Chapter 3

"Your parents?!" It wasn't a scream. I don't scream. Correction: I don't scream when I'm not being electrocuted.

"Please, calm down," she said. I didn't want to calm down. I wanted to get the fuck out of there. Now. "Don't do anything rash. I can explain."

I realized that I had already been preparing to switch zones. I didn't trust her. I didn't trust anyone. There was nothing she could do now, though. I was ready this time. If she tried anything – if anyone came through that door for me – I was ready and I swear they'd never know what hit them.

"Talk ... fast..." I growled through my gritted teeth, mentally ready to immediately switch zones.

"I'm not like my parents," she said, putting her hands to her sides and talking calmly. I wonder if she'd be so calm if she realized how close to death she already was. I had no further compunction about killing; I'd lost that reluctance a dozen or so of my own, personal deaths ago. "They ... they've become ... corrupt." She looked into my eyes but that didn't mean anything. I'd been lied to enough to know that looking someone in the eye didn't signify truth. "That's ... that's..." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"The truth is that, just like you, I'm a freak," she said, looking me in the eyes again. "They call my talent 'Mimus'; puppeteer. When I touch someone, even through their clothing, I can make them do what I want. My parents were able to understand when the talents, the abilities, were abstract; when they were a part of someone else. When their own daughter exhibited strange abilities, though, they couldn't cope. They petitioned the order to allow them to experiment on some of the ingeniosus – the Talented – to look for a cure. The Judas Bishop would not hear of it. However, others were not so squeamish. I found out a few months ago that ... someone else ... has given them money, equipment ... even managed to kidnap some of the Talented for them to experiment on. You are not the first to be caged like an animal. You are not the first to be killed by them. You are the first to survive their death, however."

Grudgingly, I had to admit that it made sense. It sounded believable. There were things, though, that were missing. "You're not telling me everything," I growled.

"No," she admitted. "I'm not. There are things that are not mine to tell. Things that you must find out through others. I'm sorry. I will get you out, though. I will get you home to your family."

I didn't trust her. That was okay; I no longer trusted anyone. Getting betrayed and killed had a way of doing that to you. I would need help getting out of here, though ... and I desperately wanted to get out of here. The farther from that damned laboratory, the better. So ... I wouldn't trust her; I'd make sure to keep my attention on her. I'd follow her, though. For now. Just in case she could get me out of here.

"Then let's go," I replied. "I've been off food for several months now. A few more days or weeks isn't going to hurt me."

"I ... I can't," she said. She must have saw something in my face because she held up her hand. "Not yet. We will not make it very far if they know to look for us. The Swiss Army will be attacking in a few hours. When it starts, they will be attacking the front. I know of a way to get out the back; a way that very few know about and even fewer have access to. It exits near a small road and there will be a car waiting to take us to the airport. From there, we will fly you straight home."

"The Swiss Army?" I asked, incredulous. "What the hell is the Swiss Army doing in the U.S.?"

"The U.S.?" Apparently it was her turn to be confused. "Why do you ... you think you are still in the U.S.? Reece, when they took you they flew you out of the U.S. They brought you here, to Switzerland, though we didn't know that at the time. It took us months to find out where you were. It wasn't until last week that we determined you had to be at this bunker. I came here the very same day but I couldn't confirm you were here until yesterday. I let them know and they've been arranging to get you home ever since. It was just luck that you escaped before then but I have made them aware of the situation and they have arranged to get you home."

"Us? We? Them? They?" I snarled, dissatisfied. "Who's helping you?"

"I ... I cannot tell you that," Johanna replied. "I'm sorry but I cannot say."

My eyes narrowed as I considered my options. If I just left, I was still in the complex and I didn't know my way around. I was sure I'd find an exit eventually ... but then what? I was in fucking Switzerland. I was god-knows how many thousands of miles from home. Sure, I could run home from here – or could I? There was a god-damn ocean in the way. Could I run over water? I'd never tried. The really fast guys in the comic books could do it ... but that was fucking fiction. It'd be hell to run out onto the water and find out I sank just like in objective time.

So, I run around until I find an exit and then get on an airplane ... but how? I had no money. I had no passport. I was fucking naked.

