The 21st (Unfinished)

Chapter 2

*Sorry it took so long to upload.  Enjoy anyways!*

Chapter 2

    The next morning I woke up in a glass container, velcro was strapped across my arms, irritating my skin till it turned red.  I was thinking I could break out, but the velcro was as strong as iron.  I started to snap, I buckled in the bed, twisting and squirming, determined to get out.  The same woman from the blood test stood next to my container, she didn't speak but instead pressed a red button on the side.  She looked down and scribbled something on her paper on a clipboard like she was judging me silently.
    Red buttons are never safe.  They usually blow someone up or do something terribly wrong.
    "Wait aren't you going to tell me what's going to happen?" I started to get nauseous, my stomach clenched with uneasiness and a headache started brewing.
    She looked at me with one eyebrow up and started to chuckle quietly.  Her eyes strapped on my body, watching carefully.
    Gas sprayed in my container, making me dizzy and sick to my stomach.  I wanted to barf but I didn't have the strength to.  I tried to lift my arm but it was like heavy bricks were forcing it back down.  My eyes dropped low like a heavyweight was pulling them down, but I kept awake, moans crossing my lips.
    "Alright Rosemary we are going to test your reflexes and stamina.  Well, since the people getting sick have incredibly fast reflexes and great stamina.  We are seeing if that rises." she finally spoke.
I replied with a soft murmur of yes, wanting to close my eyes and sleep, but I was eager to know what will happen.  But at the same time half of me was wanting to die.  To get away from the unknown "tests."  To live with my dead family, smell the sweet rose scent Mom always had, to feel the warmth of her arms.  To see Annie's positive smile and sweet, sweet big sparkling eyes.  But Annie was dead, and so was Mom.  Annie will never get to have a first kiss, to go to prom, to have a husband, to have children, to watch them grow.  But at least she doesn't have to go through the heartbreak of not having the perfect kiss, or never getting a prom date and feeling left out.  Or never get to feel the horrible regret and guilt when your husband decides to cheat on you.  To never get the feeling of your children leaving to college half way over the whole Earth.  At least she's in the safe warmth of Mom and Dad without living in this hell.  Oh do I miss her wavy hair and her button nose.
The woman broke my train of thought with continuing with her explanation.  "We are going to start with a little shock, don't worry it doesn't hurt that much if you don't think about it." she didn't smile that time and just pulled a small lever back.
I tensed my arms, crying silently inside because I didn't want to show weakness.  The wires that were connected to my velcro buzzed and sneered at my arm.  The wires were swirling with electricity, following down to my velcro.  Then with a loud snap, my wrists started to shake uncontrollably.  My body shivered, sparked and curved upwards.  Suddenly I got furious, my nails digging into my skin, I started to scream.  I forcefully pushed up my arms, prying to get out from the powerful straps.  I threw myself around the container, not thinking about the consequences.  The electricity buzzed through me deeper, I started to twitch.  I threw myself to the glass, kicking my legs to break free.  The woman's eyes stretched like a cat's pupils.  The shock got stronger and pulsed through my limp body.  She pushed the lever down more, my body flipping around the bed like a maniac.
The velcro started to rip slightly but the shocking began to decrease, so I slowed my squirming.   I stared directly at my chest, watching it heave up and down with distress.  It was quite amusing and helped me calm down.  I laid my head back down, closing my eyes to only open them back up because of the revealing pain.  I noticed the gas wasn't running in the tank anymore.... that must have eased the pain somehow.  The woman stepped to my container and lifted the glass, helping me up.
"Well?" I weakly spoke, clenching my fists, my head pounding furiously.
"Well you are growing strength at an alarming rate." she looked down at her clipboard and flipped the pages, "But you were nearly having these kinds of signs this morning."
"Whats wrong with me?" I cried out at her.
She didn't reply to my question which infuriated me, "I think that's enough for today, tomorrow will be another test.  Another day.  When that comes we will be testing one of our cures.  For now you will be put in a camp with a few of your kind."
There it was again.  My kind.  I had a type I suppose.  What kind, the scary, unknown, not-to-be trusted kind?  Why do they keep saying that, my kind.  What do they mean?  What was my results other than I was barely ill?  They weren't going to tell me anything so I was going to have to find it out myself. 
She grasped my weak arm tightly and dragged me out of the door, slamming it shut behind me which caused me to jump.  I was lead down the hall again, turning sharp corners left and right.  As I was led to a strong iron door, they pushed open the door and led to the interior.  She tossed me across the floor, leaving me to skitter on the cold cement.  I staggered to bring myself up, but fell down in agony.  My limbs shaking with anguish and fear.  I widen my eyes as I lifted myself up to a group of girls staring at my bleeding lip and gashes on my face.  One girl with long, straight blonde hair pushed over everyone to the side.  Her eyes were sparkling ice blue and her skin was a soft light cream color. 
