Living in the Place Of Fools
Part 3 of the Tomorrow Series
James's forced his eyes open groggily when he felt the morning light's presence in the room.
Except it wasn't his room.
His sleepy mind tried to recollect what had happened the previous night. Meowth was dead...he'd killed Cassidy...someone was in his house...a Rocket intruder...and then...there was Maya...
"Hurry up." She said promptly, entering the room "If you want to save your friend we must leave as soon as we can."
James flicked his hair out of his eyes. He slowly sat up, pushing the covers off him. He has wearing no shirt, but his Team Rocket uniform pants and socks.
He saw his black T-shirt thrown over the bedside table, and he made an embarrassed grab for it.
"You do not need to by shy." Maya said, clipping her guns into their holsters.
She was wearing an all-over white bodysuit. It was like a second skin that ended at her neck.
James was shy, and he hurried to put his shirt on.
His holster was one worn over the shoulder and across the chest, the gun resting at his hip. He strapped that on too. He then reached out for his gloves, but Maya shook her head.
"Do not cover your hands when you use a gun. It is better to retain the full grip and sensitivity of the skin than to mask your identifying fingertips."
James dropped the gloves and eased on his boots.
"We will go now." She said with typical lack of emotion.
"Uh..." James started "How...we'd look pretty suss on a ferry, ya know..."
Maya seemed annoyed, possibly the first scrap of emotion he'd seen in her. "I assume you have a flying type Pokemon." She stated forcefully.
"Um..." James blushed "No...I don't...actually..."
"Then you can use my Fearow's flight to get to the island. I shall fly upon my Zapdos."
Obsidian Island...
James thought with a shiver. Even the name sounded alarming.A single tear rolled down his face...splashing softly upon his chest. This is for you now, Meowth, I know you would have wanted to see Jessi too.
It was well past midday when James and Maya touched down silently upon a thin stretch of white sand.
The island was small, tiny even, thickly surfaced with dark jungle, never before had James seen trees that were so dark in greens and browns. As he stepped quietly closer he saw a black mildew on the trunks of the palms and mangroves.
Maya wasted no time in returning her two Pokemon. She then turned to face James.
"There is a path, see." She pointed. There was a thin, but unmistakable path leading into the shadows.
A slight breeze picked up, a dank, disagreeable smell lingering in James's nostrils.
He shook his head once, then he followed Maya into the thick gloom.
Two figures emerged form the jungle seemingly intact, even though it was only after a short half-hour trek, the path had been gnarled and overgrown, though recently used.
They emerged into a wide clearing, one surrounding an imposing a hugely oversized grey concrete bunker.
The female one was leading, not a bead of sweat formed on her pale forehead, the male however, was red-faced and sweating. His eyes were stinging from the rogue drops daring to venture into his eye sockets.
She threw him a glance that could have contempt or affection, one would never know, and she signaled for him to be quiet in his movements.
James felt like he was about to die. He was overheating and he was thirsty. How Maya could traipse along so easily in a suit that must be boiling her alive he'd never know.
His heart pounded.
Maya turned back to him.
"Do not kill anybody is this building. Knock them unconscious if you must, but do not create any flesh wounds. These people may be Rockets, but they are the only ones keeping the Affected alive."
James nodded. He drew his Desert eagle and paused at the door.
Maya swiftly punched a six-digit code into the door opening system, or whatever it was.
The doors slid open noisily.
Maya unsheathed one of her Uzis.
Two guards in dark blue Rocket attire blocked the way, sensing that she and James weren't welcome in the building.
In one flowing move, Maya brought the butt of her gun down on one man's temple, and her knee in the other man's groin. She them smashed the side of the second man's face with her gun.
"Come on," she hissed.
James, shocked, tiptoed in with wide eyes after her.
They were sneaking down a hallway. A few metres down it split in two. Maya took the left fork, and James had to jog to keep up with her.
