WAKE UP

 

 

Emily slowly blinked her eyes open. The hard stone floor felt cold on her skin and her muscles were stiff and aching. She sat herself up slowly as her eyes brought the room around her into focus, swamped with fear and confusion as she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. The room was a dimly lit cement grey box. A dirty red sofa rested against one of the walls, with a small blond-haired lady lying on it like a delicate princess awaiting a prince, her hands neatly placed on her stomach. In front of the sofa was an old grey and white rug, with a dark haired man lying much less gracefully across it, his arms and legs splayed in all directions. The rest of the room contained little but an equally dirty red chair also laden with a slumped figure and a side table supporting a vase containing a single dead flower, yet the room was full of people all passed out, asleep or dead for all Emily could tell. All but two men, who were sat next to the table with their backs propped against the wall.

‘Hey, you ok?’ one man said.

‘Can you remember anything?’ said the other man.

‘No, well, my name, my names Emily,’

‘I’m Shaun,’ the man replied, looking and sounding unimpressed by Emily’s unhelpful response.

‘Luke,’ said the other man, pointing to himself but looking surprisingly more cheery than Shaun.

‘What’s going on? Where am I?’ Emily asked still dazed and confused.

‘Wish I could tell you but you now officially know as much as we do,’ Shaun replied in a snarky tone.

As Emily took another look around the room at everyone, she noticed two more people waking up. Both in the same dazed memory deprived state, asking the same questions and getting the same answers. One by one all the other people in the room started to stir, until they were all fully conscious, awaking with different reactions. Some would be scared, others would be angry, but none could remember what led them to end up in that room. The same pointless questions were repeated, causing arguments and frustration until eventually all went quiet, waiting in silence for someone or something.

There was only one door leading into the room and no windows, just two wall lights on adjacent walls illuminating the dusky grey room with a dim yellow haze of light. There was only space for three people to sit, so most of the people in the room were either pacing around or sat on the floor. Periodically different people tried the door in chance it had been unlocked, which usually caused more arguments to flare up about how it had already been checked umpteen times. Every so often someone would bring up a morbid theory about their dire situation. The small blond lady who was on the sofa would occasionally burst into tears with a mixed response from the rest of the room. Every argument seemingly brought to an end by a man called Wú. His name and kind smile somehow seemed familiar to Emily, yet she still had no recollection of who he or anyone else was. As time went on the fear of what could happen grew and spread around the room and at some point, the thought would drift through everybody’s mind that they would be trapped there to starve to death.

The silence was broken by a panic, as a loud rumble echoed through the building causing the ground to shake and the lights to flicker, eventually fading into a constant darkness. Trapped in a room with no lights and no exit, the screams of dread intensified into a deafening racket. Soon accompanied by voices on the other side of the door, creating a conflict of uncertainty and distrust. The door flung open and light flooded into the room. Outlining the silhouettes of three men stood in the doorway. Two of the men entered as everyone inside retreated to the edges of the room like cockroaches that scatter when the lights are turned on. The two men were large, stocky and holding rifles pointed into the room. The third man was a thin middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat and holding a clip board.

‘Get them downstairs to the cafeteria for now until we can secure C Block and get them in a holding cell. I will send more guards down to help contain them,’ said the man in the lab coat before leaving in a hurry.

One of the stocky guards went back outside and waited with his gun pointed into the room while the other swept the room, gathering everyone into a central group, barking orders and waving his rifle around. Everyone did what they were told. The scare tactics worked, nobody knew who these people were and nobody asked any question.

‘Stay in a close group and follow me,’ said the guard waiting outside.

Everyone slowly moved out of the room in a tightly packed group, followed closely by the second guard.

They were lead down a brightly lit hallway with a pail blue floor and plain, bright white walls. It looked very clinical and automatically reminded Emily of a hospital but all the doors along the hall were closed or obstructed from her view, making it impossible for Emily to tell for sure where they were. Every so often somebody would run past them or out of one of the rooms in a palpable rushed state of panic. In the distance an alarm was sounding. Quiet enough to be coming from a different building, yet still in the near vicinity. The guards rushed the group down the corridor and out into a large open stair well. Waiting at the top of the stairs was another guard. This guard wasn’t carrying a large rifle. Only a small sidearm, although this made him no less intimidating.

‘Where do they find these guys? There all built like sheds.’ Shaun cautiously whispered over Emily’s shoulder, quiet enough so that the guards wouldn’t hear him.

Emily scared to speak out loud simply shrugged her shoulders and gave a half smile still wanting to acknowledge Shaun’s attempt to break the tension. She tried to listen to what the guards said to each other as they passed but Emily couldn’t hear a word over the continuous sobbing from the blond lady who was now drawing the attention of the irritated guards.

‘Down the stairs,’ the new guard said addressing the group while giving the crying lady a contemptuous scowl.

The group was led down the stairs and along a number of corridors all looking identical to the last, until they were ushered into a large room full of long cream tables surrounded by small grey stools. The guards pointed their guns towards the group once more, demanding they go to the centre of the room where they can keep an eye on them. Without hesitation everyone shuffled their way over to the most central table and stood all looking at each other waiting to see if someone would be the first to sit down. Of course, Shaun didn’t hesitate and sat down on one of the stools immediately, quickly followed by Luke. Shaun seemed more angry than scared and although Emily knew he would be the one person most likely to do something stupid and get himself and probably someone else shot, he also made Emily feel safer and less scared herself. She sat down at the table across from Shaun and Luke wanting to stay close by them. By now they had set off a chain reaction, everyone began to find a seat and with the guards off to the room edges, holding a perimeter and more concerned with their own conversation, the chatter among the group began. Before long the stress and panic had subsided to a mild agitated apprehension and the atmosphere was more like a high school gathering. The group had been divided between different tables forming smaller groups and all were conducting their own deliberating conversations.

