Novikov
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- Created on Wednesday, 28 January 2009 20:37
- Last Updated on Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:16
- Written by aquasheep
- Hits: 3136
Blink.
The smoke burned his eyes. Filled his nostrils. His ears rang from the dull roaring that seemed to get eternally louder. He blindly, desperately gripped the handles in front of him.
Blink.
An hour ago. He sat in the giant seat, looking about the square room ironically. His gaze settled on her, in the corner. "It's like a throne, isn't it."
She stared at him lifelessly through her cage. She howled, muted behind the thick plastic. He knew without the restraints, she would be lunging at him, a futile effort behind a foot of plexiglass. Her hair was the only part of her that vaguely resembled what she used to be. There was so much dried blood in it it he could barely remember what color it originally was. He looked down at the console. "It was black."
Shaken, he double checked the display. A fifty percent chance this was a one way trip. Didn't matter. It was the only way to save her. He put his finger on the start switch. He closed his eyes.
Blink.
He smelled and tasted nothing but sulfur. It hurt his throat to breathe. He squinted through the smoke. Didn't seem to be thinning at all. The sound pounded against his temples. He held the handles tighter. His eyes tearing, he looked in the direction of the corner, where he had placed her. It was too thick to see, but he knew she had to be there. That cell was impossible to break through. He turned away.
Blink
Six months ago. He paused in his typing. His last journal, detailing his work for anyone to find. If there was anyone left. If his plan worked, would this still exist, somewhere? Or would it change with the past, disappear, as he hoped everything else would?
He glanced towards her. She strained against the restraints, tirelessly. She had gotten free once, back when he only had her in steel cuffs. It had caused a month setback to his experiments. By some stroke of luck, it happened during the day when he was on the surface, and not sleeping, where she would have easily killed him. Turned him into something like her. An easy out, perhaps.
A shame that she remembered nothing.
It was almost done now, just a few last preparations. He didn't want to have to take her with, but who would believe him without proof? And there was no guarantee he could capture any others alive; without her, it would be next to impossible to formulate a cure. Plus, if he never came back... There was no other way. And back then, there were more resources. More time.
Back then, people were still alive.
Blink.
The smoke was clearing around the controls. Still too heavy to see more than a few inches in front of him. He went over the plan again in his head. Arrive at the origination site. Take out any of the initials, hopefully stem the tide. Bring her to a lab to find a cure. Something still stirred uneasily inside him. He strained to see into the cage as the smoke drifted. Was it a trick of the lights, or...? He lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes.
Blink.
Three years ago. He crouched over her, catching his breath. "I shot it. I got him."
She stared blankly into space. "It's too late."
"It's not, we got him, we're good." He tugged her shoulder. "Get up."
"It's too late." She grabbed his shirt. He looked at her arm. It oozed, sickly, raggedly. Teeth marks. He froze.
"You have to promise me." She looked hard at him. "Promise you'll bring me back. That I won't end up like them. That it doesn't end like this." She wavered.
He slid out of her grasp and stepped away. He squeezed his eyes shut. Her arm fell limply forward.
"Promise..."
Blink.
The smoke had drifted away. The roaring was fading. He stared numbly at the impossibly shattered cage. She had vanished.
His eyes drifted listlessly to the display. Everything was correct. This was ground zero, the estimated location where they first appeared. The clock gave several days before the first reported outbreaks, though he knew there had been unofficial sightings around this time. But this wasn't right.
He pried his other hand from the grip, and stumbled outside into the sunlight. The ground was green, not yet charred and dead from what the government had called "quarantine cleanup measures." Not that they had helped any.
He looked in the distance. No sign of her. Shakily, he gathered his thoughts. She can't be far. I brought sedatives, tranquilizers. Inside. I just need to catch her before she causes too much damage. Even if she does, it might be reversible, and then none of this will ever have happened.
He turned back to the entrance. Stopped. She stood hunched in the doorway. He took a step back as she ran towards him.
"Wait." There had to be part of her still there. Something that would stop her. She dove towards him, her hair cracked and lifeless.
"No." A sharp pain in his shoulder. He fell to the ground, her weight pushing on him. "This wasn't how it was supposed to end."
He looked at the sky. "I was supposed to save you." His voice faded. She stopped gnawing his shoulder and lurched up. Shuffled across the field towards the city along the horizon.
