The Bermuda Project

A Final Escape

  Sydney watched the clock from her bunk. The ticking bothered her, each tick was a second wasted. Her roommates studied their rulebooks religiously, while Sydney resorted to watching time pass to entertain herself. She hated to wait, especially in times of need. She peered over the guardrail, peeking at Melissa. Melissa was on the bottom bed on the opposite side, making it easy to observe her from the top bunk.

  Sydney sighed. It was hard being one of the only people at the school with a brain. Unlike them, she knew what was going on. She scowled at Abigail’s empty bunk. Thanks to her, the number of security guards would increase, and probably stay the same for the rest of the school year. She raked her nails across her cheek. The sheets were extremely itchy, most likely because of the detergent they used. 

  Sydney was already under her covers when the lights were turned off. She reached under her pillow as the door shut, closing her fingers around a thick cloth mask. She quickly wrapped the strings around her head. The medical mask covered her mouth and nose. That way she would be protected from when the smoke came in. 

  She silently climbed down from her bed, the cold, metal ladder felt like it was freezing her bare feet. It creaked every time she stepped on a rung. Stepping onto the floor gave her relief. She let the tension in her shoulders melt away, but then straightened up. She had her mask, but it would be best to do her task quickly. Even though she was covered, the gases could still find a way to affect her. She didn’t want to think about it much longer.

  She reached into her pajama pocket, pulling out a small pair of scissors that she had snatched from the art room during the afternoon clean up. Scrubbing the paint off of tables was a quick job, as the students were the opposite of messy. No one even supervised her, so working in the afternoon was nothing but a break. Besides, it was close to the storage room that held the non-contaminated food. 

  Sydney hovered over Melissa. Melissa lay on her back, no signs of movement from her, expect for the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Sydney tried to flip her over, but she wasn’t strong enough to do so. Sydney then pulled on the metal ladder that led to the upper bunk, only to find that it was bolted in. Sydney furrowed her eyebrows. Determined, she wrapped her arms under Melissa’s armpits, and heaved her out of the bed. Melissa landed on the ground with a soft thud. Sydney then moved her to the middle of the room, and flipped her over. The gas slowly seeped in, making her eyes burn. It didn’t hurt as much as the first few days, but it made her vision slightly foggy. Sydney clenched her teeth, silently cursing herself for not grabbing a pair of safety goggles from her science class.

  Sydney hovered over Melissa, who despite being thrown around the room, was still sleeping. It was a good thing that the chip made her impossible to wake up, until she was told to do so. Sydney felt around Melissa’s neck before she felt a slight bump, where the skin was scabbing over the needle. Sydney dug around before feeling the piece of metal. She pulled it out. Through the fog, she could see it, slightly bloody at the tip. She pulled out the one next to it. Luckily the other one wasn’t too deep in, so only a little blood came out. 

  Sydney let out a sigh of relief. The last needle would be harder to find, but it wouldn’t be as deep. It was the second time she had to preform the “operation,” if you could call it that. Sydney gritted her teeth, and felt around for the last needle. She found it deep in Melissa’s shaggy hair. She smirked, and pulled it out. She found the wires, connected to the needles. She pulled on them, opening Melissa’s right eye slightly. Melissa twitched a bit, which was a good sign. Sydney cut the wires, leaving small frays coming out of her eye. Sydney slowly pull on them, and the chip wiggled out. Melissa stirred, but kept sleeping. Her eye snapped shut. Sydney grinned under her mask. She shook Melissa, who refused to wake up. Sydney rolled her eyes, and slapped Melissa, waking her up with a jolt.