 

​

 

THE PLAN

 

Sat across the table from Emily was Shaun and Luke. Sat next to them was a young lad called James. Emily hadn’t noticed him until he had joined their table. He was quiet and had kept out of the arguments that had gone on previously. He was an average looking twenty-year-old with scruffy short blond hair and a constant wide eyed look on his face. Sitting next to Emily was Wú. Still with a friendly smile and endlessly pushing back his strait, black hair out of his face. Next to him sat the crying blond lady, who had managed to stop crying long enough to tell everyone her name was Sarah. Emily wasn’t surprised she had sat at the table with them even with Shaun’s obvious disapproval. Wú had been the only person who had defended her when everyone was complaining about her infuriating crying and there was only one other female in the group besides Emily and she didn’t seem like the approachable type.

‘So, anyone remembering anything yet?’ Luke asked

Everyone said no, except Shaun who didn’t answer at all and seemed more interested in the guards walking around the room or in what was out the large glass windows. The room was big and contained little apart from the tables and a stainless-steel counter that separated the canteen area from the kitchen. The walls were bare and a dirty white colour. The room had obviously not had a makeover for a long time and the once white and blue tile floor was now a dusty grey colour. There were a few doors leading off to different directions and a notice board that only had one piece of paper pined to it but was too far away to read. On the opposite side to the counter, the wall was mostly made up of plate glass windows. The view outside left a lot to be desired. A large open concrete carpark filled the entire space outside the window. The white lines marking the parking spots, so faint they were scarcely visible and weeds sprouted in the cracks that webbed across the whole thing. In the distance nothing but square grey buildings filled the horizon. Wherever they were, it was a huge place. There were lots of people running around, all seemingly oblivious to the large group of people being held at gun point.

‘Who do you think they are?’ Wú asked, not expecting an answer.

‘They are scientists, working in microbiology for some kind of defence project, I wouldn’t be surprised if men in hazmat suits turn up next,’ James said quietly.

‘How the hell do you know that?’ Shaun asked in bewilderment.

‘Yeh, I thought you couldn’t remember anything?’ Luke said leaning in.

‘I can’t, I got a quick look at the notes one of them was carrying as he passed us in the corridor,’ James replied.

‘So, what did it say? Asked Sarah still sniffling and red faced.

James shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way and looked around at all the faces staring at him expecting answers.

‘I don’t know, I only saw it for a second and made out the words microbiology, defence project and Stonebridge laboratories. That name means nothing to me though. I’ve never heard of it,’ He said.

‘Great, that means we’re probable test subjects for their messed-up experiments and that’s why we can’t remember anything. They probably drugged us to keep us confused and docile.’ Shaun suggested, agitated and frantic.

‘Or there could be a reasonable explanation,’ Luke interjected.

Emily wasn’t sure if Shaun might have been getting a little carried away, but she was finding it harder to believe there could be any kind of reasonable explanation for what was going on and nobody else around the table was buying it either.

‘We have to do something, we have to get out of here,’ Shaun said. Sitting back on his stool and watching the fireworks while he assessed the situation.

‘Hold up, let’s not do anything rash,’ Luke quickly added

‘They have guns, we can’t do anything,’ Sarah said with tears welling up in her eyes again.

‘What they have planned for us could be a lot worse than getting shot.’ Wú said.

The arguments went round in circles. Everybody with a point of view and an opinion on what was going on and what they should do. Emily knew she had to try and be the voice of reason but she was finding it hard to find a middle ground when every bone in her body was shouting out run for your life. She knew it was the fear of the unknown tormenting her mind but there was no sure solution to their situation. If they could run, where would they run to. They didn’t even know where they were.

As Emily sat pondering the possibilities. The sound of everyone debating around her, the chatter from all the other tables causing a monotone hum. She noticed Shaun sat quietly, staring past everyone on the table. Looking across the room with the slightest of grins and off into the distance. She traced his gaze across the room to see what was holding his attention so intently. At first Emily thought he was just staring out the window until she also noticed the one open window and realised what Shaun had in mind.

‘You recon you can get across the room and out the window before they can empty the contents of that rifle into you? Emily said turning back to Shaun, drawing everyone’s attention to the plan evolving in front of them.

Shaun smiled at Emily. A smile that suggested it had been her plan all along and that the thought had never crossed his mind.

‘That’s crazy, but I’d love to see you try,’ Wú jokingly said with a grin and folding his arms, anticipating Shaun’s response.

‘Look around you,’ Shaun added with confidence. ‘Everyone’s in a panic about something. Nobody’s even paying attention to us. They think we’re too scared to do anything,’

‘We are,’ Sarah said, now frowning and wishing she had sat at a table with people who were less likely to get her shot.

‘Trust me, we just have to wait for that opportune moment. Unless you’re comfortable with the idea of being test subjects,’

Nobody questioned it. They all deep down inside knew Shaun was right, however much they wanted to refute it. They could take their chances with the armed guards and scientists or make a run for it and take their chances in the outside unknown.

 

 

​

ESCAPE

 

They sat looking at each other in a contemplative silence. Waiting in anticipation for someone to think of a better solution but it never came. The tension was eventually broken by a commotion as a crowd of people in white lab coats ran through the cafeteria in obvious panic and distress. Screams echoed through the halls and the whole building began to shake as a loud rumble bellowed from a nearby building. The alarms began to sound, now in the building they were in and mayhem ensued all around them.

‘I think that opportune moment you were talking about is now,’ Wú said sliding himself off his seat but remaining hunched over.

Shaun took one last look around at the distracted guards before jumping out of his seat and following a group of running scientists across the room to the window.

‘Wait,’ Luke shouted, not prepared for an actual escape.

Emily and James had already jumped up and were also trying to make their way across the room to the window where Shaun was already straddled over the narrow windowsill, waving them over. The other tables of people got the same idea to flee when they saw what was going on, sending people running in all directions. By this point the guards had noticed what was happening but with a room now full of panicked scientists, in a building that seemed close to collapse, they struggled to get a clear line of sight, forcing them to lower their weapons. Luke ran after them, closely followed by a panicked Sarah who was unsure what to do but felt more comfortable following the crowd. They had all made it to the window by the time they herd the first shot being fired. Emily snapped her head back to see if the shot was aimed at them, just to see a guard trying to fight his way through the crowd of people and the body of one hostage lying face down in a growing puddle of blood.

‘Quick,’ Wú shouted, pulling Emily to the window.

