When The World Burned

Chapter 6

From her calculations, and a tally sheet, Rue was treated like a real prisoner for well over a week. Men in grey outfits escorted her wherever she went – cafeteria and the doctor's lab – and locked her back up in her room every time. It was starting to drive her insane, making her antsy and frustrated. She was using up all the paper at a steady pace, drawing the residents and other things.

What she drew most, though, was Kage.

It was day ten when there was an actual knock at the door. Turning, she found William walking into the room with his head tilted to the side. "Young Rue, your behavior has been well maintained it seems." He stated with a click of his tongue. "Dr. Charles has also made some progress with your blood. Would you like to join us in the observation room? She's going to test things out with one of our criminals."

Blinking, brows arching down with worry, she got up from the desk chair. "Criminals?" She murmured and slowly walked toward him. What could he mean by that?

"Yes, criminals." He answered and held the door open for her. "We do have those who disagree with the laws down here. They have been locked up deeper underground where punishment is usually done. Before you ask, Kage is not the one tolling out the punishment. He's too busy running around the surface for that."

After she stepped out of the room, he led the way down the many hallways and took her to a large elevator. Inside, he pulled a lever that dropped a gate. The elevator made a small jerk before moving downward, lowering slowly. Blue eyes gazed up at the numbers above the doorway, noticing only twelve of them in all. They were going down from level six, so she wondered what was on the floors above. Were they Kage's domain too?

When the elevator stopped, the President led Rue down a carpeted hallway to a window where a few other people stood. Almost all the older people were there along with a few younger residents. Everyone was gazing through the window, lined up together with curiosity. Stopping in the center, William had them part to the sides so that he and Rue could step up to the window and see everything.

On the other side of the glass was the doctor in a hazmat suit. She was standing over a man strapped down to the table, his pale face turning back and forth as he yelled out. "You bitch! It won't work! This won't work! You're insane!" He yelled it like a mantra, arms and legs trying to pull at straps holding him down. An IV was stuck in one of his arms already, a black-blue liquid being poured into him slowly. Instantly, the teenager knew that was her blood mixed with whatever concoction the doctor had added.

A horrible feeling sliced into Rue's stomach as she watched Elizabeth walking to the side. "I've had him on the IV for some time and filtered out his own blood. He is producing his own blue hued black blood now. It has been three days since he started this, but I'm seeing if he has developed a resistance to the radiation like our new guest." She explained with a wave of a gloved hand. "Shall we begin, President Stanfield?"

Leaning forward, the President pressed a small button next to a speaker. "Proceed, Dr. Charles."

Raising a hand to cover her mouth, Rue watched as the blond woman pulled a lever and the ventilation in the room shifted audibly with a loud scraping noise that sent chills down her spine. Shifting in discomfort, blue eyes going wide as she stared at the man, she could only watch as his pale skin began to redden and fester. Sores appeared, spreading like wildfire all over his skin. He screamed and thrashed on the table, trying to get free as pain engulfed his entire being. Turning his head, wide black eyes met the blue ones of the girl watching him.

She could see fear, see pain. He was begging her to end all of this.

"She's killing him." Rue choked out and turned away from the glass, heart pounding loudly in her ears. It was not loud enough to drown out the horrid screaming of the man being tortured by radiation. Of course, her blood would not help – her blood was a curse of genetics, a reminder that she was an abomination. Stepping away from the window, she went to the opposite side of the hallway and crouched down. Leaning forward, pressing her forehead to her knees, she hugged her stomach and let out a low whimper.

The screaming stopped soon after, but it was still too much for her.

It would haunt the girl forever.

~

Later, Rue found herself sitting in the President's office with her eyes gazing up at a map on the wall behind him. It was a blueprint of the entire bunker and it was big, almost too big for someone with her memory to keep track of. Leaning back in the plush red chair, she had both hands upon her lap, fingertips tapping together with her anxiety.

"What happened in there was a simple setback, young Rue." William stated with a twitch of his lips. "I do hope you understand that. It has been difficult these past sixteen years. The world is irradiated, and we are smart to assume it will not go away anytime soon."

"What if you can't fix your problem?" She asked, eyes falling to the floor. Mentally tracing the patterns and designs of the odd rug, she bit at her bottom lip. "Will you let me leave?"

"Leaving is not possible until we have a cure for this."

Her fingers stopped and pressed firmly together. "I can't be here." She whispered.

An unreadable emotion entered President Stanfield's yellow eyes. "It is dangerous up there, Rue. You cannot leave."

Standing, she stepped forward and slammed her hands on the desk between them. "I can't stay here!" She practically screamed.

He chuckled. "You are not leaving, young lady. We need your blood. I will not allow them to harm you, but..." Rising to his feet, the man stared the petite ombre haired girl down. "You are a gem that is resistant to the radiation. We know because we tested it out once you got here. Dr. Charles will do whatever it takes to find us a cure. You should feel pride in helping us."

She frowned. "No one would feel pride in helping someone that locks them up!"

"You are not locked up, though," He retorted with hands splayed out, palms up. "You are our special guest that will cure us." Settling his hand down upon the desk, he pressed down roughly. "You should rest tonight, and I shall have the doctor collect more blood in the morning."

Grey outfitted men stepped in and grabbed onto Rue. She gasped and thrashed, kicking out as they carried her out the door. "Let me go! LET ME GO!" She screamed out. They dragged her away, took her down the hallways and into the elevator. Inside that small space, she was held in place until they reached the desired floor, where she was roughly jerked by them, almost dislocating a shoulder as they shoved her into the small room she lived in now.

When the door slammed behind her, she jumped up and ran to it. Banging her fists on it, she screamed and screamed, tears spilling down her face. "Let me go! Let me go!" It was a repetition she could not stop as her hands became bloody, black-blue smearing on the door as she slid down to her knees. "Benjamin...help me...please..."

Pressing both hands to her face, she wept into the late hours of the night.