New plan. I'd go along with Johanna until I got outside because going with her was just as bad as running around looking for an exit. If there was a car waiting, I'd go along with that, too. Same with the plane and whatever else they had planned.

If she betrayed me, I'd kill her ... and work hard to kill whoever 'they' were as well. I was not going back to that lab ... or any lab. I'd kill myself first.

To Johanna, I nodded. "Okay." I put the ruined frame and picture down on a side table. "We'll follow your plan." I sped up, walked to her, sped down and then grabbed her arm. A low shriek escaped her as I put my face very close to hers. "If you betray me, though, I will kill you. You tell whoever 'they' are. If you betray me, I'll kill them all. I'll do everything in my power to bring their whole fucking world down around their ears, whoever they are." I let her go and walked back, keeping my speed field up just in case. I leaned back against the breakfast bar. "I'm sorry about your picture, though."

She looked at me, her face consumed by fear. I'd scared her. Good. I wanted people to be scared of me now. I was scared of myself; why should I have all the fun?

She swallowed and nodded then turned back to the stove without a word. I could see her trembling, though. I could see a few beads of sweat dripping down from her hairline. There might also have been tears; I couldn't be sure.

She put the food on the table without looking at me. I was watching her carefully but I have to admit the food distracted me. It smelled good, whatever it was. There was some kind of white meat – maybe a fish – a small vegetable medley and some cauliflower. She put plates and silverware out, never coming near me, always bending over the table.

She showed some really nice cleavage. I have to admit, I looked. I may be broken and paranoid but I'm still human. I think.

Finally, she ran out of things to do. She glanced up at me and then glanced away. "Let's eat."

"You first." She looked at me and nodded, then looked away again. She sat quickly and cut a piece of the meat, then some vegetables and the cauliflower. She showed it to me and then ate it. She must have gotten the impression I thought the food might be poisoned. I'm sorry to say that the idea hadn't really crossed my mind until she did that. Now that she mentioned it, though ... she hadn't really proved anything except that her food wasn't poisoned. Mine still could be.

I shook my head and sat down. It didn't matter if the food was poisoned. I wasn't so sure I wanted to live anyway.

The meat was fish but I couldn't place it; the outside was cooked but the inside was still mostly raw. I didn't mind. It also had this delicious soft citrusy sauce that tasted tart and bitter, perfectly setting off the fish. The vegetables were steamed and still crunchy in some areas. The cauliflower had a sweet butter sauce that rendered it tender and succulent. The whole meal was delicious; possibly the best meal I'd ever had.

Of course, I hadn't eaten real food in over two months so she probably could have fed me baked grasshoppers and I would have said the same.

"This is really, really good," I said during one of the few moments when there wasn't food in my mouth. My manners may have been horrible but I was Hungry. "What kind of fish is this?"

"Pan-seared Ahi Tuna," she replied, looking up at me finally. "It's in a cilantro and soy sauce with a hint of lemon."

"Delicious," I replied, taking another bite. I wasn't lying but I was playing it up a little bit on the off chance that she really was trying to help me. It came back to something that Grandpa Brian had said a few times: 'Don't burn your bridges after you cross 'em, you never know when you'll have to retreat.'

Grandpa Brian was a very smart man. I try to listen to him when I can.

"I'll clean up here," Johanna said when we had finished. She still wouldn't look at me. I guess I deserved that. "Why don't you go take a shower. I'll grab what I have for you and set it in the bathroom."

"Are you trying to tell me I stink?" I asked with a soft smile.

She looked at me, a bit startled. "Actually, yes you do."

I felt my face turn cold and my voice colder. "Try living in a fucking cage for a few months. See how you smell."

I could feel the heat from her face even across the table. She looked down for a moment, then angrily turned her eyes back to me. "I'm trying to help you," she spat at me. There were tears in her eyes. "I'm trying to remember that you've been traumatized. I'm trying to remember that you don't deserve this." She paused, her eyes still boring into me. "Well, neither do I. I've done nothing but be nice to you. I'm trying to get you out of here and back home. I don't deserve this."

