It was cold.
And dark.
And quiet.
The walls and floor were built with uncovered metal, and the only sound Ted could hear was the quiet hum of the dim lights.
Until a girl's voice spoke up. "Hello?"
Startled, he turned to wherever the voice was.
There, a few feet away from him, was a blonde, blue-eyed girl who looked to be just a few years older than him.
He was certain that she wasn't there before.
"Uh, hey."
"So, um..." They were clearly both struggling at this whole communicating-with-a-stranger-you-met-in-a-lab thing. "What's your name?"
"Theodore Huxley. People call me Ted. Yours?"
"Samantha Bell," she responded, and he swore he recognized that surname.
"Samantha Bell?" he echoed. "Like... like Cynthia Bell?"
She gave a sad smile. "Yeah. So, your parents split up too?"
"Nope." He laughed weakly. "Just... just me."
"Are you two gonna keep talking and being sad or are you gonna help me out here?"
He recognized that voice.
Getting up, he turned a corner to find a vat of dark red liquid with a figure floating inside.
Upon further inspection, the figure was Billy, completely conscious, who grinned at the sight of him.
"Ted! I'm so glad you're here! Say, do me a favor, pull that lever," he pointed to a lever beside the vat marked DRAIN. "I don't know what this stuff is doing to my bones, but it's not pleasant."
Worried about his ally, Ted pulled the lever, draining the liquid. Once it was gone, Billy shook himself off, cleared his throat, and launched himself through the fucking glass.
It shattered, and he was on the floor with glass sticking out of him.
He coughed, got up, and shook himself off. "Okay, good news, I'm fine."
He coughed, covering his mouth with his hand, and pulled his hand away from his face to find it covered in blood.
"Huh. Well that ain't good," he noted nonchalantly.
Sam backed up a few steps.
"Alright," said Ted, "we should probably start leaving sometime soon. Preferably now."
Just ahead, there was a door, with a window on it, not clear enough to see through, but the scientists on the other side could probably see through it just fine. "Hey, Billy, can you break this? I doubt it's stronger than the tube you were in."
And he punched straight through the glass, the madlad, and opened the door from the other side.
They walked through the hall outside their chamber, Billy coughing up blood, Sam wondering what was wrong with him, and Ted wondering what was wrong with Sam. She'd been here longer than either of them, and yet showed no signs of mutation.
For that matter, what were they planning on doing to Ted?