Specimen

“Air support is on the way,” one of the other soldiers calls out.

Riley follows behind. She has to run to keep up with Isaac’s strides.

“I thought I lost you both,” Isaac says quickly and out of everyone else’s range. “Where the fuck have you been?”

Captured. Tortured.

I can’t form the words. Isaac nods slowly as if he understands despite my lack of explanation.

“Well, you smell like shit.” He chuckles. “When was the last time you showered?”

He grins at me, but I can’t manage to smile back. I try to shrug my shoulders, and my mind wanders back to the cramped box of ice water.

“Bath.” I can only grunt. The word feels like disobedience. I stare up at him, willing him to comprehend as the memories flow through my head.

Isaac’s eyes darken with understanding.

“You’ll have to tell me all about it.” He shifts my weight in his arms. “Then we’ll find them and tear them to fucking shreds.”

I nod once. My head is swimming again. I keep my eyes on Riley, not wanting her out of my sight as Isaac carries me to the edge of a road. I hear the whirring of helicopter blades before I succumb yet again to darkness.

*****

Bright lights, white walls. The scene is familiar and feels like home. I’m being rolled through the hallways of the Mills medical center with Riley on one side of the gurney and Isaac on the other. I hear Dr. Rahul’s voice, telling Isaac he needs to return to his lab.

“I want to stay with him!”

“Not now,” Dr. Rahul says. “Let Dr. Grace get him stable, and then you’ll be able to see him. There’s nothing you can do for him now.”

“I could be there for him,” Isaac mumbles before he and his doctor disappear from my view.

I black out briefly, coming to inside a room full of medical equipment. Everyone around me wears scrubs, and their faces are covered with masks. I recognize Riley and Dr. McCall, but I don’t know who the others are. I close my eyes and listen to the voices, unable to distinguish between most of them.

“Where did you find him?”

“Three kilometers west of Haprin. As soon as the homing beacon activated, the guys on the wall contacted us.”

“Any idea where he’s been?”

“None. But look at the scarring. He’s been through the wringer.”

“Tortured?”

“Undoubtedly. Bastards.”

“That’s the way they are.”

“There is definite damage to the implants. See this mark? It’s from an interface chip.”

“This has Spat written all over it.”

“Do you think he managed to hack in?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Get an IV together.” Riley’s voice rises above the others. “We can’t wait for the injections to spread through the muscle. We need to get TST into his bloodstream immediately.”

“How is he even still alive?”