Plantagion

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“You were always a slow one,” Pluter said, chuckling to himself.

“Thanks,” I replied drily, frustrated with his joyful tone. “Can’t you just get me outta here?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past half hour,” he said, now frustrated with my tone.

“Okay, okay, let’s not get too feisty here.” I took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here earlier?”

“It was fun hearing you scream like a maniac not knowing I was right here.”

“Great. Now I don’t even want to be let out.”

“That’s what they all say,” Pluter said. He cleared his throat, and I could hear shuffling outside.

“Whatcha doin?” I asked, curious.

“Stand back,” he said, and I knew that this wasn’t a joke. I got up and walked to the other side of the room.

“What are y--” I was cut off by a loud hum from behind the door. Then there was a sound like sizzling burgers on the grill and the room filled with the odor of burning metal. I looked through the haze of smoke, trying to see the door. There was a faint red glow coming from the area of the doorway.

It took Pluter several minutes to burn through the door. At the end of it I discovered that he had been using a laser cutter to drill through the door. He told me that he had cut off the main power supply and had poured acid on the backup generator. But it was going to be difficult to get back out.

“I hacked into their computers and printed a partial map of the building,” he was saying. “I wasn’t able to print a full version because they found out that I was on their server and locked my code out.”

“But how did you know I was here?” I asked, puzzled by this omitted fact.

“Because I’ve been locked up here myself,” he said. My jaw dropped. A million thoughts raced through my head all at lunch. Why was he locked up? How did they catch him? I started blurting out all these questions, faster than I’ve ever spoken in my life. I was interrupted by Pluter.

“Whoa, there. Slow down and give me a second. Also, we’ve got to get going before they catch up with us. I’ve laid a pretty good false trail, but I’m not that good,” he sighed. “I’ll answer one of your questions, then we need to go.”

“But Plut--” I began, but he shushed me.

“One question, Madeleine.” He was awfully serious now, so I stopped smiling and thought. But there were so many. I thought.

“Why were you in here in the first place?” I asked, dreading the fact that this was the last question I’d be able to ask.     

“That is a long story, Madeleine,” he sighed. “I don’t know if we ha--”

I cut him off in the middle of his sentence. “No more excuses. I just want the plain truth. I don’t care if we get caught, just tell me.” I actually did care if we got caught, but he didn’t have to know that.

“I was walking home from work in October,” Pluter began. I sat down on the bed, as if this was storytime. “It was a beautiful autumn day, crisp air, orange leaves, it was just perfect. Out of the blue, the door to a van beside me opens up and a man grabs my arms, trying to force me into the van. I threw him off and kicked him in his side, then I ran away. But I knew that this wasn’t the last of it. When I was about a block from home and finally wondering if they had backed off, I turned the corner onto my street and there waiting for me was another van. I turned around, trying to run the other way, but another van swerved up onto the curb and I was trapped. I pulled out my Glock G22 .40 from my waist and managed to shoot the drivers of the vans before more men came out and shot me with a dart. I woke up in a white hospital bed.” He sighed, sat down, then got back up.

“But why?” I asked, hoping he had forgotten that I was only allowed to ask one question.

“Well-- Ah-ha, you almost got me there. Remember what I said? One question.”

I began to protest but he shushed me and told me that there would be more time later… if we escaped.

“Now, look her,” said Pluter, now putting on his business-like manner. “This is a map of this floor. We are on the third floor, so there’s no jumping out any windows, even if they had any.” They don’t have windows, I thought. This is not the most “door’s always open” place in the world. That’s what my parents always said about the houses we passed driving down the street. when one looked gloomy and depressing, the chorus of hating would begin.

My parents, Jake and Issabella Masters, were the best one could have. They were both born in 2026, the Year of Peace. It was called the Year of Peace because there were no wars going on at that time in the entire world. My mom met my dad in middle school, but they didn’t start dating until high school. They got married in 2050, and had me in 2070. I grew up in a house full of the classic hit music of the early 2000s. Singers like Ellie Goulding, Lana del Rey, Ariana Grande, and Taylor Swift filled the house day in and day out. On the weekends my dad listened to Greyson Chance, his childhood favorite, on the porch while suntanning. I was an only child, and always had friends coming over and hanging out. I was an okay child, had a high GPA, and only dated a few people in middle school. But in high school, things got out of control.

In high school, my boyfriend’s name was Ethan. He was tall, blonde, and athletic. But he and his friends used pot, and he got me into it. As my grades started dropping and I kept  more and more to myself, my parents knew something was up. They kept a close eye on me, and eventually they caught me smoking pot. They were surprisingly forgiving, and I broke with Ethan and moved on with my life. My next boyfriend’s name was Max. I really thought he was the one. We dated for over two and a half years, and on our two year anniversary, I had sex for the first time. We were one with eachother. But whn we neared  our third year, we had sex again, and I got pregnant. I was so scared and didn’t know what to do, so I just kept to myself. Yet again, my parents knew something was up, and they questioned me till I had told them everything. This time they were super hard on me, and I learned my lesson. I decided to concentrate on academics, and I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was out of college and had a job. My first boyfriend when I left college was Eryn, and he has been ever since. 3 years and going strong.

“Madeleine, Madeleine,” A voice said, a hand waving in front of my face. I snapped back to the present. “We have stuff to do, you know.” Pluter sounded irritated. He had every right.

“I know, I know,” I said, knowing that he would be even angrier when he knew that I hadn’t been listening the whole time he had explained his plan.

“So have you got the plan down?” he asked.

I swallowed. “Ummm… Yeah… Not really…” I trailed off.

“Dammit, Madeleine. Why don’t you fucking listen anymore. I fuckng worked my ass off just to get you out of here, and you give me thanks by fucking disregarding the shit I’ve been telling you.”

These angry outbursts were rare for Pluter, so I just decided to move on.

“I’ll just follow your lead. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

“Okay. Just stay low and near the walls.” He handed me something cold and metallic. “Take this Sig Sauer. Even though I’m pretty pissed at you, you’re a better shot than most of my peers.” 

Still glowing with pride from one of Pluter’s rare compliments, we walked through the door and out into the hall. He looked around, then said “Stay close, and keep low to the gr--”

He was cut off by a blinding white light shining down on us and all around us. I closed my eyes, then gradually, I began to open them. The moment I had taken in my surroundings, I knew we were in trouble.

The lights in the building had just come back on.