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20: Trey
Howie and I immediately drive all the way through Adams once we reach it. On the way, we discussed where we thought the Envisioneers might be, and we agreed to check the outskirts first with the reasoning that they need somewhere out of the way and secretive to operate.
“What do you suppose they’re using everyone for?” Howie asks.
“I’m not sure. Slave work?”
“Or maybe they’re not using them at all; they just get off on seeing peoples terrified faces and stabbing their friends and family with needles.”
I can’t help but chuckle at this. “That’s one theory.”
He laughs too. ”Do you suppose we’ll find them here?”
“We can’t be sure. We can only hope that we will.”
“I know. I do. I really do hope that we don’t have to search any further. I want my little brother back…”
“And I want my best friend back. Don’t worry, Howie. We’re not going to stop here if we don’t find them. We’ll check every town in Nebraska if we have to.”
He nods. “I know.”
We pull through a dirt lot and park. He and I jump out of the car. I stuff Linley’s cap in my pocket, just in case. Howie takes the lead, keeping a very quick pace. I smile. He’s really excited.
We find our way to a field.
“Where should we look?” I ask.
“Everywhere,” Howie says. “I’m not resting until I find something.”
“What if they aren’t here?”
“They’re here. I can feel it.”
We stay out searching far past nightfall. Our paces start to slow with fatigue. Howie checks his watch.
“2 in the morning,” he mutters.
“Car?” I ask hopefully.
“No,” he sighs, stumbling forward again. “We gotta keep looking…we gotta keep looking…”
I nod. As tired as I am, I know he’s right. We can’t stop now.
We look for another hour with no result. We decide to split up and look. Howie goes right, and I go left. As far as I can see, there is nothing here but tall grass and an endless supply of bugs. I feel my way around with my hands, carefully moving forward with each step I take.
I gasp in surprise as my foot falls downward with my next step. I go tumbling and I have to hold back a scream. I catch myself on the edge of the hole that I have just fallen into, kicking with all my might and trying to get back up. My arms shake with my own weight. My breathing quickens.
“Howie!” I call. “Howie!”
He comes running. “Trey? Where are you?”
“To your left and downward!”
He whirls around again, and then finally spots me. He grabs my arms and hauls me up out of the hole.
“You okay?” he asks when I get my footing.
“Yeah,” I reply, breathless. He pulls out his cell phone and shines it down into the hole. I expect to see a giant dirt chasm, but instead, I see white walls spiraling downward. Howie sinks to his knees next to it. I follow suit.
He begins to tap around the edge of the hole.
“Feel around for a button of some sort,” Howie says.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, just do it!”
I put up my hands in defense and start to feel around the hole. I move around it on my knees. I feel a click beneath my hands when I reach the other side and a bright light suddenly fills the hole.
Howie and I look down and take in the view. The hole goes down about fifteen feet, and the bottom is made of glass. Below the glass, there is the beginning of a horizontal tunnel.
“How do we get to the tunnel?” Howie asks in awe.
“Uhh…” I reply, completely at a loss for words. I honestly don’t know what to do. I look down to where I felt the click. Sure enough, I have pressed a button of some sort. And right next to it is another button. I press it, and the glass shifts upward. A tube rises above the ground, and a door slides open. Howie and I look at each other, and without a second thought, pile inside. The door shuts once more, and the tube returns down through the hole. The door opens once more, and we are facing a tunnel made of white walls, just like the hole.
Howie and I start to move forward. The tunnel goes on for ages. I start to think that Howie and I have entered a never-ending passageway, but we finally come upon a circular room. Another door is located just ahead. Howie looks at me, his eyes wide.
“Something about this place gives me the creeps,” he whispers.
“Me too…”
“But I think we’ve found it…”
“Yeah…I do too…”
“Onward?”
“Yeah. Onward.”
We continue to move forward, almost tip-toeing from fear that someone will find us. Howie and I examine the room. The ceilings are high and bare, just like the walls. The white never ends. I’m going to go crazy from this, I think nervously to myself.
