MEMORIAM (18 page)

“Sam!” I screamed. It was too late. The Head raised his gun and fired at Sam. I reached for Sam’s falling body, but when I caught it I found myself in a different location again. I was against a glass door, trying to open it. Through the glass was the healing center where Sam sat on the other side, smiling at me.

“Sam! Please let me in...” I sobbed, hitting the doors. “Please Sam, remember me. Sam!”                The Head spotted me and began to cross the centicular.

“Sam!” I shrieked louder, pounding the doors. Sam finally got up from his chair and rested his hand against mine through the glass.

“Vi, don’t you remember me? Don’t you remember? You forgot about me. I can’t help you.”

“No Sam, please. I’m sorry...Sam!” He turned away from the glass and I felt a heavy tug on my shoulder. The Head yanked me backwards. I howled as the Head stabbed my chest.

My eyes flung open to cords dangling above me. I must be awake. I panted heavily, hearing a faint voice in the background. Trent was talking but I wasn’t listening. Instead I reached up and touched the place on my chest where the Head had stabbed me. It wasn’t real.

“Vi, it’s over. You’re done, okay?”

Trent’s face came into focus. Sweat slid down my forehead and ran down the crook of my back. He sat down on the edge of the metal chair and touched my forehead. I cringed, closing my eyes.

“No one is going to kill you,” he said.

“You promise I’m not still in Memoriam?”

Trent shook his head. “This is reality.”

The memories I’d seen ran wild in my mind while Trent unhooked me from the chair. They had felt so real. Why? Who was this boy I kept seeing everywhere? Then there was Sam betraying me. This had to be a fear...it wasn’t real, right?

“Vi?”

“Huh?” I pulled myself out of my daze and focused back on Trent.

“Who was the little girl?”

“She was on my last mission.”

“And the boy?”

“I-I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Trent frowned.

“Wait – how did you know there was a little boy?”

“The images in your mind are projected on the tablet for the me to see and documented for the base.”

“So you saw...everything?” Sam flashed in my mind. We wouldn’t get in trouble, would we? It was hard enough as it was to deal with our risky friendship-turned-relationship, but with the base knowing how deep it really was, it made everything more dangerous. My gut told me to escape before it was too late. But our plan wasn’t ready yet.

“Can I go?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Trent asked. I waved him off.

“I’m fine.” I took a deep breath and used all my strength to cross the room without falling over.

“Vi?”

“Yeah?” 

“That little boy you spoke of. He’s not from your past, is he?”

I wanted to cry but wasn’t sure why. The idea that the little boy could be from my past was hopeful, but terrifying at the same time. “I don’t think so.”

“I wouldn’t tell others if he is. People will start to wonder....best to keep it to yourself. If the base thinks you’re going crazy then they’ll cut you.”

“Right.” I turned and left Trent in the Memoriam room.

I had promised Sam I would meet him in the prison. It was through the end of the large tunnel if you kept walking, so instead of heading to the lift I went in the opposite direction, towards a small light at the end of the gigantic tunnel.

It was a long walk. I kept quickening my pace as my anxiety increased. The light at the end of the tunnel was brighter and more daunting than ever. Up ahead was a large gate, floor to ceiling, metal rungs running deep into the ground. Two skryers stood on either side of the gate holding large guns. I assumed there was some sort of force field around the gate that skryers had to disarm before I could pass.

“What is your business?” one of the skryers asked.

The only way to get through the gate was to lie. “I was told there were possible hunter candidates in prison.”

“We got one last night. That must be who you are referring to.”

I instantly felt a cool blast of air. The force field was down. I stepped through and waited as the other skryer gave me a pat-down.

“Clear.”

I stepped aside and started walking again. It was exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel grow brighter and brighter. It gave me a new kind of hope; a rebirth of sorts. My head was higher and I walked with confidence.

The ground began to slope and green grass shot up through the dirt. I could taste the freedom. Light hit me as I reached the top of the slope and stood on solid ground. The trees across the clearing spread for miles. My arms opened up and I tilted my head back, inhaling slowly. This was freedom. No walls or trackers, just me. What would it be like if I left right now? What if I took off running in the woods and never looked back? It wasn’t possible, though. The base was sure to blow you to bits if you tried, considering they followed your every move. One wrong step and you were dead.

