by Ryan Decaria
Useful indeed.
She kept the satchel hidden behind her back as she stood. She smiled at Blake, who frowned at her, an eyebrow raised.
“What are you doing?”
“I…” Anika yelped as the damn little robot popped up beside her.
“Got it,” Linh said. “What now? How’s this going to help?”
Anika pulled over the rolling stool and sat, leaning against the bed. “Have it take some blood from me and give it to Blake.”
“What?” Blake said. “No. Not going to happen.”
“Hey.” Anika took his hand. “If you try to stop me, I’ll have Linh put you back to sleep and do it, anyway. We clear?”
He nodded.
“Um, I think I understand how this works.” Linh took a deep breath. “Anika, they locked the building down. Sent everyone home. No one is allowed anywhere near the lab.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Anika cringed as the robot scanned for a vein. It jammed the needle into her arm and drew her blood. She wasn’t going to need it anymore, and her father didn’t deserve to keep it all for himself.
Her stomach warbled. Anika stopped watching her blood fill the vial. Something else to look at. She stared into Blake’s face. Smiled. His forehead was creased, his eyes wide, lips pursed. He was worried about her, and Anika’s heart would have fluttered any other day.
As the robot pulled the needle out, it lasered her arm, cauterizing the tiny hole. “Ouch.”
“Sorry,” Linh said. “I saw that functionality in the code, and though our timing warranted it.”
“Thanks.” Anika inspected the tiny scab. “It did.”
“Anika.” Linh’s voice wavered. “Why does it have that functionality?”
Great. Emotion was the last thing she needed out of Linh right now. Still, it made sense as an automated tool to cauterize needlepoint holes. No bleeding. No chance for infection. But something about the wound bothered her.
“No idea.” Anika stood and set the satchel on the counter, out of Blake’s view, unzipping it quietly. “Give the blood to Blake.”
“Anika,” Linh said, “are you sure your blood is compatible?”
“Oh, I’m O Neg,” Anika said. “My dad made sure of that.”
The robot switched out needles, the old one disappearing into the machine. It scanned Blake’s arm and poked.
Blake balled up his fists. “I don’t understand.”
“I have the good blood.” Anika squeezed his shoulder. “My father’s been cultivating it inside me for over sixteen years.”
Her blood flowed into his arm.
“For what?”
Blake convulsed. His monitors beeped angrily. Anika reached over and flicked them off. She didn’t need any visitors. Blake gradually stopped shaking and slept, the corner of his lips curled up slightly.
“Anika?” Linh’s voice was solid.
“Keep it flowing.” Anika held Blake’s hand until the robot pulled the needle from his arm. Blake breathed easy and slept peacefully. Good. He wasn’t going to be so agreeable about the next part. “Okay, Linh. I need you to do exactly as I say.”
“We’re trying to figure out a way to get you out of there.”
“No!” Linh wasn’t listening.
“What? Anika, we’re going to save you.”
“No, Linh. It’s too late for that now. I need you to patch me through to Misty. Now.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
Three Mistys each said hello through the machine. Linh was magic indeed.
“This is Anika.” She swallowed. “He knows. You have to get out of town, now.”
“What are you talking about?” a Misty said. Her Misty—the one who’d stayed behind.
“Macy woke up. My dad figured everything out. Once he knew I was in the building that night, he pieced together how we got in, that there are more of you. Go get your dad and run for it. Now!”
After a few seconds, the girls spoke in unison. “We’re not leaving you behind.”
“He knows about Sasha, too. Tell her to get Billie and run. He’s coming for them.”
“Anika, hold on. We have a plan.”
“It won’t work.” Anika stood a little taller. “This is the plan. You all scramble.” Before they could object, Anika added, “Linh, cut them off.”
The line went dead, except for Linh, who was breathing rapidly.
“Linh,” Anika calmed her voice. “Linh, I need this robot to give me some medicine. I’m running out of time, and this is the only way I have to fight back.”
Anika took Blake’s satchel, pulled out the syringes, and lined them up on the bed. Linh was smart. She’d get the connection. She’d put it all together.
“They are in syringes,” Anika said. “How should I get them into the robot?”
Linh’s voice was stone cold. “I can’t help you.”
“Linh,” Anika’s voice rose. “Linh, if you don’t help me, I’m going inject myself with this stuff one syringe at a time, and I’m guessing it won’t be pleasant for either of us. So, make it happen the easy way.”
“I hate you.”
Anika shut her eyes. Even though she didn’t mean it, her words stung.
A container opened under the robot’s arm. As Anika added the liquid from the syringes, the robot changed needles again.
Anika took a shuddering breath, wiping her eyes. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
Blake slept peacefully. If she was right, her blood would be enough to get him back on his feet. Maybe it would give him a fighting chance to live a normal life. He breathed easily, and his skin seemed to smooth out. It wasn’t rippling at least.
She emptied the last syringe into the container and pushed on it. The robot pulled the container back into its arm and warbled. Anika sat back into the chair and held her arm out.
Nothing happened. The robot didn’t move.
“Linh.”
“Anika, I can’t.”
“Linh. Do it.”
“We have a few ideas.”
