The World Of Steam

32

I stayed locked in my dark prison cell for two days, pacing up and down, listening to the slow drips of the cold water that incessantly leaked from the wet ceiling. My mind raced about, trying to come up with a plan, trying to think of at least one tiny thing, but it was of no use. The metal bars would not move or bend for me. The wall was sturdy, showing no signs of crumbling down. There was no escape. This was the end of the road for me and there was nothing that I could do about it. London was doomed to live a life of unending industrialisation and cancer inducing smoke. I sat at the edge of my bed and looked at my gas mask in my hands. The night fell, plunging my cold cell into darkness. With nothing else to do, I went to sleep. I was only a minute into my slumber when suddenly, I heard footsteps. I bolted upright, quickly putting my gas mask onto my head. I looked at the one-eyed man in the white pinstripe suit that stared back at me. "Xavix?" I whispered to him.

"Hello Lennox." He replied.

"How are you–?"

"Never mind that." Xavix quickly replied.

"We both need to talk."

"Yes, quite. But not here."

"You can release me."

"Not yet."

"What?!" I asked him, confused. Xavix's head suddenly snapped both ways as his ears picked up echoing footsteps. Without waiting, he quickly left the scene, leaving me alone to my fate. "Xavix! Xavix!" I loudly whispered after him as he disappeared into the darkness.

Jennix walked through the tunnel and found a ladder leading upwards. She climbed up it and opened the hatch. Looking around for any signs of life, she climbed up onto the ground floor and crept through The Black Mark's base. Creeping silently through the corridors like a ghost, she came across a sleeping guard. Tip-toeing up to him, she suddenly grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall. The guard slumped to the ground. She took his keys from him and crept forward. A door greeted her. Opening it, she stared in horror at the room in front of her eyes. There were eight giant vats filled with dark blood, one for each type. Hearing a bang, she jumped at the sound and quickly dashed into the shadows. She peeked her head around and saw a couple of men in white work overalls that were splattered in blood. They both had a pair of tinted goggles covering their eyes. One of them took his hand away from the cleaver that was stuck into the large wooden table and grabbed a severed finger. He handed it to his colleague and he took it. He turned his back to Jennix and seemed to dabble around with it. Turning around some seconds later, he pointed to one of the vats. His colleague grabbed the corpse and climbed up the steps to one of the vats. He put it down onto a metal platform and proceeded to brutally hack away at it, dicing it up as though it was a steak. Once he was done, he climbed back down as the blood of the corpse flowed through the small holes in the platform, dribbling down into the vat. Climbing up the steps to another vat, he grabbed another corpse's limbs and placed them into a large ice box. Once he was done, he closed the ice box up and carried it over to a waiting truck. Jennix caught the glimpse of the logo of a meat processing plant on it. She suddenly gagged, but managed to keep it down. Having seen enough, she left the room as quietly as she could and made her way further into the organisation. Opening another door, she entered a large room that looked like a hospital. People laid in beds, bandaged up, some with IV drips in their arms. One of the patients had a bandage over one of his eyes, his white sheets soaked in blood, his face as pale as death. Many of them seemed to be asleep. Taking the stupid risk that she had just thought of, Jennix walked over to the door at the end of the hospital in plain view of all of the patients. None of them seemed to look up and no one shouted. Everything was going well. The stupid risk was paying off. She opened up the door and found a long corridor with a tiled floor. Her mouth dropped open in shock and her eyes widened in fear. On both sides of the walls were tens of people stuck to them, bound by thick vines. Breathing masks covered their mouths and medical tubes were attached to their faces. There was beeping hospital equipment, measuring vitals. Jennix looked at the scene, mortified by the spectacle. She stepped over to one of the people. He looked over to her, only being able to move his eyes. Her hand went for his face and she caressed him, still in complete shock.