Children of the Dead

42|Eye for an Eye

I lie still on the stiff mattress, my eyelids feeling heavy. The first soft rays of sun slip through the window. I hear the shuffling of feet, but try to ignore it, praying that it's not Omar sneaking over to brutally wake me up as he always does. I'm not ready to face today's problems, or reality at all.

"Enver," a hand is on my shoulder and all I want to do is cover myself with the blanket and go back to sleep. But the harsh voice continues, "Enver, wake up."

I groan as the hand continues to shake me. I stretch and try to shake the sleep off of me, ready to give the person crap for waking me up. I squint as an attempt to open my eyes. I'm at a loss for words when my vision focuses on the person standing above me, who is definitely not Omar.
My eyes widen as realization hits. Holloway's deep blue eyes are staring at me, hints of concern hidden in them. I open my mouth and attempt to scream but the fear blocks the sound. My hand flies up to his when it covers my mouth, "Don't make a sound." He looks over his shoulder, making sure I didn't wake up anyone.

I pull his hand away, "What are you doing!?"

"You have a loud voice," he whispers. "Be quiet so you don't wake anyone."

"What are you doing in here?" I ask, ignoring his demands for me to be quiet. I am on high alert, worry and adrenaline dancing through my limbs.

"When will you ever learn that I don't answer stupid questions?" Holloway sighs, standing up from his kneeling position.

"My questions arn't stupid," I sit up, feeling my spine pop. My heart is racing, my mind going even faster as I try to make sense of what's happening.

Holloway doesn't respond, but instead scans over my face. His eyes hold a glint of amusement and his mouth twitches up into a half smile.

Only for a second.

Holloway shakes his head, clearing his face from any emotion that was previously there. And before I can open my mouth to question, he spins around on his heels and is out of the room, leaving me dumbfounded why he was here in the first place.

I tussle out of my thin blanket, freezing when Omar groans and rolls over. He mumbles something under his breath, flinging his arm over his eyes, and starts snoring once again. I sigh in relief and rush out of the room after Holloway. 

"Holloway?" I call out into the empty hallway. I receive no answer. I walk further, only to find the main door completely opened. I look over my shoulder, to make sure that no one is watching me before I tiptoe out into the hall. Holloway leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he stares at nothing in particular. "Um, Holloway? What the hell is going on? You just strut in, wake me up, then leave?"

He pushes off the wall, not sparing me a glance, "Follow me."

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to."

My curiosity gets the best of me. I keep a few feet of distance between us as we walk. I follow him past his office, past the rooms, the doctors, the experiment hall, and past a few more doors I don't recognize. My curiosity and confusion only continues to grow after every door that we pass. I wonder why he's trusting me to walk with no guard, no escort, just him and me, alone. "Where are you taking me?" I wait for a response, but I never receive one.

Time stretches as our walk does. Door after door, second after second. We pass no one in the halls, and the silence rings through my ears. The only sound comes from Holloways shoes clicking against the wooden floor and my many attempts to find out where we're going. I give up on that eventually. Finally Holloway stops without any warning, I keep my distance as I watch him carefully, like a scared mouse watching for a predator overhead. I notice his hands shake as he reaches up and punches in the code. There's a ding, and the shaking stops. His hand falls to the knob on the unknown door, looking over his shoulder at me as he pushes it open. Holloway gestures for me to follow him, and I don't hesitate a second to do so. I don't know what I'm thinking. A small part of me is pulling me back, begging me to turn around and run. But something else is pulling me toward the door, toward him.