Salvation 2035

Chapter 5- No Use Wasting Away

『Abel』

     "Hey Abel, Wake up!" I feel a hand on my shoulder. I drowsily roll over to see the face of my roommate. I then look over to check the time.

     "It's four in the morning, what's wrong?" I rub my eyes and sit up. Tsuki, however, looks wide awake. "Did you even sleep?"

     "Not really, no," he answers quickly, "but I have a feeling I will real soon." He then goes over to the desk and grabs his bag and from it takes out some clip-on straps and puts it on like a backpack.

     "What's going on?" I ask in a daze.

     "Get up, we're leaving," he says.

     "Leaving? Where?" I question.

     "Here. We're breaking out."

     I then freeze as I begin to process this information. Tsuki soon catches onto this and is rightfully weirded out, as I was staring oddly directly at him.

     "What? What's the matter? Is there something on my face?" he then rushes over to the mirror.

     "No!" I exclaim. "It's just that I've only been here a day─"

     "Only? You want to stay here?" he replies, dumbfounded.

     "Of course not! It's just really good, sudden news."

     "Well, consider this your lucky day," Tsuki smiles, which soon fades away. "But seriously, there's nothing wrong with my face, right?"

     "What, no! I wouldn't care if you looked like an anthropomorphic dumpster fire, I want to get out!" I answer.

     "Thank you...?" he narrows his eyes in confusion, then dismisses it soon after. "Anyways, you can fight, right?"

     "No!" I exclaim. "I mean, I can try, but I probably won't do much against a trained officer."

     "Well this changes everything," he then begins to pace.

     "I'm a med student, why would I have to know how to fight?" I ask.

     "You look like an athlete so I assumed that you'd know something. I guess I was wrong."

     "Listen, I appreciate the compliment, but there's just no way I'm fighting anyone," I state plainly.

     "Alright then," he sighs. "So here's the deal, to our right is a dead end, and to the left is a door that leads to a hallway with other cell blocks. There's a guard at that door. What I need you to do is get him in here so we can deal with him without the security camera picking up on anything suspicious, alright?"

     "Okay," I answer confidently. "But what do I say to get him in here?"

     "Umm... Say that I'm sick, and need to be escorted to a doctor before it gets worse," Tsuki suggests.

     "O-okay," I reply and head for the door. I look back at Tsuki and he gives me two thumbs up. I open the door and it utters a scratchy creak. I almost immediately attract the guard's attention and he makes his way over to me. I don't recognize him, as he has red hair, pale skin, and freckles but is decently in shape.

     "Can I help you?" he asks in a demeaning tone.

     "Yeah, my roommate is exhibiting the symptoms of the flu and it would be most productive to have him escorted to a doctor." I stop abruptly after my last word. I wonder if that was a little too wordy? The guard seems unamused.