Trials

Chapter 15- Noah

           "This is the most STUPID idea! We're all going to die and I'm going down with you two!"

          "Noah's friend Zach needs us,"

            "Again, I was at the Trial memorial, not you. Noah barely even knows Zach, and now we're all risking our lives to rescue him?"

            "Zach could be an asset,"

          "And I could be a Silent," Courtney snorts with amusement. "We're all going to die"

            "Thank you for your optimism and by the way, Corey, your opinion is not wanted at the moment." Murphy snaps.

             She gives him a sharp glare.

           "It's a fact, dingus, and it's Courtney. Think you can spell that? C-O-U-"

            "Cut that trash talk out. I'm trying to think." Noah says.

            "Awww. You hear that Murphy? Wittle Noah needs time to think before someone blasts his brains into next century!" Courtney coos with a sharp hiss at the end.

        "I should've gone with Mack," Noah snaps, anger hardening in his throat.

         Courtney snorts. "And I should've let that snake kill me. Honestly Noah, now you're just thinking of ways to get killed sooner." She scoffs as she gives him a playful shove to his shoulder.

          "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Noah yells as he snaps around.

           Courtney jumps back in surprise and fear as Noah gives her a threatening stare. She hangs back as Murphy and Noah walks ahead of her, the veins in his arm tightening with every step.

           "Maybe you should shut your mouth before someone here snaps your neck." Murphy warns. It may have been a threat, but there was a hint of fear from Murphy as well. Noah didn't have to look back to know that they were both staring at him with a confused look.

           He didn't care. Or did he? But Courtney deserved it! But she really didn't do anything! Ugh. His temper was getting shorter and shorter by the minute. His mind was an unorganized system of thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Questions soared above his head like a bird's nest. Should he have stayed with Mack? Did Liam really betray her? Was she ok? Would Liam betray him as well? What happened to Jenna? Was Zach going to be ok? Was Jay? Liam? Josh? Mya? Ari? AGH! So frustrating! Noah shook out his head. His life now was always on edge. Relief and panic. Day in and day out. 

         His plan to rescue Zach may be a simple one, but it was a leap into the unknown, just like the other Noah's plan. Their survival really depended on many different variables. And Courtney may be right about one thing: perhaps it was a stupid idea. But right now, all he had was that stupid idea. The plan was this: Murphy was to fake an injury to get into the Medical Ward. Then, Courtney would disable the cams and Murphy would unlock the door when no one was looking and let them both in. They'd steal some scrubs and roll Zach out when they found him. Then he could only hope they could find an empty room and hide there until they figure something out, and he was really hoping Mack would come back for them. It was crazy, yes. There were many risks, yes. A million things could go wrong, he didn't even know if the Medical Ward would accept Murphy while they were in lockdown! So many different well it depends if, and, only good if. They were screwed either way. May as well go down fighting. Like Jenna.

        Jenna. Guilt hardens in his chest. Where was she? Had she led the other kids to victory? Or had she died trying?

         "Hey!" Courtney shouts from behind. "It's a Silent!"

          Sure enough, two unmasked Silent, like every other, were approaching from the other end.

          "Courtney," Noah whispers softly. "Run and hide."

          "And leave you here? With an armed patrol of Silent?" Courtney says, raising a brow.

           "Just- GO!" He snaps.

           Courtney stares at him in confusion, but sprints down the hallway with little hesitation.

            "The plan is in action," He tells Murphy

             "Seriously?" Murphy questions

             Noah gives him a hard kick. Murphy rears back in pain

             "OWW! DUDE- WHAT THE-"

             "They're coming," Noah whispers.

            Murphy realizes the situation. He lets out a wail.

           The guards pause in confusion.

           "Can you help us?" Noah begs in the most desperate voice he can muster.

            The guards exchange a look.

            "Please! He got really hurt! He just collapsed! I think he's having a seizure or something?" Noah tells them.

          "Why and how are you out?" He asks.

          Noah felt his heart beating at an unnatural rhythm as panic flooded his body.

         "I told you!" He says. "My friend!"

         The guards give him a disapproving glare, but then the one in front waves his hand.

        "Get the hurt boy to the Medical Ward. And escort him back to his room." He spat at Noah.

         Noah doesn't persist at the guard grabs him roughly by the arm.

        "I thought the doctor was going to fix him." The guard chuckles softly to the other.

        Noah glances down to his pocket.... and made a mental note to smash the device later.

        Noah flinches as the guard places a hand on him and leads him back to his room. They hadn't even gotten halfway back when a rock flew and hit the guard in the head, rendering him unconscious.

         "Courtney?" He says as he almost squeals.

         "Hi Noah," She says.

