Fall of Venus

by Daelynn Quinn

  “How do I look now?” I ask Evie.

  “Perfect,” she smiles.

  “Okay. Evie. When we go out there, you need to act like you don’t know me, like I’m just one of the Enforcers. Do you understand?” I’m not sure if I really need to explain the plan to her, but since she’s so young she won’t understand the depth of what we’re about to do. She nods and I know she will cooperate. Before we leave I take off the other Enforcer’s jumpsuit, fold it up tight and place it inside my suit, giving the appearance of a slight beer belly. I fasten the belt around my waist, complete with baton and gun. I hate having this gun on me and sincerely hope I don’t have to use it. I remember when Glenn took me to the shooting range on a date once. That ended badly. Plus, I don’t want to put Evie in any more danger than necessary.

  I poke my head out into the corridor, checking to see if it’s clear. There’s an Enforcer down the hall walking away from where I am. Nobody else. Placing my hand on her shoulder I guide Evie toward the north wing, walking stiffly and staring straight ahead. We pass by many doors on either side, the Enforcers’ quarters, most of which are closed and locked I’d assume.

  Finally we approach a huge rotunda with a glass-domed ceiling. This is the atrium, the heart of Crimson. Men and women, most of whom are in blue uniforms, fill the room, some going this way and that, others pausing to chat, and a few sit on benches along the rounded walls.

  There are six corridors that emerge from the atrium. I visualize a bird’s eye view of Crimson. The entrance is on the south, with prison wings on the west, east, and north. I think the northwest corridor leads to the yard, although the Enforcers always used a different path to escort me. That leaves three corridors. The canal is on the east side, so I’ll either take the northeast corridor or the southeast corridor. I lurk slowly through the atrium to make my observation. It seems the Enforcers are steering clear of the northeast corridor, so I assume that it leads to the dormant Gate 23.

  But first, I must reach Marcus. I turn left to proceed down the northern corridor, which should take me to the north wing, where Marcus is supposedly staying. Everything looks identical to the corridor we just came from.

  There is an overwhelming sickness in my stomach as I approach the Enforcers at the entry to the north cellblock, a fear that they’ll discover my ruse and I’ll be caught. I remind myself that I am an Enforcer. I am one of them. I am an Enforcer at Crimson, taking a survivor to visit the north wing. I am an Enforcer at Crimson. I hold my head up high and force myself to make eye contact.

  “Visitor from the children’s wing,” I state. One of the Enforcers pulls a scanner from his belt and proceeds to scan Evie’s tattoo. It never dawned on me until now, but is she allowed access to Marcus? She was part of the escape party, she might be denied as well, and then we’d be caught. She writhes under me as my hand tenses around her shoulder.

  “Access permitted,” says the Enforcer, and the other opens the barred gate. I blow out the restlessness that had built up within me and my shoulders slump slightly with ease. I gently push Evie forward as we enter the cellblock.

  “What is your business here?” demands one of the Enforcers behind me. I think quickly, knowing that the wrong answer could give me away.

  “I’ve been given orders to collect Stygma, Marcus for medical collection,” I say. Damn! I’ve already screwed up! I had intended for Marcus to already be in disguise when we left the cellblock. Now I’ll have to take Marcus and Evie out of here. As if that doesn’t look suspicious. And I’m going to have to find some place outside the cellblock for Marcus to change. The two Enforcers look at each other briefly. “Proceed,” he says.

  I scan the cellblock. It looks identical to mine, but with different people. Evie and I walk down the stairs to the lower level where the common area is. We pass by tables where people are playing board games, a TV screening area that is showing movies, and an open area, just as it is in my wing. There are too many people around; I can’t see Marcus anywhere. I’m about to start checking room to room when Evie shouts out, “Marcus!

  I turn and there he is, coming down the steps. He looks much cleaner and well groomed than I remember him. But he’s lost some weight and looks sickly. An area around his left eye is yellowed with a dark outline, like a large healing bruise. His eyes seem to hide some kind of deep pain that I just can’t understand. But I’m so happy to see him.

