The Facility

Cassidy woke up with a splitting headache. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find a pair of gold and green eyes, along with a curtain of gossamer hair, six inches above her, hovering.

Myra wiped Cass’s nose and lips with something, and Cass flinched. Myra misunderstood and thought she had hurt Cass, when in reality she had seen that Myra did not seem to be in the cleanest of conditions and could only guess at what she could come down with.

“Relax. You passed out,” Myra said.

Cass tried to sit up, but Myra held her down easily. She realized that her head was in Myra’s lap.

The girl was sitting cross-legged, propping up Cass’s head slightly.

“The men?” Cass asked, afraid they might be attacked.

“Taken care of,” Myra told her, wiping at her nose again. “You over came that man, and each… got what they deserved.”

Myra dipped the rag in something beside her, then wrung it out. Cass was going to tell her she was okay and not to bother when Myra unrolled the cloth and she could see that it was bright white except for the spots of rust color where her blood had been. It must have been new.

Myra let out a rumbling chuckle and said, “What, you expect me to embrace my non-human side when there are two dozen stores above me where I can get almost anything a girl’s heart desires?”

“But your clothes…”

“Isn’t this the new fashion? Chic-ratty?” Myra laughed. “I’m kidding. You need to work on your sense of humor. While I keep clean, living in basements, sewers and tunnels is naturally dirty. Although I do have access to most of the stuff above me, I really do try not to abuse it. I only take what I need to survive, and I try to pay for what I can. Except for Starbucks. It costs too much, and I’m addicted, plus I must make it all myself. I do put money in the tip jar though.

“You would be amazed at how much money gets lost around this place. So, to answer your un-asked question, I do not need new clothes yet, but you needed something cleaner than what I had on me.

“So, your dog watched over you while I got you something. I also got you some pain pills with all that bleeding you did. I must tell you that your eyes look… scary.”

Cass had to suppress a giggle at that, coming from the girl with the gator eyes. “Yeah,” she replied, “they will look like this for several days, but it will go away.”

“Good,” Myra said, relief in her voice.

Cass tried to sit up but her pounding head prevented it. Myra helped her up, her hands on Cass’s back, helping her stay sitting up. Once Cass had managed to sit up some unassisted, Myra wet the small towel again and held it to the back of Cass’s neck, causing her to shiver.

Cass felt lightheaded and put an arm back to steady herself. She felt Myra shift around behind her, then the young girl put a hand on Cass’s shoulder and said, “Lean back.”

Cass did and only got a few inches before she rested on Myra. She tried to take some of the weight off the smaller girl, but Myra instead put her arm around Cass’s shoulders and gently but firmly pulled her back.

Cass laid back against Myra and while she was smaller than Cass, she seemed solid and did not move.

“Relax, I’m stronger than I look,” Myra told her as if reading her mind. “No one has ever stood up for me before. Not like that.”

“Well no one should be treated the way those people treat them. A prisoner is a prisoner no matter how you sugar coat it. Those of us who are… different, should look out for each other. If anyone lets people like that take advantage of us, then they will only grow to expect it. That we are nothing more than lab rats, to be studied, experimented on, poked and prodded, and eventually dissected to find out how we are different.

“That is why I did it. To show them they have no right and we will fight back.”

“Oh,” Myra simply said, and Cass could tell that she was somehow disappointed.

“Besides,” she added, “I like you. You could have stayed hidden, but you didn’t. You stood up for me, too. You should really come with me. You would like that. I would like that.”

“I-I do not think I could. At least not now,” Myra said to her, sorrow apparent in her voice. “Here, eat this,” she said handing a candy bar to Cass. “It should help restore some of your energy.”

They sat like that while Cassidy ate the candy and sipped a bottle of water Myra had brought for her. Myra sat unmoving, one arm loosely around Cass’s waist, a finger toying with the hair at the end of her braid.

Harley, seeing Cass was all right, laid next to them, his snout rusting on Cass’s knee.

As she finished, she said, “I really should get going. I need to find the others and make sure they are alright.”

Harley sensed that something was up and stood, helped by Myra. Cass was still a little unsteady on her feet and Myra held on to her.

Looking around, Cass did not see either man that had attacked them. Before she could ask, Myra once again seemed to read her mind and said, I took care of the bodies. They will not be found, and unless they left a trail, no one will know to look for them here. Even if so, it will look like they moved on, and when found, there will not be much left thanks to the small animals.”

Cass turned her head, looking at the small girl beside her. She felt a kinship with the girl who was also different. Cass also felt protective of the girl she had just met and did not want her hurt.

Not wanting to know the answer, she did not ask the question of what happened to the bodies. The fact that the tiny girl had moved the men spoke volumes of her differences.

Instead, she said, “It is possible the bodies had tracking devices on them. They were planted on us while we were there, so it is probably best to assume they had them too.”

