Altered Earth (Soldiers of the Earth Book 2)

Chapter 7

I wake up to the unfortunate shrill beeping of the alarm once more. My clothes are still soaked from the water torture that took place just hours prior. I've lost count of how many times they've done it to me. Trying to break me. I'm not sure how many days it's been either. Every time I wake, it's the same four white tiled walls, same metal bed with a mattress covered in uncomfortable waterproof plastic, same mush served on a stainless steel tray twice a day.

I'm shaking, my teeth are chattering, but I'm used to that now. It's....almost better than the hours they decide to make the room unbearably hot. I imagine them cranking up the temperature in eagerness, and I can practically hear them laughing when they finally give me water and I gulp it down like a dying fish. My torture is fun for them.

The worst is the electric shocks. I thought I knew pain. Deep physical pain. I've been hit by a laser beam. Shot by a bullet. Knocked several feet by a fiery explosion. But there was almost nothing that could have prepared me for that. I feel dread, anxiety, sadness, fear, loneliness....and anger. The anger inside me builds, as it would in anyone who endures this kind of torture. But I focus on staying calm. Not giving in. I'm doing this for Mary. For my family. For Tyler. For Alfie. If I comply, I can see them again. Rescue them. Be free with them. That's what matters: not whether I am comfortable here.

So, what to do today? I've already counted the tiles on the walls. 1,134. I've triple checked. However long ago, I started doing yoga again. It was something I hadn't done since before the invasion, but it gave me something to do. Something to center me. Something to take my mind off of Elliot's screams when they electrified him in the next room. Something to ease the minor pain I still feel from that explosion. They healed me almost perfectly, but my muscles still ache sometimes and my back still has burn scars I can feel.

I get into warrior pose just in time for the door to buzz for the first time in what feels like years. My heart leaps in surprise, pounding in fear. I never disobeyed or protested. I never had to see a single soul thanks to accepting my fate. The first living beings I've seen since my capture have just entered the room. I almost don't know how to mentally process it. It's two armored Emigre soldiers, fully covered. I still have yet to see another face. They grab me by my arms and I know where I'm going. It's time to lose my memories.

Or rather, if all goes to plan, pretend that I'm losing them. The guards take me down a long, sterile white hallway into a room that looks like a futuristic doctor's office. There's a padded white chair for me to lay back on with dozens of silver machines and cables surrounding it. I can only imagine how horrifying this was to every human before me.

"Welcome, Rachel," one of the helmeted figures says, and I feel every muscle in my body let go and relax as I realize the voice is Razec. "Please sit back in this chair and relax. We are going to make sure you are healthy." She steps forward, placing a tiny silver disc on each of my temples which feel ice cold on my skin. "This may hurt at first, but don't worry. The pain won't last."

She wasn't kidding. I see a flash of white, and it's like my brain has been hit by lightening and rattled by thunder. The pain is so intense I choke out a scream, and then it's over. I feel Razec take my hand.

"I apologize. The worst is over. Now close your eyes and relax." She murmurs. I do as I am told, wondering what they could be doing if they aren't taking my memories. "Would you like to forget anything?" She whispers so quietly I almost don't hear it. I think about my torture, knowing it's left a deep scar on me mentally that will affect me more than any physical scar I've earned. But the thought of taking that away feels like negating what they did to me. I need to remember everything. It's all part of who I am now and what got me to this point.

I shake my head no and whisper back my reply, keeping my eyes closed. All of a sudden, the memory of Kira injecting me and bringing me here plays in my mind. It becomes vivid, as if I'm experiencing it for the first time. Then it starts fading away, almost like it's being pulled out of my brain little by little. I try to hold onto it, but's no use.