On The Run

Chapter Five

Simone leaned against the wall of the dark alley. It had been over 7 hours since splitting from Kira and she had made no progress. She had searched around areas she suspected Zoie to have been yet was disappointed to discover that she was not there. Simone was slowly on the verge of giving up but she didn’t want to go back to Kira. Teleporting out of the back street, Simone halted and remained outside the structure and gazed at it realizing that this would be her last choice. 

The building was dark. It looked to have been completely abandoned with the only source of brightness coming from the street lights. Slowly, Simone walked towards the entrance of the institution and looked through the glass windows. Relieved to see that no one stood in the area, Simone teleported into the building. 

Even on the inside, the building looked abandoned. There was nothing homely or calming about the place, it just looked to be empty, cold, and haunting. Simone couldn’t believe that these people were being held against their will in such a poor building. Walking forward, she looked into every room and noticed that they seemed to be hospital rooms or conference rooms.

“Where the hell is everyone?” Simone whispered to herself.

Abruptly, the sound of a walkie talkie grabbed her attention.Quickly, Simone took cover behind the soft drink machine as the security guard strolled passed her. She watched as he grabbed the walkie talkie from his pocket with a grin.

“Those things are all locked away upstairs in their rooms so it’s clear. Tomorrow, we’ll have to open up an hour earlier since 2 have died and will need to be moved.” He announced. Simone watched as he walked out of the door.

Teleporting upstairs, Simone stood at the end of the unfamiliar hallway. The rooms all lined up down the hall with some having small windows on them. Simone looked through some of the windows and noticed that figures laid on tables with white sheets covering their bodies. Understanding that these were these were the 2 perished individuals that the safety officer alluded to, Simone took a full breath to keep herself quiet.

Laying eyes on one of the doors that read 110, Simone teleported herself into the room. When she entered, the 3 individuals in the room hid as the fourth one ventured forward. Simone watched as he sighed in relief after witnessing her teleport into the room.

“I thought you were one of those doctors coming to grab one of us to take to that damn lab.” He said though heavy breaths. Slowly, he looked at Simone with a blank expression. “We haven’t had a teleporter here yet so you must be new.” 

“No.” Simone replied. He looked at Simone for a few seconds before his face changed to realization. 

“You’re one of those girls! You’re wanted!” He announced. Simone watched as the 3 people who hid stepped from the darkness. There were 2 women and another man. They all seemed to be on edge with their eyes being filled with exhaustion. They wore matching clothes that seemed to be scrubs that nurses wear except the women wore blue and the men wore grey.

“I’m Simone.” Simone greeted. “You haven’t seen one of those girls on the wanted posters around here, have you?”

"No." He addressed honestly. "I'm Luke and this is Amy, Rachel, and Tyler."

“What’s going on in this place?” Simone asked. 

He sighed. “A lot.” 

“We were all hiding within that barrier when that energy hit us all. I felt normal when it first happened but minutes later, everything changed. My body felt as if it was on fire and I couldn’t breathe. I began to move at a fast speed and I couldn’t stop. I just kept running until my feet grew tired and I was caught.” Amy revealed. 

“I remember dropping to the ground and screaming in pain. I could hear this terrifying scream and I felt broken. Next thing I knew, I was holding a car up in the air.” Tyler answered. 

“I don’t remember anything other than the feeling that I felt when it happened. We all felt the same way.” Rachel whispered. 

“What feeling?” Simone asked. 

They all looked at one another yet said nothing. Luke sighed and stepped forward. “Hurt, sorrow, and fear.” 

Simone shook her head and whispered to herself. “Good God, Zoie.” 

“What?” Amy asked. 

“I believe that you were feeling what my sister Zoie was feeling at that moment. I can reassure you that what happened wasn’t meant to happen. She didn’t even know she could do such a thing but we are going to try and fix this!” Simone replied. 

“There’s no fixing this. The government is already working on a plan with this. You either cooperate or die.” Rachel announced. 

“And even those who have cooperated still ended up dead.” Tyler finished. 

“What’s going on here? Why are people dying?” Simone asked. 

“They’re taking all of us who were in that force field and trapping us here because they’re running tests on us. They’re using these odd methods to turn us into brainwashed soldiers or something. Whatever kind of science or tools that they’re using is only killing us. Many have died behind these walls and they’re showing no signs of stopping.” Luke answered. 

“If the government is after us then this just means…” Simone trailed off. 

“They want you and your sisters to become brainwashed soldiers and if you don’t participate then they’ll either kill you or send the ones that have already been brainwashed to do it for them.” Rachel stated. 

Kira walked next to Sergio silently. Sergio watched her as she nervously played with her fingers which caused him to chuckle. Trying to make it less awkward, Sergio cleared his throat to catch her attention. 

“You know that a lot of people dislike you and your sister, right?” He teased. 

Kira chuckled. “Why do you think we’ve been hiding? We’re wanted by the government and humans hate us for accidentally turning people into superhumans so there’s that.” 

“I see.” 

“So you were there?” Kira asked. 

“Yes.” Sergio started. “I had just got off work when I saw everyone running so I took off and did the same. I was trying to get to my car but it was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown so I ran into this restaurant where a lot of other people were hiding. I saw as the force field went up and then this huge blue light just shot through the windows shattering the glass and hitting me and everyone else in the building.” 

“Wow.” Kira mumbled. 

“At that moment, I felt so much but none of it was a good feeling. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions in seconds. I wanted to kill, I wanted to scream and cry, I wanted to apologize, and I wanted to die. It all just felt like a nightmare and then it stopped. The feeling went away and then I began to turn into other people.” He finished. 

“You said you felt like you wanted to kill and apologize?” Kira asked. 

Sergio nodded. “Yeah! It was like I wanted to take the woman who was next to me and smash her head into the nearest wall and then there was this feeling like I needed to apologize. I didn’t know what for but I needed to do it.” 

Kira listened to Sergio as tears welled in her eyes. She knew that everyone who was hit by the energy felt exactly how Zoie felt in that moment. Zoie had let go all of the emotions that had been built up inside of her over the course of 3 years when she released that energy. Realizing this made Kira want to find her older sister and apologize to her even more. 

“Are you okay?” Sergio asked. 

“I’m sorry.” Kira apologized as she stopped walking and wiped the tears away. “I appreciate this but I need to find my sisters.” 

“Are you sure you are alright?” He asked again. 

“I’m fine! I just realized something.” Kira responded. Turning around, Kira walked away from Sergio as she went to search for Simone and Zoie.