The Serum

The Commander

~Hannah Dangly~

I woke up with a pounding headache. I pushed myself off the chair, at least I thought it was a chair. As soon as I lengthened my arms, I knew I made a mistake. I barely made it over the edge, spying a bucket before the contents of last night came back up.

I wondered if the others were feeling this way. My head pounded as I wiped my mouth, grimacing when it came away wet. Squinting through the pain, I sat up. Autumn was no where in sight, but Karter and Lexi were sprawled out on couches. Both their heads were in buckets, I could see the spasms move through their shoulders as they hurled.

Alex came up from the stairs to my right. She looked concerned and kept glancing to the person following her. Connor came into view shortly after, chiseled jaw and scar set in a determined look. "Good thing I came by to help clean up, looks like you have a lot on your plate," he smirked.

I would have replied, but as soon as I opened my mouth my head seemed to explode. I closed my eyes as all I could see what a white light, I think I screamed but I didn't know. I felt my body fall off the chair as I held my head.

As I came too, I noticed that I was lying on a bed instead of the floor. I sat up, relieved as my head felt better and I was able to open my eyes. I scanned the room. It didn't look like a room in Alex's house. I looked down, noticing that I was wearing a white lab gown instead of my clothes from the party. What the hell is going on?

I took another glance around the room. The walls were white, the bed I sat on was pushed into a corner. A small table sat near me, holding a clear glass of water. A wooden chair sat along the far wall, beside a metal door that held a small square window in the top.

I got up from the bed, cautiously making my way towards the door. I reached for a handle, but found none. Where am I? Why can't I get out?

I panicked, slamming my hands against the  door. As I made contact, I felt the metal give way a bit under my touch. I jumped back in shock. Where my hands had just been were two imprints. I shouldn't be able to do that. I could feel my hands pulsing, but after a quick inspection I saw no damaged.

I again moved closer to the door. Placing my hands in the dents that I had made, I leaned up on my tiptoes to reach the window. As I peered our, I saw a similar looking door across from mine. From here I could see that it was heavily latched, with a key card to one side. The hallway in between was as plain as inside the room. It had black tiled floors and white walls that held only what looked like to be folders. I stared harder at what I thought to be folders.

The words quarantine and subjects were all that I got a glimpse of before something moved in the corner of my eye. I slowly turned my gaze back to the door across from me. I yelped as a pair angry green eyes stared back at me. Autumn?

"AUTUMN!" I yelled. I could see her yelling too, pounding her fists into the door. I tried doing the same, making dents alongside the window. To my disappointment no matter how many dents I made, the door didn't budge. I sighed, leaning my sweaty forehead against the cool metal. Where are we and how will we get out?

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a deep buzzing sound came from the hallway. I heard a click deep within the metal door. Stepping back quickly, I barely escaped being slammed into the wall as the door slid inwards. I didn't even stop to think, I just sprinted into the hallway trying to take advantage of the malfunction.

I crashed into Autumn in the middle, giving her a big hug. I could feel myself shaking as she put her arms around me. "Where are we? Where is everyone else?" I asked as I let go of her. She shook her head, "I don't have an answer to either of those questions." She looked around with a steely resolve in her eyes. I tried to do the same, but the seed of courage I felt as I escaped the room was now disappearing, replaced by fear.