Paintshark (31 page)

“Is that how you think you and everybody else got your powers?”

Felcey nodded his head meaningfully. “Something in the water, maybe something we drank, I don’t know how it got there, but I know that Cassandra, Kimberley and me couldn’t have been the only ones affected, there’s more of ‘us’ out there…there just has to be.”

Elias spoke, his voice sad. “We still have to find Cassandra, I hope she’s ok.”

Felcey completely ignored him, thinking about his own troubles. I’m practically useless and I’m afraid of the prison guardians outside, I was afraid when I first got here and I’m afraid now, I wanted to die but I don’t now…I don’t want to die, sir, I may not have had the most exciting life back at Olympia, reading comics and stuff, but I was alive, and I want to stay alive, I’m sorry.”

Elias smiled and Felcey just about saw his lips upturn in the dark. “Don’t put yourself down, Felcey, you’re scared, I’m scared too, I’m afraid of what awaits me when we get out, I’ve, no sorry…we’ve been asleep for a year so who knows what world awaits us upon our escape.”

“We will escape, won’t we?” there was a slight twinge of desperation in Felcey’s voice.

“We will get out of this prison, we will get past these ‘guardians’ and we will get back to Olympia. You have a talent, a gift and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, everyone here has a gift, it may not have come from contaminated water but it‘s their own special ability, I mean look at us we’ve got Faris whose gift is having the ability to constantly pass wind.”

A loud fart was heard in the dark causing laughter and much comic relief.

“We have guys whose gifts are the ability to make flowers grow perfectly, people who can build houses from scratch, doctors who work miracles to heal the sick, entertainers, the men who work in warehouses, dustmen, postmen, and even us…even the teachers. We all made a choice, we are who we choose to be…besides, Aubrey apparently claims has the ability to talk to crabs. Yeah, it doesn’t sound as exciting as being able to punch holes through marble walls.”

Aubrey chirped up, “You speak for yourself, old boy; my power is perfect, crabs are splendid creatures, especially with some garlic and herb sauce.”

Both Felcey and Elias chuckled and Elias continued, “It’s what makes them special and it makes them special to us, I guess it makes us closer as friends and–” Elias paused as a lump came close to coming in to his throat as he thought about his daughter. “It makes us a family, your name is Felcey, and you make clay, milky stuff…remember that.”

A tear rolled down the side of Felcey’s face as he sniffed, “Thank you, sir.”

Elias frowned jokingly.

“I mean thank you, Elias.”

Elias put his hand on Felcey’s shoulder. “No probs man.”

Further in front, Midman saw a small light glimmering on the ground, as any light would be better than none at all he hurried along ahead to investigate, stooping down to pick it up he realised it was Bailey’s lighter, he called back to the group, “I’VE FOUND SOMETHING.”

Elias shouted back. “WHAT IS IT?”

Midman knew it looked familiar. “IT’S BAILEY’S LIGHTER.”

With a twist of fear in everyone’s stomach they had all noticed that they hadn’t heard Bailey’s booming voice for a while.

“WHERE IS HE?” shouted Elias.

“I DON’T KNOW,” was Midman’s nervous response. Midman grew uncomfortable and shifted his shoulders.

“BAILEY! BAILEY” everyone called out, Felcey didn’t want to say anything but he was very uncomfortable and rotated his shoulders once more. Midman called back to Elias. “I CAN’T FIND HIM, I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS.”

Elias kept his cool but it was becoming harder, he reassured those closest to him, Felcey and Nayan included, but Felcey wasn’t convinced and he really wanted to say something, he would soon.

Midman held the lighter all around him, illuminating very little, so he tried up in the air.

Felcey cranked his neck far to the left he heard it click, and his shoulders still ached, he thought it was time to speak up. Midman held the light aloft and his eyes locked on something strange above, they squinted behind the light as they tried to fully focus. Felcey spoke very softly to Elias. “I’m not being rude or anything and at first I did appreciate it, but could you let go of my shoulder now? It’s starting to hurt a little.”

Elias’s stomach jumped a bit. “I’m not holding your shoulder.”

Something made Midman look up further than his neck should allow and then wished he hadn’t. Felcey touched his back and felt something long and snakelike wrapped around his shoulder and slithering to his neck, he just had enough time to swallow deeply before being yanked off his feet by some thick vines.

