Darwin
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"About six months after being at Myer Laboratories: Facility 3, Vince, Siggy and I formed a plan during the classes we had together. I was awarded with 'outdoor recess' time by myself for being on good behavior and getting good grades in school. Well, I wasn't entirely by myself. I had an assistant with me.
While I was outside, I faked a panic attack. If a panic attack gets really bad, we get what a few assistants call 'knock out'. I made it seem bad enough to get it. Before the assistant gave me the shot, I quickly turned it on him. Within seconds, he was out.
I took his keycard and uniform and headed back inside. With the surgical masks that the assistants wore all the time, combined with the fact that I kept my head down, nobody knew it was me. I made my way to Vince and Siggy's rooms and used the card to let them out.
We made it to an exit, and as we were leaving, a guard saw us. We ran for it. I ditched the card and the labcoat. Vince hotwired a car in the staff parking lot and we drove off. Later, we found a small house. We left the car a ways down the street and walked to it.
Siggy wanted to split up and hide in different spots near the house, but I said that since we had escaped as a team, we should work as a team. Vince agreed with me, and Siggy hesitantly did, too. The three of us went inside the house and found one woman and two kids inside. I said we should kill all three at once, like a team.
Siggy and Vince were ready to kill them, but I... couldn't. There was just something in that little kid's eyes that made me realize what I was about to do. That I would be the cause of their death. Their blood would be on my hands."
I pause, shivering a bit at the eerie memory of the little boy's pleading eyes. Lia stays completely silent as she waits for me to continue.
"I was a fucking idiot. I chickened out. I let the kid go. He ran off while Siggy and Vince chewed me out and tried to convince me to do it. I refused and argued back. Then, guards from Myer Labs broke in. They gave each of us 'knock out', but before I was out, I saw the little boy with the guards. The little shit must've seen them looking for us and told them where we were.
Anyway, I woke up in the back of a transport truck alone. I was strapped in and couldn't move." The sheets shift ever so slightly as Lia tenses. She must be remembering the straps holding her down.
"I was in there for a few hours before an assistant came in to give me 'knock out'. I came to at a different facility, which I later found out was Myer Laboratories: Facility 8. This was the one you were in."
I stop talking. Not only am I giving Lia an opportunity to ask questions that I know she has, but I also need a minute to breathe.
"Huh," Lia laughs softly. "I thought your first escape was going to last longer than an hour at most."
"You really thought that three sixteen year old boys were smart enough to make a long-term escape plan?" I say, deadpan. I use the monotone delivery to hide the smile that pulls at my lips.
"I never said that you were smart. I just thought you'd be free for at least two hours." This time, I don't hide my smile,
"Yeah, that's a major overestimate." Lia giggles at my attempted joke. I feel myself relaxing as I listen to her laugh.
"So were Vince and Siggy at Facility 8?" She says when she's done giggling.
"No," I shake my head, promptly dropping the smile and playful attitude. "Siggy was transferred to it later on, but I have no idea where Vince was or how he escaped again." Lia nods slowly in understanding,
"How did you escape the second time?"
"While at Facility 8, I was in isolation for a while. Not complete isolation, just isolated from the other subjects there. Scientists and teachers came in for a few hours each day, but for the most part, I was alone. I was being taught all of the same things everyone else was, I just had to do it myself.
Eventually, being alone most of the time began to take a toll on my mental health. I didn't want to get out of bed, I wouldn't do my schoolwork, I began to struggle during my training sessions, and I stopped eating entirely. I guess the same thing was happening to other subjects in isolation. So, the scientists took a few of us and made a group.
This is how I met Lincoln and Marie. The scientists made us do everything together except go to the bathroom and sleep. Because of how much time we spent together every day, the three of us became really good friends and began working on a plan to escape together.
Each day, when we had 'outdoor recess' (like fucking elementary schoolers), one of us would work on prying a hole in the fence behind a bush while the guards were distracted.
After a while, Siggy transferred to the facility and was put into our group. I have no idea why, though. You'd think they wouldn't want us together since we got out before."
"Maybe they weren't concerned because if you escaped, you'd only be gone for like an hour." Lia snickers.
"Shut up." I smirk. "As I was saying," Lia rolls her eyes, a similar smirk on her face. "Siggy was put into our group. He was more than willing to help us with our plan. He also added some other ideas that seemed like they would work.
When the hole in the fence was big enough, we put our plan into action. We stole a bunch of flammable substances from the labs in the facility. We also stole a few handguns from the shooting range subjects used for training.
At about 4 AM, when there were the least amount of guards on duty, we started fires in a couple different rooms. This distracted the small number of guards long enough for us to escape. We were almost caught by a guard in the hallway, but Marie shot her and took her keycard so we could get out of the doors.
