She Will Persist

24

Axel

I woke up dizzy, numb, raw and grainy. Because grainy is definitely a feeling you can have. 

The wooden planks of the bed above me came into focus. 

I stayed there for a few more minutes, blinking my headache away until it was at least bearable enough to move. Feeling returned to my legs and next I noticed I wasn't wearing a shirt. Then I saw it was light outside. And there was no one else in my dorm. 

I rolled onto my left to try and get up but then I was hit with a force of pain so harsh and immediate I almost passed out again. I cried out and arched my back up and then quickly flopped down so I was flat on my back again. I gasped in and out slowly for a few minutes with my head back and eyes squeezed shut until the pain numbed out again. When it finally diminished to at least a piercing ache I glanced over at my left shoulder.

It was thickly bandaged over a sleeve from my elbow to my bicep, curving over the muscle and wrapping under my armpit. I also felt something wrapped around my back and across my chest several times, that also wove into the bandages around my shoulder. It disabled me from basically all left shoulder movements. And Jesus fuck it hurt.

I eased up into a sitting position with only dull pain sparking down my back and slipped my feet over the end of the bed. I snaked out my right hand and grasped behind me at my back. My fingers just barely dusted where bandages were stuck down onto my actual back, but in that split moment I could feel heat radiating off of me in waves. Slowly I stood up and limped forwards towards the door, trying not to move my entire left side. Every step sent pain spiraling up to my shoulder and my energy was drained before I even reached the door.

But there was no doorknob. There was no door handle. There was just a slim back screen fitted over where the handle used to be. It looked like some kind of scanner. I touched my finger to it. Nothing happened. I tried again with every single one of my fingers, then my full hand. Still nothing happened. I tried digging my nails into the cracks but the door didn't budge.

Finally I banged on the wood with my right fist.

"Ah, you're awake," came a voice from the other side of the door.

"The hell is going on Harrison?" I shouted.

"Flagg went full lockdown."

"He what?"

"Lockdown," Harrison repeated from right outside the door. 

"Specifics?"

"There's cameras everywhere, even in the dorms. No more rec rooms. Fingerprint scanners on every dorm and office door and exit. Triple the guards, one per training room during those hours. No more personal weapons, no more weapons stored in the training rooms. A fence —an legit electric fence— around the entire perimeter of the building, including the outside courses. Automatic lights out and doors locked at 9pm."

I blinked several times. "What?" I stammered. "Who—who do the scanners accept?"

"His guards and The Dick himself."

I started to break out into a cold sweat. "Did they take her?"

There was a heart-stopping silence on the other side of the door where I bet Harrison was running a hand through his hair. "Yeah," he sighed.

I slid my back down the door until I hit the floor. "Anyone else?"

"James."

I rubbed my face. "Where's Owen?"

"Prison cells."

"Flagg do anything to him?"

"We don't know."