A large white cement building appeared up ahead through the trees so I took off running, my hair flying through the wind. Sam was leaned up against the side of the prison.

“Sam!” I yelled out, waving over my head. He waved back.

“Did you see this? It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, well, it may be one of the few times you get to. Come on.”

We walked past the trees, listening to the faint cry of birds overhead and the scuffling of squirrels running up the trunks of trees. Sam pointed around the side where the entrance was. We both stepped inside. At the front was a skryer, but he said nothing to us. Ahead was a long hallway that stretched out over a quarter of a mile long. Cell after cell continued, hallways splitting off and disappearing.

“There are so many.”

Sam was grim. “Most people don’t know this place exists.”

I cringed as I passed several cells where women and men sat, crouched in corners. Others were lying on their side, their backs to us. Many faces were pale and sunken in. I almost screamed when a hand shot out from between the bars and reached for my ankle. Sam grabbed me and yanked me away, kicking the hand with his foot. The woman slunk back to her cell, her hands retreating back by her knees.

“It’s like a graveyard.”

“A place of the dead. I hate coming here.”

We walked down the main hallway together until we came to the first fork. I gazed at the hallway on my left. “I guess this is where we split up.”

“I’ll take this one,” he said, pointing to his right. “Don’t be gone longer than fifteen minutes, okay? It’s easy to get lost in this place.”

“How big is it exactly?”

“Let’s just say I got lost here my first time in and wandered around for two hours before a skryer found me.”

“Two hours?”

Sam smiled wistfully. “No joke. Refer to the numbers at the top of every corner. They’ll increase the further you go from the center.” Sam pointed to the number above my head.
666
.

“
We can meet back here after the fifteen minutes is up.”

“Ironic that we’re meeting with the devil, don’t you think?”

Sam pursed his lips. “Don’t remind me. Good luck.”

“You too.” I turned left. There were many cells with some aged men who looked older than Vince by many years. Grey hairs sprouted from their ears and their skin sagged under their eyes and chins. I glanced back and forth into each cell. What did the base do with all of these people? Why weren’t they in the base like the rest of us?

The hallway I’d just passed read 700.  At the next ’T’ I needed to turn left so that I didn’t end up back where I started. A set of stairs on the left path led down to a small river that ran swiftly past the stairs and into darkness. I ran down the stairs and recited the number, 742, in my head over and over as I walked down the hall, making sure I stayed clear of the river.

An eerie feeling came over me, as if someone was watching me. I kept checking to see if anyone was following me, but no one was there. I paused, holding my breath. I did hear something: a faint scream. My heart skipped a beat.

Who was screaming? An image of a woman screaming flashed in my mind. Changing lights, red, blue, and white, and sirens showed up in my mind. The screams sounded like they were behind me. I turned and started running back down the halls, glancing at the numbers to make sure I was headed in the right direction. I turned back so I was running alongside the river into a wide hallway, the screams growing louder and with them, a voice yelling. My chest heaved up and down as I came around the corner to see Sev holding a woman through her cell bars.

“Please let me go!” she screamed.

“Where is my brother?” Sev yelled at her. “I didn’t do it! Someone set me up. Now tell me where my brother is!”

“I don’t know,” the woman sobbed. Sev let out an angry yell and pulled the woman’s hair, knocking her head against the bars. She howled and tried to pull away. I ran over and threw a punch at Sev. It must have caught him off guard because he stumbled back in surprise, releasing the woman.

“Hey!” I said loudly, hitting him in the chest. The woman had scrambled to the farthest corner in her cell, whimpering. “Leave her alone.”

He panted, wiping his bloody lip. “You can’t resist being the hero, can you?” He smiled and pointed a finger at me. “But you won’t last long. The Head will find out. He will come for you and take everything away that you love. He’ll leave you with nothing!”

