Never Again

Chapter 23

Katie's - POV

Walking down the hallways at night was always something that I didn't like. The light was too dim, the air felt damp and it was always a little bit too quiet.

That was, except for today.

Screaming could be heard where I was walking. It was faint but It was clear as day.

Screaming, silence.

Screaming, silence.

A constant cycle that carried itself through the air and sent a shiver down my spine. Nothing good was going on and I knew that going back to my room wouold be the best course of action, but my curiosity was  getting the better of me and my legs just wouldn't stop moving forward towards to sound. I don't think I would have been able to stop myself if I tried.

"You should've thought of some method to make it harder for her than you did." A voice from in the room said, one that was all too familiar to me. "She showed how exceptional she is and since you've known her the longest you should have already accounted for that and made it harder accordingly. We can't get proper data out of this."

I heard more sounds from inside and finally decided to take a look and comfirm my suspicions.

I was proved correct when Dr. Rodriguez came into view, although she was blocking my view of the person she was dealing with.

"The overall goal was a success but not being able to gather enough data because she wasn't there for enough time is something that you could've prevented."

They were talking about someone finishing a mission early and the only person who did, was me. That meant that they were talking to and torturing someone close to me. In all my time here I had never had a group of friends, I only had and shared anything with one person. That person was the only one I trusted. The only one that I cared about.

Drew.

Ana stepped aside and I could finally see that I was right.

It was Drew.

She was getting tortured by electric shock because they didn't have enough time to collect sufficient data on me. It was probably to do with my skill set in the field, something that can't really be tested here. Thinking about the reason why they wanted this information so much I concluded that this data would be to used determine who went on what missions and what kind of conditions they thrived in best.

It felt like something shattered in my chest.

They were hurting my friend, my only friend any more, because of a small mishap l they made that could be fixed on the next mission, but apparently they needed to hurt them so they'd understand.

I suddenly felt much more calm than ever before. I knew what I needed to do now and I was going to succeed, even if I had to take everyone in this whole facility out to do it.

I needed to head back to my room and try to figure out a plan that could get me and Drew out of here safely. Although I really wanted to be out of here right now, I didn't have the time, resources or the opportunity.

What I really hoped was that Drew would actually support me and trust me to get us out of here.

Thinking about asking her to actually help me out wasn't something that I wanted to do at all. It would be my fault again if anyone found out that she had tried something to get out or helped me in my escape plan.

Before I knew it I was back at my room, opening and then closing the door behind me. I didn't think that Drew would come over tonight so I didn't really have much to worry about as no one else came into my room, especially this late at night.

Thinking of ways to escape from this place was hard, mostly because I saw first hand what they did to people who got caught. It was not pretty.

The biggest challenge would be to find the time to have a chance at escaping. We were under constant surveillance, which would limit me to the few minutes that we had alone when everyone went to lunch. A few minutes might be enough time for me to escape on my own but with a second person it would take a lot longer, so doing it that way wasnt a viable option.

Speaking to Drew might have given me some ideas but I wanted to come up with a solid concept first, before going to her about this, as actually having established the beginnings of a plan could get her on my side more easily. I needed to think more. I needed more time.

Although, I wasn't sure I would get much since I had done so well on my mission, and since they didn't have enough data on me, I was sure I'd get sent on another one soon.

Suddenly, I sat up, as if I was stuck by lighting. I had figured out how I was going to escape this place with Drew! It would be a struggle but I knew that together with Drew I could accomplish anything. I had to do this and it had to work, because I didn't know what else I would be able to do.

On my next mission I would ask to bring along Drew and because they'd want her to be watching more closely I was sure they'd agree to it. When we got to our destination we could complete the mission but take our time and then when we'd done that, we would disappear and never turn up again, leaving the mission area and cutting all contact with anything to do with the academy. For good.

Although I would have to think through the details more, I now had the basic structure of a plan and could tell Drew exactly what it was that I was planning.

I wanted to do it right now but it didn't feel right. I felt like I should wait longer for her to come to me after the savage, brutal treatment that she got because of me. I'd be more comfortable with that. I was sure she would be more open minded too if I waited because the fear they were instiling in her would start to dissipate. I could only hope that this was the case anyway.

Whilst I wasn't happy that Drew was getting hurt, I was glad that her being uselessly abused finally woke me from what felt like a daze that had plagued me since I started training here. I was now ready to do whatever possible to get us out of here and I wasn't going to stop trying until I had succeeded at my goal.