The Yellow Pill

by Chaves, Michelle

  The press was incredible. If he were to fall, he would be crushed.

  One of the trucks crashed into a gate, ripping it off its hinges, the rest of the vehicles following. They were met with gunfire and explosions, forcing him to take cover. His mind was able to keep him alive thanks to reflexes that cut through the berserk frenzy.

  He looked up to see people poring out of the building. He rolled to his feet and growled as he ran straight towards the broken doorway.

  Frey rammed her fist into the side of the guards face as Tina used the back of her gun on the second. They were both out of bullets.

  How big is this bloody place?!

  The black clad soldiers seemed few compared to what she had been expecting. Everything seemed strangely deserted, and Frey was beginning to expect the worst…

  As Tina broke down the door to the government’s chambers, they understood why….

  Everywhere there were signs of a hasty departure. There were clothes scattered on the floor, drawers pulled out and emptied and equipment gone.

  In the room was a big black screen, and blinking on it was a horizontal red line. That was all, but Tina slumped against the wall.

  “They’re gone…” She said silently before snapping her arm forward, throwing the gun at the glass screen, screaming in anger. “Cowards!” Tina roared at the empty room, grabbing things and hurling them at the screen.

  Frey could hear yelling, and knew this place was about to be torn to pieces very soon, and them with it if they stayed here. She grabbed Tina’s arm and dragged her to the adjoining room, hoping to find a window. Tina didn’t resist.

  The window at the far wall was wide. Frey looked around and pulled down the curtains, fastening it around the middle of the window frame.

  As soon as Tina was on her way, Frey braced her legs against the side of the building and started descending. She looked up at a sound, seeing a woman with a gun. She reached up before she had time to lift it, and pulled the woman out of the window. Her screaming was cut short as she hit the ground, and Frey yelled at Tina to hurry. The two of them ran from the building, already smelling the smoke from some fire. Frey breathed hard through her bandana.

  She turned long enough to see a small group of armed people spotting them.

  Shit…

  They bolted over the vast garden. She twisted and took four leaping steps backwards, snapping her arm forward and throwing the worthless gun at one of the men.

  He went down flat, the one behind leaping over the obstacle, another not so lucky.

  The big wall in front of them loomed closer. Tina was heading to the right, towards a small building. From the roof of it they would be able to reach the top of the wall.

  The head start made it possible for both Tina and Frey to scrabble up the side and make the jump.

  Frey suddenly wondered how they were going to calm the people from Hole. Right now they were crazy with confusion and addiction, so how were they going to make them stop? At this point, they would kill themselves and anyone else in their madness. Frey wondered if taking down the walls hadn’t been one huge mistake…

  Only two had managed to get over the wall, not seeming to want to stop chasing them.

  We won’t be able to outrun them. Tina was breathing hard, and Frey felt her own breath rasp through her throat. What Li had said about the addicted had been so true. Desperate people can be very strong. “Tina! We gotta fight!”

  Frey skidded to a stop, Tina running towards her opponent.

  Green and black shadow covered Frey’s opponent. He was big. Broad of shoulders, and tall. Frey could see the muscles, stark with contrast in the dramatic light, and knew she might not be able to take him down.

  The guy attacked, and Frey had to duck under the gun as he swung it at her face. So, he was out of bullets. She had time to think before blocking his right uppercut. The force from the blow made her stumble and she spun to avoid a kick. She pulled her knee up to her chest, pushing-kicking him hard in the stomach, then tried to sweep him off his feet with a low kick. The guy took a step back, avoiding her short range and tossed his gun away.

  Frey could hear Tina yell something from far away.

  Frey jumped and spun a kick at his head. It caught him on the side of the face and he finally staggered backwards. She didn’t give him any time to recover.

  The man suddenly turned and grabbed her hand, leading the force of the blow past his face. Frey cursed to have been tricked and tried to spin an elbow at his jaw. But he deflected it and rammed his own into her stomach.

