There was nothing. Nothing but darkness and an endless, searing pain. Max had long since lost track of time, too consumed by the fire coursing through her to form a thought. There was nothing to think about anyway. Nothing but the pain, searing her skin, suffocating her, stinging her eyes. She blinked reflexively, the darkness a welcome relief from the unyielding light.
Wait...light? Blinking? Max forced herself through the fog in her mind to find that yes, her eyes were no longer immobile. She squinted, the harsh lights stinging as she forced her eyes to adjust. She was in what appeared to be a lab. Max unconsciously shifted her head to expand her view, and realized with a jolt that the rocky cocoon was falling away easily. Her pain fading to a dull ache radiating from her back, she succeeded in breaking her upper body free. Her clothes were dusty and peppered with rips.
The echo of approaching footsteps made her scramble to find cover, settling finally on folding her arms as a meager shield. It was only a scientist who entered, however, and he was so absorbed with his tablet that he took no notice of her. He busied himself with a set of vials, glancing up briefly and proceeding to drop them with a yelp.
"You...you...How did you get out?" The stout man hurried over, fumbling to extricate her from the remains of the stone cocoon. When Max made no move to speak, he began rambling nervously about data from previous trials. "You weren't due out for another day, at least! Even the others-"
"Others? You mean my friends are alive?" The man's mouth clamped shut, his skin pale.
"You were not supposed to know that. Oh, the boss will not be pleased. He wanted to be here for your emergence." He licked his lips. "Come with me, we need to clean you up and run some tests before we present you." Max stumbled after him dumbly, too preoccupied with her pain and thoughts of her friends to protest.
I have to find them and get the fuck out of here. She ran escape strategies through her mind as she was led into a shower capsule, relaxing only when it filled with gas.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long time between updates, I've had some pretty bad writer's block. Thank you to the following for your lovely reviews and PMs: MutantFreak123, Faxxxx, you-could-in-new-hampshire! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please please review3 You can find me on tumblr and We Heart It as misstiffanyluxe.