She climbed out, then turned back to help Sarah through the window. When Sarah was through, Luke jumped out and sprinted after Shaun who was halfway across the carpark, waiting impatiently for the rest of them to catch him up. A few other people from another table had followed them over to the window. Emily reached out to help the next person through as another shot was fired. She looked into the expressionless face of the man she was trying to help realising she was too late. His body slumped to the floor giving a clear view of the guard, with his rifle pointing directly as Emily’s head. He fired another shot as she ducked down, narrowly missing her and shattering the glass window. She ran to catch the others as fast as her legs would carry her.

They darted off behind the first building and out of sight of the cafeteria so the guards couldn’t get a shot at them. They knew they couldn’t stop. The guards would be looking for them and the distant sound of tortuous screams mixed with a scatter of gun fire pressed them on.

As they rounded the corner they were confronted by a maze of small buildings. In the distance a mass of billowing, blueish grey smoke rising from somewhere out of view.

‘Let’s go up there and see what’s going on,’ Shaun suggested, pointing to a set of stairs leading to the roof of one of the buildings.

‘Who cares, we need to get out of here,’ Sarah demanded, breathing heavy, trying to catch her breath.

‘To do that, we need to know where to go.’ Wú said, while resting a reassuring hand on Sarah’s shoulder before following Shaun to the stairs.

Once on the roof the cause of the smoke became apparent. A large building much like the one they were running from was alight with an orange glow of flames flickering through collapsed bricks and shattered windows. The side of the building now a gaping hole framing the raging fire contained inside.

‘So, let’s not go that way,’ said Shaun with a smirk, looking extremely pleased with himself for executing what was to him a flawless escape plan.

‘You realise a lot of people just died,’ Emily said plainly.

She wanted someone to blame. She wanted answers, yet she knew it wasn’t Shaun’s fault but couldn’t help being disgusted by his lack of empathy for everyone who didn’t make it out of the building.

‘You didn’t,’ Shaun added, reminding Emily that they had arrived at the same outcome. ‘Mabey you should appreciate that somewhat,’

Emily felt embarrassment for her rash judgement. She was alive and they had got out of the building. Wherever they ended up it would be Shaun who gets them there and for that she was grateful.

‘Yeh, sorry,’ Emily said, looking to the ground with a small degree of shame.

‘Great, I’m glad you two are friends again but I should remind you we aren’t out of here yet. Mabey we should keep moving for now,’ Wú interjected.

‘Sure. Always the voice of reason, aren’t you,’ Shaun added, patting Wú on the back and gifting Emily a smile of understanding and respect.

Shaun didn’t like to show it but he was mostly just scared and used his humour and confidence to mask it.

‘So, what’s the plan now?’ Luke asked.

At that moment thick raspy voices could be heard in the distance. Then the sound of dogs barking. The guards had come looking for them and they had brought dogs.

‘Run,’ Wú answered, with a look of shock on his face.

They couldn’t go back down the stairs, because that was the direction the voices were coming from, so they ran across the roof and jumped over a railing and onto the roof of the next building. The sound of barking dogs grew behind them as they ran across the next building looking for a way down. They could now hear the faint tapping of claws on concrete as the dogs gained on them. As Emily looked back expecting to see a vicious dog right behind her, she realised to her relief they had stopped at the railing unable to get through. Emily knew the guards wouldn’t be far behind. Now eager to find a way off the roof before they ended up trapped and waiting to be ripped apart by the pack of dogs, they scattered to look for an exit route.

‘Over here,’ James shouted, filling the group with a sense of relief as he pointed down to a fire escape ladder.

One by one they descended the ladder, the guards voices getting louder in the background still accompanied by the distant bark of ravenous dogs.

‘We have to hide,’ Emily said, after seeing how exhausted everyone was looking, knowing they couldn’t run for much longer.

There was no way of knowing when any of them had last eaten but they were all obviously very weak. Their body’s struggling to cope with the stress and activity they were forced to endure. They continued running until Luke found an open door leading to an old warehouse building. There was a large roller door that didn’t look like it had been opened for a while on the front wall and stairs leading to a small open office on an upper level. The whole building was full of boxes and old lab equipment, apparently being used as a storage area for the laboratories old junk. Knowing it was unlikely they would be discovered in there, they wedged the door with a broken chair leg, made their way to the middle of all the junk and sat down on some old wooden crates to rest.

 

​

​

SIX BECOME FIVE

 

The only light entering the building was from two small skylight windows high up in the roof. Every so often voices could be heard outside, causing the group to freeze in fear, hoping they would remain unnoticed.

‘We can’t wait here forever, sooner or later they will find us. The dogs will sniff us out and then we’ll all be dead, or worse.’ Shaun said, carefully monitoring the groups reaction.

Shaun always liked to feel like he was in control. He spoke his mind and was easily mistaken for being arrogant. In reality, he had let these people into his life and now had a growing concern for their safety, combined with a fear of being left on his own. He cared somewhat for each one of them. Even Sarah who although irritated Shaun immensely and was even now whimpering with tears building in her eyes, was part of Shaun’s currently fragile world. He knew he couldn’t push them too far but knew they had to keep moving.

‘We need food and water. We’re all weak and won’t get far until we’re all at least rehydrated,’ James added.

James was a logical person and although the youngest of them all, he was probable the most intelligent. His fear was pushed aside so he could asses every moment. At that very point in time, while the rest of the group was worrying about being discovered, he was generating a blueprint for the facility in his mind, so he could work out what direction they needed to go in.

‘I’ll go have a look around, see if we’re lucky enough to find anything useful,’ Luke said rising to his feet.

It was clear to everyone that Luke wasn’t a fan of the escape plan and would have preferred to take his chances with the scientists. They weren’t sure if it was due to his lack of fear in the situation, always assuming that things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

‘Keep quiet, we don’t want anyone to find us because your rummaging through useless junk,’ Sarah whispered irritably.

Needless to say, Sarah had managed to annoy everyone at least a little at some point. Her continuous crying, whining and complaining wore thin and gained her little sympathy but everyone including Shaun knew she was just scared. They all were, and all had their own ways of dealing with it. Sarah wasn’t doing it for attention but because she was legitimately terrified. The others knew that it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t handle the stressful events as well as the rest of them.