  Blissful titillation climbs up my spine and diffuses into my limbs. I fight the urge to run to him, to fall into his arms, with so many people around. Instead I march over to him as an Enforcer.

  “Evie doll!” He wraps his arms around Evie and swings her around like a father would. Those two look so happy together. “I missed you so much.”

  “We missed you too,” says Evie, smiling back at me.

  Marcus turns to me and the happiness on his face melts away into a bitter frown. In fact his face echoes the look Respa gave me when I returned. My smile fades. I remind myself that I haven’t seen Marcus in weeks. Not since the car crash. Who knows what’s happened to him since, what they’ve told him.

  “You’re one of them now,” he frowns.

  “No, Marcus,” I whisper. “Take me to your room so we can talk.” He doesn’t budge, but instead narrows his eyes and scowls at me. I don’t think he’s going to give me a chance to convince him. As he sets Evie back down I can see her whisper something in his ear. He looks at her intently and then nods.

  “This way,” he says and I follow Marcus back up the steps. I see that he has a room almost identical to where mine is in my wing, except one floor up, at the end of the cellblock, away from prying eyes.

  He turns to me, his eyes demanding answers. After I’ve peered around to make sure nobody is close by, I remove the plastic from my eye. It’s such a relief, my eye tears up and I blink to allow them to fall out. It takes a moment to register the disguise, and then Marcus grabs me and plants his lips firmly against mine. Evie covers her eyes and giggles at us, reminding me that we are not completely alone. We embrace each other, neither willing to let go. I whisper into his ear, “Marcus, I’m getting us out.” He pulls away from me. His eyebrows curl up in concern. From the look on his face I expect him to talk me out of it. “What’s the plan?” he asks.

  * * *

  I escort Marcus and Evie out the gate apprehensively. Fortunately the Enforcers don’t question me. We turn down a hallway and approach the door for the north wing’s laundry room. I peer in to find three residents busy washing their clothes. I hesitate, not sure what to do next. I can’t just walk them both out into the atrium. Someone is sure to recognize them, especially Glenn if he is there.

  Marcus’s quick thinking saves me the trouble of figuring out our next step. He spots a door that is not quite shut all the way. He gently pushes it and it opens into a narrow janitor’s closet. We all slip inside and wait quietly to ensure we weren’t seen.

  I unzip my jumpsuit and pull the extra one out for Marcus to change into. While he is changing I explain the details of the plan to him.

  “Gate 23 is at the end of the next corridor over to the left,” I repeat to him. “Try to keep a low profile. If anyone sees you go down there with Evie, they’ll be suspicious.”

  “Got it,” he says. I buckle the belt around his waist and apply some of my homemade makeup to cover his tattoo.

  “Sorry, I don’t have anything for your eye. You’ll have to lay low and make sure nobody gets a good look at you.”

  “I don’t intend to do any socializing anyway,” he says facetiously, and then he gives me a quick kiss and shoves me out the door. “See you in a few minutes.”

  As I enter the rotunda I notice some commotion and people running over toward the west wing. Dana 421 and Hulky must have come to by now. We need to hurry. I lower my head and quickly descend the next corridor. Sure enough, there are two Enforcers at the end of the hallway, leaning against the walls, half asleep with boredom. As they see me approach them, they straighten up and address
me.

  “This gate’s covered. We’re not to let anyone through.”

  I manage to keep my cool and direct my attention to the Enforcer on the right, who is the larger of the two. “Wyndham needs you to see him immediately. He’s sent me to cover for you,” I say imposingly.

  The Enforcers look at each other nervously, then the one I spoke to proceeds down the corridor. I stand in his place and eagerly await Marcus’s arrival with Evie. I’m impressed that my plan has gone so smoothly so far. We’re almost there. Just a few more minutes and we will be out of here!

  The minutes pass at a snails pace. Too slowly. It’s so quiet here I can hear the purring of the Enforcer’s breath next to me. In my mind, I hear that imaginary tick, tock, tick, tock, counting the seconds go by. My heart pulses faster with each beat. What’s taking them so long?

