We Live Forever

Chapter 32: Subject X6

Crimson's POV:

"Charles with all due respect are you sure your knees can handle this?" Hank asked concerned. 

"Hank, are you calling me old?" Charles interrogated. 

"I- I'm just concerned for your knees. It's a lot of weight," Hank defended. 

"Trust me, they can handle it," Charles said with a wink.

"EW," I exclaimed fake gagging.

"Wait, why ew? I don't get it," Hank stated innocently.

"It's a sex thing"

"It usually is"

Charles cleared his throat to regain our attention. 

"Anyways, let's just get on with it already!"

We figured out the proper order and worked out the logistics of what we were about to do or at least attempt to do. 

Hank got down on his knees in front of me and stuck his hands up by his head. Carefully, I placed one of my feet on his shoulder. He grabbed my ankle firmly. I placed my other foot on his shoulder and he grabbed that ankle as well. 

Very slowly Hank started to stand up. I immediately started to wobble which wasn't a pleasant experience. I quickly placed my hands flat against the wall. I really wish there was some kind of texture to it, I can't get any grip on flat concrete. 

"It's alright love, I've got you"

Then the awful process of Hank getting on Charles' shoulder began. After a great deal of both time and effort, we had made it. As a unit, we slowly slid across the wall until we were in front of the window. 

"In addition to a psychologist, I am also hiring a chiropractor!" Charles called out, clearly strained.

I took a deep breath and took one of my hands off the wall. Carefully, I pull my arm back and then slammed it forward shattering the green glass. 

"Ow! Little warning next time!"

"Sorry!"

I snapped off the rest of the glass on the edge. Then I placed my arms inside the building and hoped no one was inside. I pulled myself up and Hank tentatively released my ankles. I got the rest of the way inside and got more than a few cuts in the process. I dusted the glass off my arms and then pushed the shards away from the hole to make sure Hank doesn't suffer the same fate. 

I laid down on the floor and locked my ankles around a desk to properly anchor myself. My upper body was now hanging outside the room. I reached my arms down and Hank reached his up. We grabbed onto each other forearms. I slowly pulled Hank up until he could grab the ledge and pull himself inside. 

We took a minute to catch our breath before getting to work. The room was definitely used for surveillance. There were monitors everywhere, but most of them showed disconnection errors. The ones that were active showed soldiers armed to the teeth moving quickly in formation down bloody hallways. 

There were plenty of desks and chairs, but they were left messy. The chairs hadn't even been pushed in. Soldiers are trained to be attentive to details, but this room didn't reflect that at all; they must've left in quite a hurry. 

One thing caught my attention. In front of the largest monitor was a VCR. I noticed a closet door and put two and two together. I pulled the closet door open and confirmed my suspicions. They kept hard copies of all their footage. The shelves all bore red labels.

"Subject X7", "Subject X8", and "Subject X9" all looked very new and tidy. I grabbed one of each and took them to the VCR. One by one I put them in and saw that we were in fact those three subjects. 

Unfortunately, the tape of myself I had grabbed happened to be one of me being tortured. I felt like I should look away, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. I felt Hank snake one of his arms around me. I gave in to his embrace and leaned into his side. 

"It's over now"

I snapped out of my trance and walked up to the VCR. I pressed the eject button and took the tape into my hands. 

"We should probably destroy these, right?"

"We can't let him have all this... information. Let's destroy them all"

I took the tape in my hands and smashed it against the desk. The plastic shattered into a bunch of pieces and I felt relieved. Hank took the two tapes I had grabbed of him and Charles and smashed them as well. We went to grab the other tapes of us when Hank stopped abruptly. 

"If we're X7, X8, and X9 then who is Subject X6?"

I followed his gaze to the top shelf. The shelf bore a single dusty tape. Hank reached up and pull the tape down. A note had been taped onto the front of the tape.

"All material relating to former Subject X6 is now in the personal possession of Bolivar Trask. Please forward this tape to his office."

Hank pulled the note off and blew the dust off the tape. Then our curiosity led us back to the VCR. Hank inserted the tape and we stepped back to watch it. 

The screen flashed with static at first, then it switched to a camera showing a wide view of the interrogation room. Trask sat in it alone. He faced the camera and spoke. 

"Subject X6 entrance interview. Subject X6 is invaluable to my research and possesses abilities that are essential to protecting humanity's future."

In the tape, the door to the interrogation room opened and several soldiers walked inside. All of them were wrestling with someone. The subject came into view.

"Holy shit!"

"It- it's her. It's Raven."

Trask attempted to get her to speak to him, but she didn't speak to him. She muttered something under her breath at one point, but I couldn't hear it over the hum of the VCR. 

"We have to take this with us."

"We'll destroy the rest of them and maybe they'll think that one's been smashed too."

"We're one step closer to finding her."

Author's Note:

Surprise!

Trask had Raven and he personally took every bit of information on her? What else is going on here?