Cavalcade of the Iniquitous

Bee Cat

3 Days Until the End

Elias barely reacted when I told him the news, his expression merely changing from pensive to grim. Had he been expecting something like this? If he did, he didn't say.

Doris, on the other hand, was beside herself with worry, pacing back and forth along the corridor outside my cell. "I'm sorry, Omen. I'm so, so sorry. This is all my fault. I didn't mean for this to happen, I just wanted you to stay here, with us. I shouldn't have spoken to Wagner. I shouldn't have said anything at all. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Doris," Elias said, leaning against the wall, his hand cupping his chin thoughtfully. "This is Wagner's idea. A peaceful solution to two problems."

Doris stopped pacing and shot Elias a withering look. "Peaceful?! Omen is going to have his memory wiped! How is that peaceful?"

Elias winced at the anger in her voice. "I only meant it's peaceful when compared to the alternative."

The firing squad.

Doris looked down at the floor, her hands clasped in front of her chest. "I'm sorry, Elias. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. I didn't mean to shout at you, I'm just..." she shook her head and began to pace again. "There has to be something we can do. Maybe we can talk Wagner out of it? Or... or maybe we can sabotage the scientist's equipment?"

"Doris."

"We could come back tonight. With a key! I know Yakov has a couple hidden away somewhere. We could make it look like Omen escaped and—"

"Doris."

She finally stopped and turned to face me.

The iron bars were cold against my palms as I gripped them tightly. I had barely slept the previous night, alternating between plotting my escape and resigning to my fate. After tossing and turning well into the early morning hours, there was only one thing I knew for certain.

"I don't want you to get involved," I told her. "I don't want any of you getting involved. Don't go risking yourselves for me. I'm not worth it. It's my fault I'm in this mess, and if I do lose my memories, well... you can't regret what you don't remember."

"No, Omen. Don't say that. Don't—"

A metallic clank. Someone was running down the corridor.

"Elias," Hans panted, skidding to a stop. He bent over, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Doris... N-Nemo... We have a... a s-situation."

Elias pushed himself up off the wall, immediately on high alert. "What is it, Hans?"

The would-be sheep farmer held out a hand, gesturing for us to wait. He sucked in three deep breaths, before standing up straight to deliver his news. "There was a m-message, a communication from headquarters. I was going to take it straight to the c-commander, I swear I didn't mean to read it, but Yakov c-cornered me, and he said... Well, it d-doesn't matter what he said, you know what he can be like..." He glanced nervously in my direction, his face red, beads of sweat trickling down his brow. He shuffled closer to Elias and whispered something into his ear.

Elias nodded his head. "We know. Lien told us."

"Oh." Hans gave me a rueful smile which quickly disappeared. "Well... there was m-more... In the m-message, the one from headquarters... It's... It's b-bad. Really bad. I...I..."

"Deep breaths, Hans," Doris said gently. "Take your time."

He nodded and took a shaky breath. "The m-memory experiment... Nemo... It's about us. It's always b-been about us. For us." His words were making little sense.