Minimum Ride
A Maximum Ride Fan Fiction
Chapter 11: You Get What You Give
Half an hour later, I emerged from a shower stall into a steamy room, feeling fresh. I wrapped myself in a fluffy towel, clenching my toes against the tiled floor of this small bathroom. So far, my stay at Hotel de la School hadn't been all bad. Yeah, they did put me in a cage and forced me to fight Erasers, but they also made me faster, stronger, and I had defeated the Erasers, more or less.
I walked on over to the small sink and mirror, picking up the brush I'd been given. I rinsed it under the water, and raked it through my hair. Brush, Ow. Brush, Ow. The same old tricks. Someone knocked on the door so quietly I almost didn't hear it. But I did.
"Yeah?" I called loudly. Why can't I shower in peace?
"You have ten minutes, and then you must meet me outside the door, five paces to your left. Someone will clean up when you're done." a female voice said crisply. I couldn't help it, I chuckled. Wouldn't I just look around and see you 'five paces to my left'?
"Ten minutes I can deal with." I shouted, starting to make progress with my hair. I brushed it over one more time, and set the brush down. Tucking the towel around me, I walked over to the small table holding my clothes. My tanktop had been washed, and so had my jeans. I pulled the tanktop over my head, still warm from whatever method they used to dry it. I prayed they didn't use a laser.
When I was fully dressed, I unlocked the door and peeped out. An asian-looking woman with black hair pulled into a low pony tail stood waiting for me, five paces to my left. She was wearing a nice purple flouncy shirt, too fancy for my taste. She tapped her white wedge heeled shoes against the linoleum floor, making her white slacks sway. Of course, she had on a white lab coat.
"I assume you are done." she said, sounding all business.
"Mhm. Sure am." I said, trying to mimic her tone.
"Good." she said, starting to walk me down a hall. "My name is Pamela Yenesen. I will be the person you will most see during your time here. You are Kate, correct?" she asked, looking me up and down.
"You betcha." I said as we turned a corner. Several Erasers passed us, and I recognized two from the field. Those two looked at me with a gleam of horror in their eyes, which went unnoticed by their buddies. They were all joking and poking at one another, laughing it up. They were all fully morphed, of course, with wolf snouts and claws pointing their finger tips, brownish hair covering their arms and legs.
"Boys," Pamela Yenesen greeted them, and with a motion of her hand they stood up straight, quieting down. They continued down the hallway, and when they thought they were out of sight, they began cackling once more. Pamela rolled her eyes, obviously not amused by their boyish humor.
We turned another corner, now walking down another hallway lined with cages with the experiments in them. Many of them I'd seen were mostly animals that were combined with other animals. Some had been small children, only they were so twisted and combined that they didn't look anything like the small children you might see in the mall. These experiments were kids, more or less, all of them. They looked mostly like they hadn't been grafted with other animal DNA, but just experimented on. Children injected with chemicals, or something. Just mistakes that made your heart hurt.
I noticed how Pamela didn't look at them, didn't make eye contact. She just stared straight ahead, looking strained, her face almost sad. I guess she doesn't like the things that were done to them. She caught my eye over her shoulder, and I looked away. From then on, I just looked around casually, try to catalogue details. I saw a sign above the cages that read, 'Non-Viable Human Species. Under observation. Do not experiment with.' I felt hot tears spring to my eyes, and I blinked them back. They were just waiting for these poor things to die, and they were watching.
Pamela led me through a push-open door, into a smaller, fatter hall lined with bigger cages. These cages held actual kids, but with weird looks. Some had webbed toes and fingers, some were changing colors as they looked around. One turned completely purple when he caught sight of me. Two or three were just kids, but with tails, animal ears, and one yawned, so I could see her razor-sharp teeth. Two kids had cages across the aisle from one another. They were normal kids with questionable hygiene. They looked sad, beat up, and skinny. Like me.
Pamela led me to a cage at the end, next to one of the normal kids. She unlatched it, and waited for me to crawl in. I gave her a scowl and crouched down, crawling in. I sat in the cage, and she crouched down to latch it. She did, then said, "These are some of the most viable experiments in the lab. You should be honored to be among them." I rolled my eyes. She continued. "I will be back to get you soon, but first I must take care of some paperwork. Please behave yourself." she smiled softly, and walked out the door we had entered.