Chapter 44 The World we though we left

Chapter 44 The World we though we left
I knew the road before I saw it. Even through the steel walls of the transport vehicle, every turn shook my bones. The corners, the long curve close to the mountains, I knew in my head. The sudden drop in temperature as we entered the shadow and the pressure changed as well when we passed through the outer tunnel. I knew every move, of course I worked there for years.

Now I was returning as a prey. My wrist strained uselessly against the restraints. The doctor seat opposite me pretending I did not exist. He was young, nervous and looked obedient.

“What level survived?” I asked him. But he didn't answer. Then I tried again.

“How many dead.?”

He kept his eyes on the monitor and her fingers on the screen.

“Coward, you know Owen will discard you too right?” I said quietly.

His jaw tightened. Still nothing but the reaction told me enough. He knew exactly what Owen was. The transport slowed. Massive steel doors open somewhere ahead. The vehicle entered. Then another set of doors shut behind us. It was like helix had planned for disaster long before disaster came.

The vehicle stopped. And I heard loud voices from outside when the rear doors opened , bright light flooded the vehicle so suddenly that I flinched. Two guards climbed in. “Move her.” One of them said,

I was unstrapped, then helped up from my knees. The corridor outside smelled wrong; it wasn't the usual clean sterile scent of the upper facility I remembered. 

They matched me through tunnels reinforced with temporary supports. Sparks leak from the damaged ceiling. sections of wall had collapsed and been patched with raw steel. Workers in hazard masks hurried past me.

They were renovating not evacuating .That was more terrifying than panic because it means Helix still believed it had a future. I passed a shattered glass observation room I recognized from year ago. The memories hit unexpectedly.

Coffee in hand. Clipboard against my chest thinking I worked for difficult science. Thinking monsters were behind the glass now I know better.

A scream echoed from a side wall. It sounded human, male precisely. I was cut off abruptly then I turned. One of  the guards shoved me forward. “Keep walking.” 

“What is that?” I asked.

No reply. But the second guard whispered under his breath.. “Specimen rejection.” My stomach rolled. Even now they were still experimenting. We reached an elevator large enough to carry trucks. The doors opened onto a platform filled with armed personnel and in the center was Simone.

She was there with a fresh coat,  gloves and fresh lipstick. As if she hadn't done something to us a few hours ago. She looks at me like a subject. One of the doctors handed over a tablet to her. “Elevated heart rate, her stress is on the high level but fetal activity is stable.”

I lunged. The nearest guard slammed me into the wall before I made two steps. Simon didn't blink. “You waste energy emotionally, one of your less efficient traits.” she said.

“I hope Zane kills you slowly.” I whispered under my breath.

“He already tried.” Simone replied. And she turned to the guards. “Take her down.” The elevator closed and we descended. When the door opened again, the corridor beyond was darker, quieter, and far more expensive. No visible cameras because cameras here were hidden. We got to Owen’s private kingdom.

I was taken into a medical suite larger than my old apartment.I looked around, I saw soft lighting, a hospital bed with restraints built around it, ultrasound equipment and tools. I stopped walking. “No.” 

The guard dragged me anyway. I fought hard enough that the guard had to slap me. He held me down and tied my wrists to the bed. My ankles followed and a chest restraint then it occurred to me that the room had not been built for healing, it had been built for harvest. 

The door opened behind me. Every muscle in my body locked and slow footsteps approached. A faint mechanical clicking accompanied them. Then a voice I knew well, altered now by damage and machine assistance.

“Dr. Vance.”

Then Owen appeared, He should have been dead. Instead, his throat was wrapped in a black support collar fitted with a silver vocal modulator at the side. Anger scars were across his face and one eye was bloodshot. The other bright with obsession. He looked less human than before and more dangerous.

“You survived?” I asked with curiosity.

A thin smile curved his mouth. “Disappointing, wasn't it?”

I pulled hard enough against the restraints to bruise myself. “I’ll watch you die properly this time.” 

He stepped closer, studying my face. “You continue to confuse everyone.”

He glanced at my abdomen. “The pregnancy progressed beautifully outside controlled conditions.

Cold shiver moved through my body. “You let us escape.” I said.

“Of course.” He clasped his hands behind his back and paced.

“You used us?” I spat on his face.

He sighed, as a technician rushed forward to wipe his cheek. “Still dramatic?”

The door opened again. Two guards dragged someone in and threw on the floor. 

Ruby. 

Bruised cheek. Bound wrists. Furious eyes.

“Nyla,” she said.

Ruby looked up, trying to reach the bed, but a baton struck behind her knee and dropped her again. Owen did not look at her. “Your sister remains useful in limited ways.” Ruby glared at him. “I hope the next thing you swallow explodes.”

He nodded to the guards. “Charming, return nurse Ruby to auxiliary service. Under watch.” Ruby twisted towards me as they took her away. “I’ll get you out.” I promised her. The doors slammed before I could answer.

Owen turned back to me. “I love family.” 

“You kept her because you still need loyal people who still think they have souls.” I screamed.

“No, I kept her because she knows how to monitor fetal distress.” He said.

I went still. “Touch my child and I will burn this place down.’  I threatened. 

“You misunderstood, your child is this place now.” Owen replied.

He tapped a screen beside the bed. My scan appeared. My hormone levels,  fetal growth were displayed.

“You and Zane’s bond created what we planned for years but never achieved. A viable hybrid baby.” Owen said, looking at the screen. “You are history.”

“I’m not your specimen.” I screamed again.

“No, you are my legacy.” He said softly.

A roar came somewhere beyond the walls, raw, violent and impossible not to identify. It was Zane. Every light in the room flickered. My heart slammed once against my chest.

Owen gave a wicked smile. “Yes, we retrieved him too.”

Another crash sounded. Metal noise and men shouting. Owen opened his watch, “He always prove stubborn.” He said.

I met his gaze  and smiled for the first time since capture. “You sound scarced.” 

His mechanical voice sharpened. “I sound prepared.”

He approached the bedside monitor and pressed his thumb to authorization glass. The restraints tightened automatically. A tray came from beneath the bed carring syringes and injection. My breathing changed not fear but calculation. “What that?”

“Insurance.” he picked up a syringe filled with silver blue liquid. “If the mate becomes unmanageables, we proceed without him.”

“No.” I screamed.

“Yes.” He leaned closer. “You will cooperate, Nyla. because unlike Zane, you understand consequence.”

I stared at him and said quietly. “You made one mistake.”

“What do you mean.” He asked.

“You brought me back alive.” I anwsered. 

He straigtened slowly then smiled. “We will see.” He then turn towards the door. As it opened, another roar shook the corridor outside. Closer this time. Owen looked back as said. “Sedate her if contraction begin.”

Then He left. The doors closed. I layed strapped to the bed, my pulse rose and my hand trembled in fear.

Somewhere in the lower levels of Helix, Zane was breaking free and this time. there would be no cage strong enough to hold what came next.