The SVE Club

52. Break-Out

    Nate leaned against a wall in his cell, his cards flying from one hand to another. This was bad. No, scratch that, this was worse than bad. This was downright injustice.

    With a groan, Nate finally sat down crossed legged and glanced out the plexiglass door of his cell. The other cells in this block contained his teammates. Across the hall he could see Evan pacing, Willow curled in a ball and Rachel sitting alertly by the glass in their respective cells. He caught Rachel's eyes and pointed a thumb to his right, inquiring as to how Taro, his cell neighbor, was doing. They couldn't hear one other through the glass, so they were limited to non-verbal communication.

     Rachel glanced over at Taro's cell before making a sleeping motion towards Nate, who shook his head in disbelief. Rachel agreed. How could any of them nap at a time like this?

In only a few hours, they had been informed, they would be taken as a group to the memory erasure machine that they hadn't known could even exist. In the blink of an eye, they'd forget everything- Their names, their families, each other- and after that their fate would be a mystery. Nate shivered, wondering what it was going to be like to completely forget everything about himself.

    Well, he thought miserably, At least if we're going down, we're going down together. Although, admittedly it would have been better if any of them had managed to escape. However, escape was no longer an option. Each prisoner had a metal wrist band that would deliver a painful jolt of electricity if they got out of line. Rachel had been the first to discover this 'shocking' feature when she was climbing her cell, looking for a way out.

    In a sudden fit of anger, Nate tossed his cards in the air. This was so stupid. Why had he even gotten into all this? To feel like he was a part of something? To feel like he was needed? He shook his head as his cards fluttered back down like leaves, wishing he had never auditioned for the SVE club. Wishing he had never shown Midas that card trick.

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"So let me make sure I understand this," Mr. Lee said as he drove furiously down a deserted highway. "You two are gonna run into this highly guarded facility, somehow bust the rest of the lunatics out and take down this class A menta, Insomnium guy?"

"That's the gist of it," Sam said from the back seat where she sat with Midas.

"And this guy," Mr. Lee said, jabbing a thumb at Midas, "Is a ticking bomb, and you're basically the finger in the gun barrel?"

Sam frowned. "That's not exactly how I would put it, but yes."

Mr. Lee shook his head. "We are all gonna die."

"Speaking of which," Midas said, turning to Sam. "We should test whether or not Insomnium can control me immediately after you release me. Now that he doesn't know where I am."

"Wait, so you want me to let go now?" Sam asked, terrified at the prospect.

"Only for a moment. We shouldn't take any unnecessary risks, but we need to know if I can use my power or not so we can make a plan."

"You don't have a plan?!" Mr. Lee shouted, almost swerving into the barrier.

"We're working on it!" Midas retorted.

Sam looked down at their hands. "I see what you're saying... but are you sure I'll be able to stop you in time? Just in case the worst happens?"

"You did last time, right? And now you know what to look for."

"We need a code word," Sam suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Something you can say if you feel Insomnium starting to get in your head, something shorter than 'He's got me.' You know?"