‘It’s ok, they won’t find us,’ Wú said, trying to reassure Sarah. Knowing full well that there was no certainty of that.

Wú had been the peace maker all along. At times he had let the fear show through that friendly smile but always did his best to stay calm and collected. The more time Emily spent around Wú, the more she felt a familiar connection to him. His face almost sparking memories lost in her mind. Perhaps it was just his kindness that drew her to him but he made her feel safe.

It wasn’t long before Luke returned from the back of the room holding a plastic cup full of water.

‘I found a sink. I’m not sure how safe the water is but it tastes ok,’ He said, holding out the cup and waiting for someone to take it.

Shaun jumped to his feet and grabbed the cup spilling a little as he raised it to his mouth and started gulping down the contents. His eyes drifted across the room and stopped at Sarah. He slowed his drinking and lowered the cup from his face. Seeing Sarah looking so shy and timid, her gaze fixed firmly on the cup of water he knew she was as thirsty as he was. He held out the cup so Sarah could take it, giving her a slight smile. Sarah took the cup and for the first time managed to force a small smile in return.

‘Where’s that sink then? We’re going to need more water,’ Shaun asked.

As Sarah passed the cup around to the others so everyone could get a drink the sound of loud angry voices could be heard arguing outside the building once more.

A slight scraping sound started at the door and slowly intensified to a rigorous scratching followed by the guttural growl and deep bark.

‘They’ve found us,’ Emily said under her breath.

Without a moment’s thought Shaun grabbed Sarah’s arm pulling her up and pointed to the stairs leading to the upper office area. He ushered everyone past the rattling door now shaking vigorously as the guards outside tried to pry the door open. Shaun knew there was only one exit downstairs, so if they had any chance of escape, they had to go up. They ran up the metal staircase and into the office slamming the door behind them. Sounds of gunfire rang in the distance as the guards started shooting at the shutters to get inside.

‘Smash the window,’ Emily shouted with urgency.

Shaun picked up the office chair and swung it at the window as hard as he could. There was an almighty clatter as the glass shattered into thousand pieces. Tiny glistening shards of sharp glass flew in all directions crunching under their feet. Outside the window there was a narrow section of tin roof before dropping off to the ground. Shaun climbed out the window and looked over the edge. A little way along was some kind of electrical box large enough for them to drop down on to.

‘Come on, we can get down,’ Shaun said, waving Luke out to join him.

Luke jumped out the window closely followed by Sarah then Wú. Luke lowered himself down off the roof first then they helped Sarah down. As Emily was making her way out, she heard the door to the building downstairs fly open. The bark of the dogs intensified until they were jumping up right outside the office door. Drool smearing on the glass.

‘Let’s go, now,’ Shaun said, pulling Emily away from the window.

‘But, James,’ She shouted, as the office door pushed open and two large black dogs came running into the room

‘Go, I’ll get James,’

James had one leg up on the windowsill as the dog’s bit hard into his arm pulling him back into the room. Emily started to climb off the roof but stopped in her tracks when she heard James scream in pain. Shaun had gone back to the window and reached in to try and pull James out, but it was too late. As Shaun looked across at James lying on the floor bleeding, one of the dogs biting into his face, he could hear the voices of the guards coming up the stairs and knew there was nothing he could do. Reluctantly he backed away from the window and lowered himself down off the roof. When Emily saw Shaun drop down without James, she knew he was gone, even though his screams could still be heard as the dogs ate him alive, tearing him limb from limb. Everyone knew he was gone, and this time Sarah’s tears seemed justified. Emily placed a gently hand on Shaun’s back.

‘There’s nothing you could’ve done,’ She said, reassuringly.

Then off they ran. Trying to put as much distance between them and the guards as possible.

 

​

​

REMEMBERING WÚ

 

They continued running, now knowing that the chances of them not getting out alive was a far more realistic possibility. The guards voices were never far behind but slowly they managed to find their way to the edge of the facility. They had stayed close to each other, none of them wanting to get separated from the group, until Shaun suddenly ran off in a different direction.

‘Shaun, where are you going,’ Luke shouted

Shaun didn’t reply, he just held his finger to his pursed lips, telling them to keep quiet. Emily could tell from the direction he was running, what he had in mind. Shaun was always thinking one step ahead, scanning his surroundings for something useful. He ran over to an old land rover defender, parked next to one of the smaller buildings. It was green, dusty and scuffed up but looked likely to be in working condition. Shaun looked inside then waved the rest of them over.

‘It’s our lucky day, the keys are inside. Get in quick,’ he said, jumping into the driver’s seat.

Luke ran around the other side and got into the passenger’s seat. Wú opened the back door, holding it open for Sarah and Emily to get in. As Emily was stepping inside her attention was stolen by the sound of a door slamming to the building next to them. Out of the building stepped two armed guards. One guard had reached into his pocket and taken out a cigarette, placed it in his lips and was about to light it when he noticed them motionlessly waiting to see what they would do.

‘Hey, stop,’ The guard shouted, dropping his cigarette and lifting his rifle to aim it directly at them.

‘Get in,’ Luke shouted

Emily pulled herself into the vehicle as Shaun started the engine. To everyone’s relief the engine started first time with no problems. The guards started to fire off rounds at the vehicle just as Wú managed to jump inside, pulling the door closed behind him. They sped off leaving the guards in a trail of dust. Shaun didn’t know what direction he was going but he was going there quickly. They flew around the site looking for a gap in the perimeter fence, drawing the attention of every guard in the local vicinity. The ping of bullets ricocheting off the metal bodywork.

‘Keep your heads down,’ Shaun shouted, as he drove directly at a group of the Guards.

‘What the hell are you doing,’ Emily shouted back, thinking Shaun had completely lost his mind.

‘Getting out of here,’ he replied.

