Resentment

Part 7

Part 7

We were arrested pretty much the second we made it out of the front door with our hands in the air. I heard Jamie's grunt of pain behind me as I was roughly tackled to the ground by multiple humans. Gritting my teeth I held still and allowed them to snap something metallic around my wrists which instantly caused a burning sensation. My ankles were also cuffed together before I was bodily lifted and thrown into an armoured truck. Seconds later Jamie landed beside me.

I spotted a glimmer of fear in his gaze as I met his eyes. "I love you" I silently mouthed at him before we were pulled apart and roughly seated on opposite benches in the truck. Six fully armed guards stood around us and the doors slammed shut.

"Wasn't somebody supposed to read us our rights?" I muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"You don't have any rights. Legally you're dead." Sneered the guard nearest to me.

"He isn't" I retorted, nodding at Jamie.

"Infected until proved otherwise." 

"What? That is ridiculous!" I exclaimed incredulously. None of them bothered to reply.

The Journey proved to be so long it almost became tedious. I examined the contraption on my wrists closer. If I hadn't been wearing it I might have been impressed. At least a couple of inches of solid steel plated with silver completely encircled each wrist. Built into the metal periodically were tiny needles loaded with some sort of silvery product. It didn't look like I would be breaking free anytime soon, unless I wanted my veins filled with whatever was in those vials. The needles pointed straight at my skin, which was already burning and blistering from the contact with silver.

 I tried to work out what direction we were headed in but it proved almost impossible in the small windowless space. After a while we left behind all the noises of the city and entered into the relative silence of the countryside. What seemed like centuries later, the truck pulled to a stop. The sounds of other vehicles around us also ceased.

I listened as people got out of cars around us and prepared weapons. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door. The guard nearest to it pushed it open, and I felt a gun pointed at the back of my head. The guard holding it behind me indicated for Jamie to get up and leave first. Once he was escorted from the vehicle it was my turn. I stood up and shuffled to avoid tripping since my feet were still secured close together.

Aside from the people that escorted us, there were also people hurrying towards us from an impressive looking concrete structure. The structure was surrounded by multiple razor wire topped fences. The mostly grey blocky building had quite a formidable, imposing feel to it. It had the atmosphere of a medieval castle but the style of a council office.

Once the new people had assembled around our group the gun pressed into my back nudged me forward and I shuffled the long way into the building. We were searched as we entered and everything in my pockets was taken away. Luckily they left my necklace. I didn't want to risk losing that. The phone was still in my stomach, I could feel a dull pain where it was sitting.

I wasn't sure how much they knew about me and Jamie, so I deliberately didn't show too much affection for him. In their eyes the less he was involved with me the better. I tried not to react when he was directed into a room for immediate questioning without me. I was pushed into a lift. We went down seven floors before the doors finally opened, leading me to question how big this place actually was. The floor we stopped at required one of the guards to insert an electronic key.

In contrast to the gloomy exterior, the inside of the building was blindingly white and clean. The ceiling was illuminated with bright panel lights, making it impossible to look up without temporarily loosing eyesight. My eyes burned and my head ached and with a surge or realisation it dawned on me that they were using UV lights in-between the normal ones. The result mimicked natural sunlight.

Suddenly we turned off of the corridor into a slightly darker room. My damaged eyes were slow to adjust as the guards hoisted me up onto the wall, hooking my cuffs up so my arms were trapped above my head. My feet were fixed to the floor. They didn't speak as they turned and left the room. The heavy door slammed into place and I heard several locks clicking into place.

Blinking I realised someone was opposite me. I squinted making the figure come into view and a gasp left my throat. He was almost unrecognisable. His figure, always slender was now so thin it was practically skeletal. Above sunken lips and hollow cheeks were eyes which had once been green and vibrant. Now they were completely silver and streaked with red.

"David?" I choked in horror.

Awareness entered his gaze and he focused on me, "Hello Jade." Abruptly he broke out into hysterical laughter, making me draw back the little that I could.

"What have I done?" I whispered to myself in horror. I looked around frantically, suddenly hoping that there would be some sign of Julia here. Some sign that she wasn't in this state too.

"She's not here."

The abrupt seriousness in his voice made my gaze snap back to him.

"What?"

"Julia, I know you're looking for her. She's not here."

"Do you know where she is?" I asked, daring to let hope enter my voice.

Without warning he broke into laughter again.  After a moment he took a breath.  "She's dead."