  They should be here by now. I feel the urge to go find them, but I convince myself to stay one more minute. That minute passes quicker than I anticipated. I need to see what’s happened. I turn to the Enforcer, my hand on my baton. But somehow, I can’t bring myself to use it yet.

  “Uh, do you mind if I leave for a sec, to use the ladies room?” I ask nervously.

  She turns to me and hesitates before answering, “Sure, go for it. Nobody ever comes down here anyway. Just make it quick so we don’t get into trouble, okay?”

  I nod and quickly jog down the corridor to the rotunda. There are few people in the room now, all of which are marching with determination. The benches are empty and there are no sounds of gossip as there were earlier.

  I walk back to the north wing corridor, but it is empty. I check the janitor’s closet and they are gone. Panic mode sets in. My blood thickens with anxiety. I start sweating and I can feel my skin flush. I run back to the atrium. That’s when I spot them in the southwest corridor—Glenn, holding his rifle up to Marcus’s neck in a choking position, while Evie stands by, crying.

  Chapter 21

  He doesn’t even see me coming. Without hesitation I smash my baton down on the back of Glenn’s neck. He stumbles back and collapses to the floor, still holding tight to his rifle. I didn’t hit him with enough force to knock him out but the blow seems to have stunned him. Marcus takes the gun from the holster on his belt and holds it to Glenn’s forehead. There’s a kind of rage burning in his eyes that I have never witnessed before—and it terrifies me.

  “Marcus, no,” I murmur. Marcus doesn’t budge. The muscles and veins in his arms bulge through his tight, stretched skin and I can see a slight tremble as he tries to control the deep, intense fury that threatens to take control of him. Glenn lies back on the floor, paralyzed. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Glenn not only at a loss for control, but truly scared.

  “Please, Marcus,” I plead. “Let’s go.”

  Shouts behind me divert my attention away. About seven or eight Enforcers are marching this way.

  “Over there!” one of them shouts, pointing in our direction. Marcus holsters his gun, picks up Evie, and we haul ass down the corridor. The Enforcers posted at the gate must have missed the scuffle, but now they detect something is wrong and begin marching towards us.

  “Pollen, over here,” Marcus says as he grabs my arm and pulls me down a hallway to the right. At the end of the hallway, where I’d expected to see another guarded gate, is an elevator. Of course handprint identification is required to operate it. I look around for a stairway since they are required by building codes. I discover one a few doors down from the elevator, but I’m disheartened to find that it requires handprint identification also.

  We are at a dead end. Trapped like cattle awaiting our slaughter. I look at Marcus, hoping he has an answer to our problem but he just gazes back at me with tragic eyes. Frantically, I start grabbing door handles, hoping that one might be open.

  BING!

  The elevator door opens.

  We all walk on to the elevator, silently, trying not to incite suspicion. The Enforcer standing in the corner of the elevator is a small man, very young looking, maybe even younger than I.

  “Taking her to solitary?” he asks dubiously, eying Evie.

  “Only for a few hours,” says Marcus slyly. “She bit the nurse when she tried to draw blood. They just want to scare her a bit.”

  I’m so relieved that Marcus managed to cover us so cunningly. I almost believe we’ve gotten away with it until I see the Enforcer looking at me. No, not at me, at my temple. With all that’s happened I didn’t realized how much I was sweating. My makeup concoction must be wearing off. Then he squints at my eye, then Marcus’s eye. Now we’re in trouble. In the distance, a pack of Enforcers, led by Glenn, are turning the corner and running down the hallway towards us.

  “Take us downstairs,” says Marcus, holding the gun up to the Enforcer’s neck. He pushes some buttons on a numeric pad and places his hand on the scanner. As the doors begin to slide together, a man at the front of the pack lifts a gun toward us. I grab Evie and blanket her with my body in the back corner of the elevator. Gunshots rain on us just before the doors close.

