source of the fire alarm, Harrison ripped the head off its shoulders with a satisfied grunt, shoving it aside. Voices followed, echoing up the hall.

Harrison could see the ghost of Meg's shadow as she flattened up against the wall to the left of the door. She motioned for him to get ready as Sarah and Maya barreled through to see what had happened.

Harrison cocked a fist, pummeling one of the women in the jaw. Sarah's bone cracked like glass. Harrison scraped his knuckles on her exposed teeth in the process.

Sarah toppled over, taking Maya down with her.

Harrison snatched up the plasma gun that bounced and skidded away from the moaning heap of limbs on the floor.

One of the women was holding her jaw as globules of blood pooled between her fingers, she was screaming something, but Meg couldn't care less. She flew into action, winding the longest wire she had left around their torsos.

Smoke was escaping out the door, clearing the room to reveal Olivia's body a few feet away. The women were mouthing terrible threats as they bawled in vain at their captor. Meg ignored the flying spittle and blood to make sure her knots were tight.

Harrison grabbed Meg's hand and they fled, shoving the door closed behind them.

"The others are being held on this floor." She told Harrison, not bothering to sign as she ran. "We can go this way."

Their feet pounded down the hallway following the trail of dried bloody prints, tracked only minutes ago. It was not a difficult task to find the room where their friends were being held.

"I don't suppose you've got a plan?" Harrison consulted Meg, quirking up an eyebrow and hoisting the plasma gun up to cross his chest.

"Rescue the others." Meg shrugged feeling the ridges of the knife's handle in her unharmed hand.

"Right." Harrison pumping his head up and down to inflate his confidence. "Good plan."

"Go!" Meg encouraged him, her eyes turning to molten steel.

Harrison sucked in a deep breath as Meg heaved to retract the door. With a primal howling sound he barreled inside, brandishing the plasma gun back and forth.

Big Joe and Arturo's eyes widened in shock as Harrison came to a screeching halt in the middle of the conference room. Their friends, who were supposedly being held hostage, were alone, tied to chairs, and very confused.

"Why are you yelling?" Big Joe asked, cocking his head and making the teeny chair under him moan.

"Why are you in here alone?" Harrison cried.

"Those women heard the alarm and went to investigate," Arturo answered.

"Where is Midge?" Meg asked hurriedly scanning the room.

"Midge is..." Arturo's voice trailed off.

"Gone." Big Joe supplied, hanging his head to evoke another dangerous squeak from the chair.

Meg's heart rate slowed to a dull pulse that thundered in her head. A familiar lump obstructed her throat and she attempted to swallow the sob that lurched from her chest.

"How did you get away?" Arturo whispered through gathering tears.

"Thank the quick thinking arsonist here." Harrison cocked his head in Meg's direction, but she did not see the awed stares that followed.

Harrison jumped into action, untying Big Joe first. "Olivia pulled me aside to give me some sanctimonious speech about how she and the other Sirens, oh, that's their code name by the way."

"Sirens?" Big Joe tried to contain his rolls of laughter as he relieved the chair of its burden.

"What else did she say?" Arturo probed while Harrison worked on his knots.

Meg kept watch at the door, peeking around the frame to see any movement. Her head volleyed back and forth from the conversation on the lips of her friends in the room to their only escape route.

"She was going to rape me," Harrison announced. "Seriously, she said she wanted to use my sperm to carry on my legacy as they rebuilt a more perfect society or some shit like that."

"How do you always manage to attract the craziest women?" Big Joe hooted this time, clapping a free hand over his mouth to stifle the sound.

"Please, what else did she say?" Arturo beseeched, wriggling as the rope around his waist slacked.

"Oh, I'm fine by the way. I stopped her before she could ravage my body and create a spite-baby." Harrison informed Arturo in a huff. "She was yacking on about Coeuss being some sort of digital profit who's going to kill us all. There! You're free!"

As soon as their bindings were discarded, Big Joe swooped Arturo up in his arms. Harrison took the lead, making sure to have Meg at his side so they knew where they were going.

"We need to go back the other way," Harrison told them. "My ship's back there."

"We can not use the ship," Meg told him solemnly. "We're locked out of the system. The hatch won't open without a code. We have to take the escape pods, it's the only way off Arc City Two."