The Laboratory of Dr. Grey - Chapter Six

Chapter Six

    Jolting forward in her narrow white bed, Roxanne screamed struggling against the nylon restrains which pinned her in a laying position to the bed. She felt something tight around her neck, choking her as she fought the restraints. Her heart raced as she looked around wildly. She was in a cold sweat and breathing hard. She heard herself screaming uncontrollably. “Get me out! Get me out of that place!”
     A couple of people in white coats rushed to her side and they were saying things in a soothing voice but she didn’t hear them. Frantically her eyes darted around the room, trying to distinguish shapes and colors in the darkness. There seemed to be quite a few men in white coats and beside her, to the left, was another bed like her’s with someone on it. She couldn’t see who it was because there were white coated doctors surrounding them as well. Tugging wildly against the restrains, she fought against every hand that held her down. Then a man came up to her with a syringe in hand and he quickly shoved it into her arm, draining the contents.
    Things began to blur out and she felt her body seeming to go limp. A calm feeling swept over her and she felt like she was drifting to sleep. The doctor’s voices drowned into the background, then altogether, as everything went black.


    In the next few minutes Roxanne regained consciousness. There was a bright light directly above her and she blinked against the dazzling bulb. She moved her arm, but found that it was still strapped in, then everything came back to her and she looked about. There were still doctors in white coats, some closer and others in the corners of the room. The bed was still next to her and she glanced over to see who it was. Damian!  He was real. She jerked over in surprise and felt a sharp jab of pain from her left arm. Looking at what she felt, she saw that there was a needle with a tube attached to it. She followed the tube and found that it’s source was somewhere up behind her. Then she noticed that she was wearing a white hospital gown.
    Damian was as well.
    The room was a little brighter than it had been before, and she noticed a particular man staring directly at her with a hard expression on his face. The man took a step forward and addressed her with a serious yet seemingly pleased tone. “Well done, Roxanne Crembell. Both you and Damian Zalen proved to be very interesting. And I thank you for the most entertaining final test, it was well worth the wait. Now for you to receive your reward. Smith, Craig, take them to room 57, and make sure that the chamber is ready for their arrival.” He turned out the room with an evil smile and added, “Good work, men, you have shown yourselves useful in a pinch.”
    Several other white coated men followed him out and he spoke to them as they left. “Notify their parents. Tell them that we had a few complications and the subjects didn’t...” It was all she caught before the door closed. 
    Only a few were left in the room with them. Two doctors approached both Roxanne and Damian. They took the needles out of their arms and did a final check up before signaling to a couple other men. The men took hold of the beds and rolled them out of the room into a long corridor.
    A dozen thought raced through Roxanne’s head. One of the first ones was that Damian was actually real. And then everything came back to what had happened in the last few days and why she was really there. They, the counsel, had given a mandate for all seventeen year-olds to be given a test. With her parent’s complete consent, she had been sent to this lab and waited for a long time with other teens the same age as herself. Then she remembered changing into the white gown and laying down on the bed. She shivered as she relived the moment when they stuck the needle into her arm. What she had just gone through must have been the test. But why? What did they want to find out by this test? What were they looking for?
    The corridor was crowded with dozens of people and then they turned off into an isolated room. They rolled them into the center of the room then opened the blinds, letting sunlight stream through the window. The room was lined with counters and on one of them was two bundles of clothes. The bundles seemed to have been undisturbed for quite some time. Silently, the men left them there, shutting the door behind them then locking it from the outside.
    Roxanne sighed, listening to their footsteps to fade down the hall. Damian was contemplating something hard and silence reigned over them. Roxanne broke it by asking him a question, obviously eluding towards a larger point, “Do you remember anything from what we just went through?”
    “Yes, of course I do. Why do you ask?”
    “I was wondering if you remember that time, when we had just escaped the monkeys and were down on that mattress, when I mentioned something missing from deep down inside. Kind of like a dull ache. Remember that?”
    “Yes, I remember. I thought it had something to do with the test, because that test wasn’t right at all; we were defying all laws of physics and creating new things.”
    Roxanne nodded in agreement, but wanted to stick to the point. “Right... but that dull ache... it hasn’t left. And we’re no longer in the test.”
    “Maybe it’s like a side affect, you know, something that wares off after time.” Damian suggested while pulling hard at his restraints.
    Staring at the white ceiling, Roxanne thought about it and replied, “I don’t know. You think they’re actually going to kill us? What did we do to them?” There was no response. Roxanne glanced over to his movable bed and saw him furiously tugging his right hand out of the cuff which attached to the metal base of the bed.
    Damian’s voice was strained and tight as he replied through clenched teeth. “Not if I can help it.”