As he got closer to the guards, they jumped out of the way, realising Shaun wasn’t stopping or slowing down. One guard didn’t quite make it out of the way fast enough and there was a loud fud as the land rover clipped him on the way past, knocking him to the ground. Shaun didn’t falter for a second as he accelerated towards the entrance barrier, then smashing through it as though it was a mere rotten plank. As the view of the laboratory gradually shrunk away in the rear-view mirror, so the smile on his face grew to a full grin from ear to ear. The others slowly rose from their crouched positions, a wave of elation washed over them as the realization of their escape set in. Smiles were present on all their faces, relieved to have made it out alive. For the first time since waking in that unknown room, Emily felt herself relax. Leaning back against the side of the vehicle she let out a sigh of relief, but the celebrations weren’t to last. She looked around at everyone’s smiling faces but when she looked across at Wú the joy was wiped from her face. Wú wasn’t smiling. He had a grimace on his face and was holding his side. Emily stared across at him, seeing his blue shirt turn to a darker shade of burgundy where his hand was placed. She knew without asking but found the words leave her mouth anyway.

‘Wú, are you ok?’

His eyes turned to an apologetic sadness as he looked across at Emily. He didn’t say anything. He knew he didn’t need to.

‘Why, what’s happened,’ Shaun said, trying to look back but not wanting to take his eyes off the road for too long.

‘Oh my god, no,’ Sarah gasped, now noticing Wú’s blood covered hand.

‘Somebody tell me what’s going on,’ Shaun added now in a panic.

‘He’s been shot. Wú’s been shot,’ Luke answered

Nobody was smiling now. Silence fell as they processed the consequence of their hasty retreat. Emily rushed to Wú’s side trying to do what she could to keep pressure on the wound. Sarah held his hand, trying to reassure him everything would be ok.

‘We need to find somewhere safe to stop. Mabey I can stop the bleeding or, or do something,’ Emily said in a disorientated daze.

‘I’ll turn off on that road coming up and find somewhere secluded we can park up without being noticed,’ Shaun replied,

Wú turned to look at Emily and placed his hand on hers with the gentlest of touches. The peaceful smile he gave, told Emily there was no need to stop. He knew he wasn’t going to make it. As her eyes welled up and her stomach twisted in knots Emily realised this was the first time she had actually had chance to really look at Wú. Looking into his eyes sparked the slightest recollection of a life she once knew. His face glazed over with a peaceful emptiness as his hands went cold and his grip grew week. Emily realised moments too late that she remembered Wú. She still couldn’t recall where or how she had known him but they were fond memories, yet she was by now unsure if she wanted her memory to return at all.

Shaun drove the land rover down a small dirt track leading to the edge of a small wooded area where he parked up next to an old wooden fence. The vehicle skid to a halt jilting everyone inside.

‘How’s he doing back there,’ Shaun said turning to look in the back.

Emily just shook her head softly and as a single tear rolled down her cheek it was apparent to everyone that there was now only the four of them.

​

​

 

TRAITOR AMUNG THEM

 

The four of them stepped out of the vehicle unable to look at Wú’s lifeless body. They still didn’t know where they were, and it was getting dark.

‘So what do we do now?’ Sarah asked timidly breaking the silence.

‘I’m not sure,’ Shaun replied dejectedly.

Shaun made his way over to the fence and rested his arms on the top, staring off into the distance, deep in thought. Emily dropped to the floor, sitting on a small grass verge.  She was exhausted, confused and awash with mixed emotions caused by the train of events.

‘I’ll be back in a minute, I need to go for a piss.’ Luke said before walking off towards the tree line.

‘Don’t go too far,’ Shaun shouted back to him.

For what seemed like an eternity they all waited in silence, thinking about what they should do next. The night was growing cold and the premature elations of their escape had faded into the past.

‘Luke’s taking his time,’ Sarah stated, suddenly realising he had been gone a good ten minutes at least.

‘Mabey it turned out to be more serious,’ Shaun said jokingly, trying to break the tension.

Emily stood up and walked a few meters across towards the treeline.

‘He has been gone a while. I can’t see him,’ she said, now concerned herself.

‘I’ll go look for him,’ Shaun replied.

He started walking over to the trees with Emily and Sarah following close behind, not wanting to wait on their own. They had almost reached the woods when Luke’s silhouette came wandering out of the tree’s shadows.

‘Where have you been, you had the lady’s worried,’ Shaun said, sounding more relieved than he would have liked to let on.

‘I told you. I went for a piss,’ Luke replied calmly

‘Well did you really need to come all the way over here? What took you so long anyway?’ Sarah asked demandingly.

‘Calm down, it’s all good. Just like my privacy, that’s all,’ Luke said with a smile.

Something didn’t seem quite right to Emily. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and knew Luke was hiding something.

‘Everything all right?’ Luke asked Emily, seeing the obvious deliberation on her face.

‘Yeh fine,’ She replied with a forced smile.

She didn’t want to say anything until she had figured out what it was that was making her so uneasy.

They all started to head back towards where the land rover was parked. They were dragging their feet, none of them wanting to make the decision of what to do with Wú’s body. Within no time at all they started to see car headlights off in the distance coming from the direction they had come from.

‘Is that them?’ Sarah asked nervously.

‘I’m not waiting around to find out. We’ll hide in the woods until they’ve gone. Let’s go, now,’ Shaun commanded.

They all ran into the woods. It was a dark night and the thick canopy let little light through. They struggled to see where they were stepping, stumbling around, tripping over tree roots. Once they knew they would not be seen they stopped and looked back to see if the lights continued to come in their direction. As the convoy of vehicles turned up the small track, they knew that the land rover would be found and that they would have to continue on foot.

‘How did they find us?’ Sarah whimpered.

‘They must have seen the car parked there.’ Luke replied quickly.

‘They couldn’t have seen it parked there from the road,’ Said Emily now staring at Luke, as though to question his involvement.

‘It doesn’t matter how they found us right now. We just need to worry about staying one step ahead of them at all times,’ Shaun said, calmly and looking directly at Emily.

The convoy of vehicles had now stopped all around the land rover. Guards from the Laboratory, along with two smartly dressed men in suits got out and were inspecting the area. Emily watched as they pulled Wú’s limp body out of the vehicle and loaded him into the back of a truck. They didn’t wait around to watch for long as soon they noticed some of the guards walking towards the tree line, in their direction.

‘We need to get out of here, now. Before they find us,’ Shaun demanded.

