The Yellow Pill

by Chaves, Michelle

  Slick sport cars slid in and out of view, their roars too loud. There wasn’t one scratch on the gleaming hull’s, not one scrap of garbage on the ground, not one line drawn anywhere, not one single person begging on the streets.

  It was so unread and yet so horrifying real Frey wasn’t sure she could handle the information.

  It’s… it’s the opposite of Slum City…

  “Excuse me, miss,” a voice said.

  The heavy hand on her shoulder made her react without thinking. Grabbing the hand she twisted forward, letting her opposite foot go under her for balance as she threw the man to the ground. Frey registered the black clothes and mask before she kicked out at the second guard. The man staggered backwards, his hand going to his ear.

  She didn’t stay to hear what he said. If people hadn’t noticed her before, they certainly did so now, throwing themselves out of her way as she came charging past. Her shawl was lost somewhere and her dirty hair was flying out behind her like thick ropes.

  Gunfire erupted, the only familiar sound to her since yesterday. Someone screamed behind her.

  There was full panic among the crowd, the sort of panic that told Frey these people weren’t used to being fired at. There was shoving and yelling, cars crashing into other cars as they tried to avoid the scattering masses.

  Frey leaped over one of the cars, a reflective glass screen warning her that a black-clad was aiming his gun at her. Frey threw herself to the side, but still felt the pain dig into her midsection.

  She landed in the crowd with a muffed scream. For a second all she could see was a forest of feet running this way and that. But she rose, her body refusing to accept defeat. Black fog was creeping up across the edges, her head reeling as if the ground was suddenly moving. Her knees buckle at a sidewalk, blood pressing out from between her fingers.

  The sounds seemed muted and dull, the ground rocking as if wanting to tip her over. The glitter and gleam was eye watering and too bright. Frey knew it was only a matter of time before they’d be upon her…

  The screeching of a black truck came sliding into the street, twisting so the rear pointed at her. At first she thought it wouldn’t stop in time and a small, distant part of her was glad it was going to be quick. But before it came to a complete halt, the back doors swung open and two men jumped out while another threw something into the crowd. Smoke bombs went off and if she had thought people had panicked before, it was nothing to the intense hysterics as they were robed of their sight.

  Frey screamed as she was lifted into the trunk. The truck was speeding away even before the doors had closed.

  Frey tried to pull away, but her hands were slick with blood and she was loosing strength fast. Someone pulled her stolen trench coat open, ripping her dirty singlet with ease.

  “Give me the aid kit!” The voice was male and sounded calm through all the strange chaos that seemed to shout in her head. Something pressed against the side of her stomach and she screamed again, arms pinned to the ground.

  Frey felt her whole body go cold. I think I’m dying…

  Darkness crept into her vision, not the fog of unconsciousness like before, but total and utter blackness.

  The last month replayed in her mind like she was watching a fast forward version of it, not even witnessing it through her own eyes.

  She opened them to see Jin standing over her, looking concentrated and focusing on her abdomen. She wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but darkness slowed her before she had the time.

  Frey opened her eyes. She had just had a dream, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what it had been… she was staring up at a roof that she didn’t recognize.

  It was white.

  Frey frowned and turned her head. The walls were made out of glass, the room huge. There was a drip attached to her arm and she was staring at it, trying to figure out why it was connected to her.

  It all came back at the same time. She reached over and tore the drip out of her arm, swinging her feet over the edge and sitting up. She almost fainted and looked down to see fresh blood well up beneath the startlingly white t-shirt. It was so white it hurt her eyes. Frey put a hand to the side of the wall, a groan escaping her.

  “What the- Lay down! You can’t be-“

  Frey grabbed the hand as it touched her shoulder. She twisted it, knowing there was no way could throw him in her condition. He yelped in pain and surprise and Frey could hear others approaching. The guy was down on his knee to prevent his fingers from breaking and yelled at the advancing footsteps to help him.