    A metallic bang rang through the bare room as Damian’s elbow collided with the side railing. He cringed slightly and muttered something under his breath, but he had one hand free. Roxanne immediately asked if he was okay.
    “I’ll be fine. See if you can slip your wrists out, then try the one at the neck. I’m pretty sure it has a buckle.
    Hardly thinking, Roxanne began to squeeze her hand through the nylon cuff. After a few tries her hand slipped out, and she immediately unbuckled her other hand. Damian had just undid the neck collar and he sat up. There were four more buckles to go; one just above each knee, then another around each ankle. With both hands, Roxanne felt for the buckle around her bruised neck and undid it with a click. She then sat up and worked on the remaining four.
    Damian slipped over the rail, after arranging his white hospital gown. He dashed over to Roxanne’s bed, his bare feet thumping on the cold hard floor. He reached her just in time to help her off the bed. Roxanne felt a wave of nausea tumble through her, trying to ignore the dizziness.
    Looking around the room, Damian said urgently, “We don’t have long before they come back. The window’s our best shot at getting out of here. Are you with me?”
    Roxanne grimly gazed him straight in the eye, “Yes. I keep my promises.”
    Nodding once, Damian glanced around again then down at the white, knee length grown. He frowned muttering, “This won’t do.” Then his roving eyes fell on the piles of clothes on the counter and he sprang over to them. Roxanne was close behind him and they found (much to their delight) that it was their old clothes and shoes. Slipping them on, they approached the window, gazing it over. Damian quickly threw it open and looked around again. “Can you get me a knife, or something sharp...”
    Roxanne started opening and closing cabinets wildly. She picked up an unused pair of medical scissors. “Will these do?”
    “Yeah,” He said taking them from her outreached hand. Pulling his hand back, he jabbed the mesh and cut a slit big enough for his hand. Sticking his hand through the hole he tore the slit bigger until the entire screen was torn diagonally, then vertically. Once that was done he cupped his hands together and leaned over a bit, looking up at Roxanne expectantly. Placing one boot in his hands, she pressed up against the sill and slipped through the window, jumping down to the hard ground. Directly after her came Damian. They crouched against the wall of the building and swept their surroundings. They were on a deserted side of the building, thankfully, and there was no one in sight. The building was surrounded by a tall chain linked fence with barbed wire coiled at the top. The only way in or out was through a well guarded gate on the other side of the building. On the other side of the confining fence was a dark forest with old towering trees. The fence was not twenty feet away from them and without a word, Damian dashed to it. He grabbed ahold of the fence and shoved his the toe boot into one of the holes. He quickly was a few feet off the ground and was rising steadily. Roxanne followed suit and they met a the top where they both halted. From behind them they heard shouts and the sound of running feet.
    They had been discovered!
    Damian quickly pushed aside the barbed wire with his bare hands flattening it so Roxanne could get over easier. He grimaced with pain as the razor edges dug into his hands. In a few seconds Roxanne was completely over and he hoisted himself, grinding his hands against the wire and scraping his arms. Just as he flipped to the other side, guards in dark gray uniforms rounded the corner. In their hands they carried guns and without hesitation they began to fire upon the escaping pair. Damian jumped down to the ground next to Roxanne, leaving dark red smears on the top of the fence. Bullets whizzed over their heads as the ducked and ran into the forest. Dodging between trees, they wove deeper into the darkness. They heard the guards follow them, still firing madly.


    In the laboratory, Dr. Mendaf angrily pounded his fists against his desk. He screamed at the unlucky doctor who told him that the two subjects escaped. “You let them get alway! Idiot! You insolent dimwit!” He ranted one like that while the doctor was stuttering excuses left and right. Suddenly Dr. Mendaf stopped and he stared hotly at the trembling doctor. “It looks like I have a phone call to make. You’re excused, you can go! Now!”
    Quickly the pale doctor fled out of the room, closing the door behind him. Dr. Mendaf watched his silhouette practically run down the hall. Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Hello? Dr. Grey? This is Dr. White at laboratory fifty-three. Yes, I was, uh, calling to notify you about the two threats. We found them, and what they did in the test was amazing! But the bad news is that the dimwits I put in charge over them, they uh, let them escape.” The doctor cringed as he moved the telephone slightly away from his ear. “Yes, I know that they’re the idiots... Yes, but... What do you want me to do?” There was a pause and Dr. Mendaf looked surprised and his mouth parted slightly. “The List? Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme? I mean they’re only seventeen year olds. Fine I’ll do it. Yes, sir, I understand. Catch them and them make them pay for all the trouble. Are you sure that you don’t want to see them before we kill them? Okay, I won’t worry about it then. Thank you for your advice and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks. Good bye, Dr. White.”
    There was a cold gleam in his eye as he placed the telephone back down and he picked up a handheld radio. Holding down a button, he spoke into it. “Pursue at all cost, and exchange bullets for darts. Bring them back, and no need to be gentle about it.”


