Day Ten
I bolted upright from my cot and looked around. I was back in the room in the facility. How was this possible? I didn't have time to question my surroundings. The door burst open and the all-too-familiar virus detector walked in. He wasn't wearing a mask and his pale face was covered in jagged scars.
"Time to go take your brain Maxy boy!" he sneered at me.
My brain? My body got up without me telling it to and started to follow the VD. I couldn't stop my body from moving, it seemed to have a mind of its own.
As I followed him down the halls I noticed that there were signs above each door. The signs each had a dark menacing meaning. Eye Stealer. Nose Chopper. Leg Twister. Each one sounded worse than the last. Finally the VD stopped in front of a door with a sign that read Brain Taker in bright green letters.
My body stopped even though my brain told it not to and a lump formed in my throat as the letters on the sign seemed to burn into my eyes. They wouldn't really take my brain, would they?
“Time to go, Maxy boy!” the VD grinned evilly.
He slid his card and after the security reader flashed a green light to show its acceptance, he opened the door and shoved me violently inside. I stumbled forward, barely managing to catch myself before falling. The room was much different than the normal one that I had been tested in.
There were no wires anywhere, there was only white. The walls were white, the ceiling and floors were white, there was a stretcher to one side of the room that was white, and standing next to it was Hazel. Instead of the honey-colored hair I remembered, snow white hair flowed to her shoulders. She was wearing what looked to be a surgeon's uniform which was also completely white.
We stared at each other for a moment and then she pulled some white latex gloves from her pocket and slid them over her wrinkled hands. The only things in the room were the stretcher, Hazel, me, and some table behind Hazel but I couldn't see what was on it because she was in the way. She smiled, her pearly white teeth sparkling in the bright light. I was almost blinded by all the whiteness.
Hazel stepped forward and I could finally see what was on the table behind her. The only thing that wasn't white in the entire room. All sorts of various silver knives lay on the table. There were curved ones, jagged ones, and even some that didn't seem to have a specifically designed shape to them.
"Lie down on the stretcher won't you, Maxy boy," her usually cheery voice was gone and replaced with a cold dark one.
I looked at the table wearily. There was no way that I was going to just willingly go and lay down on the stretcher and let her take my brain. I tried to use my powers but as soon as I did I felt this terrible pain in my head and I clutched my hair in pain.
"Oh, poor Maxy can't use his powers."
She tried to sound like she was sad but it sounded more like she was all too happy about it. I ran for the door and despite all my twisting and turning the handle wouldn't budge.
"Come and get on the stretcher," she commanded.
Again my body started to move on its own accord. I told it to stop moving but I continued to get closer and closer to the stretcher.
"Up."
I got on the table and saw her press a button on the side. My body immediately stopped all movement. I was paralyzed! I realized that my eyes could still move and I tracked Hazel as she scurried around the stretcher strapping my arms and legs to the stretcher so I there was no possible way to get out. Not that I could move anyway seeing as how I was paralyzed.
She pressed the button again and I squirmed against the restraints. They did their job and held me fast in place. I watched as Hazel moved over to the table. My eyes grew wide as she picked up a knife and turned to face me, smiling wickedly.
It looked like she had grabbed the biggest knife! She stepped closer to the stretcher and headed for the end that my head was resting on. I struggled furiously as she got closer and closer but it was no use. Finally I sank into the stretcher exhausted.
It was all over. I had imagined myself dying in other ways than this. Perhaps falling to my death from one of the helipods. Maybe getting eaten by a mute, but definitely not from Hazel taking my brain while I was still alive! They could have at least killed me somehow first right?
Hazel had reached me and grabbed my head with one hand. With the other, she raised the knife high into the air. I closed my eyes waiting for the point of the silver knife to plunge into my skull.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A blaring alarm started to sound and I opened my eyes. Hazel was still standing with the knife raised in the air but she was looking around worriedly.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The door burst open and a person flipped into the room. They literally did some kind of gymnastic move or something and landed in the center of the floor. The person was wearing all black combat gear! They had come to rescue me! A gun was pulled out.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Bang!
I turned and saw a small round hole in the center of Hazel's forehead. Her lips quivered and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She fell in a heap on the floor, the knife still clutched in her hand. I turned back to the person and watched as they slowly removed their helmet.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Man that alarm is loud! The person removed their helmet and I saw that it was Emily! She had come to rescue me! She waved and then when I didn't get up she frowned and ran over to me. She didn't say a word and I was wondering why but didn't wonder for too long. We had to get out of here.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Stupid alarm. Emily pulled me along behind her out of the room. Suddenly I hear a voice. A voice that I remembered.