  Frey dropped his hand and let a right hook fly towards the approaching woman. The blood loss and pain made her clumsy and she missed. Someone grabbed her around the middle, pinning her arms to her sides, surprisingly gentle.

  Frey bit back the cry as her wound opened further. Then she stopped fighting. She couldn’t win. Not like this. Right now she was making the situation worse by weakening herself. Going slack with exhaustion, she let the others close in. A third voice rang over the rest.

  “What are you doing?”

  “She attacked me!”

  “I sure hope you didn’t just grab her without warning,” a female voice said.

  The one who Frey had attacked went quiet.

  “All of you. Back to work. It’s still chaotic out there,” the man said, snapping his fingers a few times quickly to get them moving. The one holding Frey carefully released one arm to circle it under her legs, lifting her and carrying her back to the bed as if she weighed nothing at all. Sweat was running down Frey’s face and along her spine. She felt too hot and weaker than ever.

  “She’s really warm,” the one that had carried her said with concern.

  I know that voice…

  Frey struggled against the darkness. She found herself looking up into Jin’s familiar face. She stared wide-eyed at him for a few seconds, just taking in his familiar features, letting them wash away the pain. The pain was intense, but she threw her arms around him anyway, sobbing against his shoulder.

  “Jin! Oh my god, Jin, how did you get here?!”

  Frey released Jin to look at him. He hadn’t been hugging her back and looked very confused and almost sad. “Jin?” Frey asked, letting the man with Jin’s face, go. He shook his head once.

  “My names Jonas.” He glanced up at the man somewhere behind Frey. “But my friends call me Jon.”

  Frey was leaning away from him now. her lungs clenched, keeping her from uttering a word.

  “Jon. Could you leave us? I think this is all a bit too much for her at the moment.”

  The man named Jonas rose.

  It was the clothes that made her mind catch up to the fact that this was not her childhood friend, even if they shared the same face. It wasn’t just the similar features… This person could have been Jin’s twin.

  As Jonas walked out, the other man came into view. He sat down at the foot of the bed. The man looked to be around forty, a few strands of gray hair in a sea of black. He was clean-shaven and had blue eyes. She didn’t trust him, but neither did she sense he meant her any harm. Not right now anyway…

  Frey turned her gaze towards his. Her hair had come undone, the dark brown locks hanging in strips down her face. Never in her life had she felt as filthy, as she did then. She saw the contrast between herself and everything around her like nothing before. It was all so clean, so perfect…

  The handsome man crossed his legs and folded his hands over them. He sat silent for a while, just looked at her. Frey didn’t say anything. She didn’t trust her voice at the moment.

  “I’m Li. This is my home,” he said. “You must have a thousand questions, but-” He nodded at one of the glass doors. “We couldn’t clean more than the wounded area while you were unconscious, so I want you to take a shower, if you feel up for it?”

  Frey could smell the blood and vomit on her. Dirt caked her like a second skin and her exposed parts were leaving brown and black stains on whatever she touched. If this man thou
ght she smelled bad, he gave no sign of it.

  She nodded but said nothing.

  “Good,” Li said, giving her a small smile. “I will call Tina back. She can help you.” He then turned his head towards the side. “Ask Tina to come here, please.”

  “At once, Doctor,” a voice answered, making Frey jump and then cringe from the flash of pain.

  “I will answer your questions once you have showered and gotten something to eat,” he said, leaning forward. “We are not your enemies. You are safe if you stay here, but I cannot guarantee your safety if you decide to leave my premises. I won’t try to stop you and neither will the others, but those people out there are looking for you.”

  Frey knew one thing for sure. If these people had wanted her dead she’d be dead already. So many questions whirled inside her that she had no idea of where to begin.

  Li interrupted her thoughts as if he could hear the chaos in there. “As I said, I will try to answer what I can, but as a doctor I firstly want my patient to heal. I will go and get you some food,” he said as he stood up. “And Frey, again, we are not your enemies. We want to help you. But for us to be able to do that, we need your help as well.”

