The Storm: Chapter Thirteen

A harsh light shone directly from above, blinding my pupils beneath my eyelids till a swore they would be red raw. This time, however, I knew that it wasn't the sun that tried to burn my eyes out. There was a difference. The key. No heat. Well, from what I could gather. Opening them was proving to be a challenge. Nothing was responding to my command.

All I could do was listen, every sound vibrating in my eardrums. The intense noises setting off the flight or fight response. The beep of a machine close by her, the whistle of wind from somewhere, a dripping tap of water. I couldn't open my eyes. They wouldn't respond.

In the wake of panic, a whisper of voices pricked at the insides of my ear. Not loud enough that it was impossible to decipher what was being said, but just enough that I knew that I wasn't alone in where ever I was.

I tried to move something, anything, to will feeling back into myself. Even a twitch of the fingertip would set me in motion. Nothing. My body refused to listen to me and I didn't know why. I was trapped within myself with no way of shouting for help.

A shadow crossed over the front of my closed eyes. They twitched from the sudden response and flew open. The light blinded her at first, the light harsh and bright. Seconds later it faded to reveal the outline of a figure staring over me. They were dressed in a white lab coat, the words fuzzy on their corner breast. A mask covered the bottom half of their face, but perched on their nose was a pair of wire-trim glasses that magnified dark eyes. These dark eyes were attentively focused on me.

The corner of the man's eyes creased as his cheeks poked out the top of his mask. The man was smiling for some reason.

"Se's awake," the man spoke, the mask muffling his voice.

I tried to open my mouth to speak to him, to ask him where I was and what was happening to me. My mouth refused to respond to my commands and sat firmly shut. Silencing my screams for help.

The man rose up until he stood straight and turned to face whomever else was in the room. I couldn't tilt my head. The only thing I seemed to have control over was the movement of my eyes, and even that was restricted.

"That's a good sign," a woman's croaky voice responded to the man. "The Chancellor will be pleased."

"Sí, once sse is fully rrrecoberrret, we can starrrt de trrransferrr of data."

"How long are you going to keep her under?"

"A few morrre days. Just enough dat we don't comprrromise anythin."

There was a pause of silence.

"Are you going to let him examine her?" the woman asked in a lower voice.

The man glanced down at her. His eyes blank as he thought of a response to the question. "No," he said. "JHe is still useful to me. De longerrr I go without telling de Chancellorrr, de morrre I can get out of jhim." He looked back at the woman. "Afterrr all, it's jhis mistake dat got C7 into dis mess. Let jhim sufferrr."

A heavy coldness erupted in the back of my chest, followed by an intense pressure that squeezed my lungs together. It was that feeling again. I couldn't breathe. The tightness. The gasping for breath. The willing of air and nothing ever sticking.

The machine screamed beside me. Squealing as the pain got worse.

I was choking.

I couldn't breathe.

"García!" the woman snapped. "Level the medication. You know it isn't wise to mess with her vitals."

Immediately, followed by a silent thank you, I could breathe once again. The coldness trickling back into my lungs, the pain disappearing from the centre of my back. The machine settled down and everything returned back to normal.

"I'm only experrrimenting," García informed the woman. "Seeing jhow farrr it woult take. Dis is de only chance we got beforrre de Chancellorrr gibes de orrrderrrs."

The words hung in the air as the medicine flooded my system. There was no time to process what the García-man had meant for the pull of sleep called for me. And for the umpteenth time in so many days, I passed out in an unknown place.

Awake again. This time something was off. I couldn't tell what. The same light shone from the same spot above me. I squinted my eyes. The harsh light emitting from the fixture was enough that it could do some real damage to my eyes. Not as much as the sun, but still enough. This time. This time, however, I could see better. There wasn't a hazy glow at the corners of my eyes, blurring my vision. The world was far sharper, less muggy.

And everything felt fantastic. I was floating on a cloud of air. My body, for once, free of any pain. I could do anything I wanted. I could. But there was that sinking feeling in my stomach that this feeling of euphoria would only be temporary. Nothing this good ever lasts long. Not for me anyway.

Too push aside that growing nagging sensation, I changed my focus. Above the light revealed neatly placed titled squares that made the ceiling. They glinted in the fluorescent light, but not enough that it reflected the room. Nor see myself. Nothing ever reflected myself.