Myra turned her head and Cass found herself looking into the gold-green eyes with the strange pupils. A grin spread across her face.

Cass almost expected to see overlapping, pointed teeth, as Myra’s face took on a reptilian cast, but was only imagining things as twin rows of clean, white teeth showed instead.

“Do not worry about that. They can try to track whatever they want, but they will not be able to find much. And even if they do, it will not be close, and it will not give them any clues as to what happened to what they do find.”

“Okay, well, even so, please reconsider coming with me, and if you will not, then please make sure you stay safe. And if you change your mind… um, do you have a way to contact me?” Cass asked hesitantly.

“Sure, there are plenty of phones above. Not to mention I could simply tap into the phone trunk down here if I really needed to. I have got a laptop and email as well,” Myra said with a smirk. “Did you really think I am some kind of primitive creature of something? Gmail is free, so I have LizardGirlMyra at gmail.com as an email address. Fitting, huh?”

Even though the lighting was bad, Cass could see the twinkle in Myra’s eyes.

“Fitting, yes. And still you continue to amaze me Myra. Please stay safe,” she said giving her a hug. She hesitated, then used a finger to push the girl’s hair behind one ear, then kissed her cheek. “Thank you for everything.”

Myra looked at her, but Cass could not read the look on her face. Ten seconds passed before Myra lowered her eyes and asked where Cass was going to go next, and after Cass told her she led them through a maze of barely lit passageways.

Finally, they came to a stairway where Myra said, “This will lead you to a hall. Go left and that will lead you to an outside door where garbage is held behind a wall. You should be able to look around without being seen, and it will be almost right across the street from where you want to go.”

They said goodbye again and Cass once again asked if Myra would join her. Myra shook her head but said that she would leave the future open and that they would keep in touch.

Cass started to go but Myra stopped her, giving her a hug that took her breath away. Cass embraced her, then grunted, “Cannot breathe,” and Myra let her go.

Before she could change her mind, Cass headed up the stairs.

When she got to the top, Cass looked back but Myra was gone. Cass put on the glasses that Myra had given her so her blood red eyes would not freak anyone out, since she had lost the ones that Lyle had given her in her flight.

Cass had to keep in a giggle when she put on the glasses. For someone who did not really seem, at least physically, to have much in common with humanity, or even if you discounted that, much of a girly streak, the glasses she had given to Cass seemed to be in total disagreement. They were pink heart-shaped frames, studded with rhinestones.

Cass thought they would fit right in at some fashion show or a fashion runway. She took the handle on Harley’s harness and asked, “Ready?” to the dog, who just gave a little snort and pulled forward.

The door opened into the hall, just as Myra said, and Cass could see the door to the outside, not far away. They made their way to the door without seeing anyone and pushed the door open. Cass was surprised that no alarms sounded when she opened the door.

Cass started to squint, thinking the sun would blind her, but as she stepped out, she saw it was dark out.

Harley pulled her out the door, so she assumed it was mostly safe as they rounded the wall enclosing the dumpsters. Her nose wrinkled at the smell, but Harley seemed to enjoy it.

She looked out into the parking lot for signs of… well, anything that would let her know if it was safe or not to head out. She saw cars here and there; apparently the mall was still open, or maybe people parked in the lot.

Cass could not be sure that the small would reopen so soon after a shooting in it.

Slowly, she made her way into the open and saw the burger place across the parking lot and street just like her new friend had said. She also saw Maggie’s van sitting in the lot with nothing else around it.

“To the burger place,” she said to Harley, who did not move. “Follow your nose to the food,” she tried again, and he looked at her with that doggy grin of his. She simply pointed and they started off across the lot.

While there were cars in the lot, Cass did not see any people around them, or in the parking lot itself, although there were cars passing on the street in front of her.

A few people milled around the burger joint, but the businesses to either side were already closed, so Cass assumed it was late. She reached the street and realized she was in the middle of the block and was not sure if she should jay-walk and drop the cover of being blind or not.

It would certainly be quicker to just cross, but she was not sure if anyone was even at the burger joint, or how long she might have to wait.

“Better safe than sorry,” she thought and headed towards a light with a crosswalk down the block. In case anyone was watching, she did not just press the button for the crosswalk, she fumbled around a bit before finding it and pressing it.

She then waited for it to start beeping before she walked across with Harley leading the way, then headed back towards the food place.

Walking up to the place, Harley headed to the door, which she opened, and they went in. Trying not to turn her head, she took in the place, looking for anyone she might recognize. She did not see anyone she knew or looked like Hugo’s men thankfully.

A teen at the counter looked at her and Harley and simply said, “You can order over here and if you want to sit somewhere, I will bring it to you. If you need anything else, just ask.”