Further into the darkening abyss of the woods they ran. They went as fast as their weak body’s would carry them. Each of them falling and stumbling around in the blackness, Fighting their way through dense forest. They ran until the sound of guards and vehicles were lost in the distance, eventually discovering an opening in the trees where the light of the moon could shine through, dusting the ground with a dull blue haze.

They stopped to catch their breath. Hunched over, breathing heavy, Shaun let out a slight chuckle, then stood up strait and walked towards Luke. Just as Emily was trying to work out what Shaun thought was so funny. He grabbed Luke by the throat and pinned him up against a tree.

‘Shaun, what are you doing?’ Sarah yelled out in shock.

Shaun let out another slight chuckle. It was then that Emily realised that Shaun had come to the same conclusion she had.

‘Luke thinks he’s clever, but I think it’s time he told us exactly what’s going on, don’t you Emily?’ Shaun said staring directly at Luke, while gradually tightening his grip on his neck.

‘I don’t know what you’re on about,’ Luke gasped.

‘Shaun, please stop, he hasn’t done anything,’ Sarah pleaded, not realising what part Luke had played in their current situation.

‘It’s ok Sarah, we need to know,’ Emily said to try and calm Sarah.

Sarah realised she must be missing something they obviously hadn’t and was now intrigued.

‘Luke, what are they talking about?’ She asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Luke repeated.

‘You were already awake when I woke up in that room. That’s because you were never passed out like the rest of us, isn’t it?’

Luke didn’t get chance to respond before Shaun continued with his questioning.

‘The whole time you have been talking to them somehow. They knew where we were because you told them,’

‘That’s crazy, how the hell have I been doing that, and why would I? I’m in the same situation as you,’ Luke replied angrily.

‘I don’t know how but I’m pretty sure your working for them. Why were you so compelled to stay?’ Shaun added.

‘We didn’t start getting shot at until we tried to escape. That was your idea. Just because you can’t remember anything you assumed the worst,’ said Luke.

‘Are you kidding me? Don’t try and turn this around. They were pointing guns at us. Why would we trust them?’ Shaun said, now furious and more sure than ever that Luke wasn’t telling them everything.

As the two of them stood arguing against the tree, Sarah noticed that Luke had something in the back pocket of his jeans.

‘What’s in your pocket?’ She asked

‘What, nothing’ Luke replied.

Shaun released his grip on Luke’s neck and grabbed hold of his arm, twisting him around. With one hand he pinned Luke to the tree and with the other he reached into Luke’s pocket to pull out a small mobile phone.

‘You still claiming you’re on our side?’ Shaun asked sarcastically.

Luke’s face dropped realising he had been exposed and now stood, back to a tree and surrounded by three angry people demanding answers.  

‘You don’t understand, I was trying to help you. If you had just listened to me, none of this would have happened. It’s your fault, you got yourselves in this mess,’ He said insistently.

Shaun was full of rage and couldn’t contain it any longer. People had died and Luke was trying to blame him for it. As Luke took a swipe trying to grab for the phone in his hand, Shaun lifted his arm and swung his clenched fist at Luke’s face hitting him square on the cheek. Luke fell to the ground in a heap. Sarah gasped, but reluctant to defend Luke in any way, now knowing he was involved somehow. Luke was shaken but managed to scramble to his feet, just to be struck by Shaun once again. He managed to remain standing as Shaun’s fist came towards him again. This time Luke managed to duck out of the way, then charged at Shaun, tackling him to the ground. Luke was determined to get hold of the phone but Shaun knew he would call the guards to come and hunt them down.

‘Run, go find help,’ Shaun shouted to Emily and Sarah, as he continued to fight with Luke.

Shaun was a big guy, but he was weak, and Luke was holding his own. They stumbled about swinging punches, occasionally wrestling each other to the ground. Dry autumn leaves rustling as they tumbled about on the floor. Emily was reluctant to leave Shaun there but knew if she could go find help somewhere, it could mean an end to the whole rigmarole. Emily and Sarah ran off through the woods, hoping to find a village or at least a building on the other side. Wanting to put an end to their torment and fear.

 

 

​

TOXIC

 

The further Emily went through the woods, the more distance she put between her and Shaun. It wasn’t long before she realised that she had no idea where she was going. Alone with only Sarah for company they were lost in the dark woods.

‘I can’t run anymore. I have to rest,’ Sarah said, collapsing to the ground.

Emily stopped and turned around to see a tearful Sarah, head in hands and breathing fast and heavy. Emily was exhausted herself and let herself drop to the ground, feeling safe to stop and rest.

‘Do you think Shaun will find us? I hope he’s ok.’ Sarah whimpered through streaming tears.

‘Yeh, he’ll find us,’ Emily replied.

For hours they sat, not saying a word. Emily didn’t know what to do. Part of her wanted to go back to find Shaun but she knew she could never find her way back. Every so often Emily would hear a rustling in the fallen leaves or the snap of a twig. She would quickly look around hoping it was Shaun and not the guards or Luke but each time there would be nothing there. Just the forest creatures tricking her ears and filling her with both hope and fear.

The night had passed quickly and as dawn approached, the sun peaked through the trees bringing new light to the day ahead.

‘Come on, let’s keep going. We might have a better chance now the suns up.’ Emily said, trying to remain positive.

They stood up and continued at a steady pace. They were hungry and their whole body’s ached but there only options were to continue or to give up.

‘Emily?’ Sarah’s voice was soft and weak. ‘What do you think this was all about? Do you think we should’ve stayed?’

This wasn’t something Emily wanted to be thinking about. She had tried very hard not to think about it but even she was having doubts.

‘I’m not sure. We did what we thought was right,’ Emily replied.

‘You’re starting to remember things, aren’t you? I am too,’

Emily looked to Sarah in shock.

‘What do you mean you can remember things? What can you remember and why haven’t you said anything?’ Emily said with a hint of anger in her voice.

‘No, I mean, I’ve just been getting flashbacks. Nothing useful, just… I remember the lab, or a lab. I don’t know,’ Sarah said timidly, taking a step back.

‘No, sorry. Its ok I know what you mean. I could remember Wú from somewhere, but I don’t know where,’ Emily replied, her face dropping with remorse.

