Asylum *HF* Chapter 7
By collaborative
She decided that would have to do, since she could now hear the echo of footsteps issuing down the hall. This wasn't mealtime. Only one orderly was needed to deliver the meals, and from the sound of the steps, there were two of them. Siren focused on making herself relax. She let her body go limp and her breathing become shallower than it already was. The two paused outside her door. In the silence, she could hear one rummaging in his coat pocket for the card key that would change the polarity of the magnetic lock. She heard the swipe of the card and the switching of the lock. The door swung open freely, and the two men walked in. She could not see them since she had her back facing them, so she wasn't sure what to expect. "You get the feet, and I’ll take the shoulders." the first man ordered in a gruff tone. The other hurried to do what he was told, and soon she felt herself being maneuvered to be lifted. She waited until they had her off the bed before she let out a faint moan. The man at her feet jumped back as if scared out of his wits, causing the other man to lose his balance and send them both toppling to the floor. Thankfully, she landed on him, as the prospect of having her head dashed so hard against the cement floor was not an option that she really liked. "Dammit, Jenkins!! What the hells the matter with you?!"
"I just thought that she might...." The other man's voice wavered.
"Can it ya pathetic coward! Christ, what are you afraid of? Look at her, She's half dead ya dumbass!"
"But..."
"Get over here and do your fuckin job! And try not to piss your pants if she actually takes a full breath." the man growled harshly. The other man was hesitant, but he did as he was told. Inwardly, Siren was smiling. The man's fear was going to make her escape that much easier. He moved back into position, as did the harsh man. It was now, or never. As the first man bent over to take hold of her shoulders, her eyes flew open, and her knuckles made surprisingly strong contact with the man's throat. He fell back, painfully gasping for air. The other man was in hysterics by now.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god....." he cried pitifully. A moment later, his pathetic ramblings ceased as she jumped up from the floor and forced his head into the wall behind him. She turned back to the first orderly, who was now on the floor, and gave him a kick to the head that sent him backwards. Quickly, she relieved him of his key and his weapon. She also took the other man's weapon, and was out the door, locking it behind her. She knew about where she was from the map she had seen, and turned to her left. This was a one shot chance to get everyone else out, and she knew it. She just hoped she could pull it of.
_ _ _ _ _
Fear. There was no better way to keep a body moving. Fear kept you running, until you no longer felt the pain. That’s what Mysty was doing. She was running from fear. She thought for sure the shock therapy would’ve killed her. How she had survived that pain she never understood. When it was over, she felt numb. Dead. Markus was a dead man. Right now that was all she could concentrate on. That’s all she wanted now. It was his fault that she had accidentally killed one of the attendants. Her powers had gone off during the therapy that much he had told her. She thought about that a moment. He wasn’t telling me, she told herself. He was gloating. After that incident they had started keeping an even more guarded watch on her than before. This made her uneasy. She didn’t like having someone in that room with her twenty-four hours a day. A lot of the times it was Markus. He frightened her more than she was willing to admit. They tried to keep her clear-headed when he was in the room with her.
Sometimes they would let her out of this room. She always had an escort and she was never allowed to talk to other patients. She had seen faces she knew though. They had tried to talk to her, sneak up near her. They didn’t get to far though, the guards made sure of that. Besides, when she did hear what they said, she didn’t understand. It was like they were speaking some foreign language she wanted to desperately understand.
He liked to tell her of the pain he was causing her friends, or the other people here. He wanted her to be able to comprehend what it all meant. For the time being anyway. After he left, they drugged her up again. There were days she couldn’t remember. It was as if she had completely missed the day. Today was the injection. They alternated the days she received what drugs. She wasn’t sure why though. A few moments after the prick, her mind slipped off into a peaceful oblivion. She was slowly beginning to retreat into herself.
_ _ _ _ __
Markus watched the security monitor with an almost sadistic pleasure. He loved a challenge. The Watson girl proved to be one, and now her friend had attracted his attention. When she was again secured, he was going to have to give her some personal attention. "Playing opossum. That was awfully clever of you." he mused aloud, "But then again, how much of that were you really faking?" He turned to the other man in the control center with him, who was about to sound the alarm. "I want her taken alive, and as...undamaged as possible, is that clear?"
"Yes sir." the young man complied. He pushed the buttons that enabled the alarms. Then he flipped the switch to the intercom system, "All security, code red. Subject in sector 6-b heading in. Subject is wanted alive, repeat, subject is wanted alive." As the man finished the announcement, the door to the control room opened. Markus turned to see his son enter the room. There was the barest hint of a smile on his face.
"It will be over soon,” he said in the barest of whispers.
"That it will be." He turned back to the screen, his son moving in closer to watch the events unfold with his father. He's taking as much interest in this as I did when I was his age. And like me, he will one day carry on this holy war, he thought to himself. That pleased him more than anything else in the world.
