Chapter 12: Moving Home
Cindy took the needle out of her friends arm. Watching her lying there, defenseless, and scared, made Cindy feel uneasy. She missed the bad ass Max, that by now if anyone had done this to her, she would have beaten their asses into the dirt. It was strange to see this side of Max. It was like she had always been like this, but it had never shown. She had kept it so hidden from everyone that knew she was from Manticore. She had never told Cindy the details of what they did at Manticore, and now Cindy knew why. Cindy pulled a chair up beside Max's table. Resting her elbows on the table, she got an idea.
Now would probably be one of the few chances they had to find out what exactly they did to Max. But should she ask her? Or wait for Max to tell her instead? She wasn't sure. Finally Cindy decided that she would just ask what they did to her If Max felt like telling her or anyoneelse later about the sinister details, than she could. Cindy cleared her throat and then began; she had about ten minutes before Max would go out of it completely.
"Max, Max, I want you to answer a few questions for me. Ok?"
Max turned her head towards Cindy; her eyes were slightly puffy, and tired. She was too weak to put up a fight like earlier. She closed her eyes and answered in a sleepy voice,
"Huh? Oh, sure, whatever."
Cindy took a breath; Max didn't realize what she was doing Did she? No, if Max knew what she was doing, well, Cindy highly doubted that she would have been answered in such a calm voice.
"Max, who did this to you?"
"Uh, Renfro."
"Ok, Max, why did Renfro do this to you?"
Taking a tired breath, "She was trying to get information from meDiscipline me"
"What was she trying to learn from you?"
"I," Max began with a yawn, "I can't remember exactly, something. Something about who my friends were before I was captured What my relationship with Eyes Only' was"
Before Cindy asked another question, she heard footsteps in the hallway. Logan was coming for his night shift. So Cindy ended it there. Getting up from her seat, she walked towards the counter with the now empty syringe.
"Hey Logan," Cindy began when she heard the footsteps stop outside of the door.
Turning around, she gasped. Dropping the syringe with a clatter on the floor. She went to grab for the gun that was in the drawer beside her. But the intruder rose theirs before Cindy could get to it.
"You have my soldier. What did X-542 tell you?" Asked Renfro in a calm voice.
"Nothing. She didn't tell me anything." Lied Cindy.
Renfro sneered, "I don't believe you, however, I have ways of finding out what I want. Come with me."
Cindy stood still; she didn't want to come. She wasn't going to come with her. Renfro signaled her hand outside of the door. Four soldiers came briskly into the room. Two undid Max from her restraints, and another grabbed Cindy by the arm. Cindy struggled against the grip on her arm. Renfro observed in an oily voice, "Well, I see you have sedated soldier X-5452. Thank you for your help. You may come with us."
Cindy just stated the word, "No!"
Renfro turned around quickly, and glared at Cindy, "Please, I insist."
So Renfro, four troopers, Max, and Cindy headed into the dark alleyway. Cindy mustered up the courage to ask a question, "How did you find out we were here?"
Renfro laughed mockingly as she signaled to the soldiers to load Max into the back. Then, to answer Cindy's question, all she did was tapp her nose with her index finger. Then she walked off to the front of the van while saying, "Get her in the back. I want three of you back there."
One trooper followed Renfro into the front of the van, while the other three tossed Cindy into the back of the van. As Cindy situated herself in the van, she noticed that Max had once again been tied up. The three troopers loaded into the back, two in front of Cindy, and one beside her. She wasn't afraid of these people anymore now. It was just Renfro that made her skin crawl. So she asked, "Yo, why are you doing this to Max?"
One of the troopers answered, "Soldier X-5452 is needed back at base."
That sent Cindy over the edge, "You know she has a damn name!"
The trooper beside her said, "Her name at Manticore is X-5452."
Cindy than asked, "What is up with this X-54 shit?"
One of the troopers chuckled and answered, "So that there is no emotional attachment to the specimen that was created. She is from the specimen group X-5"
Cindy answered in a sarasctic voice; "She isn't a specimen either. She is a person, she has a name to."
There was silence. They drove for a while in the darkness. Cindy felt the van stop. In minutes they were inside Manticore. Cindy took in the scene. Wire fences surrounded the complex, with barbed wire at the top. The whole place looked like one big stone and metal building. Inside there were guards in every hall, and outside every door. It looked like a prison. They passed a room where a child was getting a bone broken. Cindy knew this, because she heard the sickining crack and the scream of pain. They walked further down the hallway. Then stopped.
Renfros voice began, "one of you please escort this woman to her cell. You two, come with me, we need to get to the Discipline Chamber with Soldier X-542."
One trooper then handcuffed Cindy and ruffly walked her down the hall. As they walked, they passed a group of children marching town the hall. An instructor was in front of them while another gaurd followed behind. One of the children fell to the floor and went into a seizure. The others kept marching leaving the weakest behind. Cindy stopped and watched in horror as the guard looked at the child in disgust and said on his earpeaice, "One of the X-7 soldiers is in hallway E12. In need of assistance. Over." And with that the guard walked on leaving the child on the floor.
Cindy tried to walk over to the child, who was now shaking violently on the floor, but her capture jerked her further down the hallway. Leaving the poor defenseless, soldier', behind. They walked further down the hallway; finally they reached a stone door that held bars in a tiny opening at the top. The trooper flashed his badge in front of a little red light and the door opened. He threw Cindy ruffly into the dark room. The trooper told her, "Welcome to your new home."
The door shut. And Cindy was left alone in the dark walls of the cell.
