The Last Winter

Saturday: Subject 21 (23)

Maggie
wwwwwwwww

Veronica slaps me across the face.

I undo her straps and this is how she repays me?

"How? How could you have done that?" she whispers, horrified.

"See if I ever pay you back again," Vena mutters.

I push Veronica's bed out of the way with an angry thrust.

"Whatever. I came back, didn't I? I could've left you two in here to starve to death. See if I ever care about you two again," I snap, exiting their prison room.

"Hey, what about me?" I hear Vena call after me.

"I'll untie you," her sister assures her.

I circle around the hallways until I find the other room. Michal and Nolan's room. There's a narrow window that I can peer through in the door. The room is cloaked in shadow, and there's still a thick haze of gas that makes everything fuzzy. But I can still make out Michal's bed on one side. I can't see his face, but his body has gone very still. I don't even think his chest is rising and falling anymore.

Tears start rolling down my cheeks. I can't even stop them. Not at this point.

I grab hold of the doorknob and twist, but it catches on something.

"Come on," I moan, fighting with the door.

But it's no use. There's a keyhole in the knob. It must be locked.

I curse, slamming the door with my fists. This is my fault. It's all my fault. Why did I follow the red arrow? I could've just chosen to wander the halls until I found another way out--a room with an open window, another set of stairs. Endless possibilities.

Now Michal and Nolan are dead.

"Speaking of the devil," I hear Vena murmur, and I turn to see my sisters appear from around a corner.

"Is that--is that where they are?" Veronica asks, looking at the locked door.

I clench my jaw and nod, and I watch as they too peer through the window and try the doorknob.

"It's useless. They're dead anyway," I say, and my voice cracks on that last word.

I turn away from them and wipe the tears from my eyes. After sniffling, I start walking away.

"Where are you going?" Vena asks.

"I'm gonna find a way out of this hellhole," I answer through clenched teeth.

I don't turn around, but I hear them follow me from a distance. As much as we hate each other, and as much as we hate to admit it, we still need each other.

I venture into a large office. A big desk sits on one end. Two small chairs for clients cower before it. A small antique couch hugs the back wall, and bookshelves line the other walls. Oreo would love to get a load of this. She always liked looking at old things.

"No windows," Veronica observes with a heavy heart.

Vena sits down in the large armchair behind the desk and rifles through the thin yellow pages on the surface as if it is her right.

I spot an old telephone on the desk, but when I pick up the receiver, silence answers back. Of course it's dead. The observation room had working lights, but of course all the phones and any other means of escape will be cut off from us.

"Hey, come look at this," Vena says quietly, squinting at a piece of paper.

I don't see how she can see anything in this darkness.