"Max, what's going on?"
It was Lilian! She was alive!
"I'm being rescued Lilian! Where are you? We have to get you out too."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Come back for me."
What? Did she not get my last message? We wern't just going to leave her. Suddenly everything started to fade black. I grasped for the remaining light.
"Come back for me."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I bolted upright from my bed and panted heavily. I was covered in sweat. That had just been a dream. The dream was still fresh in my head and I could still hear Lilian calling for me to come back for her.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sound of my watch's alarm made me jump. So that's what that awful noise was! I lifted my wrist to my face and glanced at the time. 5:00. I groaned. My alarm must have been going off for fifteen minutes!
Suddenly I remembered that I was supposed to meet Tim, Charles, and Emily at 5:30. I yawned lazily and forced my tired legs to get up. Why did I ever decide on meeting them so early! With my eyes half closed I dragged my feet to the bathroom adjacent to my room and flipped the light on.
The blaring light hurt my eyes but they adjusted to the brightness after a while. I quickly showered and threw on some clothes. I ran as quietly and quickly as I could because I didn't want to be late. It was actually somewhat exciting finally telling someone about my powers!
The baseball field was deserted but I could see three figures sitting at the far end by the grove of trees. They hadn't noticed me yet and as I walked closer their words were carried to my ear by the wind.
"Really, Charles?" Emily was saying, "you can't seriously think he's a robot!"
"Well, like I said, he seems to be able to move a lot faster than normal people and he did kind of fall out of the sky onto the soccer field," Charles replied.
"Yeah, the VDA probably sent him," Tim added.
I wondered who the VDA were.
"Don't tell me you think he's right!" you could almost hear Emily rolling her eyes.
"Well....Oh, hi Max!" Tim called out loudly so the other two could hear since they were facing away from me.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
"Oh, we were just talking about stupid theories," Emily looked sternly at Charles and Tim.
I decided not to press the issue even though they had clearly been talking about me.
"So, what's up with you?" Tim gestured to me.
He wasn't asking about what was happening with me, he wanted to know why I had been so strange lately. I sighed. Finally the big moment of truth.
"Guys...."
They all stared at me acting like children who were about to hear a great story.
"I'm gay."
"WHAT!" all three of them chorused at the same time.
I hid my smile behind the back of my hand.
"You can't be serious...." Emily trailed off questioningly.
"Wow," Charles said, "I didn't see that one coming!"
Tim just sat with his mouth open looking like he was in shock or something. I decided to end my little joke before they actually took me seriously!
"I'm just kidding guys!"
Tim shut his mouth and looked at me angrily. Emily sighed with relief.
"You better not be cause if you were that would be kind of awkward."
I knew Emily was thinking about the other day when we almost kissed.
"Yeah, no, I just wanted to see your reaction!"
"So, what is it really?" Tim didn't look angry anymore and just looked like he was genuinely interested in my reply.
"It's easier if I show you."
I got up and walked to the far end of the field.
"What's he doing?" I heard Charles ask.
"Beats me," Tim replied.
Finally I was far enough away to show them. I faced them and got into the running position. Using my super speed, or whatever you want to call it, I sped at them and skidded to a stop. They stared at me with their mouths gaped open.
"What?" I said casually as if it was an everyday occurrence.
"No way!" Tim shouted.
"Yep! And that's not all I can do either!"
"Really?" Emily looked at me with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I can heal myself."
I left out being able to talk to people in their mind seeing as how only Lilian and I could do that.
"Oh, and I'm just starting to experiment with being able to fly, that's why I landed in the soccer field."
"So that's what happened!" Charles looked at me triumphantly.
"I knew that you just weren't running fast! Can you do anything else?"
"I haven't tried anything else yet, Tim. I don't really know what to try!"
Emily asked in a small voice, "Does anyone besides us know?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course not! And you guys have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."
I looked at them sternly.
"Hey, no problem here!" Charles said.
"Same goes for me!" Tim agreed.
I turned to Emily.
"What about you? You seem kind of quiet."
"Are you sure that no one else knows?" She asked tensely.
"I'm positive."
Emily relaxed, "You know I wouldn't tell anyone."
"Okay, good!"
Tingles spread over my body with the realization that I had actually told someone! I felt relieved that I no longer had to carry around my secret alone. Tim and Charles kept badgering me to try to fly again so I finally gave in and walked a little ways from the group.
