Till My Last Breath *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 18 - I Still Love Her

Thomas was the first to jump down from the vent, and he was followed by Aris, who shut the grate after him. Thomas looked down the pristine hallways and made sure Aris was ready before approaching the door and swiping the key-card through it. It beeped and flashed green as the doors slid open.

Beyond the door was a small, dark room. There was just enough deep blue light for Thomas and Aris to be able to see without squinting. Inside was pegs with biomedical suits hanging off of them. What could they be wearing them for?

A horrific sight caught Thomas's eye as he turned to his right. Rows of wide cylindrical tubes were filled with a liquid that most definitely wasn't water, and they held large bug-like creatures that were curled up, seeming undeveloped. Thomas knew exactly what they were the moment he laid eyes on them. Grievers. Or they were on their way to becoming Grievers.

Thomas and Aris continued through the next doors, and what they saw next was eerier than either of them dared to imagine. The room was much larger than the first one, and in ordered rows, people were strung up by a series of tubes, their feet several inches off of the ground. Thomas sucked in a breath at first glance, believing these people to be dead, but as he drew nearer, he saw that they didn't seem as colourless or as frail as a dead body appeared. For a moment, his mind flashed to seeing Chuck take his final breath, but he pushed it away, staying focused on what was in front of him.

Thomas almost thought he saw Allison hung up, but he remembered that her blonde hair was much longer than the girl he spotted.

Suddenly a set of dark locks caught his eye, and the name slipped off of his tongue before he could stop himself.

"Teresa?"

He approached her and slowly raised his hand to brush her hair out of her face, only to see that it wasn't Teresa. Just then, Aris came up beside him, staring at the girl with a crestfallen expression.

"It's Rachel. They took her the first night. I told her it was going to be okay," he said quietly.

The hiss of doors opening made Thomas's heart leap out of his chest. He and Aris both ran behind metal pillars, listening to the sound of footsteps.

"You sure this can't wait?"

Janson.

Thomas moved around the pillar as the footsteps drew nearer to avoid being seen.

"She was very specific, sir," said a man that Thomas didn't recognise. "She wanted to speak with you personally."

"As if I don't have enough to deal with," Janson grumbled.

"Just bear with me. I'm getting some interference from the storm."

Thomas leaned out to see what was happening. Janson and the man were standing at the end of the hallway by a mirror, or what Thomas thought was a mirror.

"Come on. It's good enough. Make the connection," Janson ordered.

The mirror pixelated out and the image of a woman appeared. Thomas had to restrain himself from gasping.

Ava Paige.

But she was supposed to be dead.

"Good evening, Doctor Paige," Janson greeted. "Lovely to see you again. Although I admit I wasn't expecting to hear from you quite so soon."

"Change of plans, Janson. I'll be arriving a little sooner than expected. First thing tomorrow," Ava said as she stood from her desk and walked around to the front of it.

"Oh, we'll be delighted to have you. I think you'll be pleased with the progress we've made." Janson gestured to the man beside him, who pressed a button, causing a set of information to come up. "As you can see, early results have been extremely promising. Whatever it is you've been doing to them in there, it's working."