My eyelids carried closed heavily, bringing down a curtain of inky blackness. Alice looked on in the indigo light that covered the village before sunrise, resolved to let me sleep for a time. As she stood guard, I dreamed deeply...
My legs carried me as fast as they could, but the hallways stretched on for an eternity, every twist and turn known to me like the lines running across my sweaty palms. Pulsing red lights fragmented my vision and the klaxon call of an alarm made my head pound.
I had come a long way - a mile, perhaps two - when the moving walkway finally ended. This was where I faced the first opposition alerted to my actions, and I...
I...
I did what was necessary, as I had always done.
Once through the doorway I pushed the regret aside; it would always be with me now. I knew that.
It was important that I get away, but even more important was that I get to something.
The twisting passages led to a steel staircase that shook and rattled as I pounded up what felt like fifty flights of stairs. A dull metal door reflected my face back at me for a moment, then it sprang open and I stumbled into the violent light of midday.
I staggered to the left, disoriented. I had emerged onto a combination of solid concrete and a vast ocean. The effect was dizzying and almost incomprehensible. In this dream the water and concrete could not decide which object to settle into, so it remained both.
"Hey." A surprised voice. "What are you doing up here?"
I looked around and found a familiar face.
My stare flashed to the matte black pistol in his right hand just as an alarm wailed across the concrete ocean. His eyes followed mine, and their look changed from recognition to realization.
"I'm sorry," I said, and lunged.
The sun was bright in my eyes and I had to hold one hand protectively over something in my belt. My rush was hasty, and the man sidestepped it. When I threw my arms out for balance he grabbed at the object strapped to my belt.
More men appeared on the platform.
"Wait!" one of them shouted at the guards.
Something pricked my neck and I pulled it out quickly, teetering on the edge of the concrete-water. Then I began to drown.
YOU ARE READING
Vicious Memories
Mystery / ThrillerTHE MAZE RUNNER for ADULTS --- Things Oliver doesn't know: How he washed up on this island. What the blank keycard in his pocket opens. Who he murdered. When Oliver wakes up he's drowning in the surf, with no memory of who or where he is. Before he...
