Embers & Ice (Rouge)

by Isabella Modra

  Zac opened his mouth to ask questions, but her expression must have been enough to silence him, because he spun and ran to the stairs immediately.

  “What’s going on?” Imogen, a young girl with auburn curls, pouted up at Hunter.

  “I’m not sure Immi, but let’s go in here and wait for the others.” She ushered the three kids through the door to the common room and found Ryo sitting with Marcus and Mosi on the couches, looking grim.

  “Hey, what happened to you?” asked Marcus. They all sat up quickly, sensing something was wrong. “After the demonstration you just took off-”

  “I had some rage to vent,” she snapped.

  “Yeah,” he scoffed, “I know what that’s like. We were just in the fitness room boxing out a little rage of our own when all the Men in White started disappearing.”

  “They’re all gone, down to the labs,” said Hunter. She threw him the piece of paper. “And I hate to bring you more disturbing news, but Dr. Wolfe gave me this.”

  Ryo, Marcus and Mosi gathered around to read the list. The children scrambled on the couches, waiting like rats for food, having no idea what kind of terror awaited them.

  After reading the list, Marcus went to tear it up, but Hunter shouted “stop!” and snatched it from his hand.

  “This is complete bullshit, now we’re going to be tested too?”

  “If that wasn’t obvious, you’re more stupid than I thought,” said Ryo, crossing her arms.

  Marcus glared at her.

  Footsteps sounded outside and Zac entered, followed by Chantal and Mikayla with wet hair, Jet and a sleepy Benji. He leaned against the door frame, his legs shaking with each step he took. He looked worse than Will on Hunter’s first day.

  “This is all I can find,” Zac heaved and collapsed on the single armchair. “I looked everywhere.”

  “What about Will?” Fearne burst through the door. She stared around at all the faces. “Where is he?”

  Hunter wasn’t about to give away Will’s secret hideout, which was where she presumed he would be, especially after what happened to Benji in the Orb.

  “I’ll find him,” said Hunter. She turned to Marcus. “Explain that list. I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait, what’s going on Hunter?” asked Fearne. Her eyes widened as she caught the vibes of panic within her thoughts. “Something downstairs?”

  “In the labs?” asked Zac.

  “No,” said Hunter. “Down further. When I was in the labs, a voice came over the speakers saying something was disabled in Terminal One, and all personal needed to report to DC.”

  “What?” Jet stared around the room. “But… we’re in DC.”

  “Zac, where did you hear that name?”

  He shrugged, looking around at all the faces. “I dunno, some guy who was here before me.”

  “We’ve always called it Death Cave,” said Mosi solemnly.

  “It’s just a nickname,” said Jet, “it’s supposed to be funny.”

  “Well apparently it’s a name for something else,” said Hunter. “Now stay here, I’m getting Will.”

  “Why?” asked Chantal. “Why are we all here?”

  Hunter sighed, time ticking away, and looked around at each of the worried, anxious, trusting faces all gazing at her. How she – the new girl – had become a figurative leader, she couldn’t explain. But she was sure that once she told them of her idea, there would be an uprising.

  But then she remembered. Mosi and Marcus wanted the same thing.

  She turned to them. “Now’s your chance.”

  Marcus frowned and looked at Mosi, who always knew exactly what to do. He nodded.

  “What’s going on?” asked Jet.

  “Trust me, it’s important. Just… hang tight.”

  With that, she sprinted past Marcus and Mosi to the door on other side of the room that led to the boy’s bathroom.

  “Where are you going?” called Marcus.

  “To find Will!”

  “There isn’t enough time!” called Chantal.

  “I don’t care!” Hunter yelled back to them. “I’m not doing any of this without him.”

  Then she was running, through the door and down the stairs to the secret passageway in the boy’s bathroom.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  It was like something of a dream. The institution felt completely barren as Hunter sprinted down the empty corridor. She took the second door into the boys toilets, taps dripping, no sound but the buzzing of electrical lights. It made her uneasiness rise like dust swept up in a cyclone.

