The cold water hit him like a truck, the force bearable but immensely painful.
Gasping for precious breath, he surfaced rubbing at his eyes. He coughed violently, sucking in air by the gallons.
P47D looked at his escape window warily, relieved he could touch sand under his toes...
Sand! An earthly object! Joy struck his mind and he giddily splashed the water with sudden realization.
He heard a splash.
And another.
His gaze flitted to the window, whet kids were dropping like flies into the cold water, some coming up and others not.
He tried running, but moved like molasses, trudging through the thick mud and sand that sucked at his feet and weighted him to the ground. The only land was a 1 foot wide patch on the side, so he slowly made his way over, avoiding the splash of water slapping at his face.
As he finally reached the patch of grassy land, he pushed himself up and surveyed the surroundings.
The patch led to a small gravel path that probably led to boats or...something.
Hopefully.
A bony elbow smacked into his side.
"What the-" whipping around, he saw P27B, the twins, and P34N standing behind him.
"Tookyalongenoughjeez," he rushed, turning back around and continuing down the path and trudging around the corner and spotting a flood of adults sprinting towards boats, the boats honking obnoxiously.
The group started speeding to the dock, their feet slamming violently into scattered rocks and pebbles. They finally reached their destination, leaping to freedom and pushing past tons of white-coated doctors, panic building as they got nearer and nearer.
Then, jumping onto the deck of a large boat packed with people; tall, short, ugly, pretty, fat, skinny, angry, panicked.
There weren't any patients to be seen, except for the growing crowd of small children pushing through the masses, groping for freedom.
The boat honked, departing from the land, the laboratory shrinking as they went deeper into the large sea.
P27B laughed. She snorted and slapped her knee like a grandpa and let out bursts of laughter, causing the other passengers to quiet down and stare at the small little nine-year-old that was screaming with gut-busting laughter.
The laughter stopped dead in its tracks.
"Er..." She gulped, looking to P47D for guidance. He only shrugged in silence.
A chorus of curious whispers shifted through the crowd.
"Patients? How?"
"I thought they'd blocked off the patients' escape route...?"
"What's going on?"
"It's him! That boy!"
"Lookit Marjorie... it can't be... they're the only possible survivors..."
"I'm lookin'..."
The whispers continued, leaving the confused patients to watch and listen.
A tall woman with large glasses stepped out of the crowd, stepping towards the children.
"Well, since they are no longer proper experiments, they need real names." She stepped closer, examining P65A's dirtied face.
The hushed voices paused as the woman took P65A's hand and P27B's, motioning for P47D and P34N to follow. They did.
She led them to a small room with a cot placed by a small window, a little table seated beside it. A clock was nailed to the wall.
"Real names..." she looked each one in the eye. "Do any of you...happen to know where you're from?"
Tick
Tock
Tick
To-
"Okay. I take that as a no." She crouched beside the hushed kids.
"You each have real parents. I am- was the data inspector, reading over each piece, making sure it was correct, etc. I know the names of every patients' parent or parents."
"A lot are dead. Some worked here as janitorial staff, repaying debt by giving up a child and a lifetime's work. You might've seen some of them."
The five sat wide eyed and quiet.
"Anyway..." she drifted off. "Real names. So... any thoughts? Any overheard slips of us mentioning each others' first names?"
"Only Marjorie." P34N mumbled softly.
"Okay. That's good. A start." She pulled a piece of scratch paper from the small drawer, grabbing a pen from her large pocket. "Alright. What's everyone's favorite...word."
Another period of silence.
"Okay..." she sighed, loose strands of hair falling into her face. "What about... Elliot? That's a good name for you." She pointed at P47D who just blindly nodded, blankly staring at the floor.
"Chrysanthemum for you..." she motioned towards P34N, who was watching "Elliott" carefully.
"Olive and Oliver?" The twins tore their eyes away from "Elliott" to look at the woman.
"What's your name?" P27B interrupted.
"Ah...Leslie Gordon." She looked back at her scratch paper and pen and stuffed it back in the drawer. "You. Rowan?"
P27B shrugged in subtle agreement, then continued watching Elliott.
"What's wrong." "Rowan"demanded an answer, staring at Elliott.
"My fault." He whispered.
"What?" Chrysanthemum scooted a few inches further from Elliott.
"I killed them." Elliott shook. "I killed them. They all frigging died because of me." He'd never heard a real cuss, just that one whenever one of the doctors dropped something or got frustrated (a lot.)
"...I guess." Rowan scooted up next to Elliott, going into an awkward side hug, leaning her head into his bony shoulder. "But at least they're free...kind of."
"Maybe they escaped?" Chrys mumbled, fiddling with her damp clothes.
"Maybe..." Olive quietly whispered, Oliver nodding.
Leslie stayed quiet, watching the retaliation and comfort, the.mn shaking her head and remembering they didn't need to be studied anymore.
And they never needed to again.
Never.
