Space

four

"Florence." 

I get up from the ground, stepping away from the unconscious doctor to face Miriam. Her bun's in a mess, sleep still prominent on her face. "You do know where this lands you."

"Please, enlighten me." Miriam nods, signalling for two...I'd say doctors to take me away.

Again, I'm dragged to the isolation room. It's probably the tenth, twentieth time I've been in here? For misconduct, that is. A room designed to look like a white void is a good place to think, plot, workout. I've learnt that the isolation room is supposed to 'reset the brain', which explains why I'm frequently thrown in there after each 'experiment' or misconduct. It resets your brain!

I've also learnt that they don't constantly observe subjects in the isolation room unless a loud enough sound is picked up by the security camera. An alarm would then ring, alerting the doctor on duty. Tried and proven. It was worth getting naked.

They toss me into the room and slam the door shut as usual. The little window at the door slides open to Miriam's cold, cold blue eyes.

"You'll be in here for a week. Food will be served every five hours, along with an offer to use the restroom." As per usual. The window slides shut, her heels patter out.

I crack my neck and lie down onto the white floor, staring up at the equally white ceiling. In five hours, Kullos will be coming in to pass me food, a bottle of water and a free toilet pass.

How on earth did I end up like this?

How did I go from med school to up on a spaceship off to repopulate another planet? The outbreak, death, evacuation, was all too sudden. One moment you're studying a degree in biology the next a news broadcast on how a new type of virus is killing thousands a day.

Suddenly, your sister has the virus, then your mother. Then it's just your father and yourself. Somehow, both of you were allowed to board a new government ship, along with an assortment of other citizens. Countless tests were run before anyone came close to boarding. No personal belongings larger than a backpack allowed. Everything was sterilised before it boarded, including the people.

But alas, father didn't make it through the customs. He was shot on the spot for being an 'infectious subject'.

It is promised that life on board the ship would be as normal as before. Normal is relative. Slowly, people without families began to disappear. I guess that's how I ended up here. I didn't die with my family. I didn't die when the syringe, containing the virus, was injected into me.

Footsteps break me out of my thoughts, as they echo closer towards the door. I run my plan through my head, getting up and moving towards the flush door.

I press myself against the wall, and wait. Kullos usually enters with two bodyguards standing outside. Not only that, but it's three in the morning, so backup should only be those two bodyguards.

The door creaks open. Kullos takes five steps in. Perfect. I kick the door shut and tackle him to the ground, socking him hard in the nose. The sound of bone cracking resonates.

"That's for trying to drown me, over, and over again." I take the weird gun from his belt and sock him another time to knock him unconscious.

I proudly stand up, move a distance away from the door, and poise the gun to my head. Then, I yell.

"Florence, what on earth are you doing?" Ah, so it's Miriam on watch. Her voice is laced with fear and annoyance. I love it.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I know you don't need me whole. You only need my brain." I crank the dial on the gun up with my thumb, staring straight at the camera.

"Yes, we do only need your brain." She sighs through the intercom.

The footsteps of the two guards outside catch my attention. I flip the gun around and shoot both of them the moment they enter. It's like laser tag. Making simpler guns isn't their best move. I flip the gun back, pressing it into my temple, resting my finger against the trigger.

"Listen, what I want, is very simple. Just treat me like a human being, and let me be free. I'll go to all of your stupid experiments, you just have to let me live like every other fucking human on this ship. Deal?"

A long pause stretches across the room. "Silence doesn't equal consent, Miriam." I taunt, tracing my finger along the trigger.

"Fine. You have a deal."

"We, have a deal. It works between two people." I toss the gun up in the air. "I'm going to keep this."

I can finally have a good night's sleep, without getting yanked out of bed mid-slumber.

"Better find a good doctor for Kullos."

I love a bad-ass Florence. Things are taking a turn this chapter -w-
What will Florence do with that new-found freedom?

Hope you're enjoying the story! (Give it a vote if you do it makes Quinn's heart a little happier)

See you in the next chapter!

~Nanasabae