Behind Bars
Part Ten: The Dying of the Light
When Yang woke up she felt like she was going to puke. Her heart fluttered frantically and the muscles in her chest clenched, making it hard to breathe. Her pulse roared inside her head, rhythmically beating against her skull.
Dizzily, she raised her head and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw blood smeared on her skin.
Must've bit my lip…
Supporting herself with her hand, Yang pushed herself up into a sitting position, shifting her weight off of Cadeja's chest. Looking down, she saw that the Faunus was starting to stir, hugging her arms across her stomach and curling up on her side.
After a moment, Cadeja heaved and threw up, blood mixing in with the bile. Spinning, Yang tried to look away – feeling her own stomach flip in response.
Crawling, Yang made her way over to their desk and grabbed a water bottle that one of them had bought from the commissary. As she made her way back across the floor to Cadeja, she noticed a burning sensation slowly climbing up her lower leg. Glancing down, she saw that the skin around her ankle monitor was a bright pink.
Ignoring it, she sat by Cadeja's side – careful to avoid the vomit. The wolf Faunus sat up with her back against the bars, taking a few deep breaths.
"Here," said Yang, offering the water bottle.
Cadeja took the bottle and cautiously took a small sip, grimacing. For a moment she struggled to swallow it before she was forced to spit it out, splattering the floor with more blood.
Yang recoiled slightly, just narrowly dodging the jet of water. Concern flashed in her eyes as she watched Cadeja's fingers gingerly poke and prod the bruises around her mouth.
"Let me see," she mumbled, leaning in for a closer look.
Cadeja turned her head away at first – cheeks blazing and her lips tightening into an angry line – but after a moment she relented, opening her mouth for Yang.
Peering in, Yang saw fresh blood oozing from the holes where her upper canines had been. She shuddered, remembering the force of electricity running through her body, and guessed that Cadeja's jaw had probably clamped down the same way her own had – thereby reopening the wounds.
Frowning, Yang tried to look closer. Gently, she put a finger under Cadeja's lower jaw and urged her to tilt her head back towards the light.
Oh crap, that's not good… she thought, squinting.
Cadeja's gums were a bright angry red and they looked puffed up and shiny. Curious, Yang pressed the back of her hand to Cadeja's forehead.
It could just be from the shock… but she's definitely running a temperature…
She sighed, removing her hand from Cadeja's face.
"I think at least one of the holes in your mouth is starting to get infected," she said as Cadeja closed her mouth and slouched back against the bars behind her.
"Mierda," spat Cadeja, brow furrowing. Yang watched as she closed her eyes, concentrating. She felt a slight shift in the air around them as Cadeja slowly built up her aura – just enough to bring some relief to the swollen muscles in her face without triggering the monitor again.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes and released the flow of energy.
"That's about all I can do for now," she said. "I could start tryin' to close the holes, but if they're infected that'd probably just make things worse."
Yang nodded. Gathering her knees underneath herself, she slowly wobbled up into a standing position and studied the scene on the other side of the bars.
Almost all of the inmates in sight were either unconscious or gradually starting to rouse themselves, littered all over the walkways of D block like so many broken dolls.
They must have triggered all of the monitors…
A shiver ran up Yang's spine, shaking her from head to toe. Eyes drifting, she settled on a spattered puddle of blackened blood just outside her cell door. Yang's throat tightened – remembering the sight of CO Lowell's face, smashed to a red pulp. The guard herself was nowhere to be seen – carried off by some of the other COs, presumably to the med bay.
There's no way she could have survived so much damage… there's just no way… Yang's thoughts drifted off, her stomach sinking.
Looking around, she watched a dozen or so guards dragging unconscious and half-conscious inmates into nearby cells, not caring if girls were put back in the right place – only that they were all locked up before they came to.
Absentmindedly, Yang noticed how quiet it was in the Wilds. After the earlier assault of sirens and screams, she dimly registered a slight ringing in her ears.
When the guards had ordered some of the cell doors unlocked, the alarms must have been shut off as well because the only noises in D block were the murmured voices of on-edge COs and the occasional sniffling cry of an inmate waking up with fresh burns on her leg from the monitors.
