Chapter Two

AN: I don't own the characters. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

In her home in the compound, Pam awakened at dawn, nerves and excitement running through her body. Today was the day. The finest surgeon she and her brother had lured into suspension was thawed and more than willing to work on a top secret mission. Today a life would be saved, ending the stigma of and guilt regarding all those that were stolen.

It will be worth all the research if it works, Pam told her reflection as she arranged her hair in the mirror. Please let it work.

Scenes of that fateful day flashed through Pam's mind. Jason has given the order to suspend all of the adults, but a few such as Pam and Kate has managed to elude Jason and his posse.

"Let's go to the arc," Kate suggested as the pair peered out from the windows of the hospital. "It's the last place he'll look. Then we can enact our plan and get things back on track."

"I wish we could get back to the compound," Pam said. "We'd be safer once we arrived, but getting through town without being caught is too risky."

"Plus he's got to have a team assembled to suspend everyone," Kate added.

They made their way across the street and into the arc, thinking they had reached safety. Hiding in a lower level storeroom, Pam readied her gun.

"You're armed?" Kate seemed surprised. "Please tell me you brought a spare piece."

"I'm sorry, dear, I was fortunate to get my hands on this one," Pam was apologetic.

A noise rustled behind them and both women froze.

Neither one said a word as Jason revealed himself from behind a stack of water containers.

"You've nowhere to go, traitor," he spat the words at Kate.

In the blink of an eye, he fired his pistol three times before Pam was able to return fire, her bullet finding its target in his forehead. Stepping over his body, Pam did the only thing she knew to do. She turned them both into the suspension team. Kate's body would not require blood in the suspended state, and if they were woken up again, her wounds could be addressed.

Pam wiped away a tear that she didn't realize had fallen as she replayed the events again. "I'm sorry, Kate. I hope that today we can make it up to you." She pictured Kate's broken body inside the suspension chamber. When Pam had placed her inside seven years ago, everything had seemed to progress normally. The procedure drained all of the body's blood, so the bleeding from Jason's bullets wouldn't matter once it was complete. Some of David's studies had actually shown regeneration within the process, causing them to have to reinjure everyone who would be awakened under the premise that they'd been involved in a car accident. Pam felt ashamed of such lies now but hoped the phenomenon of healing had worked in Kate's favor.

It was only a short walk from Pam's chamber to the suspension area. The doctor, a man by the name of Cole, was waiting.

"We'll continue the suspension drugs in the operating room," Cole said. "I don't want to introduce any blood until the wounds are repaired. We can transfuse her along the way."

Suddenly Pam felt nervous as she prepared to open the suspension unit. Would her friend truly be a candidate for the surgery? Had she truly done everything right seven years ago? Jason was chasing her and she didn't exactly have the time to take all of the precautions and double checks as she and David usually performed.

"I haven't seen you for seven years," Pam said as she approached the chamber holding Kate. She tried to stop trembling because she didn't want Cole to see how nervous she was, but instead projected the image of a confident nurse.

Kate's face was the picture of serenity as the material was lowered and she became visible. No one would guess from her appearance of serenity that her last lucid moments were unbelievably painful and nearly fatal. Pam exhaled and helped the doctor load her friend onto the gurney to take her to the operating room.