Uprising
Page 77
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"Everything's ready. Keep quiet and get things started."
Rick had made this last contact roughly a half hour ago, and Kaylee, with clearance from the people up above, made the announcement.
"Listen up!" her voice pierced through the din of mingling civilians who fell silent, "It's time to start moving. Follow instructions, and keep yourselves absolutely quiet. If we're found, we're dead." She let this sink in for a moment. "Let's not get found," she finished.
She wasn't too worried about the hiding portion. Most of these people, being noncombatants, had developed skills for keeping silent and out of sight. Even the youngest children had been taught very well when to make no noise. It often meant survival, and the adults made sure they knew it.
There were various soldiers positioned at certain points in the building to direct the flow of traffic. Once they started going up the hole, the progress would be slow, but Tanya and Eugene, as well as a couple more of Isaac's men, took care of herding them to proper places in the rooms. Kaylee cringed inwardly, wondering how crowded it would end up being.
Once the train of civilians started moving, she bid a quick, "Good luck," to Desmond and Olivia, who led their well-behaved line of children quietly.
Naturally, Kaylee had no real intention of staying with the group of civilians. She kept her unvoiced opinion that it was safer to be somewhere else. She caught a glimpse of Malcolm's eyes shining in the darkness. After a brief chill, always unnerving, she walked over to him.
"Hey, what's the deal with you?" she finally was able to ask.
He didn't answer; he appeared to be staring off in the distance or lost in thought. She put her hand on his shoulder-
In a blur, he twisted around and seized her wrist, yanking her off the ground and staring menacingly into her eyes. As suddenly, he jerked backwards in surprise and released her. Not expecting this movement any more than the initial snag, she didn't recover her footing and tumbled to the ground with a painful thud.
She scrambled to her feet, and Malcolm was looking at her with an almost apologetic look in his eyes. This was of little consolation. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Downcast, he looked away and mumbled, "Ssorry. Sstarrtle."
Kaylee didn't drop it quite so easily. "Oh? I startled you?" she put on a mock-apologetic face, "I'm so terribly sorry that I disturbed your very important 'staring off into nowhere.' I'll think twice before doing that again."
Malcolm didn't respond to her tirade. If he didn't keep stealing the occasional glance at her, she might have thought he had returned to his 'lost in thought' state. He looked a bit pitiful and crestfallen. She, of course, had trouble maintaining her anger against that.
She gave an exasperated sigh. "Look… sorry, okay?" She stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on? Why are you so jumpy?"
Malcolm turned towards her. "I… rrememberr."
Kaylee cocked her head. "What do you mean, you remember?" Realization dawned in Kaylee as she remembered his earlier statements about his scrambled memories, "Oh! That's great! What do you…? I mean, what is it you're remembering?"
Malcolm squeezed his eyes shut in concentration and balled his fists at his forehead. "Donn't… ccann't…"
"What is it?" she asked.
Kaylee jumped back as he threw his hands upward in a violent motion. God he's twitchy, she thought. I guess I'd be too if I didn't know who I was. "Hey, relax!" She stepped forward, reaching out to reassure him, and he jerked backwards away from her, "Malcolm!"
He shot a glare at her. His eyes blazed with such intensity that she took a step back, "That's not my name," he hissed with surprising clarity.
Kaylee tossed her hands in the air "Jesus! You're out of your goddamn mind, you know that?" She raised her chin, looking up at him defiantly.
The two remained locked, staring angrily at each other for a few moments until Malcolm, or whatever he wanted to be called, appeared to deflate. He turned away, sulking. "Ssorry," he mumbled again.
Kaylee rolled her eyes, not feeling quite as forgiving this time around. "Tell me what you remember, and I'll…" she sighed.
He looked up again and put a hand on his face, clearly still frustrated. "Can't…"
Kaylee chewed on her lip, thinking. "Well, what was it that triggered this? You seemed fine yesterday…"
Malcolm cocked his head, considering carefully. "Inss… Inssti…" he concentrated. "Innssstiit."
"The Institute?" Kaylee inquired.
He nodded.
"Why do you remember the Institute?" Malcolm shrugged slightly, and Kaylee frowned. She paced around for a few minutes, considering what to do. Malcolm watched her quietly as she did.
Eventually, she spun towards him, hair bobbing behind her and a wide grin on her face. "Well, then. We'll just have to go there and figure things out."
Malcolm craned his head upward and looked back at Kaylee.
"How, you ask?" Kaylee interpreted. "Leave that to me." She put both hands on his shoulders, and this time he made no effort to resist. "You've saved my life more than once. I owe you. We'll figure this out, okay?"
Malcolm's shining eyes stared out at her, and she could see flecks of his bright white hair spilling out of his wide-brimmed, tattered hat. She smiled at him, and when she did, she could have sworn that a return smile glittered in his eyes