Mel

She fought off the darkness that blurred at the corners of her visions, if only she could fight off the creeping darkness of night. Mel desperately held on to consciousness with every ounce of strength she had left. The oozing wound at her side was slowly leaching her strength as if it were a living parasite.

Across from her Viola sat silently, her knees tucked to her chin as she carefully kept watch. The other girl had saved her life by stopping the majority of the bleeding.

They’d made a temporary camp behind the abandoned warehouse a few miles away from The Organization. It was too close for comfort but they couldn’t risk going further because of Mel’s wound and the hope that Yuki and Mark would double back to look for them. They were relatively out in the open, the walls of the warehouse at their backs and dense forest circling around them. Guards who searched this far over would easily spot them, it was only a matter of time.

Quiet sniffling finally caught Mel’s attention and pulled her out of her thoughts (which was honestly a relief, her own thoughts were painful these days). In the increasing darkness Mel could barely see the other girl. Vi’s head was tipped back against the wall, tears streaming down the curve of her cheeks and dripping off her chin. Mel shifted uncomfortably, should she say something? Comforting people was never her strong suit, she wished her sister was here, Yuki was better at this kind of stuff.

She cleared her throat self-consciously. “Uh, Vi, are you okay?”

Vi dragged in a deep breath and scrubbed the back of her hand over her cheeks, smearing away the tears. She shook her head laughing.

“I’m better than okay, I’m free,” she hiccuped and tucked a piece of her short black hair behind her ears. “Did you know that this is the first time I’ve been outside of a barbed wire fence in two years?”

She knew it was a rhetorical question but Mel shook her head, and then realized that Vi probably couldn’t see her in the dark.

“No, I didn’t.”

“I honestly thought I would never get out of there. That I was going to work there until I died.” Tears filled her eyes again. Mel could understand the feeling. She’d only been in The Organization for three months, but it’d felt like an eternity. Every day felt like a war to survive inside The Organization. Two years… it seemed impossible to her.

“I graduated high school when I was 16 and moved away from home to go to college,” Vi said. “The Organization offered me a job in genetic engineering if I would quit school and move here. It seemed perfect, a challenging job in a field I was interested in. God, I was so naive and arrogant.”

Mel listened silently, her hands gripped in her lap. If this was supposed to be some emotional pow-wow, come to jesus, moment where they both shared their life stories Viola was going to be sorely disappointed. Mel didn’t have any more tears to share, her heart was already broken and it had taken every ounce of strength to keep her spirit from shattering too. Her own sob-story would never pass her lips because she didn’t have the strength to share it. More importantly, she didn’t want anyone’s pity.

“I can’t even imagine how Mark must feel right now,” Vi said still talking to herself. “He hasn’t seen the sky in four years. He wasn’t allowed outside for obvious reasons, they were afraid he’d fly away.”

“How did you meet Mark?” Mel asked. Inside The Organization, Mark and Viola were best friends.

“He protected me. I’m small and I was young, plus mental abilities like being super smart isn’t exactly intimidating to people who have elemental and physical abilities,” she said. “Mark stepped in and helped protect me, and I returned the favor by taking care of him best I could. Getting him anything he needed, medicine mostly.”

Inside The Organization was a prison social system. The smaller weaker abilities were picked on, the elemental and physical abilities ran the show. Favors were traded in order for protection by the more powerful abilities.

“I gave up hope that I would ever escape so long ago,” Vi said shaking her head slowly. “But Mark never gave up hope. And it was because of you, Mel, and Yuki, that we finally had the opportunity and courage to break out.”

In truth, Mel hadn’t had a choice about bringing Mark and Vi along with them when they escaped. Mark had overheard their plans to escape and threatened to tell the guards if Mel and Yuki didn’t let them escape with them. She was still bitter about it.

“Now we just need to find them and get the hell out of here,” Mel said. “I remember seeing a truck stop not too far from here. We might be able to get there and then hitch a ride as far away from here as possible.”

“Don’t worry about Yuki and Mark, they’ll find us,” Vi said with a confidence Mel didn’t feel. How could she not worry? Ever since Mel and Yuki had been dumped into The Organization custody her every thought, dream, breath was consumed by paranoia and fear.

Mel pushed back the lump in her throat and shifted her weight against the wall. She winced, the stitches pulling painfully at her side. Her every muscle ached and screamed in protest.

Vi noticed the small movement. Her eyebrows furrowed, concern washing over her face.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

“I’ve been better,” Mel snapped. Hurt flickered over Vi’s face, and Mel took a second to take a breath and even out her tone. She said more calmly, “I experienced worse pain in the last three months. This is nothing, I’ll live.”

Vi studied her for another moment, thankfully she finally stopped talking. They sat in tense silence, both counting each second that separated them from Mark and Yuki in increasing anxiety.

“Please be okay, please let her be okay,” Mel directed her thoughts towards Yuki, mentally screaming in hopes that she would hear her. “Yuki, if you can hear me, I’m with Viola and we’re hiding behind a warehouse. I won’t leave without you, please hurry.”