The anger in her voice got through to me. Whether I trusted her or not, I had been treating her pretty rotten. I'd been taking all of the pain and anger out on her ... and I couldn't prove that she'd had anything to do with it. The real culprits were out there, out where I was terrified to go. In here I had a potential ally ... until she proved me wrong.

I tried but my face wouldn't soften and my anger wouldn't go away. I continued to stare at her for a moment, then just nodded. It was the closest I could come to apologizing. It was the closest I would come, at least right now. If she didn't betray me, maybe I could do more.

The shower was bliss. I soaked in the hot water for what felt like an hour ... and may very well have been an hour. My sense of time was still gone. After a while, though, my fingers started to prune and I reluctantly started washing. Not reluctantly because I didn't want to be clean but reluctantly because I never wanted that shower to end. I felt safe in that shower. I felt ... almost human again. I knew that when I left, I was once again going to be running for my life and I just wasn't sure I had the strength for it.

The 'clothes' she'd brought me was a navy jumpsuit with a strange patch on it – a field of green with a brown, leafless tree embroidered on it. From one branch of the tree hung an empty noose. For some reason the patch scared the shit out of me.

There were also a pair of gym socks and a pair of tennis shoes. No underwear. No shorts. No shirt. The jumpsuit was at least one size too small and my arms and legs stuck out a good two inches. The shoes were the same; I fit my feet in them but it wasn't comfortable.

I came out to the living room to find Johanna waiting for me. She was in black jeans and a black blouse with a black leather jacket and black gloves. She looked me up and down and frowned.

"You must have grown a bit," she said continuing to walk around me and checking the fit of the jumpsuit. "The jumpsuit is the same size as some of the clothes you left."

My eyes narrowed. "How do you know what size my clothes are?"

She closed her eyes. "We've been in your house, Reece. Not me ... but some ... operatives. They got your sizes. We didn't touch anything and we didn't harm anyone."

I grunted. "I don't think I like you spying on me ... but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." I lifted my foot. "What about the shoes?"

"They're uncomfortable, too?" she asked. I just nodded. "It seems you've feet have grown a bit as well."

I was about to come back with what I was sure would be a scathing retort when the lights flickered and I heard a large boom echoing through the very walls.

"Scheibe," Johanna swore. "They're half an hour early. You can't trust the Swiss Army to do anything correctly. Come, we must leave."

She pushed me behind her, carefully opened the door and looked outside. "Come, the coast is clear." She pulled her head back in and looked at me, her face set. "If something should happen to me, you must leave me behind. To the left at the end of the hallway you will find a door. The key code is 23114. Open the door, it leads to a small maintenance room. There will be a grate on the ceiling – I've already unlocked it. Get in the grate and continue to the left until you come to another grate in the floor of the ventilation shaft. Open that grate and drop down. You'll be in a long hallway; follow the slope up. There's a door at the end that should not be locked; at least, not from this side. Go through the door and look for a black SUV. It will be dark out, so you will need a few minutes to let your eyes adjust. Do you understand?" I nodded. "Good. Here we go."

She stuck her head back out the door and opened it wide, signaling for me to go to the left. Contrary to everything that's happened so far, my momma didn't raise no fool. I took off to the left. I had taken no more than 5 steps when I heard movement behind me.

"Halt!"

Yeah, right. That wasn't going to happen.

That's when I heard the three small, distinct explosions. Three loud bangs. Three gunfire shots.

I dove for the floor, rolled onto my back and then rolled up. I was rolling my way back to my feet when I heard the loud shriek.

"Johanna?!?!!? Stoppen Sie Idiot! Das ist meine Tochter!"

I got the Johanna, stop and idiot parts but nothing else. I chanced a look back ... and my blood plain froze.

There was a guard in black, his weapon raised. Doctor Leoni was bending down, looking at a prone Johanna while Doctor Lukas was looking down the hallway at me, his face ashen.

I did the only sane thing I could. I ran for the door. I was scared as hell. Not from the bullet – they were welcome to kill me. I was scared that Doctor Lukas would catch me. I couldn't go back. I just couldn't.

I had taken maybe 3 steps more and I couldn't go on. All I could see in my head was Johanna, lying prone on the floor, not moving. I kept hearing her words in my ears: 'I don't deserve this.' It echoed through me, hounding me.