Autumn woke to being jolted sharply, followed by the jarring sensation of blinding, white-hot pain. Her body felt like it was on fire, but her mind felt groggy, and her eyes were too heavy to open. There was a hum of voices around her, their chaotic tones put her tired, pained mind on high alert.
"Wh- wha… hap…" Autumn struggled to speak; her mouth was painfully dry, making it hard to talk. Her cracked lips wouldn't form words properly. She tried to swallow so she could moisten her mouth, but the action was sluggish and difficult, and her saliva tasted metallic. "What… happened…?" The words finally came, like a whisper, but her tongue became stuck in her throat, like it was coated in lead. A warm, strong hand grasped hers; the voice that followed it was cruel and cold.
"You are in an emergency vehicle, on its way back to Haven City. You have been… injured." Autumn furrowed her brows and tried to take a breath to speak again, but felt a sharp pain through her torso when she did so. She let out a cry of pain and clutched her chest with her free hand- the man, Trulson, had not let the other go.
"Kyle…" she gasped out, forcing her eyes to slowly open. She needed to see, needed to know if she was truly alive, awake. This couldn't be real. The last thing Autumn remembered about the boy was… was seeing him being torn apart by Metal Heads. But Trulson had made it- there he was with his sharp, cold eyes.
He still hadn't let go of her hand.
"Dead. So are your squad mates, those Andersen boys." Her eyes stung, and her vision started to blur. Her heart raced in her chest; blood rushed through her ears and her mind. She couldn't think.
"She's crashing!" A medic rushed over and turned a dial on the machine hooked to the IV in her hand; the piping glowed bright green with a rush of Green Eco. Autumn started to choke, her chest constricting painfully as her body convulsed violently. Her vision started to blur and white-out.
"TURN IT UP HIGHER!" She heard Trulson scream. Someone bashed into her stretched, jerking her sideways; the I.V. ripped out of her hand, and Autumn screamed as the searing burn that had ripped through her earlier had now returned. It was relentless in its heat; it felt as though her skin was melting off of her bones.
"Get that I.V back in! We need to stabilize her with more Green Eco!" Bile rose in Autumn's throat, and she somehow managed to rock onto her side, and started vomiting strangely coloured blood.
"It's no good- the Ecos are working their way out of her bloodstream and into the rest of her body, sir!" Another, female voice cried. Trulson cursed loudly, and a strong pair of hands grabbed Autumn's shoulders, forcefully pinning her back down on the gurney.
"Strap her in!" Trulson yelled angrily. "I will not lose this specimen!" Autumn felt thick, heavy straps being tightened painfully around her limbs; despite them, her body was still jerking forcefully as the two forces inside her waged war on her vitals. She faded back into unconsciousness with Trulson's angry yells in her ears.
When Autumn woke again, the world was quiet and cold. She shivered at the feeling of cold metal against her naked back, wincing slightly as a bright white light filled her vision entirely. As more feeling came back to her, she realized that there were wires hooked everywhere to her body; on her wrists, her temples, her thighs… she shivered again, trying to recall what had happened and how she'd gotten here. Nothing came to her but strange flashes of a giant hand the colour red.
It was about then she realized that she couldn't move; she was frozen on the table, completely vulnerable.
"She's awake, doctor," said a soft, female voice that echoed oddly around her. The sudden intrusion of a foreign voice shattered the illusion of quiet around her and in her. A horrible, burning pain rushed through her body and the light narrowed into a small sun over her face. The electric hum of machinery was covered by the hum of many voices from shadows moving beneath the light.
"Her heart rate is rising off the scales- she must still be able to feel the Dark Eco." One of the shadows said, sounding distressed.
"Insert the Green Eco directly into her spinal cord. We must do everything possible to keep this specimen alive!" Trulson snapped- Autumn would never forget his voice again; it would be forever embedded in her memory, associated with this horrible, burning pain.
"But, sir- she's so damaged by the Dark Eco, her wounds are festering in it! How can she be a proper medic if she's full of Dark Eco?" There was the sound of flesh connecting with flesh as one of the shadows struck another. Autumn choked out a cry of pain as the victim of the assault fell onto her- beneath the bandages, she could feel her wounds reopen, hot blood beginning to spill again.
"Get this fool out of here- I did not hire you to question me!" The man was dragged off and there were the sounds of a small scuffle as he was forcibly ushered out of the room. Trulson huffed noisily. "Clean her up, and get more Green Eco into her system. I want her alive." One of the shadows stepped away, only to be replaced by two more. These rolled Autumn onto her side and pulled away her hair; Autumn could only cry out again as she was positioned awkwardly on her wounds, and she made a feeble attempt to squirm away.