Already, the guards had cleared a good number of the girls out of the walkways – at least from what Yang could see on the lower levels. Except for that one girl who'd fallen over the railing, Yang had no idea what had happened above them. Looking down, Yang noticed that she too had disappeared.
Biting her lip, Yang wondered just how long she'd been out cold.
Distracted, Yang jumped when she felt Cadeja's elbow brush against her as the Faunus stood up to join her.
"I can't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "This shit's bad, even for the Birdcage. Never seen anything like it."
"Coming from you that's not exactly comforting," muttered Yang.
Cadeja ignored the comment.
"I just hope the other blocks didn't get hit this bad. There's a more concentrated population of Faunus here, but sometimes girls are just lookin' for an excuse to pick fights. They don't really care why or who with, just been cooped up too long…"
Yang watched Cadeja's eyes narrow into dark slits, her hands wrapping around the bars.
Yang knew that what Cadeja was really worried about was Raya. Staring at the dried pool of CO Lowell's blood, she couldn't help but admit to herself that Cadeja's fear was justified.
After a moment's pause, Yang simply said, "I hope so too."
Still looking straight ahead, Yang noticed that some of the guards had started to escort inmates out of D block. From what she could tell, they were moving several girls to the med bay.
The inmates being led out of the Wilds were all clutching broken wrists to their chests or limping, bleeding from cuts on their faces. Universally, they all seemed shaky on their feet – still unsteadied by the electricity from the monitors.
To her left, Yang could hear the low voices of two COs talking to one another.
"No, they look fine. We're only taking the ones who really need to see Doc. At this point the hospital ward's already overcrowded. Besides, Doc is busy trying to do something about Lowell. What the fuck she's gonna do with that I've got no clue. Shit's hopeless…"
As the pair of guards passed by their cell, Yang waved her arm through the bars and called out.
"CO! CO, my cellmate needs to be transferred to the med bay!"
The guards turned and briefly scrutinized Cadeja. They were supporting a barely conscious girl between them, her feet dragging on the floor. From what Yang could tell she might have been concussed – there was a rapidly darkening bruise over her right eye.
"Álvarez can wait. We're only taking girls with severe injuries."
Yang recognized the guard who spoke, so she changed tack.
"CO Reilly," she said, focusing solely on him, "this fight started because of what happened to her." She jerked her head towards Cadeja. "I think the holes in her mouth are infected. You really wanna see what happens when the Faunus find out the guards let her get sick after they already pulled her fangs? You guys have enough to deal with as it is, don't you?"
Reilly heaved a heavy sigh. He made eye contact with his partner, who simply shook his head.
"We can't support another one that far with this girl passed out on us already. Just look at her – she's shaking and all she's doing is standing up. She'll never make it on her own," he said to Reilly, still refusing to look at Yang.
Not giving Reilly the chance to respond, Yang jumped in.
"I can help – she can lean on me."
Reilly grunted, a look of uncertainty on his face. For a moment he stared at his boots before he looked up, nodding.
"Fine," he grumbled, shifting the girl's weight higher up on his shoulder.
"I don't think that's such a good-"
"She's fine," he said, cutting off the other guard's protest. "Xiao Long's not gonna do anything stupid. Let's go," he muttered, starting to drag the unconscious girl with him.
Scrambling, the other guard fiddled with his radio. Murmuring a couple hurried words, he passed along the command to open their cell.
As the guards backed up to give them room, Yang took Cadeja's arm over her shoulder and stepped through the opening cell door. The world spun for a moment before Yang bit her lip and forced herself to concentrate. The burning in her leg intensified with the added weight, forcing her to limp.
"Ave rota, you really don't have to do this," murmured Cadeja in her ear.
Yang scoffed. "You're only saying that because you haven't seen your face. You look like you're gonna pass out."
"I'll be fine, I just need to lie down," she retorted.
Regardless, Cadeja didn't fight when Yang started to lead her down the hall in front of the pair of COs.
"Just don't puke in my hair," said Yang, smiling and shaking her head. "Then your teeth'll be the least of your problems."
Cadeja coughed and chuckled.
"Yeah sure, you're real scary, rubia."
For several minutes they hobbled down the hallways of Briarcliff, pausing at each gate until the COs verified that they had permission to leave D block. At one point, a nervous female CO refused to buzz them through until Reilly shouted at her, essentially scaring the already skittish guard into submission.
