There were several familiar faces within the group that followed behind Marcus, if familiar included seeing them from a distance over the past two days. Marcus kept his eyes on the escorts that led them and the ones that surrounded the group.
"You can't blame their weariness, especially of a large group of strangers arriving at dusk," Kou reasoned as Marcus noted the long-abandoned factory that they approached. "There is a good chance they witnessed Chicago burning in the distance."
A pair of guards stood by the door leading inside, while another two walked back and forth in front of the empty docks. Marcus glanced from one bare dock to another, wondering what the factory had once produced and shipped out. One man from the stationary duo noticed the oncoming group, snapping his heels together and standing erect. His behavior rippled outward and within seconds, the other three joined in observing the new faces walking toward the factory. Not a single word passed between the guards escorting and the ones patrolling, nor the passengers to either set of armed guards.
Marcus gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw yet knowing he had to remain passive for a sake greater than his own. They continued onward, past the docks and the guards, through the doors, and into the empty factory. One aisle turned into several before the dust-encrusted assembly lines came into view, but another door came into sight and they emerged into a large conference room. The decor of the room and the quality of the desk in the center led Marcus to believe they were near the front of the factory.
"Sit here and wait!" One guard demanded while the other half-dozen stood watching, waiting for an excuse.
Many of the group obeyed, whether out of fear of discipline or hope of earning a home, Marcus was unsure. For his bending of the knee, he held no reservations, knowing he was doing what Blake would do. Whispers sprung to life as the guards closed the door, leaving the group alone. Marcus bit his tongue to prevent him from chastising or confirming the various thoughts circulating the room. Minutes later, the door opened and a single woman in her mid to late 20s walked inside, clasping a clipboard between her two manicured hands. She wore a black jacket that had grown faded with the years with a thin white T-shirt underneath revealing her toned and fit body. A pair of tight black jeans and matching black boots finished her ensemble of attire.
In the back of his mind, a whisper crept out from Kou, "No..."
Marcus resisted the urge to even whisper, knowing that no word would go unheard in such cramped quarters, but Kou wasted no time in his continuation.
"She works for Michael," Kou explained, a single sentence telling Marcus everything he needed to know in the uneasy silence of the room.
A solitary lock of brunette hair dropped from the well-kept remainder atop her head, yet within a breath it was brushed back into the innumerable autumn strands. Her eyes darted around the room from one face to another with a smile lingering on her lips. Marcus thought back to Debra on the shore of the river and her reaction, realizing that this woman must've felt the sensation of Kou inside her mind. She continued gazing around the room, her smile never faltering until she locked eyes with Marcus.
"My name is Amanda Syles," She announced, breaking eye contact and resuming her roaming gaze. "I'll be the one conducting the entrance exams for your group so that we can have you assimilate into the colony promptly."
"Why would we need to be examined?" An elderly woman questioned, rising to her feet.
Amanda's eyes squinted, drilling a hole through the outspoken party, but her smile remained unfazed.
"Just necessary tests such as identifying your ability if you have one, any experience with the fundamentals of running a colony, any diseases that you may have, or simply if you're able to contribute. Simple tests like that. Nothing too invasive or extreme."
Murmurs of discontent spread with haste, yet her next question doused the flames of suspicion.
"Any volunteers?"
"I'll go first," Marcus remarked as he rose, taking a step towards the older brunette.
"Your name?" She inquired, dropping her eyes to the clipboard held between her hands, "For the records?"
"Marcus" He answered, flinching within as he saw a smile tug at her lips.
"Last name?"
"Why does a last name matter?" He rebuked.
Her demeanor changed within a heartbeat and her eyes, now cold, rose to meet his indifferent mask.
"Some people are worth a lot more than others, if for no other reason than their last name. Look at the Rockefellers or Rothschilds, or perhaps more immediately relevant, the Ravenports."
An eerie silence consumed the room; all noise becoming swallowed up by the dreadful implications of the eldest brother.
"Johnson," Marcus surrendered, his mind flashing back to the last time he saw his father before the invasion.
"Alright, Marcus Johnson, follow me and we'll begin your examination," Amanda declared, turning away from the group and traveling through the same door she had entered only minutes before.
"It would be smart to obey for now," Kou reasoned as Marcus started after her, now flanked by two guards, both carrying rifles across their chests.
Within a few minutes, they entered a separate room off of the main hallway, with a plague dedicating the room to a "Mrs. Rachel Lutz", and a smaller title proclaiming "Head Nurse". Inside the room, however, was a different matter with the flickering overhead light illuminating the true nature of the once haven. A single chair in the center of the room, equipped with noticeable thick straps on each arm and a third, larger restraint down near the floor, revealed the reality of the exam that Amanda had brought him here for.