  The air was pressed out of her and her knees buckled, spittle dribbling from her lips. Frey couldn’t breath as he grabbed the front of her jacket, lifting her off the ground. As he did so she finally saw his eyes.

  Her heart stopped as she looked into Jin’s eyes. They were diluted, and the visible part of his nose was wrinkled in a sneer, his eyes burning with insanity. She tried to pull a breath to allow the words, but found she couldn’t.

  There was a dull thumping sound, and Frey saw Tina’s big knife glitter where it stuck out of Jin’s thigh. Jin barely noticed.

  Frey wanted to scream at Tina to stop, but didn’t have enough air in her lungs to do it.

  Instead she reached out, her fingers touching his brow. She could feel the precious air fill her lungs again as she struggled to get the word out. Frey pulled her bandana down with her other hand. “Jin…” She managed in a whisper.

  But she might as well have shouted it in his face, because his eyes seemed to actually focus on her. His face relaxed, and instead of the squinting sneer, his eyes went wide with recognition.

  His knees buckled and he dragged Frey down to the ground with him. He still didn’t seem to notice the blade in his leg.

  Tina was standing where she had thrown the knife, staring at them, frozen in her posture.

  Jin still had one hand around the front of her jacket, his other flat on the ground as he hunched his big shoulders.

  Frey embraced Jin’s shaking body and held him tight, crying with him. A thousand things went through her at once, from the fear of getting killed to the rush of joy at holding Jin.

  Tina came over, gently telling Frey they needed to find someplace safe. She then added he would die from blood loss if they didn’t do something about the bleeding…

  “Jin. We aren’t safe here,” Frey said.

  He reached out and stroke her cheek. She felt shivers of warmth run up her spine and pure joy at having him touch her. “I can’t believe you’re here…” He whispered. “I’ve looked everywhere for you…”

  She took his hand in his. “Jin. We need to find someplace safe,” she prompted.

  He finally nodded. He tried to stand but then looked down on his left leg in surprise.

  “You did try to kill Frey,” Tina said as he grabbed the hilt. Frey didn’t think she sounded very sorry at all.

  Jin reached out to pull his mask off. She quickly grabbed his wrist, her fingers not even close to wrapping all the way around. “Don’t,” she warned.

  Tina pulled the knife out without warning, quickly binding his leg tight with her jacket. He cursed at her, but she ignored it, then standing up to give him a shoulder to lean on.

  Jin didn’t complain once, but Frey knew he was hurting. Blood soon soaked through his pants. Tina had said they couldn’t highjack a car since it had draw too much unwanted attention, so they had to walk.

  They stayed in the shadows as scattered groups of people from Hole ran past. It took time, but they at least remained out of view. But if they didn’t stop Jin’s bleeding very soon, he would fall over unconscious. And to carry him just wouldn’t work.

  There was a convenience store to the left, the glass broken, and food lying scattered on the ground. She should have known to keep her guard up. But the time spent in Alya had made her careless.

  The only warning she had was Jin’s cry. Her left hand came up to cover her face on instinct.

  The side of the gun rammed in
to her arm, her head jarring to the side from the blow. She flipped Tina’s knife and rammed it into the man’s stomach, her head still ringing. The muscles and bone closed in on the knife, pulling it out of her fingers as the man fell to the ground. A second man came charging at her. Jin rammed him into the side of the building, driving his fist into the man’s stomach.

  Jin’s knees buckled at the same time as his victims.

  “Jin!”

  “My… Head’s spinning…” He said, his voice muffed through the mask.

  “Tina. We need a car.”

  She looked at as jute standing not far away. “Wait here.”

  Frey hunched down. “Jin, stay with me. We’ll be there really soon. They got stuff to make you heal real fast.” She gave a shaky laugh. “Hell, they patched me together when I was shot in the stomach.”

  His hand reached up to touch her cheek. His breath came heavily behind the mask, but his eyes were clear as he looked at her. “Frey, I-” He started, but the roar from the car interrupted them.

  Tina drove the car up to the duo and together they helped Jin into the passenger’s seat, Tina pushed the gas down and the car screeched as it sped through the night.