With Cadeja and the other inmate leaning on them, the group made slow progress across the compound. Every once in a while, the girl hanging off the guards' shoulders would mumble something nonsensical, head flopping side to side as her weight shifted.
Keeping their eyes peeled, Yang and Cadeja surveyed the areas they passed through once they left the Wilds. COs bustled back and forth, running from cellblock to cellblock or ferrying messages to the administrative offices.
Generally, most of the traffic moved towards the medical ward – located on the western side of the Birdcage, nestled between B and C blocks, adjacent to some of the offices used by counselors and members of the Warden's staff.
Picking up broken pieces of conversation and whispers in the halls, Yang and Cadeja found out that D block had been the worst of it – the other three cellblocks had been contained before full scale riots could break out. Aside from a few fights between inmates and guards, the violence had mostly been concentrated in the Wilds.
Regardless, work duties had been cancelled for all but the kitchen staff – who would still need to prep the next meal for Briarcliff's residents.
In the rush to reassign emergency staff to D block and deal with the fallout from the riot, many inmates had been left in limbo – unable to get back to their cellblocks. Some were still being led back to their cells from either their work assignments or rec hour in the Yard.
By the time they reached the far end of the prison, Yang was shaking with the effort to support Cadeja's weight. The Faunus's face had blanched white and she looked perilously close to being sick again.
"Xiao Long," she said between breaths, "I think I need to stop."
Yang slowed her pace but didn't stop walking. She cast a glance over her shoulder at the COs behind them. Their faces were set with a grim determination. They weren't stopping until they made it to the hospital ward.
"Nope, you're gonna make it," said Yang, willing Cadeja to keep moving.
She heard Cadeja groan and felt a bristled white wolf ear swat at her head in irritation. Looking down the hallway, she saw several pairs of COs and injured inmates turning to pass through large double doors. Yang sincerely hoped that was the entrance to the med bay, because she wasn't sure how much farther they'd make it.
Luckily, Reilly and the other CO steered them towards the doors and ushered them inside, eager to drop their burden.
Inside, the room was a swamp of moaning bodies and yelling COs. Men and women in pale green scrubs hurried about, moving from one bed to the next. Some women were sitting up in bed with another patient seated on the foot of their cots. Space was rapidly running out with the arrival of each new inmate.
Scurrying over to a nearby cot, the guards dropped the semi-conscious girl off of their shoulders and stood up, stretching to relieve their cramped muscles. Unsure of what to do, Yang and Cadeja simply stood amidst the chaos.
The room hummed with a hundred different conversations. Murmuring nurses with clipboards made notes about patients' status, categorizing them by the severity of their injuries and establishing a chain of priority care. Guards yelled at clerks from the admin's office, demanding that a new shift take over for the beleaguered COs from D block.
Patients with relatively minor injuries groaned and begged for more painkillers, clutching at their wounded limbs and dripping with big, fat crocodile tears. Some women simply stared about the room with half-empty eyes, seemingly too stunned to comprehend their surroundings.
Limping through the room in search of a free exam table, Yang and Cadeja squeezed through the mass of bodies. As they moved further into the med bay, one particularly assertive voice cut through the crowd.
Ahead of them, Yang could make out a short woman with broad shoulders in a long white coat barking orders at the medical staff around her. Intermittently, she'd stop to yell at a man in the traditional suit-and-tie uniform of an administrative officer from the Warden's office.
Getting closer, Yang caught part of their conversation.
"I told you we needed huntsmen in the ranks of the COs! Just look at this! My staff are entirely overwhelmed, it's going to take hours to get all of these patients sorted out and tended to!" she shouted, her voice climbing above the din. She punctuated her speech with a toss of her long and slightly unkempt dirty-blonde hair.
"Your staff are supposed to be trained to handle these kinds of situations-" replied the admin, his well-manicured mustache ruffling as he spoke.
"Don't start with that shit again, Bud – just look at this! We don't have the numbers to deal with this many patients," she yelled, fixing him with an enraged glare.
