I opened my eyes slowly, pushing myself to a sitting position. I stretched my arms and yawned. I regretted it instantly. A sharp throbbing pain shot up from my leg. I lifted up the blanket to look at my leg. Angry neon green lines shot up my leg, they throbbed with fervor. I gasped taken aback. Was I going to die? I felt my heart fall into my gut. I started to panic and looked frantically around the room. Melody was nowhere to be seen. The door was shut and the lights were still off. How did they turn on I wondered. I slowly tried to stand. I yelped as the pain intensified as the foot of my infected leg touched the cold hard wood floor. I sat back down on the bed, beads of sweat forming on my brow. It was at this time that I heard a knock on the door. It slowly opened as Marcus peered in.
"You'll need this, can't have you walking around in a hospital gown now can we?" He said as he threw a black rucksack at my feet. "And make it quick, Rose doesn't like to wait. Oh, and no sudden movements around her, if you want to be healed instead of injured." He warned smiling as he tipped his hat and closed the door. I unzipped the bag and pull out some brown leather trousers, a green cotton shirt, tan leather boots, and a maroon hoody. I changed into these clothes and saw that my backpack had been placed at the foot of the bed. With a wince I gingerly stood up and limped my way over to it. I opened it taking out the knife and putting it in my boot for safe keeping. I then took out the photo of me and that girl. I stared at it for a moment, fingering the necklace around my neck. So many questions... I folded the photo and slipped that into my boot as well. I put on the backpack and walked to the door, I opened it slowly and walked into the hall. I was met by Marcus leaning against the wall by the door. "You ready?" He asked starting towards the stairs.
"I guess so." I answered as I followed him down the stairs and out of the pub. The street was empty. By the dimness of the light orbs I could tell it was still It was very early in the morning. The neon glow of business signs glowed around us as we walked down the streets, my hood up, my feet splashing in puddles of water caused by leaking from the caverns ceiling. "Where are we going?" I asked as we took a turn down a damp, dank ally way. Marcus walked up to a metal door in the side of one of the building and knocked three times.
"We're here." If he said this to me or the door I'm not sure. "Open up Rose, I've got a customer." He said pressing a button next to the door. I heard a faint buzzing sound, then a slight crackling sound as a voice on an intercom above us spoke.
"Bring him up to the camera Marcus, I wanna see him first." A female voice said on the intercom. Marcus gestured to a black orb protruding from the brick wall next to the door. I walked up to it curiously cursing the pain in my leg. The orb rotated slowly and a blue glow emitted from it illuminating my face in the dark ally. "Oooo he is a cutie this one is. Open your mouth from me cutie." The voice said excitedly. I looked to Marcus desperately but he just shrugged and point to my mouth. I turned back to the orb and opened my mouth slowly. The light intensified and a thing metal rod came and and pricked my finger, then a red beam shot out cauterizing the wound as a flinched turning away from the wall in shock. "Blood type... Inconclusive, Interesting. and look at this! Your DNA isn't even in a double helix! I've never seen anything like this before.... Oh my you're poisoned. How fun! Come on in cutie, you should be interesting." The voice concluded as the door propped open. Marcus opened it the rest of the way gesturing for me to walk inside. I walked inside slowly and was blinded by bright LED lights on the ceiling of an all white hallway. We walked down the hallway to another door, which we opened to find a spacious room filled with medical and science equipment. At a large control console I saw a pale women with short red hair. She turned toward us, her blue eyes shimmering in the artificial lighting, her cheeks spotted with freckles. "Ah! There you are!" She exclaim as she ran towards me. As she reached me the first thing she did was hug me tight. I was taken aback, but then flinched as a sharp pain came from my scalp. She pulled away with a few of my hairs in hand. "Lovely samples!" She exclaimed putting them into a plastic bag then into a pocket on her white lab coat. "So cutie, let's talk about the poison problem of yours." She said gesturing for me to sit down in a metal cushioned examining chair. I sat down gingerly careful of my leg. "So, I'm Rose! I'm one of the only doctors her in Ubay, good for you right?" She said smiling pulling a lever that violently jerked my chair back into a laying position. Marcus just chuckled leaning against a wall out of the way. "So where did you find this one Marcus?" She called to him. He tipped his hat and said.
"I didn't, Melody did. At any rate, what do you think the cost of this healing?" He asked
"Oh I don't know... Does he need his leg?" She asked prodding it with her finger. I slapped it away quickly as she pouted. "Guess so. Hmmm... Well I have a delivery from the wasteland I need taken care of. My last runner was... Well let's just say he didn't need his leg." She said smiling madly.
"The wasteland! Rose are you out of your..."
"I'll do it." I cut Marcus off. "Just fix me and I'll do it." Rose smiled at this putting on a pair of goggles.
"I like this one Marcus! Don't kill him alright? He could be more fun alive I think." She said pulling out a large syringe. "This will only hurt tremendously, but don't worry. I'm a doctor. Well sort of. I'm not old enough to be a full doctor yet but seventeen is close enough right?" She said giggling to herself as she pulled up my pant leg. "Now hold still, as I said. I would rather you not die." She then thrust the needle deep into my leg. I screamed. It was the worst pain I had ever felt, I could see a large hole in my leg as she pulled out the now empty syringe. But as quickly as it had appeared the pain vanished, along with the hole. The neon green lines in my leg began to fade and I felt strength return to my leg.
"What did you inject me with?" I asked flabbergasted.
"Nano bots, they go into your blood stream and sterilize anything foreign, along with ramping up cell production in afflicted areas. You should be fully repaired in about ten minutes, also the bots will stay dormant in your stomach until activated with a special type of protein. Now what do you like more? Chocolate or Caramel?" she asked reaching into a a brown bag at her feet.
"I uhh..." I stammered unsure."
"Well you get neither! Take some pure gluten tablets, take one of these when injured and those little busy bodies in your tum tum will spring into action and you may just live to come visit me again, which you will be doing cutie." She said with a wink as she handed me four clear pills. I put them in my boot and tied it tighter. "Now you should be good for now but perhaps a physical just to be sure..." She said reaching back into her bag as Marcus sprang into action.
"No that's okay Rose, we will be on our way. I'm sure he's fine." He said hurriedly helping me to my feet.
"Aw, okay than. You come back soon cutie. Remember I'm always playing doctor if you want to come by." She laughed smiling wildly. "I'll send the delivery coordinates to Marcus for you later, good luck my little runner boy." She said as she waved goodbye and me and Marcus left the building quickly.
"Hey you lived. That's good!" Marcus said patting my back as we walked out in the dimly lit ally. "Now I've just got to get you a mod and a way to travel and you'll be on your way to certain doom, isn't that fun." He said sarcastically."I'll explain the rest as the Salty Claire. Come on, Melody is probably waiting for us." We hurried our pace down the street, my mind racing. It was at this moment I noticed I had two shadows. What happened next was a blur. I felt a sharp pain and a crack as something hard and metal hit the back of my head. I looked to see Marcus standing there with a gun in his mouth looking at me defeated. My hands were roughly tied behind my back and a gag shoved into my mouth. I lashed out angrily at my attackers but to no avail. A bag was then placed over my head and I was picked up and carried, and then thrown into a cart. I heard the doors shut and the cart began to move.
I then heard a shot, the sound rang in my ears for some time. I moved into a sitting position and struggled with all my might but the bonds would not give. I was a prisoner. Whose prisoner I
can not say. But all I know is where ever I'm going it wouldn't be good.