"Who are you?" she spoke in a raspy tone, like she didn't have water for days.
I pushed my red hair over my ear and took her hand, quivering.  I stammered, my tongue slipping over my words, my flesh burning with a million stares of girls.  All of their ages seemed younger than mine, except blondie.  Like maybe five to twelve, and I was only sixteen.  The blonde looked probably 15 or 16. 
"R-rosemary." I managed to mumble.
Blondie laughed and looked at my cuts and wiped off the blood carefully.  "I'm Harper, so I guess you were also taken away from your family?"
I nodded, thinking about my dead mother and sister.  "Well you're safe with us, we girls have to stick together!"
I raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her stupid, positive speeches.  The little girls slightly smiled but stayed close to Harper.  Harper leaned in by my ear, whispering, tickling my ear with her breath.  "I have to keep these kids positive so they don't get scared."  She leaned back and smiled softly.
I bobbed my head again, and crossed my gaze on the children.  "What are your names?" I bent down and finally asked. They all cowered away from me, scared of my words, or just a new person in general. 
Harper tilted her head and smiled forcefully.  "They are a bit shy when it comes to newcomers.  You know, they were taken from their family,"
I shook my head.  "No I understand.  My sister an-" I decided to stop because I didn't want the girls to fear me more.
The strange, but determined girl gave me a grin, "This is my young sister Nina..."
My heart clenched and my steps freezed in their tracks, just the word sister used in a sentence made me to shudder.  I shook away the haunting thoughts and tuned back in her conversation.
"Margaret, Anne, Jeanette, and last but not least Fiona." Harper finished and the five girls stepped out into the light so I could see their faces.
Nina was the one I saw first, her cheeks were rosy red, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity, her face was round and cheery, and her hair was brownish blonde, she was about five.  Her eyes were bright hazel and her nose was like a button resting on a shirt.  Then Margaret who had red curly locks like Annie and these round, chubby cheeks.  She was the most energetic, greeting me quickly, saying that she was thirteen.  Anne had a bowl cut and brunette hair while Jeanette had messy pigtails and fudge colored freckles and she was black, she was at least twelve and Anne seven.  Fiona was the smallest one of them all, she was shy and she played with her fingers.  She looked probably nine years old.
"So, what's your story?"
"Huh?" I replied.
"Like...what happened to bring you here?" Harper urged.
"Well...my mother and sister were killed and the government found me."
"Wow, that sucks.  I didn't have any parents, I had grandparents.  Thank goodness they didn't die, they went into those stupid factory things.  Ya know, to help find a cure."
I nodded slightly and looked at Nina and was now at the corner, sitting on a bed.  She was holding a small lamp stuffed animal, her eyes sadden.  She started to hug it, then looked back at it, talking to it softly.  Harper looked my direction and sighed,
"That was a gift from my mother before she died from cancer.  She tries to connect with mom with that messy lamb.  She lets no one touch it, and she wasn't the stuff animal kind when she was just a baby."
"Not to be rude....but when did your mom die?"
"Two years ago, when my sister was four." she took a glance at me.  "Our father left us after mom died."
"Geesh that's worse than mine.  I never met my father." I shrugged.
"How come?"
"He died when I was just a few weeks old."
"How?"
I shrugged, "Don't know.  Sickness I guess."
    She looked down and her tone was quiet, "Life sucks."
    "Yeah."  I said as I sat down on a bunk bed. 
    "I have only been here a month now and I wish I could just kill myself.  Its torture in here, they do these tests that literally kill you inside." she trotted to sit next to me, putting her hand under her own chin.
    I agreed with her, dying to ask her a question, "Do you know what they mean by your kind?"
    "What?" she shockingly turned to my gaze, confused.
    "Er, nothing." Dangit, she doesn't know.  I cursed to myself, thinking hard about what the woman said.
    She raised her shoulders slightly and continued on, "If I had a chance to run, I would.  Everyone thinks that I am such a tough girl, that pushes away the pain.  But nobody really knows me, except me.  I always cry inside at night, and the reason I am so tough-skinned is because I have to keep my sister and myself from breaking down.  Need to stay positive to keep everything alright even though the world around me is crumbling and I can't do anything about it.  It's like i'm stuck in a glass cage with no way to get out, in a dark room with one light shining on me.  Dying slowly while I stay in the lonely box, as the walls cave in on me, slowly and painfully."
    My gut clenched at her words, noticing she was right.  Just because you act happy and brave doesn't mean you are inside, and even if everything is falling apart, you are stuck under a weight that you can't lift up.  Destined to keep you from helping, or doing anything for that fact.  We both sat in silence, watching the kids cheer each other up.
    Finally Harper managed to speak, "It's just nice to talk to someone my age and understand the pain I go through on a daily basis." She chuckled weakly. 
    "Yeah."
    "Some day there will be a rainbow on the other side.  One day."