Zone Zero (Book 1 of 3)

Chapter 33

I have stopped talking completely and don't even bother to look anyone in the eye anymore.

Doctors come and go and take three, sometimes four, vials of blood at a time and then inject me with something new and different each day. Sometimes I feel fine and almost a little stronger with what they pump into me, whilst other days my body rejects the serums and I become violently ill. But no matter what the reaction, as soon as the next day arrives, they inject me with something new.

They no longer keep me strapped to a bed and instead keep me locked away in a cell like white room with bars across one wall. All this room houses is a bed, a toilet and me. Even prisoners back in the old world received more than what I have in here but I don't even bother thinking about it.

It has been almost six weeks since I was put in here and Logan still chooses to come see me every day hoping that each time I will break my vow of silence or at least look at him, but I never do. I secretly wish that he will stop coming and just leave me alone for good.

I can see that he is growing desperate to have his little sister back the way she was but I have lost all hope in myself and in mankind as a whole. I am a shell of a person now. Empty and hollow. Nothing is as it was and nothing will be as it should ever again.

My wounds are fading slowly and I feel no more pain from them, which means that the doctors have also stopped being as careful with me as they prod several different needles in my arms each day. Even the guards aren't as cautious with me as they push and shove me in the direction I am supposed to go. A few have even resorted to hair pulling when needed but it doesn't make me quicken my pace.

Every day after the various injections, I am taken into a deteriorating interrogation room and handcuffed to a chair that remains bolted to the concrete floor. Each time someone different comes in and asks me all sorts of stupid questions, mostly revolving around the vampires or about my bond with Alex. I flinch when they say his name and struggle to choke back the tears that appear each time I think about him.

The negotiators that they send in each day have all tried different methods to get me to cooperate with them but I am yet to even give off a reaction. They have tried everything from bartering to bullying but I give them nothing. The latest trick that they are now using is violence, but even though I have been left bruised and bloody on more than one occasion, I still refuse to play along with their games.

I say nothing. I do nothing. To them, I am nothing.

...

"Hey Evie. How are you doing today?" Logan appears at my cell door but I don't even bother to look his way. I instead tuck my chin down and try to hide my swollen and cut up lip which came as a result of yesterday's interrogation.

I shuffle on the bed and sit upright, pulling my knees into my chest and focus on a section of concrete floor. Maybe if I keep ignoring him he will leave me be. Maybe then he will finally forget about me and get the hint that his sister is gone and that I am beyond saving. I will live out the remainder of my days in this cell like a caged bird. Uncle James will see to that.

"I brought you a new book today. The Doctors said that it's ok." He slots a book through the bars and holds it there waiting for me to come and collect it but I don't move a muscle.

"It's one of your favorites; Alice in Wonderland." He tries to remain cheerful but there are cracks in his façade.

"Uncle James said that the tests are almost over now. You just have to answer their questions and they will let you come home." I choke back a snort at the sound of home. I don't have a home anymore.

"Don't you want that? To come home with me? It can be like it used to."

Silence finally falls over us as Logan lets out a large sigh. I know that this is hurting him but I am so numb now that it barely touches the sides as I swallow heartache like a pill.

"Evie, you need to understand that I hate seeing you like this. I never wanted this to happen." He begins to plead with me and I know that he has now run out of options. Over the weeks he has tried to be cruel, tried being loving and even tried reverse psychology but none of it works. He is trying his final card; truthful.

I hear the pain in his voice as it hangs from each word but I feel no sorrow for him. As much as it pains him to see me here, he is part of the reason that I will die behind iron bars like an animal. An animal that Uncle James has created.

"Look Evie, you have to know that it wasn't my idea. I just wanted you to be safe and with your own kind."

His words finally trigger a reaction as resentment grows throughout my body sending my mind into a frenzy. Before I can even think, I have turned my gaze to him and set my glare to deadly.

"Safe? Do you call this safe? I call this a prison and you my warden." I speak my words clearly knowing full well that he will ponder them for days to come.

"Safe from who exactly? Vampires? Alex? Funny how Alex kept me safer in the two weeks or so that I was with him than any human did in my entire life."

A mixture of disbelief and overwhelming joy fixes itself across Logan's face at the sound of my voice, a sound he has not heard in such a long time.

"Evie, it isn't safe being with them. They will turn on you before you know it." He tries to reason with me but I stop him dead in his tracks as I stand and make my way to the bars of my cell.

"You mean how you and Uncle James turned on me? Put me in here like some sort of experiment. What is it that you are hoping to find out by drugging me all the time?" The hatred in my voice conveys across much harsher than I intended it to but it's the truth and the truth can hurt.

I stare at his face and take the sight in fully, realizing just how dreadful he looks. His eyes are tired and worn like he hasn't been sleeping and his skin looks dull almost as though he has barely seen sunlight or eaten anything. A small pang in my heart sounds at the sight of him so close up but I choose to ignore it.

"Evie, I...I'm sorry." I watch as tears begin to well in his eyes but I don't stop now that I have started. He has to know the extent of his actions.

"You're sorry? You're sorry? Fuck your sorry's and fuck you!" I scream at him.

He takes a step back as his view on me changes. I can see it in his eyes that he is scared of me now and so he should be. I have lost everything because of his unwillingness to see the truth. Alex would never have hurt me, he only wanted to keep me safe. But my brother chose to believe my Uncle and now I have lost him too and I will never get my old brother back now that James has him in his grip.

Slowly he turns and walks out of sight leaving me with only my rage to keep me company.

I say a silent goodbye to the old Logan because I know that after today, he will not return again and with good reason.

I begin to pace the five steps of my cell back and forth. My mind is racing with Logan's words. Keep me safe. How is this keeping me safe?

I let the words sink in and know that Logan really does believe it, but I am done. I am done going along quietly as each day a different liquid is injected into me. I am done sitting silently in my cell waiting for time to pass. I am done moping around and feeling sorry for myself.

I have to get out of here. Now is the time for action and for my great escape.