  “Where’re my clothes?”

  Her question took him by surprise. “Well, I sent them to get washed…”

  “I don’t want that. I’ll wash them myself,” she said.

  “Well, yes of course.” He turned and spoke to the mechanical voice ordering it to bring her clothes back.

  As the glass doors closed behind him, Frey wondered how the hell he had known her name.

  The very thought of trying to get up again on her own was painful. The man Li had been clear. It was up to her if she wanted to leave, but if she did, she was on her own… and where the hell would she go if she did? Where could she hide? They had driven in and pulled her out of deaths clutches back there and now they had patched her up and then told her she was free to go if she chose to.

  I’m in no shape to be going anywhere right now.

  The glass doors opened and a woman came in. It was the same Frey had tried to punch just a while ago. If she held a grudge, she certainly didn’t show it.

  She was a large woman. Strong, if her muscles were anything to go by.

  Frey was a little overwhelmed at first as the shorthaired woman swept in. Her tight black leather top did little to hide her bust. She had a white blouse underneath with big airy sleeves that were tightened at the elbows. Her hair was black as night.

  The woman helped Frey into the bathroom. It was, surrounded by glass walls with a digital image of water all along the walls. When you walked close, the water rippled.

  In the middle of the room was a very large square of steaming water, broad steps leading into it.

  Tina helped Frey get out of her bloody clothes and bandage, then carefully placed two sticky plastic pieces over the wound, telling her it would keep the water and soap out.

  Frey tried not to think about how far she and Jin had had to walk to drag water back to the orphanage together with Father Patrick. Sometimes the drain was empty and they had to go even further. The worst times had been when they had to sneak into gang territory to steal water from them.

  Someone had changed the bedding while she was gone, and there was a tray of food waiting for her. Frey sank into the crispy sheets and was asleep before even having tasted it.

  She woke again to find the room dark. The plate was still there. Frey wolfed the food down, glad that no one was there to see her.

  Something caught her eye and she looked down to see a pile of very dirty, but neatly folded, clothes. She reached out for her bandana, pulled the hidden pocket open and let the small, sleek object fall into her palm.

  She was convinced it had come from this side… She washed her bandana with steaming water, rinsing it five times before the water came away all clean. The color looked totally different when all the grime was gone, and she stood there holding it for a while, amazed at how red it looked.

  She went back to bed, with the thing safely back in the hidden pocket.

  Chapter 7

  As soon as she sat up the lights went on and the glass wall to her right faded into an image of an open hill covered in green grass. Frey stared at it for a while before pulling the bedcover off, putting her bare feet on the warm floor. As she got closer, the grass began to stir. She hovered her hand tryingly over it and it stirred as if she controlled some magical breeze. It wasn’t real, but it was still an improvement from the picture book Father Patrick had cherished back at the orphanage.

  “It must all seem strange to you,” she heard Li say. Tina was next to him.

  Frey looked back at the bizarre wall. “Very,” she agreed.

  Tina put down a pile of clothing while Li put a new tray of food next to her bed. Li nodded to Tina and she gave Frey a wink before leaving the room.

  “Is there… is there anywhere else we can sit? Just feel like getting out of bed for a while.”

  Li smiled and picked up the tray of food, leading the way to the living room just on the other side of the wall. The big black screen covering one entire wall was apparently a TV. Shelved were built into the other walls in shapes of giant letters, with books neatly tucked into their corners.

  In the middle was a large oval shape extended from the roof, with a bright fire flickering inside it. Around the strange fireplace there were tear shaped chairs hanging from the roof on white strings, looking far too fragile to hold anything at all.

  Li led them to a white sofa, shaped like a triangle with smaller geometric cubes scattered around it. He put the tray on a glass surface, this one also suspended from the roof like the tear shaped chairs.