    Roxanne dashed as fast as she could force her legs to go. She pushed away undergrowth and ducked under tree limbs. Damian wasn’t far behind her. He grimaced in pain as he whipped past reaching undergrowth, trying to protect his bleeding hands and fore arms. Suddenly they heard the bullets stop. Slowing down slightly they listened for any sound. They stood up fully and looked around, the wood was still. There was no one in sight. Damian wildly searched the green and brown brush then he quickly shoved Roxanne forward, breaking into a run again. Just behind them came a thick cluster of darts which imbedded themselves into the soft earth. They dashed further into the forest then rounding a tree, they came into a clearing. They stopped a few feet away from the tree line. The clearing was circular and had lush green grass and small wildflowers. It was like the war had left this place completely untouched.
    Exchanging glances, Roxanne and Damian silently determined what to do next. Together they sprinted forward, making for the other side of the clearing. Just as they were about half way across, the men in gray appeared all around the edge of the tree line, surrounding the two escapees. Without hesitation, they began to fire upon the pair from all directions.
    The darts whizzed over, in front, and behind them as they desperately made for the trees. Right in front of them two guards appeared and began shooting. Roxanne searched for another way out, but there was none, it was forward or die. Her mind raced through many things, never really resting on one in particular. But it was clear to them both, there was no way out. Rather than giving up, they pushed forward, prolonging the inevitable.
    Damian cried out as a dart hit him and he reached back to his right shoulder. Roxanne slowed down a little and glanced back a Damian for a split second. A second too late. A stinging dart struck the back of her lower leg. A painful cry escaped her lips as she stumbled and fell to the ground, scraping her forearms roughly against the dirt and coarse grass. Damian halted and grabbed her hand, pulling her up then another dart lodged into his back. An agonizing expression covered his face and he knelt down, holding back a cry. Taking advantage of the moment, the guards rushed from the tree line and forcefully shoved them to the ground, pinning them there.
    From then on, everything was a painful blur to both Roxanne and Damian. The darts were infused with a certain drug that simulated the pain of a real bullet which coursed through their entire bodies. It also had a sleeping drug, which made them extremely drowsy and not able to think clearly. Needless to say, they didn’t remember much of the journey back to the laboratory. On the way, the guards extracted their revenge on the helpless prisoners. Once they got back, both, Roxanne and Damian could barely stand and they slumped heavily against the men in gray.
    Dr. Mendaf inspected them briefly then gave out orders, “Beat them. Then take them to room 34. After that, take them to the fire pit, to dispose of their bodies properly. We don’t want that serum to get anywhere, it would be quite nasty. Dismissed.”
    With a flick of his hand, Dr. Mendaf turned back to his desk and began intently working on some papers. The guards took them away and carried out the orders.
    Dragging them into room 34, the guards left them fastened to metal tables. Roxanne’s face was pale and drawn from pain, every inch of her body screamed at her. Damian was scarcely holding onto life, his breathing was ragged and laborious. Roxanne turned her head slightly, grimacing, and she whispered faintly. “Now that I am here, I do fear death. What is beyond? How can you be sure that it will be better than this life? What if it’s worse?”
    A door opened directly after Roxanne paused for a shallow breath. A few men in white coats entered and busied themselves with something on one of the counters. Minutes dragged by excruciatingly slow and a couple of the doctors finally turned towards them. Approaching them with stone faces, the white coated men held in their hands a syringe filled with a red liquid. Roxanne began to panic as the men came closer. She squirmed, breathing hard as she though of what was to come next. One of the men inserted the needle in the crook of her deeply bruised arm. A sick feeling swept over her and she felt nauseous. Then she watched the contents drain into her arm. The liquid burned in her veins and she screamed in pain, her body convulsing. Then it was over. Everything went dark and she felt nothing.