Bud coughed, clearing his throat. Clearly this was a well-worn argument, almost scripted at this point. Making an effort not to roll his eyes, he said, "Vale just doesn't have the numbers to outfit a place like this with huntsmen – at least, not with the recent spike in Grimm activity throughout the kingdom."
"So get the numbers! I don't care if we have to lean on Atlas for help, but even just one or two huntsmen in the Wilds could have prevented this!" she shrieked, pointing at a crumpled form on a nearby cot. The patient was covered in thermal blankets, hooked up to an army of beeping machines.
Squinting, a chill crept through Yang's chest when she recognized CO Lowell. Her face was still a bloody red mess of displaced tissue and gleaming cartilage, poking through shredded skin.
The admin glanced away, refusing to look at CO Lowell. Yang saw his mustache twitch, moving over his lips as he muttered something unintelligible.
Lifting her weight off of Yang, Cadeja elbowed her way forward towards the woman in white. Yang stumbled from the sudden relief, taking a moment to get her bearings.
From a few steps away, Cadeja flagged down the doctor and yelled, "Hey Doc! Over here!"
The admin glanced up and took advantage of the distraction, shuffling away across the room – making a beeline for the exit. Yang shoved past him in her effort to catch up to Cadeja.
The doctor frowned, eyes following the rapidly disappearing clerk. Irritated she barked at Cadeja.
"Álvarez! What are you doing? Can't you see I was in the middle of yelling at that little shit?"
"Sorry Doc," said Cadeja, seemingly unaffected by the doctor's outrage. "But I'm not feelin' so hot," she said, swaying on her feet.
Yang rushed forward, letting Cadeja lean on her once again. The doctor's eyes flickered to Yang.
"Who's your friend?" she asked, attention focused back on Cadeja.
"She's my cellie," said the Faunus. "Name's Xiao Long. First timer."
The doctor grunted, nodding. Whipping out a thermometer seemingly from nowhere, she slid it between Cadeja's lips and grabbed her wrist, taking her pulse. After a minute, she removed the thermometer and squinted at it, shaking her head.
"Open your mouth," she commanded. Glowering, she examined the bright-red inside of Cadeja's mouth.
"I told the guards to make sure you kept this clean…" she muttered to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose.
After a brief pause, she continued. "I've got too much going on to take care of you myself this time, Álvarez, but I'll have one of the nurses start you on an antibiotic. But you," she said, eyes boring into Yang, "get her out of here. There's an empty exam room over there."
With the thermometer she indicated a door towards the back of the room.
"I don't want one of the girls seeing her and getting all riled up again, last thing we need is for another fight to break out. And I'll be damned if there's a riot in my hospital because of this one," she said, indicating the wolf Faunus with her thumb. In spite of her harsh tone, her eyes were soft and she had a supporting hand under Cadeja's arm.
Yang decided that she liked this short, commanding woman.
With Doc's help, Yang ushered Cadeja into the exam room. With a final check on her patient, the doctor hurried out of the room, only to be replaced moments later by a nurse in rumpled scrubs.
Feeling in the way, Yang stepped out of the room. Glancing around, she saw that none of the COs were in much of a hurry to escort her back to D block, so she meandered through the rows of hospital cots until she found herself back by CO Lowell's bedside.
Uncertain of what to do, Yang took one of CO Lowell's hands in her own and held it gingerly. Forcing herself to look, she saw that a machine was breathing for her, a tube fed down Lowell's throat. The rise and fall of her chest matched the steady beeping of one of the machines.
Yang was reminded of the uselessness she'd felt watching Lowell get attacked and for a moment she entertained the ugly thought that even if she wasn't locked in her cell, she wouldn't have been able to help with just her one arm.
She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting against the wave of self-pity that she'd constantly had to push back since Sasha had attacked her near the D block showers, effectively reminding her that she wasn't the fighter she used to be before the Fall of Beacon.
Stop it! she thought to herself, her own voice roaring inside her mind.
Self-pity isn't going to help you learn how to fight again and defend yourself… and others.
Looking down at CO Lowell, a new thought occurred to Yang.
I don't even know her first name, this woman who's hand I'm holding and who I've seen almost every day for the past month and a half.
Casting a quick glance around the room, Yang snuck to the bottom of the bed and peeked at the chart clipped there. Running her eyes over the blur of hastily scribbled words, Yang found what she was looking for.