However, I didn't care for almost shiny ceilings. I had woken up to one to many now to know that the ceiling was the thing I should not be interested in. The room itself was that thing. And my last attempt wasn't the best. Maybe, just maybe everything would respond to me. With much concentration, I willed I forced my head to turn to the sound of the beeping. Inch by inch I was able to tilt until the steel contraption came into my view. All kinds of dials, switches and monitors were crammed into the small space beside me. The machines themselves beeping at a steady rhythm. Numbers flickering between the two, deciding on which one to settle on. Wires protruding from a view of the machines and snaking their way into my direction underneath the white sheet that covered me.

One wire I followed inventively. It looked different from the rest. A hollow snake that disappeared underneath as well. A bag sat neatly hooked onto a metal pole filled to the brim with a clear liquid that dripped every so often.

And dripped.

Dripped.

The machine beeped in the corner. In time with the dripping.

Beep. Drip.

Beep. Drip.

Beep. Drip…

The lull of soft voices stirred me from my slumber. Though the voices came through in a haze of the drugged stupor they kept me under. For good reason, that I didn't know. I would soon find out.

It was a man's voice I heard first. A thick deep accent that sunk deep into the nerve endings of my brain. A voice I had heard before, over and over again. Only once in real time.

"Are vu zure zis vill not screw Hanyzing up?"

"I'm positive," a woman replied, different from the one I heard previously. "Getting you to take over the final experiments will help us."

"Und vu haffe made zure zat Karcíein does not know it vas vu zat Hinfluenced zee Chancellor's decizion?" the man questioned the woman, a sense of urgency in his voice. "I do not need Hanymore more zetpacks in mein blan."

"Yes," the woman replied. "Evans told her some story that García was neglecting his position over the other candidates."

"Effen after zee misdake."

"Evans really sold it to her. Showed her the results of the other candidates and how García wasn't filling in the right paperwork."

"Sche pelieffed zat?"

"Of course," the woman sighed. "Evans made it clear that we were the only people for the job to figure out this difficult data coming from the ledger. She is difficult data and you're the only person who knows why."

"Zank vu, Chiyoko," the man said.

"I know what she means to you. The Chancellor doesn't but García will tell her soon. We need to work fast and get her out properly this time. There's still time to save her from it."

"I chust hobe zat zis schtrain has not Hadffanced as guickly as zee normal schtrain has."

I dared to inch my eyes open. Just to see who the two people were that were conversing. A small woman, her jet-black hair tied back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck, a mask covering the bottom half of her face. The man that stood beside her, a mask covering the bottom, a puff of white cloud protruding from his head. He was the one that condemned us in the room. He was the one that sentence us to our fates.

Get out get out get out.

Who were they? What were their intentions? Where was I? I need Newt.

A flutter in my stomach and the rising speed of my heart spiralled my thoughts. The machine beside me beeped furiously as the panic settled in. I was losing control again. I couldn't breathe.

The old man's eyes snapped to mine. A moment of harshness was quickly replaced by softness in his eyes.

"Ah Clarke," he spoke in the heavy accent. "It is okay. Don't banic. Vu are zafe now."

I shook my head furiously. "No," I stuttered, the word coming out hoarse and crackled. The machine beeped wildly next to me. With great effort, I drew myself onto my elbows and tried to back up away from them. The movement sluggish as I forced myself to move.

"Di-Clarke." The old man took a step closer. "Ve are not koing to hurt vu."

That softness was still there in his eyes. There was no malice, no coldness that I had seen the last time he stood before me. The way he moved, slowly and cautiously, his hands raised to show that he posed no threat. If he had wanted to hurt me, he would have done something by now. So would the woman.

But those eyes. Something told me to trust those eyes. A small nagging feeling at the back of my mind. I couldn't even trust my own mind, why should I be following this sensation now. Surely when I first saw him, I would have had the same feeling. What is going on with me?

The old man continued his approach and I edged as far as I could that the bed would allow me. My legs were still useless limbs resting on the bed. There was nothing more I could do if I fell off than crawl away. I was more dignified than that. To crawl to my escape while the two scientists laughed at my pathetic attempt.

That was weakness I wouldn't show until it was no longer one.

"I am zorry, Clarke," the old man softly said. "I vas duty pound to zend vu zere."

"Who are you?" my croaky voice blurted out. I backed away further from him as he approached to where I sat almost half off the bed. "Really?"

The man stops in his path and hovers by the machine that beeped. "I am Dr. Filip Adlai." He pointed to himself. "Und offer zere is mein Hazociate Dr. Chiyoko Takeda. Ve are here to help vu vith your rehapilitazion und to run zome tests vith vu to make zure vu are fit und healthy from your trial."

I blinked. "More tests," I finally said.

Dr. Adlai could see that fear rising in my eyes. They were going to conduct more tests on me. Hadn't they done enough already?

