Apocalypse

23

Kate

I feel a scream tear its way out of my throat as I wake up and finally make it out of the constricting dark mass of my nightmare. Only to wake up into a new one. Really it's like there was no difference between being awake and asleep. I was dreaming about being stuck in The Facility. I cough and sit up, breathing hard and trying to get some air. I'd been drowning in blood inside my dream and now that I've woken up, not much has changed. Everything around me is white and familiar, but not at all comforting. Cold and empty. This damned cell.

This is the same cell I'd been in before. I know because I'd scratched words into the paint on the bed frame last time I was here. They're still there. They must have cleared the place of infected and other such things and made repairs. I'm thinking that maybe I should have found a way to more permanately destroy this building when I was making my escape.

At first I think that maybe I'd dreamt the whole thing up. The escaping. Sam. Liz. The infected. Jason. Aztec. The terror, the love, the excitement, the beauty. I think that maybe it was just another cruel dream that I'd made up to escape this hell and for a moment I feel crippling despair because it had been so good and there's no way it hadn't been real. The idea of that momentarily crushes me and I almost feel the need to cry. But I know that it's not a dream when I feel the aching in my side from where the tranquilizer had hit me. When I see all the scratches and bite scars in the mirror. They all blend in with older scars and I feel unconfined hatred roar inside me at the idea that I've been pulled back into this god forsaken place.

Sleeping on the ground with just a blanket was more comfortable than sleeping on that damned bed.

I wonder if Liz ran away like I told her to. I wonder if she'd tried, if she'd gotten away. I know her better than that though. She wouldn't have ran. She's probably here in the building somewhere and that thought terrifies me more than the fact that I'm back here too. They could be doing terrible things to her. I panic as I think about all the things they did to me. I panic more as I think about what they might be doing to her right now. If they were testing the virus on her, she's done for. There's no way she's immune. There's no vaccine either. If they're cutting her open, there's a chance she could die from that. If they're pushing some extreme durability tests on her, she'll be in dangerous situations and in a lot of pain with absolutely no buffer. Just to see how far she can go before it breaks her. I feel myself begin to hyperventilate. I force myself to calm down again. I need to stay calm.

In my frustration and fear and just genrally overwhelming emotions of anxiety and anger, I slam my palm into the wall with a loud and painful smack. A small burst of flame comes out from under my hand and scorches the wall, leaving a wide black scar on the previously pristine white wall. I growl and rein my emotions back in. I can't be having myself lose control right now.

Of course, before I really know what's going on, I'm being dragged out of my room in a rough manner. Probably because earlier when I first got here, I put up a massive fight and killed one of the guards. I'd pulled and kicked and I'd landed a blow to the side of his head and I'd snapped his neck. It had happened pretty quickly, and then they'd dragged me away again and thrown me into my cell until I woke up again, because the only thing I'd wanted to do was sleep. Then they'd cleaned me up, given me fresh clothes, food I didn't touch, and let me sleep. Now everyone is extra cautious of me.

"No funny stuff this time." One of the female guards growled into my ear. I glared back and struggled against her grip and got a sharp jab to the side in return. The pain shocked me and jarred my muscles so I am forced to lean forward, and with that they shove me forward so O lose my balance.

"I said no funny stuff." She snaps, her rough voice grating against my nerves.

And so they dragged me through the familliar twist of the halls and shoved me roughtly into a chair that I have sat in many times before, strapped me down, and set about the usual tests.