I pass through the door when I realize that Howie isn’t with me anymore. I turn around and see him looking up at the ceiling, eyes squinted.
“Howie,” I whisper, “come on!”
Howie turns and follows after me. But he doesn’t make it through the door.
A siren goes off and the lights in the chamber turn red. A glass panel slams down in the doorway, blocking Howie from the exit.
“HOWIE!” I call.
“Trey!” he calls back, banging on the glass. “Open it!”
“I don’t know how!”
“Find a button or something, just get me out!”
I whirl around and look for something, anything that might save Howie. But I find nothing. A voice comes over the intercom, saying something about the punishment of intruders, but I don’t focus on it. I look back into the chamber behind Howie and notice that steel panels are rolling down the walls. Howie looks around frantically, then turns back to me and says, “Go.”
“What? No, I’m gonna get you out of there!”
“No, Trey, just go! Get Scott and Linley and Marisol, go save them! Go!”
“Howie-”
“GO!”
I want to argue, but I know that it’s no use. I purse my lips and nod, sadly watching as he waves goodbye, and then turns around to meet his fate. But I know I can’t stay. I turn on my heel and sprint down the hall. I finally find some more hallways that seem a little more human. But at the same time, they don’t. It appears to be a giant test lab.
I run down the left corridor, following it where it takes me. But there are so many corners to turn, and they all look the same. I have to slow my pace and ask myself if I’ve already come this way. I finally stop moving all together, run my hands through my hair, and turn slowly into a circle. I hear voices moving down the next hall, so I quickly dart into the room next to me and hide behind a cart full of tubes.
“Hurry up,” a woman’s voice snaps. My eyes widen. Jade.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. Yeesh.” Keene.
He enters the room, an annoyed look plastered onto his face. He immediately approaches the cart that I’m hiding behind. I stiffen and hold my breath, terrified of making a single noise. Keene mutters to himself as he flicks through the tubes.
“Have you contained her?” Jade asks, standing in the doorway.
“Oh yeah,” he laughs. “She’s like a potato. All she does is stare at the ceiling, not moving a single muscle. I think we should be able to perform the operation tomorrow morning.”
“Excellent. I’m ready to finally be rid of that brat.”
“Me too, Jade. Me too.”
He finally ends up choosing three tubes and departing from the room. I slowly release my breath, but I don’t move. Instead, I wait. I count to 300 in my head. I hum one of the Green Day songs that I have come to love in the weeks that I have been apart from Linley. And when no one comes after that, I decide that it’s safe to go.
I slowly creep out of the room, then follow the hall that Keene and Jade came from. I see a door ahead marked “Experiments.” Curious and lost, I run towards it. And then I realize that there’s a keypad beside it.
“No,” I whisper. “No! Where else am I supposed to go? Where do I find her? Where do I find any of them?”
I put my head in my hands and slide down into sitting position. I pull my knees up to my chest and hide my face. I need to think.
And then there’s a hand on my shoulder.
I flinch and look up. A woman is standing there; she’s got stern, grey eyes, long, dark hair, and traces of freckles across her face.
“5-6-0-5,” she whispers. And then she runs down the next hall. I slowly stand and look after her. Who was that? Did she really just give me the code? Can I trust her? That code might set off an alarm or something.
I stare at the keypad, considering my next move. I decide to trust her. I press 5-6-0-5 on the keypad, and the door clicks open. I grab the handle and quietly slip inside. When I turn around, I breathe a sigh of relief. The scene before me is, for once, not white. It’s not much better: cement walls and flooring, but it’s still not white. I walk down the corridor, observing the strange set up. Doors line the walls on either side, people’s names painted onto them. And then I realize that I’m in the right place.