“No, Linh. It’s too late. Don’t get emotional on me now. You’re my rock, babe. We can end this madness tonight. Please, help me.”
Billie’s voice came over the channel. “Anika?”
No. No. No. Not Billie. “Do it now, Linh.” Anika was close to pulling out the “f” word. And it wasn’t going to be “flunking.”
“Anika, please.” Billie said. “You keep saving us. Please, let us save you.”
Anika opened her eyes. Someone could enter the room at any moment. Her chance would slip away completely, and she’d die for nothing.
“I’m sorry, Billie.”
“Noooo!” Billie screamed. “Linh, don’t.”
The robot scanned her arm and jabbed the needle into her arm, injecting orange liquid into her veins. Her arm burned as the fluid raced through her body. She wiped tears from her eyes as Billie’s voice was cut off.
“I liked you.” Linh said, tears evident in her voice. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“I liked you, too.” Anika’s head spun. “One more thing. When Blake wakes up, will you help him escape? Lead him to an exit and unlock the door for him. Send Hawking to pick him up. Okay?”
“I will.”
“Linh, don’t let them tell anyone about this. It’s got to stay secret.”
“Who would they tell?”
“Goodbye, Linh.”
“Goodbye, Anika.”
The line faded to a static, then cut out. The robot finished the injection and withdrew, lasering the spot on her arm before any goop or blood could escape. As Anika stared at the spot, she remembered having seen that mark before. A few times. Once on the bottom of her foot. Once on her shoulder. She’d felt bumps she couldn’t see. She finally put the pieces together.
Always in the morning. Her room had one of those damn robots. They’d been stealing her blood for weeks. Flunking monsters!
Anika stood and nearly toppled over. The dr
ugs seeped into her, overwhelming her senses. The room spun. Anika barely managed to crawl back into bed. She felt warmth seep into her whole body. She hugged Blake tight.
He stirred. “Anika?”
“Yes, Blake.”
His eyes fluttered open, and he focused on her face. His voice was low. “Am I going to die?”
Anika found and squeezed his hand. “No. You’re going to be fine.”
He relaxed, leaning his head on hers.
“After they come for me, you need to sneak out of here. Linh will guide you to the exit. The building is almost empty. When you get to the doors, Linh will let you out. Hawking will pick you up. You have to go quickly. Understand?”
“What about you? Why can’t you come with me?”
She slipped off the bed. She felt strong, but shaky. Still nauseated. “It’s too late for me.”
Blake sat up and his hand wrapped around his satchel. Dang, she should have hidden that. He peered inside at the empty syringes. “What did you do?”
She took a quick breath. This goodbye was harder than she’d thought. “It was the only way.”
“No Anika. We could have fought…”
She put her hand on his leg. “It’s too late now. It’s done.”
He scrunched up his face, trying not to cry. “I feel like I just met you. It’s not fair.”
“It’s not like we’d have had a chance, you and me.” She’d have kissed him if she didn’t think she might throw up at any moment. The drugs were taking hold. Whatever they were going to do, it would happen soon. They’d made Sena stronger. Perhaps she could overpower Boulsour and her father’s guards.
“I had a dream, once,” he said, “where we’d made it out of this town. We went to a small college in Utah. I stayed home with all our kids because you made way more money than I did.”
“Utah?” She held onto the side of the bed, keeping her knees from buckling underneath her. She wasn’t fighting anyone yet.
He shrugged. “It was a dream.”
Someone knocked at the door. Blake pulled the satchel under the covers.
Boulsour forced the door open, causing the chair to buckle in two, and stalked inside.
“It’s time.” Her father was too cowardly to follow, waiting out in the hallway next to Margery. He held his hands behind his back, his expression smug, like everything Anika had done justified his actions. Well, he was in for one more surprise.
Anika leaned over the bed and planted a kiss on Blake’s lips. One for the ages. Two lost souls in a mad world, parting too soon. Her father coughed. Blake grinned mid-kiss. She let him go and turned toward the door. “Miss your face,” she said one last time.
“Let her go,” Blake yelled. “She’s a better person than you’ll ever be.”
Her father nodded. “No arguing that, my boy.”
“And smarter.” Blake tried to get up, which looked like it had been a bad idea as he fell back on the pillow.
Anika glided through the doorway, glaring up at Boulsour. He stared blankly over her head and followed, closing the door behind them.
“He’s right you know,” Anika said. “You should be giving up your life to save mine.”
“And why would I do a thing like that?” Her father motioned for Anika to head out of the infirmary. She glared at him. Finally, he turned and led the way. “Come.”
Margery examined her a moment before following.
Anika took a step and nearly toppled over. She braced herself on the wall and stayed upright. Boulsour didn’t flinch. Maybe he didn’t care, and it was better that way. Margery would be hard to fool, though. She had to keep herself together. “Because the world would be better for it.”
He kept walking.
“You had your chance,” she said. “It’s my turn.”
He slowed. Drat. Dial it back, Anika. Better if he doesn’t watch her try to walk.
“Perhaps you’re right.” He chuckled before resuming his normal gait. “Maybe, you’ll surprise me yet.”
