Deviator

Laying low

2039
Alec

I often cast a sidelong glance at Andrew. I think we are losing him. I have never seen him feast before. Or be that far gone mentally. I couldn't even reach him. I know he sees me watching him and he seems to be very embarrassed. More embarrassed than scared of what is happening to him. And that hurts my soul.

I'm scared. Not of him but for him. If we don't get a scientist to make the cure more efficient, then we can't save him. And I care for him. I don't want to fail him.

At The Square, chaos reigns. Rapidly, we move further away. The alarms and the Anthroes are creating massive panic. Everyone is running in different directions, and no one seems to take any notice of us. We rush towards Section C so we can find somewhere to hide until everything settles down a bit.

I pick a building, hurries into the stairway and kick open the door to the first apartment. A woman screams loudly but Simon quickly covers her mouth with his hand.

"Shhh... please be quiet. Nothing will happen to you..." the woman stares at Andrew with a terrified look in her eyes and Simon instantly leads her away from him.

I do understand her fear. He looks horrible.

"Andrew, I think we need to get you cleaned up a bit." I guide him to the bathroom where I turn on the water. "Rinse of the blood and I'll try to find some clean clothes." Luckily, it seems that a man is also resident in the apartment even though he isn't home now, so it isn't difficult to find some clothes. The pants are a bit too short, but other than that it fits fine.

"Much better." I smile at him but just as I'm about to join the others again he stops me.

"Alec..." I can see the tears lingering in his eyes and I shave to swallow the lump in my throat. "I'm so sorry I lost control and..." he swallows a couple of times as he tries to continue but the words are stuck in his throat. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, its okay Andrew. You are doing great. I was only turned for a very short time and even I couldn't restrain form joining in on your fight."

"No, but you didn't eat someone!" he whisper-yells at me.

"True... and I won't pretend that I truly know how uncomfortable that must have been for you. Especially with the way the Hunters reacted, but you need to focus on the fact that you came back. You could snap out of it. That means there is still hope." My voice sounds a lot more hopeful than I am. Thank God for that.

For a while we just look at each other silently. Then he clears his throat and gestures to the dried-up blood on my arm.

"What happened there?"

I look down on my arm and smiles awkwardly.

"Oh... I failed to keep my promise to Simon."

He furrows his brows and looks questioning at me, but I don't get to explain before Simon calls for me.

"Alec," He whispers "it's crawling with Protectors out there. For now, they are still headed to the gate, but I'm guessing it won't be long before they begin searching the buildings. We need to move on."

I nod and look out the window. He is right. Grey uniforms are everywhere.

"We need to get to the subway."

"Subway?" Simon looks confused at me.

"Sebastian once told me that there is a subway where they transport people from isolation to the Houseservant facilities. That means that there is a tunnel all the way through the island. We have to be able to reach section A from it."

"But how... We can't exactly steal a train." Simon asks while seeming to be rather shocked from my mentioning of Sebastian. I look apologetic at him. I shouldn't have said the name.

"We can walk along the rails." Andrew is standing in the doorway. "The trains only drive when needed and since there is a crisis at the gate, there is no reason to move people from isolation right now. So, there shouldn't be any trains.

"And what if there is...?" Simon asks.

"Well, then this mission ends rather abruptly." Andrew shrugs.

"Alright." I interrupt quickly before Simon can attack Andrew. "It seems like we don't have much of a choice. Andrew, do you know where the subway is?"

"I have an idea about it, but I haven't actually been there."

"Great..." Simon pouts as he is slowly getting in a very bad mood. All because of me.

When the streets finally are almost clear of people, we rush to the exit that hopefully will lead us to the subway. Unfortunately, it is a very narrow winding staircase in a room where every step echoes. There is no chance of not being detected if there is anyone in the subway. We just have to hurry and hope for the best.

I'm the first one going down the stairs. The further down I get, the worse the smell is. In the end I have to cover my mouth and nose with my shirt.

"Wait! Stop right there!" A voice echoes through the stairwell.