  My stomach jumps into my throat suddenly as the elevator descends. So much for my escape route. Now I’m sure we’ll never get out. I can’t remember how many levels there are at Crimson, but it feels like we are bypassing several on the way down. The only floors I am anywhere close to familiar with were the two we lived on. Even though I was in solitary for a few weeks I have no idea what the layout of the floor is like or even if there is another way out. For all I know this elevator could be the only entrance and exit for that floor.

  I take this opportunity to snag the itchy piece of cellophane from my eye. It’s not like I’ll need it any more; I’ve already been discovered after all.

  I realize I am still huddling over Evie. She is trembling and whimpering beneath my arms. I loosen my grip and cradle her face in my hands, gently wiping away the tears with my thumbs.

  “Evie,” I say, “everything is going to be okay.” It breaks my heart so see the whites of her eyes so red it makes her green eyes appear blue. She’s too young to have to go through something so traumatic like this. Now I’m worried that, if she makes it out of this alive, she’ll be scarred forever. She’ll end up as one of those nutjobs who pulls out her hair and needs psychotherapy for the rest of her life. Only there won’t be any therapists around to help her. We have to get her to the COPS. Surely they can help. But first we need to get out of here.

  Seeing Evie like this, envisioning her future, resolves my intentions even more. She will get out. Even if it means my imminent death.

  As the elevator door slides open and Marcus lowers his gun, the Enforcer presses a yellow button next to the scanner and says, “Code sixty-three, lower solitary level, three refugees, over.”

  “That’s our cue,” says Marcus, picking up Evie, and darts into the labyrinthine floor. I follow, not sure where he’s leading us. I’m not even sure he knows himself. Perhaps there’s another elevator or even a staircase.

  We turn left to get away from the main corridor and then right. I am running so fast I have to grab the corner of the wall as we turn and swing myself around just to avoid slamming my body into the opposite wall. The concrete walls are cold and scratch the skin on my palms.

  Ahead in the distance two Enforcers round a corner, so we duck right into the next corridor. Everything is so monotonous down here it’s impossible to know where we are in relation to everything else. There are three doors, then a corridor. Then three more doors and another corridor. And it goes on and on. The only noticeable differences are the numbers on the doors, which we are not even aware of since we are running so fast. We could be traveling in circles for all I know.

  We’re pursued by three more Enforcers and take another right, followed by a left. This must be what it feels like to be a lab rat. Running aimlessly through a maze, trying desperately to find a way out, only to be faced with another wall. I’m beginning to get dizzy when I hear gunshots fired. There are two Enforcers in th
e distance behind us. We turn right again, but it’s a dead end, so we turn back the other way, dodging bullets as we cross the intersection.

  We turn right again and pause for a moment to gain our bearings. I lean against the wall next to Marcus and Evie, looking left and right. Then the door across the corridor snatches my attention. D319. That was my dungeon for those long weeks after I returned. My eyes focus in on the cell next to it, D321. I wonder who is trapped in there at the moment. There’s a strange sensation, an invisible rope pulling me toward that cell. I shake it off as I hear footsteps marching towards us in almost all directions.

  “What are we going to do?” I whisper to Marcus. He is still holding Evie tightly, but fatigue is setting in.

  “Keep moving,” he says. He runs forward, this time checking the intersection for Enforcers. After determining it is clear, we move forward through the labyrinth.

  We blindly turn left, and there before us is a single Enforcer, holding up a rifle aimed at us. There’s nowhere to go now. Despair overcomes me as I realize it’s over. I’ve failed Evie and now Marcus and I will probably be executed.

  “Drop the girl and put your hands on your heads,” he demands. Marcus sets Evie down gingerly and we both comply, raising our arms up.

  “On your knees,” shouts the Enforcer. Marcus and I drop down. Evie stands by, clueless as to what is going on. I can’t stop trembling. The quakes of fear erupting throughout my limbs give me the appearance of a mild seizure. I close my eyes and try to relax my body, telling myself everything will be okay. But I know it’s not. It will never be okay.