  Hunter slipped through the secret door and kept her hands on the wall to guide her as she hurried down the old wooden staircase. She winced at the sounds she made, but knew it was more important to hurry. Once she reached the old quarters and felt along the wall again, she swung open the door to their room and found Will sitting on the bed with a book between his hands.

  “Hey, you’re-”

  “We have to go,” she said and grabbed the book.

  “What are you-”

  Hunter intended to throw the book at the wall, snatch Will and run. But her hands froze when she saw the title ‘Holy Bible’ written in silver script on the black leather binding.

  “You’re reading the Bible?” she gaped. “Where’d you get this?”

  “In one of the other rooms,” he shrugged. Then his eyes narrowed. “Why does it matter?”

  Hunter let out a laugh. For some reason she was angry, and she couldn’t understand why. Not when there were far more important things to worry about. “Because it’s bullshit. If there’s a God, why are we all being tortured like this?”

  “Don’t ask me, I’m not a priest.” He reached for the book and snatched it back from her hands, almost protectively. “But I need something better to cling onto in this awful place Hunter, and after what we just saw with Benji, an almighty God is good enough for me.”

  “Well cling to this then: we’re getting out of here.”

  Will lowered his hands slowly. “What?”

  “Come on, we don’t have much time. There’s something going on in the labs downstairs, literally every single security guard has disappeared. We’re completely alone up there, and it’s the best chance we’ve got right now.”

  “But how?”

  She grabbed his hand and smiled. “So far, I have no idea.”

  “Great,” he sighed, but he didn’t protest when she started pulling him towards the door.

  They crept back into the corridor, the chill sinking deep into their skin and the puddles from leaks in the pipes making their footsteps all the more obvious. But just as they were nearing the door to the stairs, Hunter heard something from behind them and they both spun around.

  A light swished under the crack of the other door at the end of the corridor. Hunter and Will could hear voices, soft at first but now becoming louder. Someone was shouting to hurry, and they sped up. More light raced past, as if from a flashlight.

  “Who is that?” Will uttered in her ear.

  “I dunno,” she said, “but I have a feeling it’s something to do with what’s happening in Terminal One.”

  “Terminal what? Hunter, what’s going on?”

  She ignored his questions and snatched his sleeve, dragging him down the corridor and creeping to the door. The voices were dying out to the left. We’ll lose them!

  “Does this door open?” She ran her fingers over the dark steel-trap door with a large latch and no padlock.

  “I dunno, I’ve never-”

  Hunter grabbed the latch and pulled hard towards her. It slid aside with surprising ease, and the door creaked in. Hunter smiled, put her hand on the door and pushed.

  It led them to another dark corridor, but a little way down the left they could see a faint glow of light on the walls. This must be an old passageway that the scientists use. The electricity is running, so it has to be useful.

  “This way,” she whispered and started creeping down the low-roofed corridor.

/>   “Hunter, I know you’re curious and stuff, but I’m not exactly up for more punishment, okay?” She glanced back at him and could just see the crease in his forehead half-hidden by his hair. Light from up ahead danced like candlelight in his eyes. “I don’t want to go through what happened to Benji today.”

  Hunter bit her lip. He’ll find out soon enough. She kept walking. “I hate to tell you this Will, but you don’t have a choice. Seven of us were picked for the demonstrations. Benji was only the first. You’re up after Mosi.”

  Will kept silent as they walked.

  When they grew closer to the light, Hunter saw that the corridor was a long underground tunnel lined with fixed light bulbs connected by wiring along the top. The scientists had vanished without a trace.

  “I thought you said we were going to escape,” said Will as they walked. “What are we doing down here if the others are upstairs?”

  “Why do you think that all the guards disappeared? Something Dr. Wolfe has kept hidden is suddenly a threat, and I’d give anything to know what it is. It could be the key to getting out of here.”