They started walking again, beginning to wonder if they would ever find their way out of the woods. Wondering if they had been walking in circles until they noticed an edge to the tree line. Still not knowing where they were or where they would come out, they approached cautiously. Once at the edge of the woods they looked out at a road with a metal rail running along the side. The road stretched on as far as they could see, disappearing from view as it dipped down over a ridge. Past the metal rail was a long building running alongside a playing field. The sight of the building filled Emily and Sarah with hope. They looked at each other with big smiles on their faces.

‘Shaun would have followed us in this direction, and he’ll find us here, won’t he?’ Sarah asked, now with a new outlook on their future.

‘Yeh. We’ll go find someone and tell them what’s happened and he’ll turn up soon,’ Emily replied.

She wasn’t sure at all if he would find them there really, but she knew they had to get help. Hopefully find some food and water while they wait for the authorities.

Sarah turned to look down the road in the opposite direction and Emily saw her face drop. She turned to see what Sarah was looking at and felt a new unexpected fear and confusion. The valley below had filled with a yellowish green fog that seemed to be slowly moving towards them as it grew and expanded.

‘What is that?’ Sarah asked rhetorically. ‘It’s coming from the direction of the lab,’

Emily didn’t have time to think about what might be happening before a familiar convoy of vehicles appeared in the distance. They both turned to run towards the building just to see a truck fast approaching form behind. It skidded to a halt while Emily and Sarah were considering their options. Out of the truck stepped three men wearing hazmat suits.

‘Run,’ Emily screamed.

The two of them jumped over the metal railing and ran towards the building. The men tried to follow them but struggled to get over in their suits. They ran across the playing field and up to a small red wooden door. Sarah pulled at the handle but the door was locked.

‘Come on, we’ll find another way in,’ Emily suggested, not wanting to wait around.

They ran around to the front of the building, relieved to see cars parked in the car park. The main entrance was made up of two large glass doors, one of which was slightly ajar. As Emily pulled the heavy door towards her, realising they could get inside she began to think they might just make it but once inside, the large reception area lay empty. They charged down the corridor trying doors until they found one that was open and ran inside. The room was a dead end. It was full of chairs and had a large projector facing an empty white wall. There was no one there to help them and nowhere to hide. Realising this, they ran back out of the room and along the corridor to find a different rout but as they rounded the corner, they ran right into the arms of the men wearing the hazmat suits. The men grabbed hold of them as they squirmed and twisted to try and break free from their grasp. Emily managed to get an arm free and swung her elbow back into the mask of one of the men. As she did the visor to his mask cracked and in his panic, he lost his grip on her.

‘She breached my suit, I’m getting out of here,’ Said the man with a cracked visor as he turned in a hurry towards the main entrance.

Emily was free and darted off down one of the corridors to get away from the men. She could hear Sarah screaming as she was trying to get away. Emily turned for just a second to see Sarah being dragged off around the corner as one of the armed guards turned up to help.

Emily was on her own now and had been through too much to give up. She managed to find another open room but she knew hiding wasn’t an option. It was a locker room and was full of people’s clothes and belongings. At the end of the room was what looked like an exit but Emily was done running. As she looked around the room her eyes came to rest on a baseball bat resting against the wall. She picked it up and grasped it firmly. Too much had happened and she had been through too much for her to go down without a fight. She manoeuvred herself into a steady stance behind the door with the bat raised ready and waiting.

The locker room door slowly eased open. The small glass window framing the business end of a guard’s rifle. Emily prepared herself. As the guard stepped into the room, she swung the bat with every ounce of strength she had left in her body. The guard fell backwards knocked off his feet and dropping the gun. Emily saw her opportunity, dropping the bat and reaching for the rifle laying by the guard’s side. The guard reached out to grab the rifle at the same time in a hasty panic. The rifle let out a loud bang as Emily and the guard looked at each other with wide expressions. The guards grip loosened, and Emily rose to her feet. She had barely a moment to reflect on her actions before seeing one of the men in hazmat suits walking towards her out of the corner of her eye. She spun around and pointed the gun at him.

‘Where’s Sarah?’ She asked

‘She’s been taken back. We need her. We need you too Emily,’ The man said, his voice muffled by the suit.

Emily was confused, how did he know her name? She wondered. Then she remembered the fog that was heading towards them and a new necessity came to mind.

‘Take off the suit,’ She said

‘Please, Emily there’s no time to explain,’ The man pleaded.

‘Take it off, now,’ Emily shouted, fully aware of the lack of time and not in the mood for a debate.

The man started taking off the suit, keeping one eye on Emily at all times. He pushed the suit across to her then stood back with his hands raised to the side of his head. She struggled to step into the suit while keeping the rifle pointed at the man who now had an extremely sombre look on his face. Eventually she managed to get the suit completely on and sealed. The suit had a small separate oxygen tank that wasn’t connected.

‘When the fog gets here you need to switch to the oxygen,’ The man said.

Emily was even more confused now. The man didn’t need to help her. She had taken his hazmat suit by force and left him vulnerable.

‘Why are you helping me?’ she asked.

‘It’s too late for me now, but you need to live. You can stop this and save everyone,’ The man replied smiling at her peacefully.

‘But I don’t understand, what’s going on,’ Emily muttered, scared and confused.

At that point a familiar face appeared from around the corner. There was Luke, battered and bruised. Emily’s first thoughts were for Shaun. If Luke was here, then where was Shaun. Emily turned the rifle to point at Luke her arms now struggling to keep the weight of the gun lifted. Luke just smiled.

‘Where’s Shaun?’ She asked.

The smile disappeared from Luke’s face and was replaced by a concerned sorrow.

‘I’m sorry. He wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t listen.’

Emily began to cry. She didn’t know what her next move was and just wished she could remember.

There was a loud scream in the distance, coming from somewhere else in the building. The three of them turned to look down the corridor. As they stood there in the stillness a hazy mist of yellowish green fog drifted along the ground towards them.

‘Turn the oxygen on now, and whatever you do don’t take off the suit,’ The man shouted as he backed up away from the fog.

‘I’m sorry, one day you’ll understand,’ Luke said as tears rolled down his face.