Hurriedly dropping the chart and stepping away before any of the nurses caught her, Yang went back to CO Lowell's side and took her hand again. Leaning in, she whispered something softly in the guard's ear.
"I'm sorry, Shalen…"
Quietly, she stood by the woman's bedside, still holding her hand and listening to the regular beeping of the machines. Slipping into an exhausted trance, she lost track of how long she'd been standing there.
"Inmate!" barked the voice of an angry CO.
Startled, Yang dropped CO Lowell's hand and backed away from the cot, turning to face the voice.
"Are you here for medical attention?" demanded a stocky guard with jet black hair.
Dumbly she shook her head, not speaking.
"If you aren't here to be treated then you should have been taken back to bunks!" he yelled, neck flushing red. Looking around he shouted, "Who's in charge of this inmate!"
A rather disgruntled-looking Reilly waded through the room to answer the CO who seemed to be in charge of tracking the movement of inmates through the med bay.
"I am, sir," he said lazily.
"Well get her out of here! Can't you see we don't have space for any extra bodies in here!"
"Yes, sir," he muttered, slipping a warm hand around Yang's upper arm and tugging her towards the exit.
When they were out of earshot, Reilly growled under his breath, "Scott is such a dick, power goes straight to his head. He's just a friggin' shift captain, gets the same shit pay as the rest of us…"
Yang didn't think the comment was particularly directed at her so she didn't bother to come up with a response, and Reilly didn't seem to expect one.
Somewhere in the room behind them, a cry went up and nurses went rushing towards CO Lowell's bedside. Even above the noise, Yang could hear one or two of the monitors shrieking frantically. Looking back over her shoulder, she struggled against CO Reilly, not wanting to be pulled out of the room.
He grunted, stopping for a moment to look at what was going on. A crowd of inmates and guards had gathered and they were staring, pressing closer to get a better look even as nurses and orderlies shoved them back.
Doc hovered over CO Lowell, wielding some sort of panels hooked up to a heavy gray machine on a nearby cart.
Waiting for a charge, Doc's loud voice cut through the chaos as she rubbed the panels together in a small circular motion.
"Dammit where's that airship! They were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, I can't treat her here! Everybody back up!"
Yang took a step towards Lowell, but Reilly seemed to snap to his senses and started to pull her back towards the exit.
"Xiao Long, move it – there's nothing we can do here. Orders are-"
His voice cut off as another inmate elbowed him in the stomach, pushing past him to get a better view. Temporarily winded, Reilly clutched his stomach with one hand and simply started tugging on Yang's arm with the other, trying to make it to the double doors.
Yang still fought to stay, but slowly she allowed herself to be dragged out of the room one step at a time. She heard an electric buzz and flinched reflexively, not realizing that the sound came from the panels in Doc's hands.
"CLEAR!"
There was deep thud that seemed to rock the room.
"Fuck. Still losing her! Again – let's go again!"
Doc's voice started to fade, swallowed up by the crowd and thinned out over the increasing distance as Reilly finally managed to march her out into the hall. With one last look before the doors closed together, Yang saw a gap clear in the crowd as orderlies pushed people away from Lowell's cot and Yang caught a glance of the unconscious guard.
Tugging on her arm again, Reilly turned her around and started to lead her back the way they'd come. Feeling her resistance breaking, Reilly managed to march them up to a decent pace.
But even as they left the hospital ward behind them, Yang's mind was still half in the room, watching the scene unravelling around CO Lowell's bed.
After a minute, she saw guards rushing past them towards the eastern parts of the compound – presumably heading to reinforce A and D block. They paid Yang and Reilly no notice as they ran by, sprinting away from the med bay.
When they cleared the next hallway, Yang thought she heard something in the distance – sounding like a collective of voices raised in the murmur of clashing conversations. Curious, she tried to figure out exactly what it was she'd heard.
Mixed in with the voices, a shuddering vibration of tearing metal hummed through it all.
Still a minute or two away from D block, Yang and Reilly had to brace themselves as the whole of Briarcliff seemed to shake, rocked by some sudden impact.
"The fuck was that?" grunted Reilly, one hand against the wall.
"No idea," mumbled Yang, peering down the hallway.