"Nein nein," Dr Adlai shook his hands in front of him in time with his head. "Not zee tests vu are zinking of. Zey are all done. Ve need to make zure zat your prain is sdill funczioning broperly. Vu vere clinically dead for zirdeen minutes."

"Dead? But I'm awake."

"Zee team on zee Perg vere aple to refiffe in time pefore zee lack of oxygen schtarffed your prain. Zo in ein zenze vu vere not dead, put vu vere medically." Dr. Adlai confirmed.

I eyed Dr. Takeda who held a white clipboard in her hand. With long fingers she flicked through the pages, her eyes scanning the details printed on them. Her lips pursued as she lingered on a page longer than an eye glance.

I broke my gaze away from the doctor in the corner and stated directly to Dr. Adlai "I want to see my friends."

"In due courze," he responded. With a hand he rubbed his chin. "Put vu are far too veak to leaffe your ped. Your Hinchuries are far from healed yet."

"Three cracked ribs, one fractured, on top of pneumonia settling in your lungs." Dr. Takeda glanced up from her clipboard. "You will be here for a lot longer so that your body can handle movement again."

"Will I be put to sleep again?"

"Mein dear," Dr. Adlai spoke softly. "Zee vorst of zee healing has bazed. Vu vill not pe but to sleep unless zings take ein turn for zee vorze."

"How long was I asleep for?"

"After ve managed to refiffe vu, vu vere but into ein metically Hinduced coma for tvo und ein half veeks. Offer zis beriod of time, ve vere aple to sdapilize your fidals und zaffe vu from ein fery bermanent death. Zee bneumonia has finally flusched from your zysdem, as vell as zee fluid zat had puilt up in your lungs. Tricky puziness trying to drain zat. Vu schould feel discomfort in your pack und around your chest area ven ve sdart veaning vu off zee morbhine."

I saw creases by his eyes form as the tips of round cheeks pushed his mask up his face. He was smiling at me. I didn't return the sentiment. I wasn't sure about the situation. "So what you're basically saying I'm not allowed to leave?"

"If vu can schtand up right now und do three busch-ubs. Zen I vill let vu leaffe."

I thought about it for a second. But the beeping from the machines and the numbness made me think better. If WICKED had wanted me dead, they would have done so by now. Clearly, I was still here for something, and still in the game.

Dr. Adlai chuckled, his shoulders shaking in time with his laughs. "Alvays zee Hobtimistic." He turned on his heel to face the other doctor and pointed to the door. She nodded her head, placed the pages down on the table and disappeared. She returned moments later with a tray in her hands, filled to the brim with steaming food and water. The doctor crossed the room and gently placed the tray down on the side table next to me. She pulled it across until the food was placed right over my lap.

My stomach growled.

An ugly growl.

I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in the plate and then eat my way through the selection of meats, breads and fluffiness, but I pinned my hands beneath my thighs and stared at the two doctors.

They watched me, too closely to be casual. Dr. Adlai straightened a bit and said, "Zee food is not boizoned."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Look." He grabbed the silver fork that rested beside the plate and dipped the tips into the white fluff at the corner. In it went into his mouth with a lick of his lips. He made a show of swallowing then rested the fork back down on the tray. "Zee, vide avake und aliffe. Your turn."

They still watched me as I took a hold of the silver fork – watched my every move, Dr Takeda's eyes screwing as I sniffed the food on my plate. No metallic stench of poison. Not that I knew what it would smell like anyway. And they wouldn't lie. If WICKED had wanted me dead, they would have done so now.

They'll get you later.

Stabbing a piece of white meat, I took a bite.

It was an effort to keep from grunting. I hadn't had food this good in … well … never. I ate my entire plate in silence, too aware of the two doctors observing every bite.

But as quickly as I had started, the food was gone and the plate was left empty.

"More?" I said through the last mouthfuls.

The old doctor shook his head. "Any more und vu vill pe fiolently zick. Haffe zee vader Hinsdead."

I rested the fork on the side and clutched the glass as best I could without letting them see my hands shake. It was an effort, but once the cool liquid brushed the tip of my lips, I gulped that down too. Taking in every refreshing moment of it, not caring about the dribbles of water down my face.

"Ve vill return once vu haffe rested," Dr. Adlai said. I returned the glass to the tray and he picked up from me, Dr Takeda swinging the table to its original position. "Any broblems bress zee red putton on zee zide of zee vall."

With that they left, the silence returning once more.

I dozed on and off for what could have been hours or days. The two doctors didn't return. Instead they were replaced by others in a light blue jumpsuit, they're faces completely covered bar their eyes. If not for the various sizes, you would have thought they were the same person. Nothing was different about them.