A metal door eventually made itself visible on the horizon, so James performed a hasty sprint to catch up with Maya, who was waiting impassively by the doorway.
His heart leapt, and even though he was panting from his exertion, he suddenly felt ready for anything.
Maya kicked open the door.
The stench of urine and dead animals filled up all the spaces around him. James began to cough, covering his nose with his hands.
Maya remained impassive.
The room was huge, almost painfully so, and eerily dim. Stale light struggled through a few small, barred windows near roof height. Crowding the dirty concrete floor were naked bodies. Some shaking, others moaning. Some remained suspiciously still.
There were no Nurses in the room. This surprised James, but not Maya.
"These people are here because they will die. Many of them are already dead." Maya explained "There are some seventy bodies here, from various Team 'accidents' around the globe."
"...Why...why would Giovanni want to slaughter...torture these people." James cried, tears of tired weakness welling inside him.
"They failed him." Maya answered flatly, her eyes locking onto his. James jumped. Her eyes were eerily dark, there was no spark of emotion or even life in them. "Giovanni deals a heavy hand to those that fail him."
"Why does he have...have to kill them...in such...in the ways...that he does...?" James demanded in stilted and fearful speech.
"Giovanni always liked science. Had he not inherited the job as Team Rocket Boss from his mother, Madam Boss, he would have pursued a career in science. He holds the patents on many items. That is where is true riches lie." Maya responded. "We are wasting time, where is your friend?"
"What will we do after this?" James asked softly.
"Where is your friend?" Maya asked again, her voice steely.
James swallowed hard, blinking back the tears he had been fighting all morning.
There seemed to be a path through the bodies, so James followed it.
Maya stayed at the door.
James shivered as he passed row upon row of dying humans, their gaunt features contorted in pain, their sunken eyes pleading with him. Many tried to get up, reaching out for him with bleeding and bony limbs. Groans of animal pain echoed around him.
"Jessi..." he whispered hoarsely, wondering how her vibrance could possibly end up here. The tears brimmed again.
Then he saw her.
Her red hair was flowing freely underneath her, limp and dull. Her skin was unusually pale, littered with small bite marks and their resulting scabs, obviously where carnivorous insects were feeding.
Her eyes were shut...but he could hear her ragged breathing and he could see her unclothed chest rise and fall.
A lump rose in his throat. "Jessi..." he murmured, dropping to his friend's side. He felt a skeletal hand grasp his ankle, but he made no move to shake it off. His gaze did not tear itself from Jessi's face.
Her eyes shot open. A blood vessel in her left eye had popped, leaving it alarmingly scarlet. "James..." she said, her voice sounding to have stuck in her throat.
"I-I tried to do it," he told her, stroking her face "I tried to kill him...but I shot...Cassidy instead..." Six tears splashed onto Jessi's bare sin.
"Oh James..." Jessi wheezed "I should have...never made you do it...I am so sorry..."
"They...they got Meowth too..." James whimpered, bursting into withheld tears.
"Shit..." Jessi groaned, he could see she wanted to cry, but she couldn't "Not Meowth..."
James nodded, biting his lip.
"James...this may be the last day I have on this earth..." Jessi breathed.
James felt strangely embarrassed.
"I think...that...I...lo-"
"James. We must go." Maya commanded "Giovanni's helicopter just landed."
"Who's...that...?" Jessi asked in a feeble voice.
"She's Maya, I don't really know...much about her, other than that she is a friend. She's been...helping me..."
"James!" It was the first time Maya had ever raised her voice.
"This was our tomorrow, wasn't it?" Jessi smiled sadly "This is our future."
James nodded, reaching for her hand.
"I never thought that I'd spend it like this," she coughed.
"James, we must hurry,"
"I know," he breathed.
"Tomorrow belongs to those who live through today," she closed her eyes "James...I want you to know-"
To Be Continued...
Love and Kisses,
Tenshi_Mew2