After a moment, Reilly seemed to collect himself. Straightening up, he said, "Let's go."
Yang stumbled along, led away by the guard. As they neared D block, the noises grew louder.
"What is that?" wondered Yang, this time aloud.
Reilly didn't have the chance to answer as another impact rumbled through the building, nearly knocking them to their knees. The bubble of noise resolved itself into a series of screams as individual voices distinguished themselves amongst the crowd. It sounded like all of D block was in an uproar – women shrieking, terrified and demanding.
From behind them, more guards rushed past – running towards the Wilds at full tilt.
"What's happening?" shouted Yang, uselessly. The guards ignored her, too intent on getting to D block.
There was a sudden lull in the choir of panicked voices, and in the distance something else started screaming.
The sound triggered something in Yang's memory.
"Oh no…" she whispered, eyes widening as realization dawned on her.
Screeching above the crowd of voices, the noise squawked down at them again, echoing through the halls of the Birdcage.
"Not again," murmured Yang, distantly aware that CO Reilly was dragging her to her feet. "I'm not ready…"
Her voice trailed off, swallowed up by the cries.
Back in the med bay, in the moments it took Yang to realize what was happening, machines were shut off and the hospital team stepped away from the bedside. Doc stared down at the motionless form of her patient.
"This isn't it!" she yelled furiously, her hands balling up into fists. Grabbing one of her nurses by the front of her scrubs she said, "Don't you stop compressions it's not over yet!"
Eyeing the doctor worriedly, the nurse restarted compressions on Lowell's chest. Several minutes passed, the crowd practically holding its breath.
Another doctor in a white coat leaned down to Doc's ear, saying something no one else could hear:
"The airship still hasn't arrived. They're not going to make it."
Closing her eyes, a look of resignation washed over Doc's face.
"Dammit," she cursed, staring at the machine that monitored Lowell's heartrate. It chugged in time with the nurse's compressions – all natural activity had stopped.
Putting a hand on the nurse's shoulder, Doc said, "Stop. We have to call it. She's gone."
Warily, the nurse removed her hands and stepped away. Most of the room had gone silent, even the nosey inmates edging around each other for a better view.
The machine hooked up to CO Lowell's breathing tube still hummed wearily. Every second or so it clicked, imitating the function of inhaling and exhaling.
Glancing at a nearby orderly, Doc nodded.
"Shut it off," she said, for once her voice quiet and not quite in control.
Stone-faced, the orderly flipped a switch on the machine and it slowly powered down. CO Lowell's chest fell gradually as she took her last breath.
Quiet spread over the room, but it didn't last. In the distance, a raucous screaming grew louder and louder – voices from the eastern side of D block managing to drive deep into Briarcliff.
A hundred faces looked around confusedly, unable to discern what was causing the noise.
Doc stiffened as she felt a vibration shake the prison, followed by more screaming. Something roared. A deep shriek sounded overhead – too close.
Understanding dawned on the faces of some of the guards and the inmates. Hospital staff looked around worriedly at their overflowing ward of patients.
More screeching. A loud thud as something heavy and metallic banged. A blood curdling roar.
Doc's knuckles turned white as she gripped the railing that lined the side of CO Lowell's cot.
"It's finally happened…" she said, looking at no one in particular.
Everyone in the room was silent, listening to the noises above and around them.
A strangled, deep throated cry bugled above them. The sound of metal tearing, another clang and the building shook again – the Birdcage shaking at its foundations.
A series of white faces looked past one another, seeing nothing; an icy sheet of cold air crept over the crowded space.
The creatures of Grimm had started their siege on Briarcliff.
Author's note: Hey hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am! I'd just like to say the response to the last chapter was overwhelming – thank you so much to everyone who posted a review/sent me a message. Your support really helps motivate me to get these chapters up as fast as I can.
So please, keep spreading the word about this story and hit me with any suggestions/comments/questions you have about the fic! I really do appreciate any and all feedback!
The next chapter may very well end up being a two-parter, we'll see. For now it's called "The Birds" (bringing to a head the continuous bird imagery from throughout the story! And yes, the chapter title is another reference – I actually buried a little Easter egg in chapter 6 in the form of a specific reference to this Hitchcock film. Kudos to any of you who found it!)