Luke stood with his back to the mist knowing the inevitable. Slowly the fog crawled towards him wrapping around his ankles. He closed his eyes as the fog engulfed him before dropping to the floor and releasing an agonising scream of pure torture. His skin blistered and bled, peeling from his muscles and melting away. His whole body started shaking with uncontrollable convulsions and his eyes rolled back in his head, while creamy yellow froth oozed from his mouth. Emily looked on in vain, praying for his suffering to end, until eventually his body became motionless. The man Emily had taken the suit off vomited onto the floor after foreseeing his impending fate. Emily couldn’t watch as the fog grew closer to the man and the man to his unsightly end. She ran back into the locker room, slamming the door behind her and turned on the oxygen to her suit. Then sat curled up on the floor covering her ears as the screams of the man she had condemned to death echoed through the halls.

Eventually the fog managed to seep under the door and started filling the room she was in, slowly surrounding her until she was also completely engulfed in the green haze. She rocked back and forth praying the suit was sealed tight. She was breathing so deep and heavy that soon the small oxygen tank was running low and every breath she took was closer to her last. Each moment filled with unanswered questions. Then as her mind faded to stillness, her eyes grew heavy and her surroundings faded into blackness.

 

​

​

THE TRUTH

 

Emily slowly blinked her eyes open. The surface she was lying on was soft and comfortable. Still in a slight daze she gave herself a moment to take in her surroundings. The smell of sweet pastry filled the air, and a steady cooling breeze blew across her cheeks. The last thing she could remember was laying on the floor of the locker room, slowly losing consciousness. That all seemed like a bad dream she had finally awoken from, but the memories were all too real. She sat up and realised she had been lying on a long beige sofa. The room around her was spacious and clean with a grand wooden desk to one end with a high leather office chair neatly tucked in behind it. In front of the sofa was a glass coffee table with wrought iron legs holding a glass of fresh cold water. Beads of condensation dripped down the sides, landing on a glossy brown leather coaster. Although still wary, the temptation was too great and she picked up the glass with both hands, lifting it to her face and gulping down the refreshing contents. As her eyes scanned the room, she saw a chunky wooden side cabinet. On top was a variety of food ladened plates, fresh bread, donuts and fresh green salads. Emily walked over to the food and began to stuff it into her mouth until her stomach felt satisfied for the first time in days. She hadn’t given herself chance to think about where she was or what had happened until she glanced across to the window. She gradually approached the large pane of glass but there was no view of the outside world. Just a yellowish green fog blocking everything from view.

The door to the room opened, startling Emily. As she turned around, she half expected to see men pointing guns at her but instead there was a handsome man in a pressed black suit holding a clip bored and expressing a friendly smile.

‘Good, your awake,’ The man said calmly, closing the door behind him. ‘It’s ok, we’re perfectly safe in here. The whole building is sealed and the air is filtered then pumped through the air vents.’

‘What’s going on? Where did they take Sarah and what is that stuff?’ Emily asked demandingly, whilst rushing towards the man.

‘Ok now, calm down. I will answer all of your questions. I realise I have some explaining to do. Please, take a seat,’

The man gestured to a small seat in front of the wooden desk, then made his way to the large leather office chair to sit down himself. Emily was confused and desperate to find out what was going on. She felt somewhat calm around the softly spoken man, so she sat down, ready to find out the truth.

‘First I would like to apologise for what you’ve had to go through. The whole situation has been handled badly. You’re lucky we got to you while you were still breathing. We brought you back here and kept you in the medial wing for two days while you recovered fully, then brought you up hear where you wouldn’t be disturbed until you woke up,’

‘Why didn’t you just let me die?’ asked Emily

‘We don’t want you to die, we didn’t want any of you to die. We were trying to keep you safe,’

The realisation that Luke was right all along hit Emily like a ton of bricks. Her heart pounded in her chest and an overwhelming feeling of dread washed over her. They could all still be alive if they had just listened to Luke.

‘Let me explain. My name is David Rickman and I am the lead professor in microbiology hear at Stonebridge laboratories. You and your team were working on a top-secret military defence project when a gas leak caused an explosion, realising the untested chemicals that when mixed with the atmosphere created the fog that now has us all trapped in this building. The safety protocol for the lab is to release a powerful anaesthetic gas that can stop a mass panic, preventing the air from being consumed too rapidly as the labs are automatically sealed. The unfortunate side effect of this is temporary memory loss,’

‘So, my memory will come back?’ Emily asked, relieved that at least it could all start to make sense.

‘Yes. Although there’s no telling how long it will take. Normally we would have placed you all in secure holding cells until you remembered everything, but they were damaged in the explosion. You need to realise, we had no intention of hurting any of you but we couldn’t let what we do here get out,’ David said with a concerned look on his face, unsure of how Emily would take it.

‘So you slaughtered anyone who tried to escape, just to hide your immoral secret. Why would anyone want to create something that could do that to a person anyway?’ Emily said, tearing up.

‘It’s not my secret we were hiding. It’s yours. It was your project from the start. That’s why we need you alive, so you can find a way to neutralise what you created before it spreads across the whole country and potentially the whole world. Why do you think people were so prepared to die to keep you safe? Because you are the one person who can save them all.’

Emily had a lot to think about. The knowledge that people were dying in the most painful and gruesome way due to something she had created weighed heavy on her and almost made her want to step outside, to resign herself to the same fate. Yet if it was true that she was the only one who could stop it then she owed it to the world to destroy what she had created.

‘So, what now,’ She asked sombrely.

‘Well we have managed to save a lot of the computer files you and your husband were working on,’

‘Husband?’ Emily interrupted.

She looked down to her left hand to notice for the first time she was wearing a shiny gold wedding ring.

‘But I don’t remember being married,’

Emily slid the ring off her finger and noticed a faint engraving inside. There in thin italic letters, she saw the words ‘Emily & Wú forever’.

Emily broke down, tears streaming down her face. David didn’t care.

‘Well I will give you some time to think about things. Within time your memory will return, and I look forward to working with you again,’ David said emotionlessly, before standing up and leaving the room.

Emily wiped the tears from her face then walked over to look out the window once more. She was out of options and as angry as she was, she knew it was all her fault. As she stared into the green haze, she knew she had to fix her past mistakes.