Rustles

Part 13

She pulled her shoes close and sat down on the nearest armchair to put them back on. She heard heavy boots coming her way and Silver appeared on the door, dressed in her military outfit and looking mighty as ever.

“Judith is looking for you.” She cornered her hands on her hips.

“Ok, thanks.”

She watched her buckling up her street shoes. She didn’t leave immediately, but waited. She crossed the floor and stopped next to her chair. "If you tell anyone that boss fell over your heels, I will make your life living hell!"

Flore felt smile coming over and she slowly pushed herself straight, stroking gently over the hurt heel.

"Ok, I fell over him." she agreed with such ease it made the other woman slump.

"Really?" he sounded hopeful.

"No, but I wanted to see your face, when I said this." she gifted her with a quick smile and walked out. 

She went after her. "Do you understand what you risk here? He is military! He can't go around falling over women's shoes!"

She snorted. "Has he done it often?"

"NO! But..."

"Cool it, Silver, they won't hear it from me."

Besides, it was unlikely they hadn’t already heard it, because it was quite obvious that in order to hurt leg like she did, she must have had it already twisted. Hard to hide fact in a house full of doctors.

She walked all the way in kitchen, Silver following her around like puppy, when she suddenly stopped and admitted she had no idea where she should go.

“The door to cellar is in the other side of the kitchen,” she showed with her hand. “Go around the corner, under the stairs.”

She went as directed and met simple white door that opened easily. Behind it was brusque stairs to dirt floor and simple mason jars put over light bulb kind of lighting and uncoated wall boards. Everything in this claustrophobic staircase shouted Improvised! They were in haste when they arrived here.

The wall covered most of the view in the room until the very end, when she walked around the corner and saw two huge cell blocks with bars in every possible angle. Some against the right side wall showed marks of bending, shining like moonbeams amongst the otherwise dull stainless steel bars.

She was standing alone in a small room in the middle and both sides under the house were turned into huge makeshift cell with rudiment lighting and four cameras pointed in them from above her head. The only daylight came from a small window above the simple table and a chair.

“What was this place?” she asked half loud. She couldn’t believe they just found this place and tailored it to their liking. It had to be here before.

Freezing cold climbed up in her belly. This was built purposely! Either for them or someone like them, but it was built with a reason! She had heard stories of this happening, but that was decades ago!

A hand reached out for her and took hold of her wrist.

She twirled around and was ready to scream, but choke on her own voice. He let her go immediately and pulled his hand back, grabbing hold of the bar. He was clean now, wearing grey sweatshirt and trousers, boots. A ball-chain ran around his neck and down in his shirt. Oh she wished to see them now and get done with this agonizing hope that he might be Alex!  

He was heaving hard. He looked bad, like sick, sweating.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m trying to stay awake, how are you?”

She shrugged. “Little better.” She twisted her lips. She watched his hands gripping the bars, so tense she could see every little detail of the veins and tendons. His fingernails looked like out of this world - she had never seen so damaged nails, even when she worked in the circus.

“I don’t speak your code.” she said, eyes fixed on his nails and took a step back. He immediately pulled back in the shadow of the stairs and leaned against it.

“No worries, I only tested your senses.”

“My under feet is pretty much all.” she tried to keep it light, but she couldn’t hide her worry. Now that he was no longer smudged, he looked more like Alex. She wasn’t sure if this was her wishful thinking or reality. If reality… her heart contracted like drying plum.

“You’ll have to learn it,” he said, his eyes weary, “if you read code out of it, we can use it.”

“They can see it on cameras,” she hinted with her head, realizing then that they could pretty much see her conversing with him then too.

“Don’t burden yourself.”

“So…” she drawled, “being caught up and dragged back here – that was your plan?”

“Brilliant, wasn’t it Bamby?”

“And what am I suppose to do now? Save you all by myself? Are you mad?”

“I’ll have your back.”

“Skinned and hammered flat on your cell?”

“As long as you have your humor, you’ll be fine.”

If he didn’t look so bad, it would have made a good insult. She scratched her temple, trying to think of something to say and swayed against the bars behind her. Something that wouldn’t sound so worried.

Digger’s eyes burst open before he shouted. “Whow!”

She understood in a second and pushed herself away just in time to get away from a hand reaching out from between the bars.

“Don’t do it again!” He looked fully alert before the drug dug through his system again and he watched as she stood there in the middle of the room, eyes open wide, stretching her hands high up to ditch from the shooting hands trying to catch her before they languished away.

“They are drugged?” she screamed, more convincing herself that she heard Judith right before. “If that’s their drugged state, I don’t… oh.” She was about to say she didn’t want to meet their un-drugged version, but thankfully realized herself she had already met those. “What’s your name?” she asked, rubbing her elbows and arms to get some of the warmth back.

“My name? Didn’t they show you?”

She snorted. “Paper with lots of ink stains?”

“What’s yours?”

“Margaret.”

“Heh, I knew a Margaret once…” he faded away.

She couldn’t breathe. Alex! She wanted to say it loud, but heard someone calling her instead and it wasn’t him.

“So did you see some of them?” Judith asked. It was sickening, listening her soft, but very joyful and pride filled voice.

Margaret drowned inside from tears she couldn’t let on her cheeks.

“Yes,” she said, trying hard not to look towards the man hiding in the shadow on her right, “some tried to grab me.” For a flip of a moment, her eyes diverted and she gazed in the shadow. It was empty. He was gone.

“Thankfully, all doped up. They react way slower.”

Hopefully his brain did too…

“I’m seriously gonna regret this, “ she frowned, sensing her inside turning over.