“Thank you,” she replied. She had a little bit of money left from what Maggie had given her, so she ordered a drink for her, and a cup of water for Harley, along with some French fries for both of them, not knowing if Harley would, or even should eat them, but she did not think potatoes were bad for a dog. The fried part maybe, but she did not have enough to really buy anything else.

“It is late, and the dining room is mostly empty. If you want to sit, I will bring your things to you when they are ready,” the teen said.

She thanked him and let Harley lead her to a table after whispering to him, “Towards the back.” While Lyle kept telling her Harley only responded to German, he sure did seem to understand all the things she told him.

The teen from the counter brought her the things she ordered, and she thanked him as he went out of his way to do so. She felt guilty for acting blind.

Not sure how long she would have to wait, or even if anyone would show up at all, she gave Harley his water and shared the fries with him, which he greedily wolfed down.

“Pig,” she said to him, and he belched in reply. Cass was thankful no one was around to hear that.

Not long after they finished the fries, the boy working the counter walked up to the table. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there, then said, “Um… we are going to close soon. I will let you stay as long as I can, but it will not be much more than a half an hour or so.”

She looked up at him as he talked to her and she could see that he was clearly uncomfortable. “A-are you waiting for someone? Or do you, well, have somewhere to go? I might, um, I think my parents would let you stay the night... To let you get cleaned up and whatnot.”

She had not realized before that being down in that basement had made her look so dirty. This kid thought she was homeless and was trying to help her. She stopped herself from smiling at him. He was a few years older, but he was also kind of cute, not to mention a nice guy.

“I am actually waiting for someone. Maybe you can help me with that.” She described everyone to him, hoping that any or all of them had come in at some point.

Cass tried not to let her disappointment show when he thought he only remembered seeing Rudi, who had not been there for hours. The teen had only remembered him because he too looked like he was looking for someone, but they boy had not talked to Rudi.

He again told her she was welcome to stay until they locked up, and then left her sitting alone in the dining room. He came back a few minutes later with more food, sitting a burger and fries in front of her, and a bowl of chili on the ground for Harley.

“Leftovers,” he simply said. “Enjoy.”

Cass was going to decline until her stomach rumbled in opposition and Harley wasted no time sticking his nose in the bowl, pushing it around as he cleaned it out.

She looked up at the boy, which she probably should not have in hindsight, and said, “Thank you, really. I wish I could give you something in return, but right now I do not have anything. I will not forget you when I do through.”

He blushed a bit and replied, “It was no problem. You saved me from taking it home. And after working here for a while, you really start to hate hamburgers. And fries. And, well, just about everything else we sell.”

He smiled at her and she could see him realize that she could not see him (or so he thought) and he said, “Okay, I gotta go clean up now, so take your time and enjoy it,” then he walked away.

Harley had finished his food already and his tongue was going up the sides of his snout to get all the grease he could, off. He looked up at her as she started to eat and she said, “Un-uh. You ate yours; this is mine.”

Rejected, Harley sniffed his bowl again in case more food had miraculously appeared and finding had, he laid down beside Cass.

Cass finished the burger and fries and started to get up to throw away the trash when the boy appeared again and said, “Do not worry about it. I will get it,” giving her a start.

She had intended to just go throw the stuff away, forgetting she was supposed to be blind. Cass looked at the boy who looked sheepish and said, “Sorry. I did not mean to startle you.”

He paused and she sat back down. “We are almost done. Another ten minutes or so and then…”

“It is okay. Thank you for what you have done,” she told him. “Just let me know when I need to go, and I will get out of your hair.”

The boy studied her for a moment and seemed like he wanted to say more but he did not, he just nodded. “Okay. I will give you as much time as I can,” he said and then walked back into the kitchen area.

Cassidy sighed, not knowing what to do. She knew she was still far from home, with no way to get there if everyone else had been captured or left her behind. If everyone had been captured, did she really want to go home and leave them? Nothing was waiting for her except material things and reminders of her mother.

No, she thought, if no one showed up, she would figure out a way to get back to them. Then she could escape again and do a better job of getting away.

A throat cleared not far away, and Cass managed not to jump – barely. “We are done,” the teen told her.

“What time is it?” Cass asked.

“A little after midnight,” he replied.

Cassidy sighed and stood up. Harley stood with her and waited for her. She bent over and took ahold of the grip and said, “What is your name?”

“Trevor,” the teen replied.

“Well Trevor, again, thank you for everything. Do not change. The world needs more people like you who care.”

Trevor stood there, not knowing how to reply as she walked to the door. She reached out and pulled, but the door was locked.

Turing her head towards him, she waited until he realized she was not going anywhere until he unlocked the door. With a start, he moved to unlock the door for her, holding it open until she walked through.

He closed the door behind her, locking it. She looked over her shoulder at him as he watched her walk away.