THE DEAD ZONE | COMPLETED

Sixty Three: Restricted*

Sixty Three: Restricted*

*Gore, mature theme, SEASON FINALE!

I was pulled back to reality all too quickly – with determination and no plan. However just as I was being pulled through the darkness of my consciousness a throb began. Throbbing pain, then it grew. From the tips of my toes to the top of my head. It felt like my entire body had been thrown into a chipper and this pain was all that was left. My voice was lost - I couldn't even muffle a scream. I felt my own sanity becoming drowned by this pain.

Focus.

As clear as day Cerci's voice echoed through the pain. I held onto her voice like buoy. I forced myself through the pain - I needed to wake up no matter how much it hurt. Through what felt like a decade, I awoke, staring at the back of my eyelids.

Pushing them opened I looked around. The moment I did I was faced with the reality: I had been stripped bare, laying upon a metal table. Not only that but I had been cut open – metal prongs kept my ribs separated and jutted from my flesh, and my entirety of guts and organs were on display. My eyes widened, the cold of my tears little comfort against the heat of pain.

I tried to scream – only to feel something in my mouth, metal and sharp digging into my tongue. It prevented any movement from my mouth as well as any sounds. My eyes flickered around the bright room. Large, circular lights stuck to every part of the ceiling, reflecting off the white walls and metal counters around me.

"You're awake," Pearson's voice seemed utterly shocked.

My eyes flickered around until I found him. Dressed in white scrubs, my blood decorated his attire. He also wore a white surgical mask, accompanied with blue gloves. In his hand he held a syringe with red – my blood? I almost couldn't think over this pain. I could feel darkness etching at the corner of my vision.

I'll take care of it, just stay awake. Zero told me almost reassuring. I had no idea what she thought she could do – but I prayed it was something. Anything at this point. I'd even welcome fucking death.

Pearson walked over, fiddling with my metal gag before it clicked free and he pulled it from my mouth. I screamed as the metal spike slid from the inside of my tongue. My fingers digging into the leather restraints around my wrists.

"Maxwell was insistent on keeping you under," he mumbled, "But imagine the knowledge we'd learn by keeping you awake. Tell me, how do you feel? What is the scale of pain from one to ten?"

As he spoke, I felt a cold fill me. It extinguished the pain, leaving me completely numb. I sighed with relief, my eyes briefly sliding shut before opening. Once they did, I felt my mind much clearer and sane. Whatever Zero did certainly worked.

"Now that's interesting," Pearson hummed, his eyes watching as something slid down the corner of my mouth, "You blood has turned black. Not to mention your eyes have yet to resort back to their green. Perhaps they change when you feel threatened? And yet when you were under, they stayed red - I removed your eyelids myself. Not to mention your regeneration is more magnificent than any of us could have imagined. It was a struggle to insert those metal rods just to keep you open. I'd make a cut, turn to retrieve a rod then when I turned back you had already healed. If we could understand the why and the how – we could help so many of our people."

His words meant Zero had gotten stronger inside me – I had gotten stronger because of the virus. I wondered if that had to do with my acceptance. Of course, I knew it must have helped with me no longer fighting the virus inside me.

He wishes to use us to help people, Zero echoed. I realized Zero was right. All this time Pearson had only talked about the power of knowledge to further the people in this City of Ash. He reminded me of Dad in some ways, and yet he reminded me of Maxwell in too many others.