I waited for Sev to make a move. He lunged, kicking me in the stomach. I turned and absorbed it, grunting as he tried to grab my left arm and twist it. Sev grabbed a fist of my hair and threw my head into the metal bars, holding my chin as he punched me. Sev smile widened and gripped my arm.

“Sev, stop!” I sputtered. He brought his arm down on my upper thigh where my bullet wound was. I let out a howl, crumpling to the ground. I gasped for air, pain flooding through my leg in waves. I stood up slowly and tried to throw a kick but he grabbed my foot and swung it around, pulling me back to the ground. My shoulder hit the cement floor as I tried to catch myself.

“Listen to me, it doesn’t have to be this way-”

He bent down in front of me, tilting his head. “Why not?”

“It’s not right. It’s what the Head wants. He wants to turn us against each other.”

“It’s working, isn’t it?”

I leaned back against the wall, catching my breath. “Don’t do this here. Save it for when it counts.” If I could get him distracted long enough then I could get the gun from his belt. I held up my hands. “You want the Head to know you are worth saving, right?”

Sev hesitated. My distraction was working. I kept going. “Then do it where he can see it. If you are going to kill me, do it in public. Not here where no one can see.”

Sev seemed to lessen his stance. I got to my feet, my hands up in surrender. “I will leave, and next time you see me we can battle it out. Okay?”

“Go, then.” Sev jerked his head. I stepped closer to him, pretending to pass, but grabbed his belt, pulling out his gun and pointing it at his forehead. “Two can play this game,” I turned off the safety.

Sev snarled. “You dare threaten a hunter?”

“One who tries to kill me, yes.”

There was a scuffle; Sam came around the corner out of breath. “Vi! What the-” Sam ran over to me. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Sev was just showing me a few moves,”  I said. I kept my eyes on Sev. My arm was shaking but I held it steady enough so Sev knew I wasn’t joking. “Don’t underestimate me. There’s a reason the Head chose me to be a hunter.”

Sam came closer. Sev licked his lips. “You’ll regret you ever did that.”

“I don’t think she will,” Sam spoke.

I took a few steps back, still holding up the gun. “Leave, now. Or I will shoot.”

Sev paused. He spat at my feet and turned swiftly, breaking into a run as he took off.

“So that’s what you look like in action,” Sam said.

“More or less.”

“So why were you fighting with him in the first place?”

“He was torturing her.” I jerked my head at the woman. Sam’s eyes followed mine to the woman huddled in the back of her cell.

“You can’t resist being the hero, can you?”

“That’s what Sev said, too.”

Sam laughed. “What am I going to do with you?”

“You might run out of bruising ointment when you are done with me,” I teased.

“I just might.”

“Beyond that, did you find anything that can help us?”

Sam shook his head. “I checked most of the floors but then I heard you-”

“Sorry about that.”

“-so I came to make sure everything was okay. You were gone longer than we promised.” Sam touched my shoulder. “We should go.”

“Okay.”

I rested one foot on the ground, taking a deep breath as I steadied myself. My wounded leg was still pounding from when Sev hit it.

“I can make this easier for both of us and carry you.”

I shook my head and let go of Sam, wincing as I climbed the stairs and followed the maze back to the front of the prison. The walk back through the tunnel was long, but luckily the skryers didn’t give us any grief as we passed back through. Sam and I reached the lift in the cavern and got in. I sighed in relief and sat down against the lift doors, resting my head against my knees.

“Now what?” I asked.

“We head back to the healing center so I can check out your leg.”

“My leg is fine.” I ran my hand across my tattooed wrist. “I can’t wait to get out.”

“I haven’t heard from Mary in a while.”

I wondered if Mary was still dwelling on our last conversation. After all, it would be hard seeing someone you care about with someone else. “We can’t put this off. We need to set a date.”

“It’s risky-”

“If the Head doesn’t know by now then he will soon enough.”

“What makes you say that?”

“We’ve been sneaking around the base for weeks. How could he not suspect something? They have trackers so they can follow our every move. If they picked us out, they would see. We need to move.”

“Fine, but after the healing center-”

“I don’t want to go to the healing center, Sam. I just want to go to my room. I need to think.”