Her efforts were thwarted by another pair of hands pinning her down; Autumn could feel sharp, manicured nails digging into her skin as they pushed her down. "Pin her to the table," ordered the soft, female voice from earlier, "We can't have her struggling while she's being injected."
"No…" Autumn whimpered. The woman lifted her hands away, only to have them replaced by another pair, and the original two clamped down on her legs and hip. Autumn couldn't have fought them off even if she'd wanted, she was too weak.
"Is the syringe prepared?" The woman asked.
"I just finished filling it, Doctor Grace." Answered another.
"Good, give it here." The shadows moved, and Autumn saw the light gleam off a large, ugly needle as it was handed across the table to Dr. Grace. The light was blocked out as Grace leaned down to Autumn's ear and whispered, "Don't move." Autumn whimpered as she felt the large needle enter her neck, but the searing pain that had been present in her body began to dissipate as she felt Dr. Grace push down the plunger. Her heart beat slowed, her breathing regulated, and her eye lids began to droop as exhaustion took over her body.
"She's stabilizing." Said a new voice.
"Good. Put her out and put her in the cell with the other five." Other five? was the last thing that crossed her mind as she faded away.
Autumn slowly started to regain consciousness; her whole body was tired and sore, but something in her stomach, or lack thereof, was pulling her out of her slumber. She groaned as she tried to roll over and open her eyes. Her bones were so stiff, like she hadn't moved for several hours. A hand softly touched her shoulder, making her freeze.
"I see you're finally coming to." Whispered a man's voice. Autumn groaned, and curled up into a ball. Her mind was foggy, and she couldn't remember where she was. "Hey, don't move too much, you might get sick. Well, if there is anything in your stomach to get sick with... how do you feel?" Autumn slowly opened her eyes to see a man, not much older than her, with a scruffy beard and grey eyes.
"Where am I?" She croaked. Her mouth was dry, and her voice hoarse, like she had been screaming. Perhaps she had been. The man frowned at her, had she said something wrong? He went to a bucket a few feet away and brought it over and a metal ladle that he filled up with water. She sipped greedily, trying to quench her sudden thirst.
"Don't you remember anything?" He asked her when she finished her third ladle. Autumn closed her eyes, trying to remember the last thing that happened to her. There was a hand... the colour red... and…
"Metal Heads." She wheezed. "There was... an attack..." The interns, dead on the ground... her body being ripped apart by the Grunt, it's blood pouring into her wounds. They had been at the Silo, she was supposed to escort... "Trulson... he... he said my friends were dead. Called me a specimen." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to think.
"Don't push yourself." The man whispered. "Can you at least tell me your name? Maybe a bit about yourself?" Autumn opened her eyes and took a deep breath.
"My name is Autumn DuPont." She whispered. "I am- I was a Krimzon Guard recruit. Until this morning."
The man grimaced. "Autumn, you've been here- unconscious- for three days." Autumn blinked, stunned at the revelation. Three days? With the traveling, which was about two and a half days, that put the accident at… almost a week ago.
"Six days..." She whispered. "I lost my friends, my charges, to those Metal Heads, up North. And Trulson... what has he done?"
"Autumn… I don't know how to tell you this, but you are in Haven city, inside the Baron's fortress prison." Autumn gagged, the shock radiating through her. They know. She could feel bile rising up in her throat, and she convulsed.
"Hold on, hold on a sec!" Cried the man as he scrambled over to a bin, "I gotcha." He whispered as Autumn vomited into the bucket. She could feel his eyes upon her as he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. When she finished emptying the pitiful remnants of food from her stomach, he brought back the ladle to her mouth. She carefully drank it back, savoring the metallic taste to rid herself of the sour taste of bile.
"Thank you." She croaked.
"Don't worry about it." He said quietly. "Can you sit up, do you think?" Autumn nodded, and let him help her sit up on the cot.
"Well look at that, she's sitting up." Said a female voice. Autumn looked up at saw four others sitting in the small cell with her and the grey eyed man. "Dominic, how's she doing?"
"Ask her yourself, Meriam. She is faring better today and can talk." Answered the grey eyed man, Dominic. Autumn carefully cleared her throat.
"Considering our... predicament... I am alright." She whispered. A man in the corner beside Meriam snorted.
"Predicament, you make is seem like a day in the park compared what this really is: HELL." Came his harsh and scratchy voice.
"Quiet Red, she just woke up." Scolded another female with dark chocolate skin. She looked up at Autumn, and gave a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My name is Cece, by the way."