“GRAB HIM!” yelled Elias.

Even though he was the heavier man Nayan was the fastest to react, leaping in the air before Elias had shouted and managing to grab hold of Felcey’s foot and holding tight, pulling hard with every bit of strength he could muster, the vines were hoisting Nayan off the ground now and the other prisoners jumped high to take hold of the waist of Nayan. Four men slowly pulled Nayan back to the ground who still held firm of the struggling body of Felcey, finally the sheer weight of the men snapped the vines and they all fell to earth, quick as a flash the big man was on his feet.

“MIDMAN!” he screamed.

“HELP HIM!” Nayan roared with intent to the others. Midman was screaming too as the lighter had picked out the lifeless body of Bailey hanging above him and coils of vines had completely deflated him and dehydrated his friend’s body, the Vines swooped down and collected the still screaming Midman. Nayan raced over and attempted the same rescue manoeuvre he had done moments earlier with Felcey, trying to grab on to Midman’s foot.

“KIMBERLEY!” Nayan cried out. “DO SOMETHING! BLAST THEM!”

The girl shivered with fright as she too had run over to help but could only watch helplessly as Nayan and more prisoners were fighting a losing battle with the vines, she tried to call upon the light power within her to try and save Midman who had always been kind and polite to her on the brief moments they spoke to each other, no power was coming from her hands this time, they had provided light in the tunnel earlier but nothing shone from her hands now.

“I CAN’T!” she cried. “NOTHING’S HAPPENING.”

She gave up on her power but not on her strength as she jumped on the human rope to try and save Midman, the startled young lady was now the anchor for this chain, but the this time the vines were too strong for them and Midman was ripped free from the hands of Nayan, as his fellow prisoners came crashing to the ground Midman had time for one terrifying scream before the pulsating mass of vines had completely entombed his body.

Kimberly backed away shaking her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I tried to save him, I really tried, I don’t know to work it, I don’t know how to work it.”

Nayan sat on the ground his right hand over his eyes, as he spoke he didn’t look as Kimberley his head was bowed down. “We have to leave now.” Then he looked over to her. “You did what you could, youngster, there was nothing we could do, you tried.”

Kimberly tried to glare at Felcey in the dark reiterating Nayan’s words, “Yeah, yeah I
did
try to save him.”

Felcey didn’t see her stare but the words cut deep enough. She leant against the tunnel wall and shot forward as if she had just been released from an arrow. “The walls are moving,” she whispered. Then her fear came back and she screamed. “THE WALLS ARE MOVING!”

The vines had let their prey walk freely along their tunnel, they knew how long the tunnel was and where each exit was.

“WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO NOW?” shouted Reede.

“THEY’RE IN THE WALLS, THEY’RE COMING THROUGH THE WALLS,” somebody else cried.

“THEY ARE THE WALLS!”

“I CAN’T SEE”

Elias realised with terror what was happening.

“THERE’S ONLY TWO OTHER EXITS IN THIS TUNNEL,” he shouted. “ONE OF THEM IS BEHIND US, THE CLIFF FACE, THE OTHER IS THROUGH THE VINES WHERE WE CAME IN, WE HAVE TO–”

Before he could finish three vines burst through the tunnel wall and grabbed the bulky prisoner Houghton, pulling him back through the hole and snapping his neck along the way.

“RUNNNNN!” everyone yelled.

Turning around, the prisoners ran towards the other exit as huge vines smashed their way through the walls or dropped from the very high tunnel roof. The tendrils picked off the men with ease, either swooping down to collect them in their tight grip or tripping them up as they ran for any sort of hiding place in the darkness, the prisoners had been on the run this direction before when they fled from the rats, so they knew exactly what to expect as they carried on their plight.

A tendril poked itself from between a gap in the wall and picked out Reede running for her life, it made a grab for her leg and soon she was being dragged screaming towards the wall, more of the vines penetrated the wall and through her convulsing body.

Kimberley stood in front of ‘Oscar’, a teacher who had taught at her School and was always friendly and actually listened to you if you didn’t understand the question; he was speaking to her trying to keep her calm.

Kimberley was now intrigued as well as frightened, the realisation that yet again something not human was trying to kill her, her eyes focused on something being flung from the dark and then in shock Kimberley opened her mouth. “Don’t.”