  Frey sat down slowly, biting down against the pain. She dared not lean back, lest her wound reopen and bloody the crystal white sofa.

  “How long have I been… here?” she asked.

  Li looked surprised by her question and crossed his legs, putting one arm over the backrest of the sofa. “Why, only since yesterday morning. You were unconscious when Jon carried you into surgery but you woke up a couple of hours after that. Do you remember the rest?” He asked, looking her in the eyes.

  She had the feeling he was trying to judge if she was suffering from the head damage. “I remember.”

  “Well, I can’t say we’re not surprised to see you on your feet so fast. I used some fast healing on you, but still. You were lucky the shot didn’t hit anything vital, or you would not have been sitting here now.”

  “We? Who’re “we”? And why’d you save me?” She wanted to let the questions flow but stopped herself, biting down on her tongue to do so.

  “We are a group of, well, I guess you could call us a sort of resistance.” He gestured towards her. “In a way we are as hunted as well. The government have known about us for quite some time now, they just underestimated how fast we could grow and the damage we are capable of delivering.”

  Frey sat silent for a while. “So, who are you fighting?”

  “The three government houses.”

  Frey knew she probably looked as confused as she felt. Li seemed to see it clearly enough.

  “They are the rulers.”

  “Three houses?”

  “Well, technically it is just one building, but it’s called three houses because of the time when Alya was divided in-“

  “Alya?” Frey asked, feeling utterly lost.

  “Ah… well, I’m not doing a very good job of explaining this…” he paused for a while to just look at her, seeming to decide how much he was going to tell her.

  Before he had the time to continue, Frey asked another question, this one also taking him by surprise. “How much do you know about me? About where I come from?”

  Li rubbed his chin, looking up at the roof. “Well, not a lot at all I’m afraid. We get very little information from our inside Intel in Dome.”

  Dome… Well, that’s a word I do recognize… But Frey was convinced it meant something else to
these people.

  “He works in the outer ring with the other scientists, about two rings from the Hole,” Li continued.

  “…Hole?”

  “That is what we call where you are from.”

  “You have anyone working for you from… Hole?” She asked, thinking hard who that might’ve been.

  To her surprise Li laughed out loud. “Someone from Hole? God, no! I am the one taking care of you because I’m calm in nature and a doctor firstly. I have had to practically chain the others to the basement to stop them from attacking you with questions.” Li stroke his shaved chin again and the humor slipped from his voice. “No, Frey. You are the only one who has come out of Dome alive. We have seen pictures, some recordings and bodies, but no. Never have anyone managed to escape whenever taken out of Hole. Never until now…” Li crossed his hands over his legs. “You have to understand I will not be able to tell you everything right now. Firstly because your mind needs time to digest the information and secondly because I’m not the right person to ask when it comes to some questions.”

  “But… how… how did you know I had escaped?”

  “And that is one of those. But I will do my best to explain none the less.” He pulled in a small breath. “The contact in Dome told us of a double picking. He was trying to get to one of the recordings of the interrogation. Our Intel hacked into Dome’s recording system. They seemed to have some trouble locating the second picking.” He nodded at her. “That was you. It was the first time they could not pinpoint someone and it caused a lot of confusion among Dome central.” He swept a stray strand of dark hair from his eyes.

  “Who would ever have thought that you would escape?” He was indeed very calm. “Our Intel then heard them alerting security you were out and immediately called us. From what I heard from Jon, it was the sound of the gunfire that made them find you, so in a way, it saved your life.” Li stroke his chin again. “Again, this is all something the youngsters could tell you more about than me. And if you do not have anything you feel you have to ask now-” he said as he stood up. “I advice you to eat your food and then get some rest. I am a doctor after all and know a weary person when I see one.” Frey was tired, but still had so many things to ask… “If you feel up for it in the morning, I will take you to the basement where we have our headquarters. Then you can ask all the questions you want.”