Pod (On Hold For Now)

(Two)

It felt like a dream, the way Rex's green eyes sparkled as he laughed and suddenly all Zen wanted was to kiss him. She wanted to know what it feel like to have his arms slide around her, to pull her close and take her breath away. It was late at night again and he had come back to see her, making Zen feel happier than she had been in a long time.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but then all of a sudden the wall started to slide open and nothing was between them anymore. Her heart started to beat out of her chest, and everything around her felt unreal. Was this really happening? 

And just as she was about to pull him in the pod to be with her, something pushed him back by force. When she tried to go after him, the wall was back and she was pounding on it as hard as she could. Zen was trying to yell, but her voice wasn't working and he was twitching on the floor trying to push himself up. Then all of sudden, there was a dark shadow in a hoodie luming over Rex and Zen's heart stopped. She no longer felt terrified, but instead she somehow felt curious and almost like there was pull to whoever was standing over Rex.

And then the shadow started to move towards her, but instead of moving back inside her pod she found herself pressing against the glass to move closer. The shadow grew closer and closer, every motion making Zen's heart pound harder. She started clawing and pounding at the glass to try to break to the wall open. She felt this need to be closer to whoever was behind the shadow and it was almost painful how much she wanted to see this person.

She started sobbing at the same time she was trying to break the wall open, and then the person was there on the otherside of the wall. Zen still couldn't see the person through her tears, but then she did see something that made all the hairs on her body stand up. Their eyes were the same violet-hue as hers, and just as she was about to stand up there was a red blaring flash all around them. The flash grew brighter and louder and louder and louder until Zen's eyes opened to her pod.

All she could see and hear was the red alarm all round her, but Zen couldn't move. She kept thinking back to her dream and those eyes. They were the same, but why? Zen thought she was the only one, but what if she wasn't alone? What if there were others? She didn't have time to think because all of sudden, Jane was in her pod with breakfast and a stack of books. She was smiling but it was tight lipped as if she was pissed off.

"It's going to be an easy day today." Jane spoke through clenched teeth. "We have an emergency going on and I'd prefer if were left alone today."

"What...happened?" Zen spoke slowly, so she didn't upset Jane. But Jane already turned away and she wasn't listening, but she was on the phone.

"Yes we found that one guard dead." Jane spoke as she punched in the code and the door slid open. "...no idea but keeping subject under..."

Zen heard her conversation before the door shut to the pod, and she was all alone to think again. But her mind was so confused and unfocused from the dream and then the news that she just wanted to go back to sleep.

======

She read every book, ate and took the meds that the nurses came in with. They were there for a few minutes and then they were gone. But she found herself growing bored again, even after reading all the books in her room. Yesterday she wasn't bored, so why was she today? Because of Rex? Just the thought of him made her smile, despite her dream and the death of someone outside her pod. Zen groaned and tried to read the same book again, but she gave up and threw it down. Then she wondered what Rex was doing.

She wondered if he was having fun with someone else, or if he was thinking of her the way she was thinking of him. She suddenly wanted to see him and the thought made her groan because she had to stick with telling him to leave. Right? Yes, she told herself, I can't even touch him or have fun with him. But there was another part of her that didn't want him to go. Actually that was the bigger part of her that wanted him to stay.