"Dude… what did you do?"
Red. So this is what the world looks like in red. I always thought it would be black. But the color of rage is that of blood. I stood still as I watched a woman scream right in front of me. She was frantic. Afraid. I couldn't really tell in red. My hands, they did not have anything on them. Carefully, I examined them. How can these hands bring out that much red? My eyes twitched as thick liquid drips on them. I wiped them with my sleeve and what was once white was no more. Smeared.
"We have to go, man." His voice trembled.
Slowly, I felt my senses returning. And I quite hated it at that point. Things became clearer. The clearer it got, the more I realized I was fucked. There was no turning back. Her screaming subsided into sobs as she held what's left of the man in her arms. It all happened so fast. From shock, anger to numbness, the sensation crept up under my skin like a warm blanket.
Sirens. From a distance, they whirred. I felt a strong grip on my arm that I flinched. With both hands raised up, Linus expressed anything but fear from what I've done. He was visibly anxious, eyeing the open door. No, he wasn’t scared that there was blood all over the walls of my home. Nor was he terrified of the mangled remains on the floor. The cops finding us were his main concern. This guy.
I've collected my senses long enough to know that he is right. We can't be here anymore. Slowly, I stepped back as I heard my wife's screams turn into anger.
"You killed him!"
I still don't know how. But I knew exactly why. One moment I felt rage building up inside of me. Next thing I knew, the man's body was ripped apart as I held him by the collar. It was like a curtain set aside and it revealed my wife's face in horror. I didn't mean it but it felt like justice. Justice was served that night. Killed the man, that I did.
"You killed me first," and that was the end of everything I knew.
I turned my back on her and headed for the door. Linus has been carelessly blowing the horn to get me out of my house. "Come on, man! Hurry up!"
The moment I jump in the passenger seat, he kicked the car up to speed. I watched as my old life grew smaller in the side mirror while we moved forward. A few bumps on the road were no match to Linus. He swerved at every opportunity and glided through narrow streets with ease. To him, all we have to do now is get as far away as possible. My silence did nothing to his focus. The images still flashed in my head like a flickering bulb. Their faces. What did they do to us?
How could a guy like me do such a thing? How was that even possible? Was this… the experiment?
All I can remember was that I was in a room with a hundred other white beds from where I awoke. My arms were tied to the steel handle. In my struggle, I found that I was the only one left in the room. It was like a dream. Dark blue and green. The lights were dim. As I groaned for help, I notice one man wearing nothing but paper on his crotch at the far end of the hall. A light was flashing near him. An alarm. He was supposed to run but I watched him struggle to decide on what to do.
"Help me please," I flailed my arms to an extent. My voice grew weaker as I repeated.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpL0mM4BQ3g
"Ahhh fuck it!" The man stormed in my direction. The closer he got, the better I got to see the broken glass in his hand.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdaudCZsT8
"Please don't kill me! I have a wife and son," I pleaded.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr79KFfSNJT
"You owe me big time, man." And he let my hands loose.
Quickly, I stood up to find flash lights approaching the hall where the man came from. He dragged me down as we ducked under my bed.
"Great, now they're gonna catch us!" I could sense the regret in his voice.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsWbc20o7b
"Thanks…" I whispered.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTo6kuwj5f
"When we get out, you can thank me later."
It was still all a blur to me what was going on but I was sure whatever's coming for us is intent on keeping us in here.
"Where are we?"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklZL6zOY1K
"Really? You just had to be one of those they sedated heavily. What did I expect?"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyFuACrXMR
There was literally nothing helpful with what he said. We were in a closed facility. A laboratory. I was here because…
Men in military uniform flooded the end of the hall. The lights from their guns are the only thing illuminating the room we were in. That was when the man who helped me suddenly stood up and raised his hands. I panicked as all lights pointed at him.
"Drop your weapon!"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyyb04US8M
"As you can see, I'm kinda butt naked. And if you're referring to this weapon, it's resting behind this… conveniently placed paper towel." I didn't know where he was getting his confidence. Considering he's about to get shot at and I was probably next in line.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCBaRdtGFh
"Where are the others?"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EOzcZjFXd
"Well, they're gonna be out of the fence by now if you keep wasting your time with me." He wore smirk on his face.
"Take him!"
I was about to jump and help him but he pointed at the end of the hall where the guards are. The tip of his fingers lit up a bright red and the panel beside the opening suddenly turned green, "Activated." The blast doors immediately closed leaving only two guards inside the darkness separated from the rest outside. The movement of their flashlights suggested panic and the guy who helped me was nowhere to be found. My eyes were still adjusting to the dark but footsteps drew near from where I was hiding. Just as the guard made his next step, I elbowed his shin as hard as I could, sending him crashing face first on the floor. Quickly, I grabbed his gun and knocked his head with its buttplate. Standing up, I found the man taking care of the other guard.
"Their guns only work with the right fingerprints."821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpAB1b7HOp
"So you mean they're worthless to us?" I asked.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsFDg76rju
"To you… maybe?" The gun he stole from the other guard clicked and the trigger lit bright green once his index finger got close. The tip was still glowing a faint red.