He blinked.
Heterochromia
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 07 January 2009 19:33
- Last Updated on Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:16
- Written by aquasheep
- Hits: 3374
"I just can't decide, can you?"
"Hm?"
"It all looks so deliciously unappetizing, doesn't it?"
"Um." He turned towards her voice. She was staring intently at the stacks of tortillas. "I guess so?"
"Haven't you noticed that they make the same thing every day, and claim it's different? Burrito, quesadilla, soft taco. The only thing that they change is how they fold the tortilla. They don't even vary the ingredients. Who's ever heard of a burrito with no beans, or a quesadilla with rice in it? And mushrooms, really?"
"Well they have the other food stations too..." He looked around the cafeteria, then back at her. She made a face.
"I'm not about to get a gyro from someone that doesn't know how to pronounce it."
"As opposed to a burrito with mushrooms in it?" He noticed her ears were pierced, but she didn't wear earrings. She glanced back at him.
"Touché."
"Why do you come here if the food is so bad?"
She smiled. "That's a good question."
"Hello?"
"Want to see what terrible things are for lunch today?"
"Um." He checked the caller ID. Unknown. "How did you get my desk number?"
"Oh, that's not important. Come on, it's noon. Let's go."
"I'm not really sure what..." He heard a knock, and turned to see her hang up her cell phone.
"Wanted to make sure this was the right office too. Hurry up, we'll get stuck in the lines."
He sighed. "Look, I'm not really sure how you got all my info, but I don't even know your name."
"I fail to see what that has to do with lunch." She walked over to the desk and grabbed the power cord. "I hope you save frequently."
"Ok, ok. I'll go." She seemed satisfied and dropped the cord. He stared at her back as she walked out. Mystified, he followed.
She darted past him as they came to the corner before the elevator. He rounded it as the doors were closing. She waved at him. "Sorry, too slow." Her grin seemed to hover in the air.
He started to yell something at her as the floor started to buckle. He instinctively backed against the wall, could hear things falling from people's desks further down the hallway. It only lasted a few seconds. With a lingering glance towards the elevators, he headed towards the stairs.
He walked to the lobby. There was a crowd of people. He pushed through. "What's going on?"
"Elevator cable snapped. Someone was inside."
He couldn't see which elevator they were all in front of. Looked for her in the sea of heads. Glimpsed someone on a stretcher, and then she was gone.
"Hi."
He turned. "Oh. Hi." He looked down. Her leg was wrapped in bandages.
She followed his gaze. "Oh that. From the elevator the other day. Just a flesh wound."
"Hah. How are you?"
"I'll live. Not for much longer, I suspect, judging by the quality of the food here." She limped towards the stack of trays. He noticed a trail of red behind her steps. He tracked it to a stain seeping through the gauze.
"Um, hey. You know you're blee..." The floor swayed. She grabbed his arm. Something cracked above. He pulled her back to the doorway. A beam from the ceiling swung down and crashed into several stations. Salad greens and Spanish rice rained around the room.
Her nails dug into his arm. She leaned against him and exhaled shakily. "I'm ok. You?"
He looked down at her. One of her eyes was brown. The other was blue. He didn't answer.
Promnesia
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- Created on Friday, 02 January 2009 03:03
- Last Updated on Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:16
- Written by aquasheep
- Hits: 2828
"...so then he says, 'no soap, radio!'"
"I don't get it." She glanced at him.
"You're not supposed to get it. It's a non sequitur."
"So? Non sequiturs are funny. That just doesn't make any sense." She turned back to examine the ducks by the shore. Two of them appeared to be having a conversation between themselves.
"Non sequiturs are funny because they don't make sense. It conveys the absurdity of the situation."
"But the premise is already absurd. Animals in a bathtub?" She tried to listen to the two ducks talking. Couldn't quite make it out. Not that it made any difference. She looked over the water. Saw a duck floating leisurely on the surface. Speaking of bathtubs.
"Alright fine, that one's no good. You tell one then."
"Um." She looked at him again. He appeared more amused than offended. "Can I ask you something first?"
"Ok."
"What did that email mean last night." The two ducks had stopped talking.
"What email?"
"The one you sent. I got it right after you left."
"I haven't sent you an email in weeks. What did it say."