"Hello." Autumn did her best to smile, but failed. By the looks over everyone in this cell, this place really must be Hell. Red's face was covered in dark sores that oozed; Meriam was losing her hair, and several of her teeth were missing; and Cece was so thin, it almost looked like her bones were going to puncture her skin. But the grey eyed man, Dominic, he barely looked worse for the wear. He must not have been in prison that long, or the others were all from the Water Slums.
The Water Slums were well know for the diseases that spread there so easily; many people in poverty there ended up dead, or worse. The Water Slums were for those that couldn't even afford the regular Slums. To live in the Water Slums meant that you were essentially slave labour around the city, and were put up in the ramshackle houses on stilts that had no heat or proper water. People did their... business... outside. The Water Slums was a place where you went to die.
"Sorry to burst your bubble there, kid, but this is what you have to look forward to." Groused Red. "We aren't from the Water Slums." Autumn was taken aback by Red's statement. Had she been staring?
"Stop scaring the poor girl!" Meriam cried out.
"What, you want her to get the shock of her life when they finally come for her? Should we just tell her that this is some kind of spa, that she won a first class trip to the palace?" Snapped Red. "Look, girl, if you are in here that means the Eco that you connect with best is Green. Which in turn means that you will become Trulson's lab rat to become his precious 'Dark Medic' to go along with the Baron's 'Dark Warrior' Project. Which, in the end, means you will die, just like Leliana."
"Trulson said there were ... Leliana, she died from this project?" Asked Autumn.
"This morning." Whispered Cece, tears welling in her eyes. "Leliana was my daughter, she died from a Dark Eco overdose. They pumped her with too much." Cece choked, and Meriam crawled over and held her. As she crawled, Autumn saw that her feet were black and swollen.
"This is the life you have to look forward to, kid." Red muttered, and laid down to go to sleep. Autumn started to shake, her mind taking in all the information. She didn't realize that she had started hyperventilating until Dominic put a hand on her shoulder.
"Slow, deep breaths, Autumn." He whispered to her. Autumn gasped for breath, but managed to slow her breathing; she was starting to feel very tired. "Sleep. You are going to have a long day tomorrow." Dominic gently pushed her onto the cot and she was out like a light.
You are going to have a busy day tomorrow... The voice echoed in her mind as she fought the tangled vines of sleep; had that all been a dream? Surely she would wake up in her tent at camp? She groaned as the pain in her body started to rise up through her exhaustion, it cut through her hope and burned it. Autumn opened her bleary eyes to see that the cell was dim; in the other cots around the cell the others were asleep, except for one; Dominic, who was sitting up in his bed. His brown hair tousled from sleep, and his eyes were half lidded and had a dark, quiet look to them
"You should sleep as much as you can." He said quietly. "You'll need as much rest as you can get."Autumn sat up and shrugged. She wasn't feeling all that tired; she couldn't get that awful feeling out of her gut.
"I don't know if I could sleep anymore if I tried... my head is swimming." She rubbed her face with her hand and pushed back her tangled hair. "Tell me... what's going to happen to me, now?" Dominic rubbed the back of his neck and got out of bed. He went to her bed and sat down beside her, and looked at her sadly.
"Autumn, I can't beat around the bush, but I can't let you go in blind, either." Dominic smoothed back his hair and exhaled sharply. "I don't even know what is going on half the time, I've only been here for a few weeks...
"Autumn... I don't want to sound cruel, but... it's very likely that you're going to die here." It was like he kicked her in the stomach; the information shot through her, and then she was hyperventilating again. When Red had said it, it was full of bitterness... but when Dominic said it... The man wrapped his arm around her and ran a hand through her hair.
"Breathe, Autumn, breathe." He said. Autumn gasped for breath, trying to calm down.
"Why... Why are you telling me this?" She choked.
"When I first came here, there were ten of us." He murmured. "One of them was my brother, and most of us weren't prepared for what was going to happen to us here... We are the next batch of I don't know how many that have been brought to this fortress for experiments.
"Autumn, I wish I had known what was going to happen to me, that my brother had known what was going to happen to him. I want to give you a fighting chance. The others, they have already given up. They don't even care anymore."
"A fighting chance..." Autumn rubbed her face, letting the information sink in. She took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm down.
The cell door opened with a snap; a squad of guards appeared and surveyed the room.
"Everyone up!" Yelled one in yellow. Red shot to his feet and help Cece stand up Meriam who was starting to cry from the pain in her blackened feet. Dominic helped Autumn to her feet, and stood in front of her.