         He grins. "You sly fox."

       She shrugs. "Rocks were always my key weapon. Flaming coals or skull crushing boulders. I take it you'll apologize now?" She says.

        "Right, I'm sorry,"

        She accepts his apology with a smile. "Well I have a few more good sized rocks just in case you turn into a jerk face again." She says, but drops her smile "...right. Let's- go get Murphy and Zach."

                                                                                     . . .

            Adrenaline races through Noah's veins like a trail of fire. It was likely that the cams had already spotted them. It was impossible for them not to see Courtney smash that rock into the guards' heads and someone was likely to know where they were going too. With no more time for Courtney to disable the rest of the cams, they had to be in and out of the Medical Ward. And the chances of running into a guard or Dr. Whitman were getting extremely high by the minute. But now, all they're hope was put on these risks.

            "How do we get in!" Noah says once. the two reached the locked door.

            Courtney pulled out a dark rock.

           "I doubt your rock collection is going to solve this one." Noah says.

            Courtney shot him a glare.

           "This is a sun stone," Courtney explains. "Right from the Solar Trial. It becomes one of the hottest objects on the planet with enough heat or friction."

          She places a stone in one of Noah's hands and a pair of gloves in the other.

         Noah stares at the gloves then back at the black rock.

          "What are these?" Noah asks.

          Courtney grins. "Heat insulated gloves. We kind of have heat insulated everything in the Solar Trial." Then her face darkened. "We've had to trade with other Trials because...well because we lost a lot of kids in the very beginning."

           "What! What do you me-"

           There was suddenly a loud stomping sound in the corridor and shadows peered along the walls.

            "They found us!" Courtney gasps. "We have to hurry!" She says as she slips the gloves over his hands.

             Noah sighs. "I wish Jay was here." He mumbles.

              "Scrape it against the walls fast. It will gain heat fast. Maybe we can melt the door."

              Noah frantically drags the done along the side of the wall, but the approaching shadows suddenly turn to a bright glow.

              Both Courtney and Noah freeze in terror as warm, fatal flames lick towards them.

               Courtney turns to run the other way, but Noah grabs her arm.

              "No!" He yells. "They're trying to flush us out! We have to get inside the Medical Ward!"

            Courtney nods as they both scoop up the now sizzling Sun Stones. They take up the red hot stones and press them against the metal door. In seconds, it creates a hole in the door just big enough for them to squeeze through.

              "Careful not to touch the sides!" Courtney warns.

             Courtney goes in and Noah's almost all the way out when his leg bumps the side and a blazing trail of pain shoots up his leg. He jumps back in pain and clutches his leg.

            "You ok?" Courtney asks.

         Noah peels his hands away and examines the dark red mark, dangerously near the the bruising from his fall.

           "It's not- too bad." He says through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine."

          Then he turns to peer back through the hole to the increasing height of the flames.

           "What about the fire?"

          Courtney shakes her head. "I'll bet when we don't show up that they'll turn on the water systems. They'll think we're injured or dead until they see the hole. The fire itself wouldn't be hot enough to burn through the metal corridor though. Just the sun stones. They can burn... anything..."

           Noah stares at her curiously. Courtney turns away, embarrassed.

           "Just stuff you learn in the Solar Trial. Many different fires."

          Noah nods and struggles to his feet. Courtney picks up the Sun Stones and cups them in her gloves.

           In silence Noah and Courtney stealthily sneak through the Medical Ward as doctors and nurses pass by, oblivious to the fire burning next to them. Noah turns as Courtney taps him on the shoulder and points up as they duck behind a metal cart, and on the opposite wall, through a sheet of glass, lying unconscious in a white bed, is Zach. Noah wanted to yell in triumph.

            "Now to get him ou-"

           The sudden screech of an alarm whirs to life and red light swirls around the room just as it did in his own. Noah and Courtney duck behind a desk as doctors and nurses rush towards the door to get out.

           "Fire alarms?" Noah guesses.

          They look and see through a far window the sprinklers already raining down, putting out an invisible fire. It was the fire alarms, but the fire was dead.

            "It has to be something else." Courtney says.

           As more doctors run past, a cold dread pools over Noah.

           "The door! They'll see the breach!"

           Courtney shakes her head and points to an opposite corridor the staff is running to.

             "Must be an emergency exit down there." She says.

              "They're leaving all the sick and injured though!" Noah frowns.

               "Cowards." Courtney growls under her breath.

               After a little more waiting, Courtney assures Noah that everyone has left.

              Courtney runs to try to get Zach out while Noah searches for Murphy.