  Chapter 24

  They almost crashed two times. Both from roadblocks created by the people from Hole.

  Frey clung to Jin and tried not to look at all the blood soaking the car seat. She had added her jacket around his leg, but nothing seemed to slow the flow of blood. The old blood was cooling against her skin, but new one was pumping warm against her thigh.

  Tina called out in triumph when the entrance to Li’s garage came into view. But Frey felt dread as she remembered the power was out. “Harry’s the one who cut the power supply, remember?” Tina winked at her. “So he decides what goes and what stays.” She hovered her index finger over a faintly glowing square on the wall, and Frey felt a flood of gratitude as the doors slid open.

  Tina drove straight down to the basement levels. “You weren’t awake the last time, but this is kinda déjà-vu.” Tina laughed.

  Frey felt Jin go colder and didn’t join her, holding Jin tight until the elevators came up.

  Tina slung the unconscious Jin over her shoulder with a grunt. Frey rushed ahead to call the elevator down.

  Frey had never thought she would be happy to see Joy’s face, but that the slim, blond woman was here probably meant Li was as well. There was a hospital bed to the right and Tina carefully laid Jin there as Li came jogging around the corner.

  “We have been waiting for ages!” Joy’s voice sounded shrill. “I can’t belie- Oh my god, Jon!” She screamed, her hands tearing the mask away, revealing his face. His mouth slightly open, shallow breaths escaping his parted lips. With his mask gone, the resemblance couldn’t be denied.

  Frey saw Tina’s eyes go wide.

  “It’s not Jon-“ Frey started, reaching out to pull the hysterical woman away. He needed help, not someone yelling in his face.

  Joy pushed Frey away, clawing at her. “You keep away from him, you witch!” She screamed.

  Frey advanced, ready to punch the woman senseless just as Li restrained her with a hand, grabbing Joy with his other and pushing her at Tina. “Please calm down.”

  “Help him,” Frey said, biting back tears.

  Li just nodded and rolled Jin away.

  Joy was sobbing Jon’s name and Frey wondered how she ever could have doubted the woman’s true intentions when it came to Jon. Frey wanted to run after Li, wanted to beg him to allow her to stay with Jin. But she didn’t. The man needed space to do his work. Frey knew Li would do his very best. The dying man was, in his eyes as well, Jon.

  The walls were glass, blue and hazy, shimmering with light. The floor was made of white tiles, the benches blue and low. There were projections along the walls, displaying various fish in various shapes.

  But Frey was looking at her dirty and bloody hands, and she had left dark footprints on the marble from all the blood. She covered her eyes to shut out the blinding light.

  None of the other had come back yet, and there had been no way to reach them. Frey pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She told herself that crying would help no one.

  Tina came back and handed her a cup. The big woman sat down next to her, leaning her elbows on her knees. “That isn’t Jon in there, is it?”

  Frey didn’t answer at first. But there was no use in trying to deny it. They would all know soon enough. “No.” She took a deep breath. “His name’s Jin… we- we’ve kept each other alive, him and me. We grew up together, watched each others backs.” She looked at the moving shapes on the wall, the blue light snaking over it to illustrate the motion of water. “Ever since I saw Jon I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence…”

  “But you never told us…”

  “Nothing to tell as long as I didn’t have proof,” Frey said.

  “It is had to believe, even with facts staring you in the face, but you didn’t even try,” Tina said.

  Frey shook her head. “No, I didn’t. And that was my choice.”

  Frey lost time of how many hours she waited. Tina had gone to clean up and check on Joy.

  When Li came out the doors Frey shot to her feet as she ran up to Li. He was rubbing his eyes, but gave her a small smile.

  “You can go in now. He’s in room three. But I gave him a sedative, so he is still asleep.”

  Frey ran off. She slid along the corridor and stopped outside the door, her hand hovering above the sensor. She breathed in and let her hand pass over it, the blue and hazy glass sliding out of the way.