"Stay quiet." He whispered. She did as she was told, peeking over his shoulder to see what was happening. The yellow guard that had told them to get up moved out of the way, and in stepped a man that came out of horror stories told at camp. Commander Errol.
"What a pitiful bunch this month." He spat at Meriam's feet. "Where's the new one?" In front of Autumn, Dominic puffed out his chest and looked straight at Errol.
"I could go for another round, Commander." He growled. "Why don't you dance with me a bit, rather than bullying the others?"
"I don't swing that way." He sneered and stepped back. He signaled a couple of the guards and the yellow on punched Dominic in the face.
"Dominic!" Autumn went to check on him but was grabbed by another guard. "Let me go you son of a bitch!" She jerked herself out of his arms and punched him in the throat. The guard went down, wheezing, and Autumn turned to Dominic who had regained himself.
"I'm okay." He said.
"Enough of these games!" Snapped Errol. "Get her and be done with it!" The yellow guard pulled out his gun and aimed it at Autumn.
"Move, and she gets shot." He warned.
"You can't kill her." Hissed Dominic. "Trulson would have your head."
"No, but I can hurt her." The guard pulled the trigger of his pistol and shot Autumn in the right shoulder. She screamed and went down.
"Autumn!" She heard Dominic scream. Autumn was curled up in a ball on the ground, in shock. She felt cold, but there was no pain where she had been shot.
"I don't think she can take another shot. What do you think?" She heard the guard in yellow say. Autumn was hauled up onto her feet by one of the other guards and led out of the cell. She stumbled, suddenly realizing she was barefoot, and almost fell to the ground. Blood was running down her arm, and her fingers were going numb.
"Next time you damage one of the specimens, it will be your head." Autumn heard Errol hiss. "Carry her to the med bay, have the woman look at her." The yellow guard picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped, and a wave of nausea hit her. He trudged down through a hallway and arrived at a set of doors. The guard roughly adjusted Autumn on his shoulder as he walked in, stirring up her nausea again; this time she didn't bother to fight it, and made sure most of it landed on the jerk who shot her.
"Augh!" the guard threw her onto the ground by the wall onto a grate, trying to get the vomit off of him.
"You ugly little pig!" He yowled as Autumn recoiled on the floor. Maybe getting sick on him hadn't been the best idea...
"Enough." A young woman with dark red hair and two guards walked into the room and gave the guard a hard look. "Get out of my Med Bay before I turn you into my next specimen." The guard said nothing and retreated. The redhead knelt down beside her, and her hazel eyes burned into Autumn as she examined her.
"I am sick off them sending me you things damaged." She pushed Autumn over onto her back to examine the gunshot wound, ignoring her mewls of pain. "Fools." The doctor hissed. Out of her lap coat pocket she pulled out a vial of Green Eco. She tugged out the stopper with her teeth and poured it onto the gunshot wound. The pain that had been radiating down through her shoulder dissipated and she was able to sit up on her own.
"Thanks." Autumn whispered.
"Speak when you're spoken to." The woman snapped. "When I require you to speak, you may call me Doctor Grace. Understood? Good. Now, strip."
"Hell no." Autumn snapped, looking at the two male guards shifting by the doors. Grace snorted.
"Suit yourself." She got up and walked over to the far wall and pushed a button. Autumn was hit with a icy cold water mixed with disinfectant. The smelled burned her eyes and nose and made her cough. She hid her face, trying not to inhale anymore than she already had. After what seemed liked forever, the water shut off and Autumn was left shivering on the floor.
"Like I requested before, strip. Or would you rather freeze?" Dr. Grace sneered as she walked over. In her hands was a set of fresh prison clothes and a red scarf, same as the apparel on Autumns cell mates. She quickly changed, trying to hid herself from the two men behind Grace. "See, your life is already easier when you follow orders." She gave Autumn a wicked grin, making the girl shiver. Behind her, from a door to farther into the med bay, Dr. Trulson walked in.
"Doctor Grace, have you finished with her? Or do I have to wait any longer?" Grace stood up, her face suddenly turning sweet.
"I'm sorry, father. We were just having a nice chit chat. She is ready for you to run tests on. She sure is a feisty one." Trulson chuckled. Autumn's eyes grew wide. Grace was Trulson's daughter?
"Yes, she proved that when she rescued me from a swarm of Metal Heads, my dear. And your husband called, he is wondering what is for dinner." Grace grinned.
"Yakow stew, of course! I will send him a message." She grabbed Autumn's arm and pushed her towards Trulson. The two guards appeared by either side of her, holding their weapons at the ready. "Have fun with her, father!" Autumn snarled at the woman and spat before being dragged through the doors, Trulson's laugh echoing in her ears.