SCRATCHED

Chapter 22

2025, The Basement, Solshore.

Freddie made his way down the stairs and into the familiar darkness, lifeless wires and singing quietude. Kara's sets of computers were asleep for the first time, so the basement had never been quite dark.

Glands of sweat sat on his forehead as he wheezed through the blinding black, skipping over wires with instinct, keeping the sound of his breath low, in case the creatures were nuzzled somewhere in the dark, waiting.

Pushing away the images that seemed to have been forming out of the dark, he saw the faint green light from the transmitter, brave and still, leaping into the grim dusty spaces. Fully charged. Ready. But there was nothing he could do.

His hand travelled by the side, and feeling the button, he pressed it, the swish sound and white light twisting something inside of him. Less darkness now. The cold smoke settled on his face, disappearing beneath his skin. It felt good. More than good. But something about the stubborn images wouldn't let him savor the feeling.

It was the first time he was opening the mini refrigerator, the first time he saw the carefully arranged tubes, the last words of two dying scientists, and the heroic work of a fearless one.

He rea-

His eyes grew wide, fear exploding in his chest. Good heavens! It couldn't be.

He ran, almost tripping when he reached the stairs. Damning the consequences, he left the door wide open as his legs flew, not stopping till he was in the same room that was causing his horrific sights.

They were all there, gloomy. The husband, the two kids, and Kara. He tried as much as possible not to look at the figure lying on a pool of red on the bed when he stepped in. They all sprang up when they saw him.

"Where are they?" Kara asked, looking at his empty hands. "Freddie where-"

"There's something you need to see," he said calmly.

"Are you nuts Freddie?!" she yelled, tears in her eyes. "Where are the goddamn an-"

"Antidotes," he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the weight of their eyes on him. "It's about the antidotes. We have to hurry."

Somehow the We explained it all to Kara. Their secret had fit perfectly under that one word. She threw her apologetic tear-filled eyes around the room, at David, Cara and Clyde. "I'll be back, I promise."

They didn't say a word.

She gave Martha's hand a gentle squeeze, and they left. She let the tears fall as they made their way back to the basement, eager, but their legs too weak to run, too weak to carry their bodies, heavy with worry, guilt and fear.

From the stairs she could see the light rising skyward from the mini refrigerator, and when they walked closer, as she had expected, she saw the little green ball of light from the transmitter. The tachyons sat in the densitized glass, ready for action. But they soon became the least of her worries when she followed Freddie's worried eyes to the tubes.

She zoomed in on the them with wide eyes, not quite believing what she was seeing.

They were flickering, untouchable as they jumped in and out of existence, their shapes and forms blurring then appearing, on the brink of vanishing, then coming back to life. It was fascinating, and scary. They had never seen anything like it before.