Sightless

A Reunion of Sorts

I hurried down the stairwell as silently as I could. My nerves were wound tighter than I'd ever thought possible and my hands were trembling. I slowed as I reached the door to the seventh floor, sweating a little. "This suit seems to be getting heavier and heavier." I thought. "But at least I'm not going up." I peered down the centre of the stairwell and thanked the Lord for railings; a drop from this height would mean certain death. I took a step back and carried on my way.

"Where are my legs? I can't feel my legs. I'm dying. This is it. Goodbye world." I looked up. "Oh...the third floor. Yay." I sagged against the wall, breathing heavily. "I. Hate. Stairs." I muttered. I stood up and slowly pulled the door open. It led into a hall, almost identical to the floors above. Currently there wasn't anyone as far as I could see, but I remained in the stairwell just the same. I consulted the map. "Make a left here...and head down a long hallway to a large room..." I started down the well lit hall, passing by unmarked doors at every fifth step, keeping an eye on the passage behind me; I couldn't afford to be caught now.

The hall reached a fork, similar to the first, and I turned left. I almost turned right back around, but it was too late. I had been spotted. Two others, dressed like me, were walking ahead of me. One of them had turned at the sound of my footsteps; curse these boots. He waved. Unsure of myself, I returned the gesture. I sighed in relief as he turned around and carried on as if nothing was amiss. At last, they turned a corner and disappeared. Three doors down from the end of the lengthy hallway, I found the room that I was looking for. I marveled at how white and spotless everything was. Down here, you'd never know that there was an apocalypse going on.

I pulled open one of the two shining oak doors in front of me. It opened silently on well oiled hinges and I slid inside. I was greeted by at least twenty blank stares. One man, with a white lab coat and yellow gloves, stepped forward. "What do you need, soldier?" He inquired in a deep voice. "I'm looking for Dr. Stephan Rose." I shakily stated. "He's not here right now. Why aren't you in the barracks with the other soldiers?" I slowly began stepping backwards. "I was...uh... just on my way, but I wanted to ask him something. Never mind, I'll stop bothering you..." I turned to leave, and bumped straight into two guards. They grabbed me by my forearms and held me in place. I struggled and kicked, but neither of their iron grips weakened even in the slightest. I realized that it was useless to try and escape. I gave up. They brought me over to the man who first spoke to me; his dark forehead was wrinkled with concern.

"Who are you?" He asked "I could ask you the same question." I glared at him, then remembered that he couldn't see my face. He frowned, "I am Royal Deroux; the head of this place. Now please answer my question. I don't want to have to hurt you." I sighed and was about to burn him with a witty retort, when the doors were opened again. Another pair of guards entered, dragging a beaten and bloodied Evan with them. He was helmetless and his nose looked broken. "Sir!" they stood in attention. "At ease" Deroux said. "We found him skulking around the hallways." They threw him down next to me. I tore away from the guards who were holding me, and crouched next to him. "Evan." I whispered. I stroked his head and looked up at Deroux. "Dr. Rose is my uncle." I pulled my helmet off and shook out my hair. Deroux folded his arms. "Now how you expect me to believe that." He drawled. I glared at him. "Bring him here and do a DNA test." Deroux nodded at the guards and they marched off. "You're lucky that I'm such a patient man."

I turned to Evan, "Hang in there buddy." He groaned in response and slowly sat up. "What happened?" I asked him, "I tried to run. That's what." I looked around and noticed that the scientist had returned to their work giving us a curious glance every so often. His right eye was swelling shut and his mouth was bleeding slightly. I gently wiped it with the end of my sleeve and smiled sadly at him. "We're almost safe Evan." He rolled his eye, "I sure hope so."

The guards returned with a bearded, black haired man in tow. "This young lady claims to be your Niece, Mr. Rose." Deroux explained "I need you here to do a DNA test to confirm this theory." Dr. Rose gave me a curious look, then nodded. "Alright." Deroux took samples from each of us. "This will take a few hours. Until then, get this boy some medical attention and confine both of them to quarters.

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A few hours later, we were called back into the science lab. "I have confirmed the results. You two are definitely related. Although, I do have some questions to ask you, Miss Rose." I nodded, "That's reasonable. And please, call me Evva" I felt a pair of strong arms envelop me from behind and Dr. Rose's voice filled my ear. "Welcome back to the family, Evva." He released me and I turned around. "Is...anyone else alive?" he asked tentatively. I looked down "No...I'm afraid not." He took a deep breath and stood up. "Mr. Deroux and I would love to hear your story tonight, if that's alright with you." I nodded and we left for our quarters.