  “Or it could get us into serious trouble.”

  Hunter didn’t reply, even though her heart was skipping beats and her entire body felt clammy with sweat.

  The corridor took a bend and there were two doors on their left and right. A flickering bulb in the corner gave them enough light to see the inscription on each door.

  “Morgue,” Hunter read, “or Cell Block?” She turned to Will. “You pick.”

  Will frowned. “What do they need a morgue for?”

  She peered in through the small barred window. Inside the dark room there was a bank of square hatches like those used for the storage of safety deposit boxes. At the back was a giant black door rather like a furnace for cremation. There were other various objects in the room, but it all looked very morgue-like to her.

  She backed away so Will could peer inside. “Do you think this is where he puts the bodies of those who die here?”

  Will’s face paled and she wished she’d never mentioned it. He could only be thinking that this room would be his death bed sooner rather than later.

  He swallowed. “I guess so.”

  Hunter wrapped her arms around herself. The only thing she could do was put it in the back of her mind and stew on it later. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

  They took the other door marked ‘Cell Block’. This corridor was lit also by light bulbs joined with wiring at intervals over cell doors like those in the old quarters. They were so old, they practically blended into the wall. There were faint numbers and letters etched along the top between each light bulb, about two meters apart. Hunter ran her hand down the wall as she went, feeling the moisture. It was danker down there than in the old quarters, if that were even possible.

  It’s like we’re in a cave.

  Hunter froze. Will bumped into her back and stopped too. Stretching on her toes, Hunter strained to see what was written near the ceiling and read the number ‘17’ beside the letters ‘DC’.

  “Death Cave,” she breathed.

  “What?”

  “All this time, I thought Zac was referring to the entire institution as Death Cave, because it’s always so cold. But it came from the scientists, from the guards. From here. Look,” she pointed to the number on the other side that read ‘16 DC’. “These are all cells. Will,” she turned to him and swallowed down the sickly lump in her throat. “We just found the real Death Cave.”

  Before Will could open his mouth, there came a very faint sound that raised the hairs on the back of her neck: A moan for help was coming from the cell on her left. Hunter turned her head and a scream fell out of her mouth.

  There was a face between the bars.

  THIRTY-SIX

  “Jenny?” Joshua shot up in his chair beside the hospital bed. He saw her eyelashes flicker and something of a mumble escaped her lips. “Can you hear me?”

  Jenny’s eyes fluttered open and she squinted at the bright light. Joshua released the tension he’d been holding ever since she fainted in his arms. Despite ignoring her and pretending he didn’t care about the kiss, Joshua still worried, and the only person he’d ever had to worry about was Hunter.

  “What happened?” Jenny muttered, her voice hoarse.

  Joshua grabbed the plastic cup of water and gently fed it to her. “You had a minor heart attack. You’ve been asleep for 24 hours, but your vitals are well.”

  “A heart attack? But I thought everything was fine.”

  He stared at her a moment, struggling with the truth. It had been hours since he’d found out about her illness, and since then he hadn’t been able to get the thought out of his mind.

  “Everything is fine,” he assured her. “The doctor said it’s uncommon for this type of occurrence given your condition.”

  “My condition?”

  “Yes. Because of your cancer.”

  Jenny went pale and her small hands clenched the hospital rug. Joshua couldn’t help but remember the very last time she lay in a bed like this just moments before he almost killed her. “It’s true, I… I had lung cancer. I’m not a smoker, I was just unlucky. It was early in the treatment when the fire happened at school, and then the smoke, it… it accelerated the disease. I was pretty close to dying when you came, and when I woke up in the lab I thought I was dead.”

  “The doctor said the cancer is gone.”