"How are you doing this? Why are we here?"
What was I doing here? Everything was a blur and the memories don't seem to show no matter how much I dig under pressure. Was this the experiment?
"Why are they after us?"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDOy6vZEa5
"Look, I don't have time to explain to you what just happened. See , that huge as glass window on the far end? They're gonna want to empty their bullets right at us. So, duck!" He grabbed me down and noises started echoing in the room. Guns firing. Glasses breaking. Bullets ricocheting. It was madness and I still couldn't figure out why we were in the middle of it all.
"Here's the plan. I'm gonna go and make a distraction. See that locked door on the far right, crawl to it. Once it's opened, make a run for it. There's gonna be another steel door at the end of the hall. If I don't get there in time, I don't know be creative or something. There are vents all over the place. Or you can start trying what the experiment gave you and help me out here, alright. And dude, when you find your clothes drenched, it means I'm still alive. Now, go!"
I crawled through all the debris and the noise toward the locked steel door. One look back at him and I found him retaliating with the gun. With one wave of his hand toward me, the blast door suddenly opened. I ran for my life at the empty well-lit halls. He was right. There was yet another steel door by the end of it. The panel indicated that it requires a card key to open. The cold floor was getting to my bare feet as I paced back and forth. Silence. I could hear no single firearm. The more I stood there, the better I realized my position. It was the perfect shooting range to hit at 100% success rate. Death became a fact from where I stand. If they got him, I'm gonna be next. What if he led me here himself? There's no more running back to where I came from. It's like facing the crashing waves itself. My heart beating became more evident to me as seconds passed. Just then a single drop of liquid broke my focus. I looked up to find a steel instrument protruding from the ceiling. All of a sudden, water was everywhere. The sprinkler sprayed cold water on maximum while the walls of the hall released thick white smoke. Out of the mist came the man, now wearing torn camo pants, at least. He's lost the gun and almost slipped as he dashed forward to the steel door. He was panting as he struggled to open it himself.
"There's too many of them." He banged his arm on the door but it did not budge. "I'm out, man." And he fell down from exhaustion. Red laser lights pierced through the smoke finding their target.
"Then let's be creative then." I dragged him to the nearest air vent on the wall. It was a maze big enough to have one person crawl through. After several turns and dead ends, we found an exit that did not lead to another room. He punched the filter out and tried to get out fast only to find himself falling. Splash. Quickly, I tried to catch up and check what become of him. The exit was right at the wall of a cliff. A river was running below. Horizons showed no signs of dawn so it was still too dark for anyone to find me. There was no turning back so I carefully prepped myself for the dive. No matter how ready I was, the cramped up situation made it difficult. All I knew was that water started filling my ears as the current mercilessly rushed me to a direction god knows where. Until…
"Hey, you alright?"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEBQNJDjOG
I flinched after Linus tapped my shoulder as he drove. It must have been an hour that we're on the road.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ789CNk9kKK
"I'm not scared of you," He told me. "What happened was…"821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLtGOYyHEV
"Something I would not like to get into right now." I dismissed.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweYSz025Mm
"Alright. I'm just saying, if I had a wife and I find her in bed with someone else. I could have done the same thing."821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETbXHSAFCv
He noticed the look I shot at him and he raised his hands up leaving the wheel.
"If you had only used your skill back at the lab, we wouldn't have gone through so much trouble I'm telling you."821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKUUB3XE5i
"Seriously? Just drive." He was right. But I didn't know what my hands could do at the time. Something tells me it wasn't the first time I did it back at the house. Thinking about it just kept me on the edge so I turned the radio on.
"… a massive breakout at an undisclosed laboratory is currently under investigation. We've been getting first hand reports from civilians spotting people wearing white running for their lives. Some may even have video evidence of the scene. People have described it as chaotic Others specified that these people are dangerous. We encourage everyone to please stay inside your homes. The corporation backing this facility has yet to comment on the matter. And that's it for our breaking news this morning…"
Bang. Right after the noise, our tires screeched as it started spinning out of control. I tried to hold onto whatever I can until the car hit a hydrant, making a huge dent on the driver's side.
"I'm starting to regret signing those papers." Linus groaned as he unbuckled his belt. Broken glasses were all over our thighs. I pushed my door open and crawled out weary of anyone shooting us. The streets were empty and the sun was already up but not as warm. Linus followed me out slightly limping as he struggled to stand. Before he could complain, I stepped in front of him as cover. In front of us was a man wearing a blue suit and a yellow tie. He had a rifle pointed at us. It didn't match his getup.
"Linus Garrison?" He spoke under his breath while aiming.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGlBVhQWm0
"Yep, that's me." Linus had both his hands on his knees.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPuRrP1Hf7
"And who might this be?" He asked pointing his gun at me.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODCOE0wXYL
"Gunther. Gunther Wellington." I answered.821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tRrbNTTJw
"Ain't it my lucky day?" the man cocked his rifle.
And it seemed like ours wasn't.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