As we were on our way to an exit, Marie stopped to break you out. And you know the rest." I'm sort of out of breath and my throat hurts a bit. I talked a lot more than I wanted to and usually do. Lia was just being a really good listener.
"What was Marie like? I didn't know her as long as you did."
I swear my heart fucking stops for a second when Marie's name comes out of Lia's mouth. My body heats up and cools down with every breath I take. I really don't want to talk about Marie to anyone, let alone Lia. She's practically responsible for Marie's death.
Finally catching onto my feelings, Lia starts to climb off of the bed, "I'm sorry. I asked another stupid question. I really need to stop doing that. I'm just going to le—"
"She was amazing. She was kind and sweet, but also feisty and strong when it came to protecting those she cared about."
I'm surprising myself by talking. I didn't want to say anything, but here I am. I do like the feeling of a weight lifting off my chest as I talk. So, I continue speaking,
"Marie was really funny. She would tell the best jokes that would have both of us laughing so hard that we would cry. She was super smart and always finished her work before Lincoln, Siggy or me. She was also a really good sharpshooter. I've never seen anyone near as good as her. I don't know how she did it."
I swallow the lump in my throat that threatens to bring tears to my eyes. Lia carefully sits back against the headboard, doing her best to stay quiet.
"Whenever we were outside, Marie loved to watch the squirrels. She would've sat for hours just watching those stupid little fuckers run around beyond the fence. She would watch them and have the biggest smile on her face.
Her smile, that was the best part of her. I swear it could light up a room. One look at her smile would make me forget where I was and all of the shit the bastards at Myer Labs did to me. All I would remember is how happy she made me.
She was like an angel. And God, I loved her so much. I don't think I told her enough, but I loved her. I loved Marie and she didn't know."
I stop myself from saying anything else. I already said way too fucking much, and the tears are dangerously close to falling. I blink them away, watching the room get less and less blurry. A soft hand on mine makes me pause.
"Of course she knew." Lia whispers. "Even if you don't think you told her enough, everything you did for her certainly did. Each action or word showed her that you really cared about her. Besides, she knows now. I'm sure she's been watching over you, like a guardian angel. She's probably telling you how much she loves you right now."
The bedroom goes blurry again. Lia's right. Marie does know. She's been watching me from the "better place". I just... it just...
"It just hurts. It hurts that I can't tell her to her face. It hurts that I didn't get to say goodbye. She's gone. Marie's fucking gone!" Heat overtakes my body as I crack and, for the first time since Marie died, tears finally roll down my cheeks.
I snatch a pillow from behind me and repeatedly punch it as hard as I can. With each blow, more salty tears fall and I scream "she's dead." Lia swiftly gets off the bed to let me have space to let out my emotions. I guarantee that she doesn't want me to make her into a punching bag, either.
I don't even know what to think anymore, I just keep hitting. I keep punching until my arms are sore and there's a crater in the pillow. I want to keep hitting it, but instead I squeeze the pillow in a tight hug, burying my face into the lavender scented fabric of the pillowcase. Tears continue to fall, wetting the pillow and my cheeks.
The mattress caves a bit as Lia climbs back onto the bed and crawls over to me. She gently takes away the pillow and sets it next to me. Without a word, she wraps me in a hug. I know my skin is burning her, but Lia doesn't say anything about it.
She holds me, my head on her shoulder and her hand rubbing my back, as I shed all of the tears that I have left in my body for Marie.
After what feels like hours, I lift up my head and wipe my eyes. Lia lets me go to grab the tissue box from the nightstand on the side of the bed she slept on. She offers it to me, but I don't take any tissues.
"Feel better?" Lia asks in a sympathetic whisper. I nod. It felt good taking it out on the pillow, but it felt better talking about Marie with someone else, even if it was Lia. "I know I don't know you as well as Lincoln, Vince, Siggy, or Marie, but I'm here for you whenever you need me, ok?" I nod again.
Both of us jump when we hear the front door being thrown open,
"Honey, I'm home!" Vince calls happily. I check the clock. He's here early. Lia and I get up from the bed.
"We don't have to tell them anything that happened. It can stay between us." I nod yet again. Vince's footsteps approach the living room. "Go stay in the bathroom until you feel ready to come out."
Another nod. Before Lia walks out, I grab her hand and give it a light squeeze.
"Thank you, Amelia."
"Anytime, Darwin."
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Salut, tout le monde!
Sorry it's been a while, again! I was camping and didn't have a whole lot of reception/data to work on and post this chapter. I hope you aren't too mad at me!
Anyway, we hit 50 reads! I mean, 50 is nothing compared to some of the other books that I've read on here, but it's a lot for me. So yay, I guess!
Finally, don't be afraid to comment! I would really like to know what I should improve on, what you're liking/disliking, and your thoughts on events and characters! It would help me a ton to keep writing and updating Divagate!
Thanks for reading chapter 16!💕