  He had white clothes on, same type she had been given after her injury. The bedcover was pulled away from his bandaged leg, and there was a drip attached to his arm.

  She sat down carefully on the edge of the bed, taking his hand in hers. He looked so peaceful when he slept… he always had… Frey reached out and touched his familiar face. She smiled as she stroke away a lock of dirty hair. His skin was dark with grime, except for his leg.

  There was a scream in the hallway, and it sounded like Joy. Frey leaped up and ran outside, fearing there might be an attack inside Li’s home. She bolted around the corner and almost ran into Tina’s back. She looked around her to see Joy standing in front of Jon and a big group of people were coming out of the elevator.

  Li came around from the left and stopped as well.

  Joy was pointing at Jon, her hand trembling. “Where did you come from?!” She cried. “You’re in room three!”

  Li looked at Frey, and Frey could feel the panic rising up inside her.

  “Li, we have a lot of injured with us, more downstairs,” Luke said, pushing past Jon with a person in his arms.

  Tina ran to help Lallie, a group of uninjured desert dwellers also helping.

  Jon pushed past Joy. “Don’t just stand there! Go down help the rest.”

  Frey didn’t wait for Joy to recover, but hurried to help support another man.

  As she saw the amount of people that were hurt, she wondered how Li would be able to save them all.

  Frey saw Luke walk over to Tina, and found she wasn’t surprised when he put his big arms around her. There was a gentle kindness there that spoke about something more than friendship. Lallie was talking to her brother over some secure line and Jon finally moved over to the shaken Joy. Frey snuck away.

  She sat down next to Jin. He was still sleeping, and she reached out to stroke his cheek again. He reached out and grabbed her hand. She blinked through her tears and saw his eyes were open. “Jin…”

  Jin reached out a long arm and pulled her to him, crushing her to his chest. He buried his face in her hair and Frey tried to hold him as tight.

  “I can’t believe you’re here…” He breathed.

  Frey looked at him and couldn’t find traces from the Yellow Pill. No froth, no weight loss, no hollow eyes.

  He laughed as if he could read her mind. “I went back home,” he said.

  She
should have been prepared for people to barge inside. She should have known Joy would tell Jon. She should have used the time to warn Jin.

  Joy stormed in first, freezing as if she still couldn’t believe her eyes. Jon pushed in behind her, face going white. She could feel Jin tense behind her and turned around to see him stare at Jon as hard as Jon was staring at him.

  “See! See! I told you!” Joy screamed. Frey felt like knocking her out, binding her mouth shut. Joy pointed at Jin. “He looks just like you!”

  “It’s Jon who looks like Jin,” Frey heard herself say just as Luke and Tina came in through the sliding door, probably thinking there was an attack with all yelling. Frey’s words were met with silence for a few seconds.

  “What? Are you insane, you little witch?! Look at him! He looks exactly like Jon!” Joy screeched.

  Tina leaned back on the wall while Luke looked from Jin to Jon and back, shocked and obviously trying to find a difference. Frey knew there weren’t any. The two of them were a spotless mirror image of each other, especially now when Jon was covered in blood and filth.

  Jon finally looked at Frey. “What the hell do you mean?”

  She could feel Jin shift behind her. She lightly touched Jin’s chest, a motion Jon didn’t miss. He narrowed his eyes at them.

  “DNA exists in the cell nucleus,” Li said as he wiped his hands with a clean towel, entering the room and standing in front of Jin’s bed. ”Meaning cell’s include DNA. The cell replicating also replicates the existing DNA in that case, and the information enters the one taking it. Taken over a long period of time can alter one’s own DNA slightly. However, I believe that if a pregnant mother takes the pill, it might very well affect the fetus, its brain interpreting the new DNA into its existing one, sometimes even replacing them entirely.”

  Li held up a finger. ”I did have my suspicions as soon as we hacked the pill, but was convinced such a thing could never happen since the DNA is so strongly encoded on our genes.” He crossed his arms. ”Obviously I was wrong. I expect there will be more cases like this.”