They gave me three meals. Nothing like the first meal I had received. Just boring bread, meats, pile of green stuff and water. Clearly, they were still angry about whatever I had done so long back. Punishment in the form of boring food. That, and possibly my systems couldn't handle more than that.

Every time the blue suits entered, they dumped the food on my table, checked vitals and left. The first few times I tried to talk to them, to get them to say a single word. I gave up very quickly. No point wasting energy when there was little go around. The blue suits made me walk every day, up and down the corridor outside of my room.

It was difficult. I spent the most part of four days clutched to the side of the wall doing my best to shuffle down the edges. The blue suits wouldn't help me. The only input they had was to stop me from coming to close to where the corridor bent with a harsh flick of the wrists in my direction. They didn't want me to see what was beyond my little area. Wasn't like I was going to be going far anyway.

The boredom was another story. There was nothing to keep me entertained then to try and walk round the room when no one was looking. And sleep. Clearly, WICKED had found the greatest form of torture for me. Doing nothing. And. It. Killed. Me.

On what I assumed was day nine, Dr. Adlai burst through the day and excitement in his step.

"Ve are koing to change zings up for vu," he exclaimed as he shook a pad of paper in the air. "Vu are brogrezing fast vith zee valking, zo now ve vant to test your prain."

"I wouldn't call shuffling a progression," I murmured as I righted myself and stood before him.

"Vu vould pe zurbrized, meine kleine Jägerin," he threw back. "Zee vay vu are valking vould require veeks of bhyzical zeraby. Vu schould pe grateful for zee pounce pack."

I didn't reply. There was not point biting the hand that feeds you. Yet.

"Moffing on, I haffe kot zomezing to keep vu Hentertained petveen your valks." Dr. Adlai shoved the pad into my chest with a heavy push. It took all the strength in me not to fall backwards. He leaned over the bed and pulled the table across. He then snatched the pad out of my hands again and flicked it open to an empty page covered in lines. He motioned me to take a seat on the bed.

"Ve are koing to test your memory," he said with a glint in his eyes. He pulled a page from the back of the pad and placed it to the side. He took a pen from his coat pocket and presented it to me. "I vill giffe vu ein hour to zee vu far vu get."

I gripped the pen in confusion and he left as soon as it was out of his grasp.

There were no clocks located in the room, so there was no possible way to indicate how much of the hour had gone by. But I knew I wasted the first five minutes trying to understand what actually had just happened.

I flicked the single page closer to me and inspected what it entailed. Only on one side of a sheet lay multiple questions with various scenarios. The first few seemed relatively easy and I was able to get the answers by the time I had finished reading. As I went further down the page, more thinking was required.

The further down the page I went, the longer I spent on each question. The answers nagging at the tip of my mind, but refusing to reveal itself.

"Oh, bother," I said in frustration. "Why aren't the answers so simple."

"Stuck?" Lost in thought, I hadn't heard the doctor enter my room to greet me again. What an image he must have seen? Me, hunched over the table, aggressively chewing at the end of his pen trying for the life of me to figure out the answer.

"No," I retorted. "Just trying to remember something that isn't there."

The doctor didn't reply. He closed the notepad and left the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

This routine went on for days. More questions being added until I had to skim through them to keep on top of the pages. I was not sure of the point of the exercise. I didn't know what they were testing me on, but it kept my mind busy. Away from worrying about my friends.

There wasn't much conversation between myself and the two doctors. They were an odd pair. Almost worked in sync when the other wasn't there. Like I was going through de-ja-vu whenever one of them appeared the second time. When they were together, the mirrored dance worked together as they interwove with themselves as they worked on the data from the monitors. They supported one another.

Until when the lights were dim, I dozed on the bed and the door was ajar. I overheard their conversation. Something that I knew I shouldn't have.

"What secrets are you keeping from me, Filip?" I heard Dr. Takeda's voice. "This data you have shown me does not match the ones that we have collected from the end of the Trials."

"I can azure vu zat Hefferyzing zat vu haffe on zat bad came schtraight from zee machine. Zee Chancellor vanded fariaples to sdimulate zee killsone und schtudy zee Hemozions, reaczions und zought batderns. I haffe done Hexactly vat has peen asked of me," Dr. Adlai replied. His figure darkened the door way, fizzling out the bright light that streamed into the room. "Und zat data, in your hand Chiyoko, is broof of zat. I vould neffer tamber vith files."

There was a pause.