I checked above me to make sure there wern't any branches that I might hit and focused on making my whole body move. I kicked off the ground, this time not using as much force as I had in the gym. I rose into the air at a moderate speed and held out my hand to wave.
The direction I was heading in changed and when I moved my hand more I turned even more sharply. I was changing directions using my hand! I held my left hand out and my body turned left. I held my right hand out and my body turned right.
I was so excited in finding my new found ability to change directions that I had forgotten where I was. The air felt different and I looked from my hands to my surroundings. I froze with fear as I looked down and saw that the ground was far beneath me.
My group of friends looked like ants and I could barely see them pointing at me and waving frantically. I gulped and focused on stopping my climb into the air. I hovered peacefully in place and let out a relieved sigh.
Someone was coming toward the training field. I squinted my eyes and suddenly the figure zoomed into focus. I could see Sergeant Walker perfectly as he walked to the weapon's shed and disappeared inside. I blinked and everything was far away from me again. I forgot about my vision! I guess you could say that I had super vision!
I laughed and then something caught my eye again. Various parts of the training field were moving apart and something was rising out of the ground in each open spot. I focused my eyes on what was happening.
A bunch of weird looking obstacles were rising from the ground. There were seven in all. One looked like monkey bars only they were a lot longer than the ones you normally see in playgrounds. Another one looked like some sort of short maze that ended in a climbing wall. The last one that I could see, the others were covered by some sort of dark cloth, was a standard zip-line only it had a target on the ground about halfway along the zip line. I suppose you were supposed to drop onto it.
The obstacles that I could see didn't look too hard. In fact they looked kind of fun, but I wondered what was underneath the dark fabric. I checked to make sure that Sergeant Walker was still in the weapon's shed and then focused on descending to the ground.
I dropped alright, full speed towards the ground! I screamed as the air whooshed past me. I couldn't stop! The ground loomed up at my falling body. Just as I was about to hit the ground I managed to bring back the feeling of flying and pushed my body upward.
My feet gingerly touched the ground and I immediately stopped the flying sensation. My legs shook as I stood on the solid ground.
"Whoa, dude! You almost got yourself killed!" Charles sounded excited.
I took a few deep breathes.
"Remind me not to try that again."
Emily touched my arm.
"Don't worry, we won't!"
"Are you guys ready for the obstacle course?" Tim gestured to the now full training field.
"I totally forgot that we were doing that today until I saw the obstacles rise out of the ground from up there." I pointed to the sky.
"Sergeant Walker didn't see you did he?" Emily asked.
"No."
Emily turned and started to walk off towards the other end of the field.
"Aren't you guys coming?" she asked over her shoulder, "or do you want to be late for the sergeant?"
We scrambled after her knowing that if we were late it would be really bad. Tim had told me that the sergeant once had someone do the obstacle course all night for being only a few minutes late. The obstacle course couldn't be that bad but the tone of Tim's voice made me think otherwise.
We joined Emily and the other men and women of squadron four that had started to assemble. The last person hurried to the line and stood at attention just as Sergeant Walker rounded the corner. As he walked down the line in front of each person, I could see, them out of the corner of my eye, stand even more straighter than they already were. Satisfied, Sergeant Walker backed up so he could see the entire group. He addressed us in his usual booming voice.
"ALL RIGHT SQUADRON FOUR, TODAY WE'RE GOING TO DO THE OBSTACLE COURSE."
There were a few groans and the sergeant snapped his head in their direction.
"DID I HEAR COMPLAINING? WELL, YOU CAN DO IT FIVE TIMES INSTEAD OF FOUR FOR THAT."
We stood waiting for further instructions.
"What are you waiting for? GET TO IT!"
I followed everyone else as we scrambled for the nearest obstacle. I saw that they were numbered, the monkey bars being the first one. One after another we swung across bar by bar. My arms didn't hurt at all from doing that so I figured the obstacle course wasn't going to be too bad.
The next obstacle was covered in the cloth and had a dome shape to it. I watched as the team members went in and I could see them come out of the other side sweating and groaning. Soon it was my turn and I eagerly opened the door and stepped inside. On the other side of the dome there was a door with a red exit sign above it.
The dome was almost empty. There was a rock about three feet in diameter sitting right in front of me. There was a target painted on the floor on the far side of the dome and I looked back and forth from the rock to the target. I guess I was supposed to push the rock onto the target.
I knelt down and pushed the rock with both my hands. It moved about an inch. This was going to take forever! I pushed hard with all my strength and the rock slid across the floor away from me as if it was sliding on butter. It hit the far side and bounced back settling perfectly in the center of the target.
