Ok! I am back, and would have been a LOT sooner if hadn't been having tecnicalities!! Grrr. Anywhoo, me an O'l Maverick have finally come up with an escape plan, so hopefully Carlos will be rid of his neighbor soon....... Thank you all for the lovely continued reviews!! My gosh you make me happy!!
devilish477- Thanks so much, your review had me laughing, I'm glad you enjoy so much and the zombie piñata did help!
Carlos rolled over onto his side for the hundredth time that night, the constant monitoring lights driving him nuts. All he needed was for some sort of incessant noise and he was sure he would snap.
Thump Thump Thump Thump
Great. Somebody had had the bright idea to stash one of their zombie experiments right across from him and now it was stuck against the door, brainlessly walking into the wall before bouncing it's gory head off the glass.
Like some infernal wind up toy. Carlos thought, burying his head under the blanket and absently wondering if Alice had this much trouble.
Alice. No, of course not. She had worse. He chastised himself, biting his lip to quell the pain thinking of her conjured up.
Oh, did he hope she was ok.
"Or as well as can be expected in this hell hole." He muttered bitterly, pulling his head out from under the blanket to glare at the thing across from him.
"I know, terrible company, sorry." Maverick's voice came from the door.
Carlos sat up, surprised. He hadn't even heard the doctor come in.
"Ready to go?" Maverick smiled, obviously quite pleased with himself. He was holding up a straight jacket.
Carlos looked at him skeptically. "How is that" He nodded his head towards the offending piece of clothing "going to help us get out?"
"Ah yes." Maverick directed his gaze on the jacket as well. "Sorry about this, but it's the only way I'm allowed to move 'humanoid subjects' to the testing ground. I have something more comfortable hidden for you there." He said, looking back at Carlos as he explained. "Now get this on, they are expecting you at the grounds in fifteen minutes." He urged, holding the jacket open for Carlos to get in.
"What about Alice?" He inquired while the doctor buckled him into the restraining jacket.
"She's already at the training grounds. I was able to convince the head of research to let me re-introduce you two tonight, so that I can see if either of you need more programming to get rid of any human emotions that may get in the way. I promised if I could test you tonight, I could program you for the final fight test tomorrow, and that I would need to be alone when I watched you, just to remove any variables in the experiment. You will be in separate sections of the arena, separated by a wire barrier. When you get in there, you must act as if you could care less that she is there, you'll have time for talking later." He said in a whispered tone as they walked quickly down the corridors, more experiments following them with their dead eyes.
"Will we really be alone?"
Maverick nodded. "You'll be in a glass room, but the only way they can see you is through video camera, and the closest guards will be two rooms down. That's why we want to bust you out at the last second. The trick will be to take down your escorts when the trial is over and you are taken out simultaneously. You should have enough time to run before the guards can get in the room. You will take the south hallway, and meet me by the water towers on the west side of the facility. I have provisions, guns, and clothing for each of you out there. I also was able to find a set of keys to a military hummer standing close by, so you should be able to get through the hoard crawling behind the fence. Got all that?" He asked hurriedly; they were almost to the testing room.
Carlos nodded. "How is Alice?" his voice sounded anxious despite the plans to get out.
"She is under their control, but I think she is already working to break it. She understood what I told her. Your name seems to work well as a weapon against the programming. I'm hoping you're presence will be enough to break it completely." He whispered in a rush just before the door opened.
They were in a small chamber with a control panel and several video feeds as well as a giant window into the sand filled 'arena'. There were two doors, one on the left leading to Alice's side, and one on the right that Carlos was meant to use. Alice was already on her side of the room, the wiry fence separating her from his side like Maverick had said. Carlos had to bite his tongue to keep from showing any emotion.
Maverick walked him into the room, pushing a button on the control panel to open the door and then letting Carlos out of the straight jacket. Acting slightly frightened, Maverick beat a hasty retreat to the door when his patient was free, closing it soundly behind him.
Carlos turned slowly towards Alice, trying hard to force emotion from his face. She looked healthy, but there was something about her eyes………they were so- distant.
She stood in the center of her side, looking through the gate at Carlos, her mind mechanically analyzing him. It told her he wasn't a threat at the present distance, but when she walked closer, not really knowing why, all analyzing went out of her head and Maverick's instructions came back in a rush. "Carlos." she whispered, catching herself just as a camera focused on her relieve expression.
Carlos slowly approached the fence, trying to remember how two animals who had never seen each other before acted. Alice seemed to have no trouble, but Carlos had a sickening feeling that she wasn't acting. Suddenly she straightened up just slightly, and her eyes cleared, becoming the beautiful ice blue eyes that he knew. And he knew she was alright.
It wasn't long after that they were cleared and were lead out of their rooms. Carlos glanced at Maverick in the same second that Alice did. They tensed minutely and…………….
Oooo, cliffhanger! Hang in there, and reviews help!!! XD