            Noah finally spots him curled up in a bed in another room. Noah frantically jiggles the locked door handle and lets out a frustrated grunt. He kicks hard at the glass and after a few strong attempts, it shatters open. He carefully reaches through to unlock the door.

           Murphy groans when he comes in. Noah appears at his side.

            "Hey, it's okay. What'd they do to you? Are you alright?"

           Murphy rolls over only to give him a hard glare. His face was pretty beat up. Swollen and bruised and bleeding.

           "Talk to me when you've been through the hell I have." He says weakly.

            Noah almost gasps. "They did that to you? You weren't even here that long!"

          "Not they. He. Tortured me for information. And you're very welcome I didn't spill my guts for you."

           "Oh Murphy I'm so sorry. Wait... did you say he?"

           Murphy opens his mouth to speak, but his face goes frozen.

            "Aw, Murphy. You were talking about me?"

            Noah slowly turns around. Dr. Whitman stood in the doorway with a discomforting smile.

            "You're very lucky that I didn't kill you myself after what you did to me, Noah. And when I couldn't get anything out of your friend, how very lucky was I to see the gaping hole in the door, to ignore the alarm and follow you here."

            Murphy curses under his breath. Dr. Whitman whips his head around.

           "I do hope you'll come quietly this time, Noah. It would be unfortunate, especially for this sweet boy, if you didn't." He warns in a dangerous tone.

           Noah has to stop himself from shaking. He plants his feet and narrows his eyes. There was no way he was going to give up so easily. And he wasn't just going to stand there and be the coward who only barely made it alive. 

          Noah feels around for the small wired device in his pocket, and pulls it out. Immediately Dr. Whitman freezes in place.

           "Pretty hard to do whatever you want to me without this, huh?" He taunts, holding the device like a small toy, the hook.

           Murphy shoots him a warning glare.

          Dr. Whitman's eerie smile drops.

         Noah gives Murphy an apologetic glance then slams the device on the floor. No one moves as Noah buried his heel into it, crushing the wiring circuit.

          Dr. Whitman gasps in horror. His face turns a dangerous red.

           "You i***t boy! Do you even KNOW what that IS! How much that even COSTS! Do you even realize what you've DONE!"

          Noah narrows his eyes further. Praying to that higher power that he hadn't just signed his own death certificate. Murphy held his breath in anticipation.

           "Too. Bad." He growls, forcing all the fear out in a hushed voice.

            Dr. Whitman grabs a fistful of Noah's shirt and slams him against the wall. Noah chokes as the doctor's other hand clasps around his own throat.

          Murphy darts forward in horror and stumbles off the bed. Noah's lungs scream for air and he doesn't need a mirror to know his face is turning an unnatural color. A few more seconds and he'd pass out.

        Murphy then lands a punch to the doctors head, sending him reeling.

        "Run!" Murphy snaps.

         Murphy and Noah sprint down the hall without even catching their breath.

          Courtney approached them, dragging the unconscious Zach behind her. So much for wheeling him out.

         "What's going on?" She asks when she sees their panic.

      "No time to explain!" Murphy gasps as he helps grab Zach. "Help me pick him up! We gotta run!"

        "Run?" Courtney asks in fear. "From who?"

        It's then Noah looked up to see Dr. Whitman on the opposite end of the hall. The red flash of alarms illuminated his face and swelling bump on his head with an eerie glow.

          A sparkle of fear glistened in Courtney's eyes.

         "Oh...."

         "Run!" Noah snaps.

        Courtney and Murphy hastily grab Zach's flailing limbs and take off down the hall. They don't look behind them as they take off.

         "Go go go!" Noah shouts.

         Courtney stumbles with one of Zach's legs, but shoots back up again, adjusting her grip hastily. They scramble through the burnt door, the hot marks now cool.

         "I don't even wanna know." Murphy grunts as he goes through.

         They run through the empty corridors, not bothering to watch for cams, or extra stragglers, or even guards. After they're all too tired to take another step they finally turn around one of the longest metal hallways. No one was there. Dr. Whitman hadn't followed them. But why?

                                                                                         . . .

          Murphy lifts up Zach's thin shirt. There was a bandage over the side of his abdomen, smeared with dry blood. There was also a slightly smaller bandage on one side of his head. Had Dr. Whitman tortured him for information too?

          "We need someplace to hide, regroup. At least until Zach can wake up and talk."

          Noah nods in agreement, his head still spinning from the minute with lack of oxygen.

         Courtney's eyes dart back and forth, her mind lost in thought.

        "I... may know a place. Somewhere cams can't see us..." She mutters softly.

        "Whats the catch?" Murphy says cautiously, raising his eyebrow at her nervous tone of voice.

        "I didn't say you'd like it,"