"Oh. Uh..." She paused. The two ducks appeared to be getting agitated. One had started flapping its wings. None of the other ducks seemed to notice. Or care. "It had a bunch of stuff about us that didn't make any sense. You said you found my jacket. And that you couldn't wait to see me next month. I didn't really understand it."
"Um. I didn't write that. And you know I'll be in Europe next month. You sure it was me?"
"Yes. Your email address." The arguing ducks stopped abruptly, turned, and walked away. Waddled away. Maybe they had resolved whatever it was.
"Weird."
"Hello?"
"Did you just send me an email?" She looked at her computer screen. It seemed less real all of a sudden. Untrustworthy.
"No. Just now?"
"Yes. It's even weirder than the last one."
"I haven't sent anything. What does it say?"
"It um. It says." She drew a breath. Tried to keep her voice from shaking. The screen blurred. "It says you've had a change of plans. That you're staying. That you've met someone."
"What?"
"This really isn't funny, you need to stop it."
"Seriously, I have my sent mail box open right now. I haven't sent anything like that. I haven't met anyone. Nothing's changed."
"Are you sure?" It seemed hard to breath right now. It took all her effort to keep holding the phone.
"Yes. There's no one else. I love you, really."
She closed her eyes. "Ok."
"How much time do you have until your flight?"
"Half an hour before I have to go through security. Want to sit for a while?"
"Sure." There was a flower vending machine against the wall. She looked at it suspiciously. Who really uses that?
"I'm going to miss you."
"I know. It's only for three months though, right?" She watched someone walk up to the machine and buy a dozen roses. They looked slightly wilted. The man grabbed them and hurried away. She couldn't decide if he was desperate or just forgetful.
"Yeah. I'll be back soon. I won't really have Internet that often, but I'll try to email you everyday, ok?"
"Ok."
She drove home. The heat in the apartment was still broken. She checked her closet for her jacket. Not there. Hadn't she just worn it yesterday?
The Sting
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- Created on Monday, 29 December 2008 22:34
- Last Updated on Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:16
- Written by aquasheep
- Hits: 2656
"Wake up."
"...What?"
"Are you awake?"
He sighed. She didn't seem to notice.
"I guess I am now." He opened one eye. Reluctantly. Tilted his head away from her hair. Still too dark to see anything. At least the sun hadn't come up yet. Still early. Or was it still late? Hooray for small favors.
"I was thinking."
"Mm."
He paused. She hadn't responded. He sighed again.
"About what?" He focused on keeping the sleep out of his voice. Probably not successful. He closed his eyes.
"Nothing. Everything. I don't know. I couldn't sleep."
"Mm." He started to drift off. Perhaps closing his eyes wasn't a good idea.
"I think I need to go."
"Go where?" He gave up on trying to sound awake. Maybe she would get the hint. Wherever she wanted to go, it could wait.
"Somewhere else." She moved, sat up, pushed his arm away. He looked at her. Suddenly sleep didn't seem very important anymore.
"Wait, now? Why?" He started to get up, confused. She stood. Shook her head. Walked out the door.
"...Well?"
"Well what?" He was looking out the passenger window. Recognizable landmarks blurred by. He didn't see any of them.
"Why did she leave?"
"Oh. I don't know. I haven't talked to her since." Shopping centers passed by. Funny how they all look the same. They stopped at a light on a bridge. Was this the way we came earlier? Must have been.
"Seriously? Have you tried to? Is she still in town?"
"Probably. I have no idea. And yeah, I tried. Haven't seen her online, won't answer the phone." He saw a theater marquee. Listed three movies. He turned in his seat as they passed to read the other side.
"Damn. That sucks. What are you going to do?
"I don't know yet." Did it really matter what he did? He turned forward again. A familiar intersection, almost there. He looked out the passenger window as they passed through. "Uh is that car going to stop?"
He awoke to sunlight over his face. He closed his eyes tighter to try to ignore it. Didn't work. Want to stay asleep. Lost cause.
Something smells unfamiliar. The sheets maybe, the detergent. Heard a voice say something, hard to make out.
He opened his eyes. Saw her sitting, bent forward, shaking slightly. Her elbows on her knees. Her hair pushed forward. She wasn't looking at him. She said it again, quietly.
"Wake up."
Calvin & Hobbes
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- Created on Sunday, 28 December 2008 04:59
- Last Updated on Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:16
- Written by aquasheep
- Hits: 2694