I sprint, looking at each door frantically. And then, I find her name. Another keypad sits outside the door. I type in 5-6-0-5, and the door opens. When I enter the room, I feel my heart clench. Linley is lying on the ground, her arms and legs spread wide, her hair lying in a halo-like pattern around her head. Her bright, beautiful, green eyes don’t look so bright and beautiful. They are red, hazy, and droopy. Her lips are swollen, along with her left eyelid. I sink to my knees next to her and take her hand. She doesn’t respond.
I gently lift her arm into my lap so I can look at it. Deep purple and blue bruises dot it. Her legs look the same. Tears well up in my eyes; they’ve beaten her.
“Lin,” I whisper. “Lin, it’s me! It’s Trey!”
She turns her head and looks right through me. It’s as if she doesn’t even know that I’m here. I feel my mouth fall open slightly, disbelief taking a hold of me.
“What have they done to you?” I continue. “What have they done?”
Still no response.
I pull her cap out of my pocket and hold it out to her.
“Here,” I say, my voice cracking as I continue to hold back tears. “It’s your cap, Linley. I brought it for you. I knew you’d be missing it.”
She doesn’t even flinch.
I stuff it back into my pocket, and then I proceed to stroke her face with my thumb, allowing the tears to spill over onto my face. They have taken my best friend, the strongest, most spirited and passionate and most incredible person I have ever known, and they have broken her. They have broken my Linley.
I wrap my arms around her waist, hoisting her up and pulling her into my lap so that I’m cradling her. I brush my hand through her hair, completely unsure of what to do. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a shaky breath.
“It’s Trey,” I whimper again, kissing the tip of her nose. “Don’t you remember me?”
Nothing.
“Please come back,” I beg. “I want my Linley back.”
…Something. She starts to blink rapidly. A bit of life returns to her eyes. I laugh.
“Come back,” I repeat. “Come home. It’s Trey. I’m here now. It’s going to be okay.”
She gasps, as if something has returned to her. She begins to cough violently, and she sits up, her messy blonde hair falling in front of her face. I keep my hands on her arms to steady her. And then she turns around and sees me.
“Trey?” she says weakly.
“Yes,” I laugh quietly. “It’s me. I’m here.”
And then anger fills her eyes and she punches me in the shoulder as hard as she can. I wince and start to rub it, scoffing in shock.
“You! You little…slowpoke! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you? I’ve been waiting ages! I’ve been tortured, my mind’s been messed with, I’ve been starved, neglected, and you just decide to take your time?” she shouts.
I can only stare at her, mouth hanging open.
“THEY…DESTROYED…ME…AND…YOU…WEREN’T…HERE…TO HELP!” With each word, she hits me again. And then she tosses her arms around my neck and sobs into my shoulder. I lamely circle my arms around her torso and hold her close.
“Just get here quicker next time, okay, you moron?” she sniffs, pulling back.
“There isn’t going to be a next time,” I reply firmly.
She smiles.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” I say, standing and helping her to her feet. “But first, I need to find two people: Scott and Marisol.”
“Scott’s right across from me,” she replies. “But I don’t know a Marisol.”
I nod. “Okay.”
We exit the room, Linley’s hand still in mine. I refuse to let go until we get out of here. I use the same keycode to get Scott’s door open. He looks up at us, confused and weak looking.
“Linley?” he mewls.
“Hey, little buddy,” she says gently. “It’s time to go now.”
He grins and gets to his feet, stumbling as he walks toward us.
“Here,” Linley says, placing an arm around his shoulders. “Does that help?”
He nods.
We return to the hallway and start to look for Marisol’s door. A feeling of exhilaration and victory fills me. We will get out of here. I know we will. Everything’s going to be okay now. We speed down the hallway, all our eyes scanning the names on the doors. And finally, I find Marisol’s. But my heart sinks.
Marisol’s name is printed on the door, just like everyone else’s. But underneath her name, in big, red letters, “ELIMINATED” has been painted on. I stare at for a few moments before clenching my fists and allowing a new sense of rage to guide me.
“Come on,” I say gruffly, dragging Scott and Linley behind me. “We’re getting out of here. We’re going to beat the Envisioneers.”