  Jenny’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “It’s gone?” A small chuckle escaped her lips. She reached out for his hand and found it. Joshua flinched, remembering the other night in the hotel room, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from her glowing face. “I’m cured. Joshua, you cured me.” Joy coated her words and his heart throbbed, a strange and warm feeling he’d never felt before. At least, not in a long time.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I thought there was some mistake, and so I checked everything over in your lab when you went out. I kept fearing I’d have another episode and pass out, but it never happened. And that’s when I forgave you. You had no idea, but you saved my life.”

  “I did it for selfish reasons though.” He took his hand away and shook his head. “I needed you to help me get Hunter back. She wouldn’t talk to me after what she thought I did. And I was so lost, I didn’t know how it was possible that she’d beaten the fire. And… when I went to the hospital and found you I…”

  “What?”

  “There was… there was something in your eyes. You reminded me of someone. You were terrified of me, and that’s understandable, but you were… happy to go. I thought you’d given up.”

  Jenny shook her head. “I knew my time was coming, but obviously I was wrong. And now… I don’t care where I go. I’m alive for a reason, and it’s led me here.”

  Joshua was speechless, his throat becoming strangely thick.

  “Joshua?” she continued. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” he said hoarsely.

  “Why didn’t you kill me? Why didn’t the ice inside you make you kill me?”

  He grit his teeth. “I guess… I had control all along. Not much, but enough to know I didn’t want to be a killer. The Iceman told me it was necessary, that I was doing it for Hunter. But I’m really not that person. I never intended for anyone to get hurt.”

  “Uh…” There was a knock at the door and Eli stepped inside the room with three burrito wraps in his hands. “Sorry to interrupt the chick flick moment but… I brought lunch.”

  “Thank you Eli,” Jenny smiled.

  Joshua grumbled his thanks but was in no mood to eat. He wanted to shoo the boy back out the door, because he still had questions to ask Jenny.

  “Listen Eli, we-”

  “Did you know there’s a cop outside the room?” he asked casually and bit into his vegetarian burrito.

  Joshua jumped to his feet. “What? He’s visiting?”

  “Nah,” said the boy through a mouthful of food. A piece of lettuc
e took a dive on his knee and he flicked it off. “He’s like right outside our door just… standing there. He wasn’t there when I left, so I guess he just arrived.”

  “Did he say anything to you?”

  Eli shook his head. Then his expression fell. “Wait, do you think he’s here for us? Oh my God, are we gonna get arrested?”

  Both Eli and Jenny gazed at him and Joshua wished he had something soft to kick besides Eli. “Jesus, this just keeps getting worse and worse, doesn’t it?”

  Eli stared at the ground as though he wished it would swallow him up. “I’m going to prison. I’m gonna be someone’s bitch.”

  “You’re not, I am.” Joshua ran a hand through his hair.

  Eli snorted. “Yeah, no offense Joshua, but I think you’re a little less marketable to bald, fat men with ‘Mom’ tattooed on their biceps than I am.”

  Joshua glared. “You two are supposed to be dead, and I’m the only person attached to you. The doctor must’ve called the cops after pulling up your record.” Jenny bit her lip. “It’s not your fault,” he added, “I was careless.”

  “You were worried about her, that’s what,” said Eli. He raised his eyebrows up and down and gave them a smirk, which quickly faded after he caught Joshua’s murderous, there’s-no-time-for-that glower. “I mean uh… can’t we just tell them it was a misunderstanding?”

  “It’s not gonna go down that easy kid,” Joshua rushed over to the window and threw open the curtains. “We can’t talk to the cops; they’ll separate us and try to pull the truth out, and if that ever happens, we’re all getting hoarded to the madhouse. Trust me, I know.” He threw Eli his backpack and peered out the window. “We need to get out of here. Can you walk Jenny?”

  She sat up slowly, ripped out her IV cords and winced. “Yeah. I think so.”

  “Good. I’ll go out first and grab the car, meet me out the front in three minutes.”

  The two of them nodded and watched Joshua duck under the open window and drop onto the bed of roses outside. Silently he thanked God it wasn’t a two story hospital room and hurried around the back of the building.