L.O.T.U.S

Chapter 15

I died.

And I'm feeling like I should still be dead. My head swims with pain and I feel like I'm trudging through honey. My thoughts evade me as I try to reach for them.

Am I alive? Or is this what it's like to be dead?

Everything is still dark but I think that I am alive. My hearing slowly comes back to me and I think I hear footsteps. A sudden jolt that sends my body skidding forward slightly makes me realize that I'm on a gurney.

And I must be in a body bag, I realize. I can see tiny pinpricks of light through the zip. Am I at the experimental labs? Did I die? I must be dead if I'm in a body bag. Right?

My thoughts are too scattered for me to think clearly. Dead or alive, I feel like I'm suffocating. I send the thought to my arm to lift up but it remains motionless. I try again and again until I want to cry with frustration.

Finally, one of my fingers twitches. But with that small victory comes a wave of pain. I decide to lie still and listen to what is happening on the outside of my confinement.

The wheels of the gurney squeak on the floor and the footstep start to slow. We stop. I hear the ding of the...elevator? And then we're moving again. The wheels struggle over an obstacle which causes my body to shift. And immense wave of pain breaks over my body. We stop again and the doors slide shut.

Suddenly the zip is pulled down and the bag splits open. I blink against the harsh light until my eyes adjust. A concerned face blinks at me from above. Her mouths moves but her words lag and it takes a second for my brain to process what she said.

"Kaira, can you hear me?"

That's right. My name is Kaira. And I'm alive. Her name is...Myrina, I think. Yes, she's Myrina. I blink at her and wince when there's a sharp pain in my arm. "That should help with the pain you're feeling," she says.

I twitch my finger and the pain isn't as strong as before. I try to shift my hand. It moves slightly. I continue until I have control of my body again.

"Just stay down for a second. We're making a quick stop," Myrina tells me. The doors slide open and she pushes the gurney onto a floor I have never seen.

The morgue.

Gurneys with body bags fill the space that I think is the foyer. The black bags don't sit flatly against the tables. No, they're holding bodies.

I struggle to get up and Myrina helps me sit up. I twist and shift my legs off the gurney. Myrina hands me a cloak, a pair of boots and some clothing. She helps me get changed out of the hospital gown and into the new gear. I shift the cloak on as she slips the long boots onto my feet.

"Why are there so many bodies here?" I rasp

Her face clouds over as she spits, "Doctor Falco." I would have been down here if Myrina and Draven weren't looking out for me. I would be an anonymous shape beneath a layer of plastic. Myrina bundles the hospital gown into a ball and disappears further onto the morgue floor. To burn it, I assume.

When she returns I slide off the table and wrap one arm around Myrina's neck as she helps me back to the elevator. Once inside I draw my hood over my head, hiding my face. I shift my gaze to the camera in the corner of the elevator.

Myrina notices what I'm looking at and she says, "Draven managed to shut down the cameras throughout the building. It will take them a few hours to undo his work."

"So enough time for what exactly?" I question her. At the moment, I know nothing about what Myrina and Draven have planned for me.

She looks at me from the corner of her eye. "There are tunnels beneath the building that wind and weave all under Lotus, almost like a spider web. They're all interconnected."

I look at her with skepticism. "And the government doesn't know?" I say with my doubt creeping into my voice.

Her mouth twitches. "The government of Lotus is still in its infancy. There is a lot that they don't know about what scuttles right under their nose." She tries to keep her pride hidden but it shows in her eyes.

"And the tunnel that we're taking, where does it lead us?"

"Home," she says with a smile. "We're finally going home." The elevator stops moving and the doors slide open. The light from the elevator spills onto the floor in front of us, creating a halo a few feet into the space.

Myrina whistles two short bursts and then two long. After a moment, the fluorescent lights buzz on and Draven walks down the sparse concrete hallway. He opens one of the doors and Myrina strides over to him. I follow and peek inside the room. Empty shelves line the gray walls. Myrina picks up a large backpack and swings it over her shoulder. Draven does the same.

"The last one is for me?" I ask them. Draven nods. I slip my arms through the straps and the backpack sits comfortably on my back. Myrina and Draven pull their hoods over their faces and leave the room. I close the metal door behind me and wrap my arms around my body. The concrete of the basement leeches my warmth from my body.

"Don't worry, once we get walking, you'll warm up," Draven tells me. I nod appreciatively at his concern.

The single line of lights buzz and flicker. Myrina walks up behind Draven and unzips his bag. She fishes around and pulls out a flashlight. She rezips the bag and hands it to him. "We'll use one at a time to preserve the batteries," she says to me. "And remember to keep your hood over your face, no matter what. We don't know where there are cameras. Oh, and don't talk unless it's an emergency - the tunnels echo."

Draven flicks on his flashlight and says, "Stand still. I'm going to switch the lights off." He disappears and the harsh white tail of lights black out, leaving Myrina and I in complete darkness. Draven's flashlight approaches us steadily as he makes his way back to us.

"Shall we?" he asks us.