Escaping Elysia

Chapter 17 - Elephants and Stakes (cont.)

Dale

Another morning in this old, dingy cafeteria. Leah forgave me last night, or at least, she found me in the library and asked if I was going to help her with the laundry. Normally that would mean that she's over whatever whatever pissed her off, but we worked throughout the evening and she sabotaged all of my attempts to start a conversation.

Evita walks into the cafeteria now, her face impassive, her eyes sharp and focused on her surroundings. She's looped her arm through Nadya's, supporting her in the absence of the IV stand. Evita catches me staring, and the edges of her mouth tick upward as she nods, acknowledging me. My pulse speeds up. Turning her back to me, she guides Nadya into the line.

A few tables down, a boy, Simon, sits alone. He's hunched over his tray. The guards brought him into my room late last night. My new roommate. I guess they caught him. His presence in the room feels wrong, like a shoe tied on the wrong foot, and I found it hard to fall asleep until early in the morning.

Weston sets his tray down beside me and nods at Simon. "New roommate?" he asks, and I nod. Evita and Nadya arrive at the table in time to hear Weston's next question. "Why is he over there?"

I sigh. "I guess he wanted to be alone." Weston shrugs and sits. He takes Nadya's tray from her and sets it in front of the seat beside him. She has algae on her tray, which is new. Maybe they're thinking about switching her into to to green group.

I did ask Simon if he wanted to sit with us but he refused. Elysia can be rough without someone to guide you and normally I would have persuaded him, but between the lack of sleep, wondering why Leah is still upset with me, and the impossibility of removing Evita from my thoughts, I don't have the motivation.

"That's weird," Evita says, taking a bite of her food. "Why would they bring a new kid in now?"

I shoot her a look, and Weston frowns. "What do you mean, 'now'?" he asks. I grind my teeth. Weston can be a little touchy when it comes to the studies, and I don't feel like dealing with him this morning. Evita catches my eye and I shake my head, almost imperceptibly.

Her face remains calm and expressionless. "You know, with the trials ending," she says. I let out a breath, grateful for her quick thinking.

"Oh, that happens all the time," Weston says, brushing off her explanation. "Besides, Dr. Ellis told me that the blue and green studies are more promising right now. They want to focus their efforts on those instead."

I inwardly groan. Weston and I get along on the surface, but if we weren't stuck in this place I don't think we'd be friends. While he doesn't agree with their methods, he does believe in what the researchers are trying to do here. I think it's stupid and dangerous.

When breakfast is over we head to the windows for meds. Weston walks ahead of us with Nadya. I notice his hand bumping into hers as they walk, and after a minute she crosses her arms. I swear I see his shoulders slump.

Evita and I reach the front of the line. She shows her blue tattoo, then waits for me to get my pill so that we can walk back to the clinic together. It's become a ritual of ours over the past few days, and though we don't talk much, the air between us is charged. I take my plastic cup and shake the green pill into my palm, then chase it with the glass of water. I know I'm lucky that the green study has few side effects, but it still feels like each time I take one of those pills I'm swallowing poison.

Evita and I are turning to leave when it happens.

A commotion catches our attention farther back in the line, and I look to see two guards pushing Simon forward. He's struggling to resist them, but they're too strong and they deposit him at the pill window. He shakes them off, breathing heavily, his face flaming red.

When the researcher behind the window asks for his subject number, he only grunts. The researcher begins typing anyway, then looks up, "Ah, Simon Blair. Green group. Here you are." He sets a plastic cup containing a pill on the counter, identical to the one I just swallowed.

Simon picks up the cup and stares at the pill for a moment before slamming it down. "No." His voice is husky. "I won't take it." My stomach clenches.

The researcher sighs and beckons to one of the guards. The guard strides toward Simon, who takes one look at him, then turns the other way and bolts down the hall.

"Is he trying to escape?" Evita asks. I shake my head. Besides going through the doors, which have an alarm on them, Simon could go down one of two hallways when he reaches the end of this one. To the solarium or to the boys' dorms. Either way, the guards will just follow him and force him to take the pill. There's nowhere to run.

I clench my jaw as he reaches the end of the hall, but he doesn't turn down either of the two hallways. Instead he heads straight for the door. 

"Did anyone warn him about the alarms?" I ask, adrenaline surging under my skin. 

Evita's breath catches in her throat. I look at her, expecting to see my panic mirrored in her face, but she doesn't look scared, just intensely focused. 

"I've got to stop him," I say, taking a step forward, but she clutches my arm and I feel a thrill shoot through me.

"Wait," she says. "You won't make it in time. And maybe..."

We both watch, everyone watches, as he reaches the doors and pulls the handle. I call to him, tell him to stop, but it's too late. As Simon steps over the threshold electricity crackles in the still air and he shakes violently. I watch in horror as his body goes limp, his hand still clutching the door handle as he slides to the floor, electricity pumping through his body. 

My arms go rigid. Someone's screaming. Evita. Her scream becomes a sob and I move to block her view, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and burying her head in my chest.

"Shh," I whisper, stroking her hair. Her cheek fits perfectly into me and I grip her, keeping my mind on the feel of her tears soaking through my t-shirt, and off of the scene before us in the hallway.

She jerks away, wiping the wetness from her face.

"I'm fine," she says, folding her arms. The words sting, like frostbitten fingertips held under hot water, sharp and painful. I turn away, so she can't see my face. I'm not as good at hiding it as her.

Guards run past us to where Simon now lies on the floor. They lift his limp body and carry him through the doors, while Brandt supervises.

"Is he dead?" Evita asks, her voice normal, her puffy eyes the only sign that she was just screaming and sobbing into my chest.

Yes, I think, but I don't answer.

Brandt looks out at the crowd of test subjects, a sick smile on his face. His eyes alight on Evita.

"Next time one of you thinks about running," he says, talking loud enough for all the test subjects to hear, though he's focused on her. "Remember this."

He laughs, the sound booming, then follows the others through the door. I guess I'm not the only one who can tell Evita's still itching to get out of here. 

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Author's note: Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter :).