The Anomaly Affliction

Ten

I'm standing next to the seat. My arm feels slightly weak. What am I doing?

"Violet..."

I hear Doctor Quinn's calm voice saying my name.

"You need to sit back down..."

No I don't.

I look around me. The two nurses are on one side of the seat, staring at me, ready to put me back where I need to be. But not where I want to be. There is only one thought rushing round my head: I need to get out of here.

The female nurse takes one step forward and I leap to the other side of the seat.

"Violet," repeats Doctor Quinn, still sounding calm.

With all my might, I push the seat forward. It topples over, colliding with the IV drip, and they fall like dominoes into the two nurses, who fall to the floor.

I look at Doctor Quinn through the glass. He covers the microphone with his hand but I can still hear him. He must have some sort of walkie talkie on his shoulder under his clothes, because he lifts his shoulder and speaks into it.

"Red alert. Inform President Curtis, we have an anomaly. Her name is Violet Thorburn."

Fuck. This is not good.

From the outside of the room, to the left, I hear a woman's voice over a monitor monotonously repeating the words "red alert".

Now I'm standing alone in the middle of the room, not knowing what the hell to do. My heart is beating rapidly but at least I don't have that hideous feeling in my stomach anymore. So what do I do? I don't know where to go, but I know I need to get out of here. I need to run.

But where? There are three doors, which means I have three options. The first option is to go into the room with Doctor Quinn, but a) he'd try and vaccinate me again so I would have to fight him before he could, and b) I don't know if there are any doors to any other rooms in there, so it might be a pointless dead end. The second option is to go back through the waiting room and run that way, but that would cause a scene, and there will probably be people looking for me seeing as a red alert has just been announced. The third option is to go through the door to the left that I was curious about, with the blind hope that it leads me to an escape. None of these options are good. Think, Violet. Think, think, think.

Suddenly I hear a man's voice coming from the waiting room.

"Everybody needs to stay where they are. We have our orders: find the anomaly."

There's no time to think.

Before the nurses underneath the fallen IV drip and seat can get up, I charge towards the door on the left, praying that it's unlocked. Luckily it is, and I find myself in a seemingly never-ending white corridor. High up on the walls are blinking red lights, and between every two lights is a monitor blaring out the monotonous female voice.

"Red alert."

Red alert. Red alert. Red alert. Those two words repeat in my head over and over. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that I'm the cause of a red alert. But that's not important right now. Escaping is what's important.

I'm startled by the sound of a door being pushed open behind me. I turn and see four figures standing at the door that I've just come through. They're covered in bright white armour, and black helmets conceal their faces. They each have a small walkie talkie attached to their armour on their left shoulders, as well as weapon holsters loaded with small guns. Painted on their armour across their chests is an orange stripe. I know who they are: district guards. And they're undoubtedly looking for me.

"There she is," one of them says. "Pacify her."

Before they reach for their guns, I turn and bolt down the corridor. I run faster than I've ever run before. When I reach the end of the corridor, I turn left and hurtle up a staircase. I'm then faced with a new corridor.

This new corridor runs along the edge of the hospital, and the edge of the district. On the wall to my right, underneath the red lights, are windows, some of which are open. As I'm running I manage to catch a glimpse of the Nacoma border wall outside, and Amity River, the polluted river that runs along the north edge of Nacoma, beyond the wall. I'm so close to the edge of my world and I didn't even know.

I keep running, trying to ignore the beads of sweat on my forehead, how hard it is to breathe, and my racing heartbeat.

I'm nearing the end of this corridor. Where do I go then? There's a corner to the left that I can turn, but where will that lead? To another corridor? And another? And another? Just running down corridors is not enough. I need to get out of the hospital.

I reach the end of the corridor and begin to turn the corner, but when I see what's down the new corridor I suddenly stop myself.

Four or five more district guards are speeding down the corridor, towards me, stun guns at the ready. I back towards the wall behind me, panting.

I look to my left. Guards are coming towards me. I look straight ahead. Guards are coming towards me. I look to my right. Nothing but a wall. I look behind me. My back is against a window. A closed window. The river is below, but beyond the border wall. Can I do this? Can I make it?

There's nothing else I can do.

With all the force in my body, I kick the window open, take one last look behind me, and jump.

The fall is quick, but it feels as though it's in slow motion. The whole world seems to move around me, apart from the ground. I've leapt far enough to go over the top of the border wall and plummet towards the brown water of Amity River, feet first. Thank fuck. I brace myself for the collision, but I'm not as scared as I should be. The water gets closer. I close my eyes. Think of Lake.

I hit the water with a crash.