Children of the New Dawn n-logy: Book 2 - Liberated.

Chapter 8: ''''Towards the sun, three fingers high.''

Dylan and the little girl stopped cleaning after hearing a murmur in the room. She looked around in shock, her lips twitching and shaking. She looked around at Dylan then at the body that laid on the bed.

"It's okay. Go to your room, I'll talk to you later I promise. I need to handle this. Thanks for my help." Dylan jogged with her to the main door, typed the code and let her out. 

 He ran back into the room and stopped as he approached the bed. He stared at Lamark bewilderedly and made sure what he heard was real. "Lamark did you say something?" Dylan asked with a hopeful tone but some uncertainty hid behind it, as if he was talking to a ghost hoping for answers.

Lamark's eyed turned slowly in their sockets to try and focus on the voice that spoke. His lips moved quietly, forming a number.

"Dylan," he eventually said. His voice was one of something who hadn't had a drop of water pass their lips for too long.

He blinked slowly. Then he turned his head even slower and looked at the monitors.

 ="Alarm"= one corner read.

="Paging Staff"= another red flashing rectangle on the screen announced.

"You. Should probably. Go," Lamark murmured in a voice that suggested he wasn't quite sure why he was saying those words.

Dylan's eyes widened and his mouth opened as his lips formed a smile. He grabbed Lamark's hand and squeezed it. He laughed and then spoke with a much quicker pace. 

 "I'll be back I promise. I'm glad you're here. A lot has changed." Dylan stared at the machine as the monitor kept on beeping rhythmically making him anxious. 

 "What do you need? When can we see you?" Dylan asked as he got up and slowly walked towards the door, keeping his gaze on Lamark.

Lamark tugged at the restraints.

"Don't think I'm going anywhere soon," he offered weakly. "At least not on my own. Did I dream it, or was Fae here? Where is here?"

Dylan walked out of the room and peeped out into the hallway. "There's a lot we need to talk about but there's no time. I need to leave now." Dylan spoke, then breathed out deeply through his nostrils. He tapped his fingers on the doorframe. 

 "She was here but she's not okay right now. When the doctor comes down here, convince her. Convince her you're okay and she'll let you out. That way we can talk." Dylan left the room and ran for the exit. 

 "We'll talk soon, I promise!" His voice echoed through the passage as he approached the door. He typed in the code, opened the door and let it shut. The bang of a heavy door shutting into its hinges slammed tight behind him.

"Promises, promises," Lamark sighed and sank back down in the bed.

Dylan returned to his room and closed the door behind him. Evan had been standing by the wall watching Fae sleep. 

 He had his arms and legs folded as he leaned against the wall. He watched Dylan enter the room as he took a seat at the small table they had in a corner of the room. 

"Lamark is awake." Dylan filled the quietness as his eyes fell on Fae sleeping peacefully, taking deep slow breathes in between. Evan came and sat at the table too. He looked at Dylan in surprise. "Well that's great right? We're getting out of here." He said, smiling at Dylan. The smile soon faded away when he saw the disappointment, the worry and the uncertainty in Dylan's eyes. 

"What if this doesn't work? What if he still thinks the ways of this institute are the right ways? I promised all these people their freedom and now I can't deliver." Dylan looked down at his hands that laid bare on the table.