Ha! The hallway spun. Her toes felt like they were on fire. Boulsour reached out to steady her. Damn straight!
Sasha lay naked in the freezing casket next to the corpses, which should have been horrifying, but Sasha didn’t mind. The cold was tolerable. She didn’t need to breathe, so she didn’t smell anything. Was there a smell? She wasn’t willing to risk it. She’d barely gotten used to the way her own body smelled before wearing Anika’s perfume to mask it.
Why did Anika have to get lost? She was almost free, but the stupid girl had to go back one last time. If her friends had told her about the secret doors in Bolton’s room, Anika would be far away from the lab by now. Dravovitch had to have contingency plans, but with Anika’s mom’s help, they were confident in being slippery.
Didn’t matter anymore.
Sasha had one chance to save Anika. Infiltrate. Get to the machine. Kill their creator. Easy peasy.
She grinned. That’s what all monsters did, right? Kill the one who gave them life. Because being monstrous wasn’t all it was cracked up to be?
Muffled voices preceded the casket rising into the air. It swung around and lurched forward. She could hear the whirring of the forklift as it set the casket in the back of a truck or something with a little give, like suspension. Metal doors closed. The truck moved.
What if she couldn’t save Anika? What would she do then?
Wait. When did Anika become her spirit animal?
She should simply tear the machine apart and destroy the laboratory or die trying. Dravovitch’s words from their conversation outside Hawking’s house echoed around in her head. What had he meant by “needed work done?”
Next to her, the dead girl’s fingers kept flapping around, brushing up against Sasha’s naked hip at each turn and bump in the road. Death didn’t bother Sasha anymore. Much.
Well, lying with the dead bothered her a whole lot. She wanted to scream, but that would require taking a breath, and that wasn’t going to happen. Not in the casket. Ugh.
Think about something else.
Books. She’d taken up reading in the downtime, when her friends were sleeping. She was digging through a stack of comics her father had given her. He’d called them “study material.” Survival in various apocalypses, including a stack of zombie comics her father had given her on her last birthday. She had the strangest feeling he was leaving her a message which she couldn’t figure out.
The truck pulled to a stop, and she heard the doors open. Someone large and remarkably strong picked the box out of the truck and hoisted it in the air. The dead girl next to her was getting a little handsy, but she resisted the urge to move the hand away. The sway and dip of the gait of their carrier made her think of two people, Boulsour or Gregory. Maybe Dravovitch had a few more lumbering titans hanging around to lift stuff.
After a few minutes, the carrier set the box down hard and her head, as well as both roommates’ heads, bounced with dull thunks. Sasha closed her eyes and held completely still.
The lid opened, and someone inspected the tags on their toes. Sasha was completely naked, and she realized she didn’t care anymore if anyone saw her. She felt nothing but a pressing need to save Anika’s miserable life. Maybe Sasha wasn’t human anymore, which made her ache even more for her friends.
Hawking deserved to be with a human.
Hey, that was an emotion. Maybe a part of her was still human.
The slight brushing of hands against her feet tickled, but Sasha felt no instinct to move. Playing dead was easy when you were almost there already.
The lid closed again, and then nothing. She waited a few minutes. No one came for them. Sasha pushed against the lid, but the casket wouldn’t open, which meant they had latched it. Were they that cautious of a few corpses? If she were in a comic, she and her roommates would be spilling out, searching for brains.
“You’ve got to stop reading those,” Sasha said to herself.
Okay. Timing was critical. If she got caught, she wasn’
t going to do any saving. Also, she didn’t want to have to hurt more people than necessary. But she’d hurt as many as got in her way.
One purpose. Nothing else mattered.
Sasha scooted closer to the bottom and pushed on the lid until the latches gave out and the lid popped open. Sasha sprang out, ready to hit someone, but she was alone in a freezer with dozens of black specimen bags. Multicolored flasks, jars, tubs, and cans lined the shelves against the walls. Stupid mad scientists.
She grabbed her tank top and Hawking’s plaid boxers and pulled them on. Sasha closed the lid, but the latches were busted. Good enough. She patted the top. “Good luck, ladies.”
Sasha listened at the door; heard nothing. Peeking out, she saw a darkened laboratory room. Empty. She had no way of knowing where in the lab they’d stashed her. As she traipsed across the room, the overhead lights shut off. She peeked out into the hallway.
Where were all the people she was going to have to punch? Dravovitch must have sent everyone home.
Of the three ways into Dravovitch’s secret laboratory, the hallway with the tunnel would be the easiest if she could avoid detection. Still, that might trigger alarms. She had no chance using the elevator, so her best bet was going down the center of the machine, the way they had climbed out the first time.
But that time she had drained the machine of all of its stored energy. This time, the machine was at full force, and she had no idea what the electricity would do to her.
Sasha ran, searching for any landmark she recognized. This wasn’t a part of the lab she’d been in before. When she hit a T in the hall, she went right, racing to a set of double doors with small windows. Someone shouted on the other side, out of sight.
She was about head back when Gregory backed into view. Sasha put her back to the door and listened.
“Get out of my way,” a woman shouted.
“Look,” a man said, “Bossman said we should take you back to the infirmary.”
