Experiment Zero

6. Eat My Dust

        I lead Zero down the hallway, not letting go of his hand, but he seems pretty content with it anyway.

         Coach Jackson leads us back up to the first floor and down a few hallways. We approach a door with an exit sign over it, and I grow nervous, tightening my hold on Zero's hand. He tenses, feeling my nervousness.

    Coach Jackson pushes open the door, and sunlight filters in, relaxing my tensed muscles slightly. 

 Zero seems to have the opposite reaction, muscles tightening even further and his hand freezing in mine, but I smile encouragingly at him, pulling him outside.

    And onto a huge track.

And I'm saying huge. This is definitely not the regular size a track should be. How did I not notice this being built in the back of the lab? Being a secretary, usually all the important documents end up in my hands at some point...maybe I just hadn't bothered to look at them.

Surrounding the track is a tall metal fence, and I almost scoff at how ridiculous that is because I have no doubt Zero could get over it without blinking an eye, but then I see the metal wire at the top, most likely full of electricity. 

Yeah.....I doubt even someone as strong as Zero would want to be electrocuted twice in two days.

     I turn to see Zero looking around, his grey eyes taking in every detail, hopefully not planning to attempt jumping the metal fence. Can he tell the fence has electricity coursing through it?

Just in case I draw his attention to me and point at the fence, before shaking my head 'no'.

Zero continues to watch me for a second, before nodding slowly. Deciding to take this opportunity to teach him something else, I look around and spot the jungle right outside of the fence.

     "Trees," I say, pointing to the jungle. Zero looks down at me, an eyebrow raised, seeming to say duh.

      Coach Jackson approaches, at that moment, saving me from looking incredibly stupid. Maybe he's picked up a lot more than I expected.

     "Okay, Zero. For the next few days we'll be testing your running. So why don't you start jogging around the track."

     Zero and I stare at him, Zero wondering what he said, me wondering why he doesn't know that Zero can't speak English. I start walking to the track, stepping onto the paved rubber it's built from and gesturing for Zero to come here.

I start to jog, going a few yards away on the track before stopping and turning back. I then wave my hand for Zero to go. He seems to understand fine enough, because he starts jogging and doesn't run around and come back like I had, which I was worried he'd do.

     "Thank you, Ashley. I don't know what I would do without you here." Coach Jackson sighs, and I smile before walking over to a bench and sitting down.

   I watch Zero as he runs around the track over and over again, not even breaking a sweat, even though he still is in that full body suit. His jog is about the speed of my run, and I wonder just how long he can run before having to stop.

Someone suddenly sits down next to me, and I slowly turn my head to face them, surprised when I come face to face with Peter.

     "Hey, Peter. What are you doing here?"

    "I volunteered to be on guard duty for Dr. Jackson.....in case something happens, you know?" He says, and I try not to glance at the gun at his side, hopefully only full of tranquilizers. "But most likely I'm just gonna be a spotter for the big guy over there." He says, jerking his head at Zero.