A pathway formed from where the rock had been originally to the target and the rock started to move along on the pathway. It looked like one of those moving sidewalks that you see in airports. Once the rock stopped moving the red exit signed turned green and I guess that meant I was done.
You could say that I cheated but I couldn't really help it! I just pushed the rock and it just slid across the floor. I'll have to add super strength to my list of powers. It's such a cool power to have! Not wanting to waste any more time in this obstacle, I ran to the door and headed for the next one.
I waited my turn and then entered the next obstacle. It was just a shooting range and I knew that it would be an easy one. There was the standard .22 gun with a box of clips lying on a stand. Down at the far end there were several targets on the wall. They were only about fifty feet away so I knew that it would be easy.
As I raise my gun the target on the far left moved to a different place on the wall about five feet away. I paused, unsure of what the targets were going to do. Suddenly they all started jumping around on the wall, never staying in one place for more than a second. I was supposed to shoot them all and they were moving all over the place!
I used my super speed and felt my heart beat faster. Instead of using it to run, I channeled the speed into my reflexes. The targets moved ever-so slowly and I fired away, successfully hitting each one dead in the center. As my bullet hit the last target the exit sign turned green and I slowed my racing heart back to normal.
This was actually kind of fun! I set the gun back on the stand and headed to the next target, wondering what it would be. As I stepped outside, I saw that it was the zip line that I had seen when I was flying high above the field.
Now that I was closer I could see that it was being held between two posts and it was one where you didn't wear a harness or anything. I watched as one of the team members in front of me shimmied up the pole and grabbed onto the handle. He pushed off the pole and zipped along. When he got to where the target was he let go and dropped, falling on the outer edge of the target.
"And that's how it's done!" he bowed and took off for the next target.
After a few more people had gone it was my turn. There were no hand-holds on the pole and I had to wrap my legs around the pole as I inched up to keep from sliding down. It was a wooden pole and I didn't exactly want splinters!
I grabbed the handle and pushed off. The zip line was farther apart than I had first thought, about a hundred feet instead of fifty, and so it took longer to get to the target than I was expecting. I didn't want to use my super speed and cheat so I waited and dropped when I thought it was a good time to. I barely made it onto the target and I took off for the next one before anyone could comment on my bad landing.
I opened the door for obstacle number five and almost walked right into a rope hanging from the ceiling. I dodged to the side and frowned. The only thing in this square room was the rope and the exit door. The problem was that the exit door was about thirty-five feet above ground level.
As soon as I grabbed the rope, the exit sign turned green. Great, I was supposed to somehow swing over to the door and get out of it while in the air hanging from a rope. Hand over hand and up I went. Finally I reached what I deemed to be high enough and started to swing back and forth.
Each time I came back towards the wall I would kick off of it and quickly wrap my feet around the rope. With one hand holding the rope tightly, I stretched my free one out and almost touched the handle.
After a couple more times, I was able to grab the handle and I hung on to it for dear life. I turned the knob quickly and the door swung inward. I groaned. If the door had swung out it would have been a lot easier.
I gripped the top of the door and pulled myself closer to the exit. It looked all you had to do was slide down on a slanted board. With my feet firmly planted on the top of the slide, I let go of the rope and slid down. That had been one of the harder obstacles and I was glad that I was done with it.
I headed to the last obstacle that was covered. It was the only one left that I didn't know would be. The last one was the maze that ended in the climbing wall. I opened the door expecting the worst. Emily was standing in the middle of the room looking bored. When she saw me her eyes lit up.
"Hey Max!"
"Hey Emily, what are you doing in here?"
"I'm the next obstacle!"
"Oh, come one, tell me why you really are here."
"I'm serious. Everyone who comes through here has to fight me. Nothing serious just spar with me for a while and then when I decide that your done you go to the last obstacle."
"Really?"
"Yep."
This should be fun. Last time I fought someone it had been Sergeant Walker and I had beaten him easily. I shifted into a defensive stance and did the whole come after me wave with my hand. Emily grinned and charged.
She was a lot faster than I had expected. She swung her arm at my head and I ducked. She brought her knee up at the same time and I had to twist wildly to the left to avoid getting hit. Man, she knew how to fight! Probably this was why she was chosen as the squad's captain.
We sparred for a few minutes and then stopped, we were both panting heavily.
"You're-a good-fighter." Emily panted.
"Thank-you."
