The Broken Healer

Chapter 3: Trial 3

Evelyn lost track of the time. She had no idea how long she withered and cried in pain from whatever they injected into her IV. It finally left her system and she hung slumped, supported by nothing but the chains. Her head flopped forwards and that's how she slept; hanging by her arms. This was how it went. Deferent injections, different outcomes. One made her throw up constantly. The guard just took a hose to the floor. Another injection made her hallucinate. 

She saw everyone as fully gone cranks. Everyone, George and Jack, Clint and Winston and Ben included, they all took turns screaming everything they hated about her, all her failures, how she couldn't save them. Newt was the worst. With his solid black wild crazed eyes, black veins and black bloody phlegm dripping down his chin he screamed at her informing her why she wasn't loveable. Once he had ripped her apart she had to watch as a cranked Newt turn to a cranked Tommy for love and affection in his arms, while they cackled and laughed at her. 

Evelyn hung and sobbed. Begging her mind to take her away. She begged for her own crank to take over and shield her from the madness. But the voice was quiet, leaving her alone. 

It was quiet in her cell, she was in and out of consciousness. Her arms ached and her knees were bruised from being on them for who knows how long. There was a soft thumping, meaning someone was coming to her cell. The door creaked open, it sent shivers of dread down her spine. The person came all the way up to her. She could see their shoes. She didn't bother lifting her head. The person would do what they wanted. 

"Subject X." 

Rat Man. 

Evelyn didn't bother looking up, even if she wanted to, she couldn't. She had no energy, no will anymore. Everything hurt. She had permanent tear tracks down her grimy face. Her eyes had dark circles and were sunken in, she had lost weight from not eating real food, just the IV. 

"Evelyn." Ran Man barked again. 

She just made a noise in her throat. Lifting her head just enough, and then letting it flop back down. Her eyes fluttered closed again.  

"Today is your lucky day. It's time for a shower. However we can't actually let you out into the halls of the compound, seeing as your infected with the Flare. We don't want to making contact with those who haven't contracted it, and we don't want you...cranking out...on anyone." 

He paused, as if he expected her to throw herself at his feet in thankfulness. Evelyn did nothing. She didn't even move. Her mind was exhausted, her head throbbed. She wished Rat Man would go away so she could drift off into nothingness. He cleared his throat and went on. 

"You will also be happy to know all the Subjects have successfully passed Trial three!" 

"You...lied." She whispered, her words were muffled by the muzzle. 

Rat Man finally crouched down in front of her, he undid the top half and she was able to talk properly.

"You...lied. You said..no more trials! Why did you lie that there'd be a cure at the safe haven?"

Rat Man shrugged. "I don't think it was a lie at all. By completing the Trials, by arriving at the safe haven, you and the other subjects helped us collect more data. And because of that there will be a cure. Eventually. For everyone. However...you have a different journey then the other subjects."

"Why...what's the point?" she croaked, she managed to lift her head slightly. 

Janson used a finger to lift her chin higher. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Here I thought you were intelligent Miss Evelyn." Rat Man answered with such a sickly sweetness her stomach heaved. "Variables," Rat Man answered. "Everything we've done to you has been carefully calculated by our Psychs and doctors. Done to stimulate responses in the killzone, where the Flare does its damage. To study the patterns of different emotions and reactions and thoughts. See how they work within the confines of the virus that's inside you. The Flare has a much stronger hold on you, and we want to know why. Why the Subject with the powers to heal and now destroy, why did you catch the Flare and not be able to heal it, like everything else. We've been trying to understand why in you, there's no debilitating effect. It's all about the killzone patterns, Evelyn. Mapping your and the other Subject's cognitive and physiological responses to build a blueprint for the potential cure. It's about the cure."