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Siren knew that her quick progress would not last long, especially when she heard the announcement over the intercom. Moments later, she encountered her first obstacle. Two members of the security force entered her path. She brought her weapons to bear, and dropped them both with quick energy bursts aimed roughly at their midsections. One of them, however, did not die. As she ran past him, she gave him a shot to the head. No way he was getting up from that one. It wasn't a matter of cruelty as it was an insurance policy. If he was dead, he couldn't be a danger to her anymore.
Oddly enough, she made it to an elevator without further incident. She took it one level down to give her access to the generator room. As near as she could figure, that was going to be the only way to free everyone. With no power, the devices that kept them from their powers would be useless. That would give them a chance. That would give them hope.
When the elevator door opened, a barrage of weapons fire met Siren. They must have anticipated her destination. There were so many that she seriously was in need of some explosives. She returned fire as best she could, but soon found herself in serious trouble as one of her pistols was running low on power. It seemed hopeless, but then she had an idea. She took the almost spent gun and tossed it in the barricades general direction. Now all she needed was one clear shot. With her remaining weapon, which was half full, she continued to return fire until she had her opening. With two half aimed shots, the first one missing, she hit the gun she had tossed. It exploded in a brilliant flurry in the midst of her enemies. There were some screams, but moments later, all fell silent. The blast had been larger than she had expected, but it had served its purpose well. A near as she could tell, they had all been killed.
Siren bet that that was a good chunk of the security force that was on that level. Still, she gathered more weapons off the corpses as she passed through. Her fatigue was beginning to show through as she nearly tripped over one man's outstretched hand, and then slipped and fell in one of the growing puddles of blood. She pushed herself up, forcing the weakness away. As she continued her progress down the hall, she made the effort to open up her mind. Char! she called out mentally.
Siren, are you alright? What's going on? questioned the voice in her head.
I'm almost there, but I wanted you to know what was going on, especially if this doesn't work, Siren replied, her worry being conveyed through her mental response.
It'll work, it has to, Char assured her. Siren prayed that she was right, but didn't convey that to her friend. She left the connection open as she continued on. Another turn in the corridor she was in, and she was faced with the door she was seeking. Still, she was alone in the hall. That meant that whatever opposition was left would be in the generator room. She tried the card key, but the door would not open. She backed away a bit, and fired repeatedly at the key scanner. After a few moments, the metal melted, and the wiring to the power supply sparked and smoked. Siren heard the polarity change and the door slid open. She dove low and sent in a deadly volley of fire. A good thing to, since enemy fire seared the air where she had just been.
She couldn't confront such a large force head on, so she took a defensive position between two large pieces of equipment. Slowly, too slowly it seemed, Siren made her way inward until she could see the main and secondary generator units. They were enormous, but they were of a design that was unfamiliar. In a way, they reminded her of those old horror films where a mad scientist had two metal columns with electricity shooting between them. Only, these were much more complex, and by far, much larger. They were also encased be a thick layer of glass. She was so busy looking for a way to destroy the thing that she did not realize that she had been boxed in until it was too late.
Suddenly, she found herself in overlapping fields of fire, and there was little she could do about it. She was doing her best to return fire while avoiding being hit herself. One gunman had managed to get close enough for a descent shot. Siren almost didn't see him. He got off a shot before she could line him up, and suddenly, her left arm was afire with pain. It quickly went numb, and she realized that all their weapons were set to stun. Of course they were. That announcement had said they wanted her alive. Siren dropped, sending lethal fire at her opponent. It was right on the mark.
Siren had only three weapons that had any power left, and that wasn't saying much. In her frustration, she emptied one of the guns on a small group of opposers that stood in front of the main generator. To her surprise, she shattered a portion of the glass that encased the field of electricity. She could hear its static crackle and could smell the ozone that it created. She made a quick glance to determine how large on opening she had made. It was large enough, roughly eight feet in diameter. Now she had a way to destroy it, the only question was, could she survive it? Then again, did it really matter? Hell no! she thought defiantly. She ripped off a strip of fabric from her uniform and tied the remaining two weapons together.
Siren, what are you doing?! she heard Char's worried plea. Siren hesitated for a moment.
I'm getting you guys out of here. She didn't wait for a reply. Swiftly, she came out of her hiding place, a battle cry issuing triumphantly from her. With a strength she should not have possessed, she hurled the package through the opening.
Siren...NO!!!
A moment later, the two weapons crossed the field of electricity and exploded, setting off an unstoppable chain reaction. The initial blast sent Siren flying into a very unforgiving stack of equipment, which then buried her as she hit the floor. The second and more powerful discharge spread as a fireball throughout the cavernous room.
All was black.