"The data they want is the data for a cure, not some cover up from a mistake long ago. They'll know these are forged." Dr. Takeda's voice lowered to a hiss and I strained to catch her words. "Do you not understand the situation you … we are in Filip? If they find out what you are hiding, what you bought to this land, do you think they'll let her live? I know it's inside of her and I think your covering how advance it actually is."

Another pause.

"Filip, do you even think that she is even there anymore?"

"Zee data I haffe vu is zee data on zee file," Dr. Adlai cut in at the end of Dr. Takeda finishing speaking. His voice sharp and dangerous, a new underlying threat lacing with his every words. "If vu are Himblying zat I tambered vith zee data, zen vu petder pe careful vith your next vords."

"You cannot follow through with your plan. She is a danger to everyone. You release out there and who knows what will happen with the virus. God save us Filip! You know what happened with the last people who carried the same strain as her. Why would you put yourself through that again? This needs to stop."

"Do not threaden her like zat," came the dangerously low voice from Dr. Adlai. "Sche is not Hinfecdious. I made zure of zat ven ve Harriffed in America. It is contained."

"Why would you do this? Go through all the trouble knowing the heartbreak?" Dr Takeda asked him.

"Sche is all I haffe left. I vill not loze her."

"That is not the point. Why would allow for something like this to continue? I looked up to you. The way you treated everyone fairly, humanely." There was a pause. "Now all I see is someone selfishly trying to keep someone alive for their own gain. I read the reports about the end of the Scorch Trials. They all saw what she did. Do you really want to be the one liable for the destruction?" "Filip, have you seen her eyes. You tell me that she is really control in there and not the strain."

There was another pause.

"You remember what happened in the Maze with the two other girls, C1 and C8? You remember how hard we had to work to make sure the Diana's lapse was kept under control. Especially the memories. It was a stupid idea to let her continue on after the attack. And the ending of the Trials, she is yet to show one ounce of remorse for what happened. Do you still think Diana is fully aware of anything anymore? Her emotions? Her very actions?"

"Diana is unter mein care," Dr. Adlai gruffly replied. "I am resbonzible for her und I vill do vat is pest for her. Und zat is getting her out of zis facility."

"What of the boy that she is so fond of?" Dr. Takeda cut in. "How are you going to stop her when she demands to see him?"

"I vill vibe avay zee memory of him und zee ozers. Sche vill not rememper vo zey vere py zee time sche is hidden avay."

"You cannot do that!" Dr. Takeda squealed as quietly as she could. "You cannot control her in that way. Her mind cannot take another swipe. You will end up killing her."

"Zen I vill find Hanozer vay," Dr. Adlai dismissed. "Eizer vay zee blan is schtill on. Do not test me, Chiyoko. I vill not hezidate to zilence vu."

"Do not think of threatening me Filip," Dr. Takeda sternly retorted. "Just remember whose contact you are using to help you. You are not the only person that has a foot in this game."

The door squeaked as it was pushed open. I immediately squeezed my eyes shut so that they didn't see that I had been awake the whole time they were outside the room. I counted to one hundred in my head, hoping that by the time I had finished they would have left. I peeked them open a crack when I had gotten to one hundred and drew a sigh of relief when I saw that the door was firmly shut.

"CHust voken up."

I jumped out of my skin.

In the other corner of the room, opposite the door, stood Dr. Adlai. One shoulder was leant up against the wall, his eyes firmly fixed on me. In between his fingers, he fiddled with a small grey box.

"Yeah, a good long nap," I answered him trying to sound as if I had only just woken up seconds ago and not had spent the last few minutes listening on his argument with Dr. Takeda.

"Kood." He nodded his head. "As bromized, vu haffe peen cleared to reunite vith your friend. Here." From the top of the table in the far corner, he produced a pile of clothes for me. A Plain t-shirt, a pair of trousers and with clean underwear. A much-needed change from the hospital clothes I had been wearing for the past how many days I was here.

I was glad the doctor did not intrude on me whilst I was changing in the small bathroom. It took me a lot longer than usual to undress myself and then redress myself. The movement almost in slow motion. It took all my strength to pull the shirt over my head and yank the leggings up my legs. So much so that my shoulders started to ache from the motion.

After I had struggled, I exited the bathroom where I was gifted with a fresh pair of fuzzy socks and a plain dark jumper to accompany the look. To go with my new outfit, Dr. Adali handed me a new pair of running shoes with laces. Luckily, I had had more than enough practice that tying them up wasn't the issue. Bending down to put them on was.

"Ready mein kleiner Jäger?" he asked as soon as I straightened myself up right.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Let us ko und reunite vu vith your friends."