We caught our breathe and I put my hands together in the Japanese fashion and bowed.
Wham!
Emily's knee crashed against my face and I stumbled back shocked by the blow.
"Never lose sight of your opponent. Fight them till you win."
I held my face gingerly. It would heal soon so I wasn't too worried. I couldn't believe that she had actually kneed me in the face though. I looked at her sternly.
"You'll get over it," she huffed.
Emily gestured to the door and I made my way to it and stepped outside still somewhat shocked at the blow to my face. I faced the last obstacle and couldn't help but feel excited. I made it! Well, pretty much, I only had the maze thing and the climbing wall to go.
I ran to the entrance of the last obstacle. Maybe it had been because I was so high up that the maze had looked small, but as I ran down the many passageways, it sure seemed pretty big. Finally, after much backtracking, I reached the climbing wall.
It was about forty feet high with not too many hand-holds. I clambered up the side like a monkey! I had always liked climbing trees and other stuff when I was little so this didn't prove to be too much of a challenge. I reached the top and quickly climbed down the other side.
Finally, I was done! I had made it! I did a little jig and then shuffled over to a nearby bench. There was a pack of water-bottles on the bench and I eagerly grabbed one and drowned it in several huge gulps. The obstacle course seemed to work all of my muscles and I was sore from it. I sighed and settled onto the bench comfortably, closing my eyes and listening to the birds chirping cheerfully.
"JONSON!"
I bolted upright and stood at attention, swaying slightly from getting up too fast. Sergeant Walker was glaring at me.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, JONSON?"
"I-um-I was-um-"
"GET BACK TO THE COURSE!"
I started to walk to the first obstacle.
"HURRY UP OR I'LL MAKE YOU DO THE COURSE SIX TIMES," he barked after me.
I quickly ran to the monkey bars and swung across them as fast as I could. I had totally forgotten that we were supposed to do the course five times! I hurried through the obstacle course four more times and when I was finally done, I was completely exhausted.
I sat on the grass with the rest of the group, all of us groaning and stretching our shaky limbs.
"Not bad," the sergeant said, "FOR A BUNCH OF SISSIES."
My brain hurt bad enough without him yelling at us. I hoped that he would let us go now and not do anything else.
"DISMISSED!"
Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief and we numbly picked ourselves off the ground. We were all too tired to talk and I now knew why Tim, Charles, and Emily disliked the obstacle course so much. It was exhausting!
As I walked to the house I was staying in, I glanced at my watch. It was almost twelve! We had been doing the course for five straight hours! I groaned and headed to the cafe. I had missed breakfast because of meeting my friends and I was pretty hungry.
My muscles started to feel better and I could tell that the soreness was being healed. I was one of the first ones in line and I eagerly piled my plate high with lasagna. I skipped the salad and looked around for a place to sit.
I spotted my mom sitting in a corner and suddenly remembered that I had to ask her something. Since there weren't very many people sitting down yet, I easily made my way to the table she occupied.
"You look tired!"
"Yeah, Sergeant Walker had us run the obstacle course today."
"Oh, that explains it," she said with a knowing look.
"Hey mom, how come there's a sign that says QUARANTINE ZONE on the outside of the fortress?"
"Oh, before we came here this was originally a quarantine zone for those who hadn't gotten the virus yet. When it went out of hand and no one was safe anymore, we took over."
"Took over?"
Mom looked at me sadly.
"We had to kick them out."
I ate the rest of my lunch mostly in silence making small talk with mom every once in a while.
The wonderful day outside was calling to me and I spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around outside. The day was beautiful even though it was the tenth of January. The nuclear war had caused some sort of environmental reaction and we now had a cool summer all year long.
Bed time couldn't come soon enough and I threw off my outer clothing and sank into my soft bed. It felt so wonderful to just lay down. I had barely closed my eyes and I fell fast asleep. Today was good training, but nothing could have prepared me for what "tomorrow" would bring.
Author's Note:
Wow guys, that's the second rather long chapter! Sorry if it may seem kind of boring but I was trying to put some more detail into it. I am planning on jumping ahead in the story and don't worry, it will make sense. It might not seem like it at first but you will see once you read the epilogue. Yes there's going to be an epilogue.
So, what do you guys think will happen next? And why is the word tomorrow in quotation marks? Well, you'll have to wait until later to find out! But for now, feel free to leave your comments!
As always,
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
jdoeko.
P.S. Sorry about ↑↑that↑↑ but I was having fun! Oh, and if you like poems then check out my poem called "Catch My Last Kiss".