"Take a seat," Amanda requested with a wave of her right hand toward the chair, a glimmer in her eyes begging for him to resist.
Biting back a defiant retort out of self-preservation, Marcus nodded and stepped up to the chair, turning and sitting down with a jolt of anxiety shooting through his body. Amanda stepped closer, leaning forward to strap the first restraint across his right arm. He averted his eyes from her inquiring gaze, feeling the blood rush to his face as he noticed her bare skin under her white shirt. His eyes flashed back to hers, a telling smirk on her lips forcing him to avert his gaze again, this time to the left, to the nearest of the duo standing guard.
"You don't have to look away," Her voice whispered in his right ear, hot breath tickling the hairs on his neck.
He felt her fingers walking along his right forearm, the restraint pulling against his sleeve as it tightened and she latched it into a locked position. His intrusive thoughts won as he felt her grab his knees, stepping onto his left side and grabbing the second strap. His heart, thundering within, revealed his hidden thoughts, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead: his trepidation apparent. Her hands on his knees a second time sent blood racing through his untouched body.
She cupped her hands and slid down, his peripheral sight watching as she dropped to her knees in front of him. She released her hands only to grab the strap around his legs, pulling it tight and secure. Her hands slid behind his calves, squeezing and releasing as she rose upright. With a hand on each of his shoulders and her bare chest exposed through the opening, she smiled and stared into his eyes.
"Would you be more cooperative if I took this jacket off?" She inquired as she rose fully upright and shrugged off her leather coat, fully revealing the thin white t-shirt underneath.
"I will..." Marcus started, the back of his throat tickling and catching his words, "I already said that I'll cooperate."
Amanda looked to the duo, nodding once, "You two can leave us for now."
The duo contemplated objecting, but if Kou was right as he usually was and this woman worked for Detroit, or rather Michael, their silence became understandable.
As the door closed behind them, Amanda faced Marcus smirking, "I heard something before I left Chicago. Something about a swordsman."
"Chicago?"
Amanda's smirk flickered, "Don't play coy. I know it was you out there in the cafeteria, the one that touched my mind. So, don't lie to me, or else this becomes something else entirely. Okay?"
"Alright, Amanda," Marcus acknowledged, "I know you work for Detroit."
She leaned back, still watching Marcus with her feigned smile, "I heard a tale about a young man named Marcus and here you are."
It wasn't a question, but Marcus remained silent nonetheless.
"This young man claimed responsibility for a certain death," Amanda added, her tone softening. "One that was personal to a very powerful person and you see, that person, he wants the young man named Marcus."
"So, my name is enough to convict me of something?" Marcus rebuked, "Nothing else?"
She chuckled and leaned closer once more, "I heard he brandished a sword. Not a knife, or a larger blade like a machete... But a sword. As if this world could allow it and yet, that's how he died. That's how he was murdered."
"I had no blade-"
"Oh, I'm aware," Amanda whispered, rising back up as her fingers hooked under the bottom lining of her shirt. "But you being a Telepath named Marcus, fleeing from the destruction of Chicago looks exactly like I need it to look like."
"And what's that?"
"The perfect explanation as to how he was murdered by swordsman who used a mental trick."
"So, you want me to confess? On nothing more than coincidence?"
"Careful, Marcus," She teased, lifting the shirt above her navel. "All you have to do is tell me the truth and I promise you one last great night before I turn you over. But-"
She stopped cold and leaned close to Marcus's face, "If you want to lie and act like you have a choice, we can skip straight to my friends outside doing what they're trained to do."
"Young Marcus, if you choose to resist I will understand, but know that given the restraints you find yourself in, it will be hard for you to truly resist. Considering her demeanor, I fear you will suffer great pain."
"I know and I'm aware of that," Marcus replied with a smile.
"So you'll be a good boy and confess," Her eyelids dropped low, seduction in her gaze.
"No."
A chill crept through the room as Amanda's body straightened up. The eyes that stared down at him as her hands released were void of emotion. Not the lust that existed a moment before, nor the anger he expected. Just empty eyes staring down at him before turning away, bending down to retrieve her coat.
"Don't be begging for it to end," She stated, stepping up to the door, knocking twice.
The door clicked open before she disappeared behind the two armed guards. As the door closed once more, three men inhabited the enclosed space. One of the new duo, the darker skinned man with a thicker black beard, exchanged a small nod with the second: a tanned slender younger man with scruff. They then in unison looked to Marcus, an empty look in their eyes. They weren't here. They had already dissociated with what they had been ordered to do.
Marcus gritted his teeth, adrenaline beginning to flood his system as the suspense ate away at his mind.
"Breathe, Young Marcus. Just breathe."