Resurrection

Chapter 2

We make our way down a tangled maze of corridors; everything looks the same - white walls and white doors.

He sets me down surprisingly gently. I mutter my thanks. We stare in silence at one another: him, the hired grunt; me, a monster. "There's a shower in there - It's warm. And they're on a timer... so it will stop..." he pauses, trying to avert his eyes from my see-through hospital gown. "I'll try and find you some clothes too."

"Thank you..."

"Marv" he smiles. Marv has a nice smile, and his face is on the cusp of changing from boy to man. He has a firm jaw line and is as wide as he is tall; 100% muscle; your average bouncer. But he looks only a couple of years older than me. He catches my staring and flushes; I dart my eyes away - I didn't mean anything like that; I was just curious.

"Thank you Marv" I smile.

"You're welcome X" he smiles in return, holding open the door to the small bathroom.

"It's Ember."

Poor tortured soul. I can see it in his eyes. I see me.

I spend a long time in the shower, surprisingly. I should be panicking - not knowing where I am, only vaguely remembering who I am, only having a couple of fractions of my memory.

My name is Ember and I drowned.

I let the water run over my body once more. Marv knocks on the door, slipping some fresh clothes around the corner.
My name is Ember and I died fighting. But what?

My skin silky, hair wrapped up in a towel, I slip into the clothes - a near perfect fit.

My name is Ember and I drowned. I died fighting; I died trying to find relief aid.

But no one ever comes to save you. I slip on the white underwear, surprise, surprise. White cotton leggings, long sleeved shirt and a woollen jumper. White again. I slip the needles into my hair, fixing it into a tight bun; whilst concealing my last, desperate weapon.

Desperate. Your life in a nutshell.

Outside the shower room side kick 2 waits. He hands me a pair of white tennis shoes, waiting for me to slip them on before leading me down the corridor.

I got the promised breakfast. Side kick two held open a white door - I expected another small white cell; instead the room before me is huge, expanding out as far as I could see. The floors and walls were the same white as the rest of the facility. So it was a seeming stretching tunnel. Tables and benches match this décor, in two straight lines, one to the left, and the other to the right of the room. At the end of the infinite tables stands another table, perpendicular to the others - although it is hard to distinguish one form from another; but I see people clustering around it, heaping food onto white plastic plates.

To my left sat the doctors - dressed in long white lab coats. I spot Dr Wren half way along the table. He stares at his food, barely eating; Heels sits to his right, laughing, completely oblivious to his mood - totally engrossed in whatever the doctor opposite has just said.

I turn my attention to the right. The other subjects. Boys and girls, a few adults; they're dressed identically in white suits. Side kick two nudges me forward; eyes slowly turn my way. Slowly, I defrost myself, forcing one foot in front of the other along the centre line.

It takes me an eternity to reach the table at the end - the white on white completely distorting my sense of distance. With trembling hands I reach for a plate cold as ice; I almost drop it. "Eggs?" - I tremble, unable to answer. Slop. Ah, slopped like a true dinner lady. Rolling his eyes the chef slops more food onto my plate. "Are you staying here all day? Or just waiting for your food to cool down?" he sneered.

Get a grip.

I walk back down the aisle, seeking an empty seat. "Welcome to the crew W" the girls beside me smiles as I move to take a seat beside her. I open my mouth to introduce myself, but Heels beats me to it - stood proudly, glass in hand, tapping it with a delicate little spoon.

"Attention. Attention everybody." She waits for full attention. "We made a miraculous breakthrough in science today. Thanks to Dr Wren, we have successfully reduced the incubation period." She scans the room, searching for me. "If everyone could put their hands together for Dr Wren, and Subject X."

And then the most sickening thing happens - the Doctors burst into applause. One by one the other subjects stop eating, turning to face me; I pale. I barely touched my food.

I sprint to leave the eating hall, but one girl catches me before I can escape. "I think we need to have a little talk, X" she sneers, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind me; fire stabs my shoulder. I turn to face her - older than me, blonde hair pulled back into two French plaits. Scary. Around us the other subjects mingle, whilst the Doctors rush off to attend their duties.

"In here" the girl barked, pushing me through another door. Another white room, not a moment later full of people, squashed together, huddled in groups; girls and boys, men and women, heads down, eyes on me in flickering glances; scared to glance for too long.

"You're X?" - She demanded, challenging. "Well, I certainly expected something better." Someone giggles; I roll my eyes, earning me a glare from the girl. "The way they talked about you, it was as though you were so much ... better... than everyone else. Like you were some God given gift. Look at you - you're barely 5"4! Pathetic."

"Just get on with it" someone shouted from the back. The girl silences them with a glare.

"Enough of the 'well done Dr Wren' crap'. Tell me, how did you get out of the incubation state so fast?"

"I don't know" I whispered. "I just woke up."

"You just woke up did you? Nice lie in?" the girl spat, eyeing me up and down. "That's the biggest load of crap I've heard in a long time, and believe me, we hear a ton of it. Enlighten me. Tell me everything you remember, and how you 'woke up'..."

My eyes dart around nervously, seeking some support, some help. Was this a trick question? Or were they just going to pommel me with their fists? The eyes that were nervous before were now glazed with anger: why was I so special? What made me different?

I can't answer that. I don't even know myself.