The teacher stopped talking and looked dumbfounded as even in the dark noticed a splatter of blood appear on Kimberley’s face, his own face was drawn to whatever had Kimberley’s attention.

He followed the young girl’s eyes to see her transfixed at his stomach, the teacher looked too and noticed something sticking out of it. Two long vines were protruding from the man’s belly. Before pain and shock set in he was hoisted high of the ground by the vines.

There was no sound from him as they tore his body in two, Kimberley barely made out this horrible spectacle and heard the blood splash like a bucket of water thrown from a block of flats to the pavement below.

Kimberley collapsed to the ground crawling backwards with her back arched and slowly crawled backwards a like cautious spider, her eyes never leaving the forms of the giant vines.

She reached the middle of a body of prisoners and they tried to keep her safe; Prisoner Ignus was whipped away with ease, followed by Borman.

Bevin watched as his friends were being slaughtered, his stomach fluttered as he saw Cooke’s head splatter against the wall, brain and bone slithered down the cold wet stone like a bulbous red slug, Bevin picked himself up carried on running, he was just behind Kimberley and tried his hardest to run with the prisoner pack but was finding it hard and was suffering; he stopped to catch his breath as the group ran on.

Kimberley turned and shouted to him to keep up, Bevin was bent over, trying his hardest to breathe, as he finally stood up straight, something snakelike and large was hurtling from above. He instinctively put up his hand to protect his face and the vine sliced through his arm.

Bevin watched as his severed hand fell to the floor, he stumbled back in slow motion as Kimberley screamed hysterically, he was in shock as he wondered what she was screaming at, blood pumped from his stump and it held his fascination, he wanted to show everyone and tell them about the funny colours in his head, he fell to his knees as another vine ripped in to his chest and tore it away, only the bottom half of his torso remained and it slumped forward, Bevin couldn’t tell anybody about the colours in his head, Kimberley watched as it rolled along the ground.

Something gripped her arm and as she tried to pull away and screamed, she recognised the voice amidst the death in the darkness. “Don’t be afraid, it’s me,” reassured Felcey.

“Running again away I see,” she spat.

“Now’s not exactly the right time,” said Felcey.

“What? Don’t want me to kill you now? If you want to die, why are you running? So when do we speak about the fact that people are dying Felcey, and you want me to kill you?”

Felcey couldn’t reply. “Thought not,” continued Kimberley.

“Keep running, Felcey, it’s what you’re best at anyway.”

Aubrey who was running in front huffed and puffed but managed to turn around.

“I say you two; you might want to put your domestic affairs to one side before our green fingered friends entrain us all to our doom, besides, looks like we’ll be taking a little dip as well.”

Kimberley knew there was a big drop ahead; she barely heard what Elias was panting about when he too had rats on him as he hung from the cliff face, but she did catch that there was a drop, but not what was at the bottom.

Nayan and Elias had made their way back to the front of the group again, and were soon approaching the end of the tunnel in the middle of the mountains which Section b were based in. Nayan was looking back at all his ‘brothers’ being slaughtered, each death cut out a little bit more from his soul, he had watched over them ever since his arrival on Gommerstall and had hoped he would be able to see them all leave, but not like this. Elias’s shouting voice snapped him out of his sad remembrance.

“WE’RE GONNA HAVE TO JUMP,” he puffed.

“I KNOW.” Nayan looked down and then back at the rush of upcoming prisoners.

“YOU GO,” he shouted to Elias.

“I HAVE TO WAIT FOR SOMBODY.”

“WHAT?”

“JUST JUMP, MY FRIEND, I’LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU.”

The first wave of prisoners looked down at the fast flowing river and had waited for Nayan’s or Elias’s instructions, then they turned around at looked at their cellmates running to join them whilst being collected for food by the army of swinging tendrils.

Nayan held his gaze to the first prisoners in line to jump, the footballer Dex, with the failed comedian Faris.

The tired smile from the one they trusted was enough for them, but he still spoke, or rather shouted.

“IT LOOKS LIKE A VERY FAST CURRENT FROM UP HERE AND THE WINDS ARE STILL HIGH, TAKE YOUR BROTHER’S HANDS.” He turned around and shouted back. “ALL OF YOU, HOLD YOUR BROTHER’S HAND.”

He turned back to the front two and the smile was back, slightly stronger and his voice softer. “Be safe, my brothers.”