Desires of Men ~SEQUEL TO THE LIFE I LIVE~

Something Worse Than Death

"I swear to God, I'll kill you all!"

Summer's voice echoed around the circular room, her feet pounding against the tile flooring as she angrily paced. Soaking wet, drops fell to the floor from her naked body. Her long hair stuck to her sides unpleasantly, but she didn't have anything to tie it up and there was no use anyway. The observation room up above was two-way, making it so she couldn't see the scientists on the other side.

At the center of the room, a drain was set into the floor. Directly above that, the ceiling came to a point with a small hole. Water dripped dully from it.

"Subject 711-A549, please be warned that another failed experiment will result in more disciplinary action."

"To hell with your damn warnings! Come down here so I can tear you to shreds!" She punched the wall, her fist slamming into the white tile with enough force to rattle the glass up above. There was a pause before the intercom came back on.

"Preparing session three."

"Tch." Summer snarled, bracing herself for the test to be repeated. Her lungs were already on fire but she wasn't about to let those bastards win.

The drain in the middle of the room sealed itself with a loud clang. A familiar whooshing sound rumbled above the room and in the next instant, thousands of pounds of rushing water came crashing through the hole in the ceiling. It splashed down and rushed to fill every corner of the tiled room. She was knocked over, once again, by the fierce strength of the water's momentum, and her head knocked against the wall. Quickly closing her mouth, she was able to get one last breath in before her head went under.

The water was far below a comfortable temperature. Half of her wondered if they gathered it from the small icebergs outside, where the temperature was well below freezing, and then allowed it to melt. It certainly felt that way. The currents underneath the flow were sending her swirling through the torrents. The compression against her chest grew heavier and more painful, but she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. Opening her mouth now would spell death.

The initial downpour had disoriented her sense of direction, but quickly 'up' became apparent and she swam as fast as she could to the top. Her head broke the surface and suddenly she could breathe. Gasping, her limbs floundered around to try to stay above the rising surface. One glance up confirmed that the room was nearly halfway filled.

The intercom didn't make a sound, but Summer could bet anything that those bastards were discussing her every action with calculated gazes. They had a hate-hate relationship going: they hated her for killing one of their staff, she hated them for torturing her.

"It is easier to breathe lying on your back. Do not panic." Nemesis whispered in her ear, and she took a deep breath before trying to situate herself as such. It wasn't easy getting into a supine position, especially with everything moving as fast as it was.

"I'm gonna kill him..." She ground out, spitting out mouthfuls of water. Her body was now effectively frozen, and any attempt to keep herself above the water progressively got harder. Part of her was glad she wasn't clothed. The fabrics would've just gotten heavy with water and weighed her down. With limbs that were too numb to even feel, Summer started to feel that rise of panic, like there was a brooding sense of an inevitable death at the end of this.

The ceiling was getting much closer. Holding up a hand, she reached up and was able to brush the top with her fingers. Extreme shivering and numb skin was a sign of hypothermia, and she knew that even a few minutes in freezing water posed a risk. She bet her ass the scientists knew it to. They probably didn't care much.

She bumped her head against the ceiling, leaving her a precious few seconds to suck up as much air as she was capable. She gasped in and out to expand her lungs, finally taking as big a breath as possible, before the water completely reached the ceiling.