The Somewhat Short Life of Experiment 15

Fly, Fall, Float

June 19th

Today was the day that the Lab was supposed to kill me. The day They’d decided was perfect to dispose of me.

But we were ready.

We’d spent most of last night packing some of my clothes into a small manageable bag that I’d be able to carry easily, while Taran had simply got some of his clothes and some food into his bag. I’d actually gone to see Dr Marble and asked they not ‘terminate’ me until the early hours of the next morning. Seeing as I had simply not argued with them, they were glad enough to grant me request. Raffe and Pan had left right after we’d decided on the plan: Pan would go on her midnight prowl while Taran and I waited in his room. When the coast was clear of Lab guards, she’d raise her tail and we’d climb out from Taran’s window and run. Raffe had stashed our bags in a tall tree right on the edge of the Lab boarder ready for us to collect. And then, we’d take off, me flying with Taran in my arms until we found somewhere to hide and find help. 

“Everything will be fine,” Taran assured me when he saw me looking uneasy. We had about twenty minutes until Pan was due to take her stroll and we were spending it hiding in Taran’s room.

I’d already said goodbye to Raffe today, telling him that I’d look for a suitable guy for him who wouldn’t judge him by his giraffeness. Raffe had just laughed.

Pan had already told me not to say goodbye to her since she was sure she’d see me again, and that she was only saying ‘See you later.’ That had involved a lot of tears and hugs though, mostly her.

Taran sat on the edge of his bed, dressed fully in black like me. While he wore tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt, I wore a camisole and leggings. My wings were curled around me and belted down, ready to be unstrapped when I needed them.

We’d worked it out that They’d pick us up on their sensors once we’d ran past the boarder, but we’d have at least a three minute head start. That was hopefully going to be enough.

“I’m just scared,” I admitted helplessly. “What if no one will help? When I was Fay, there was so much war, so much death and depression.”  Sulking, I sat hutched on Taran’s bed until he put an arm around me, pulling my head onto his shoulder.

“It doesn’t matter,” he told me, his lips at my ear. “We’ll find someone, and they’ll jump at the opportunity to help us. So many people have been unknowingly affected by what the Lab has done. Fay’s friends must miss her, they’d probably want to help get back at the people who took her from them.”

Taran was right. Fay had been the survivor of that crash, and the Lab had taken her. They’d killed her, and now they were going to kill me too. People would defiantly help.

“And anyway, anything is better than here, right?” Taran joked.

We shared a kiss, a little more powerful than normal, until I heard footsteps a good few feet from the Lab. We hurried to look out the window and saw Pan begin to make her way around the perimeter. She didn’t look at us, but I could tell she’d seen us come to the window. On all fours, she moved like a cat around the building until she was out of sight again. She’d told us she’d move around the building a few times before giving the signal, just so she could be sure we were safe to make a run for it. She prowled around the perimeter three or four times before her tail rose. 

Like bullets, Taran and I were out of the window and speeding towards the trees that surrounded the Lab. 

Pan moved the second we jumped out of the window, doing as we’d said and acting as if she had no idea what we were doing. We whooshed past her, the breeze hitting our face and our feet thumping hard against the ground. As soon as we reached sand we near we were near the border, and as soon as I spotted our bags, we heard voices in the background. Taran quickly lifted me and I grabbed our bags from the tree, and again we were off. As we ran we ran past fewer trees until we were on the beach of the island, the ocean in sight. 

But before we could get anywhere near it I stopped.

“May, what is it?” Taran gasped, noting I’d stopped running and seeing something was wrong. I panted. “May what is it?”

“I... I feel drained,” I told him, doubling over.

“It’s just from all the running,” he said, taking my hand and trying to pull me along. But before we could, we turned on sound of footsteps.

Dr Marble stood with two other Lab members, the woman I recognised as Taran’s assigned Lab Scientist. The other was an old man, maybe in his late sixties, who balanced himself with a walking stick. How he had managed to even catch up with us was a mystery.

“May, you can’t leave,” Dr Marble shouted out to us. They stood right by the trees, the distance of half a football pitch between us. “You have to come back.”

“What for?” Taran shouted for me, realising I was in no way able to speak. “So you can kill her? Because she’s worthless?”

Despite the distance I saw Dr Marble shake his head. “We’re giving her a way out,” he shouted out to us, his tone even. Each of their lab coats blew in the wind, but they all stood firmly where they were. I was on my knees at this point. “She won’t survive outside of our borders.”

Taran just spat in disgust. “Says who?”

“Says her tests,” The old man piped up. He took a step forward, holding a bunch of papers. They contained information about me. “Within our border the air is crystallized perfectly to treat all of you. It’s clean and contains the right balance of different gases. The temperature never changes and neither does the ratio of the air. Experiment 15 is only stable when its surroundings aren’t a variable. She can’t adapt to change like everyone else at the Lab.”

Taran looked down at me and saw my face. I was pale, despite the heat, and my breathing was wheezy. Inside I felt as if I’d been poisoned, felt like I was really dying. I felt like Fay had felt in the crash. There was no hope. 

Taran knew that they weren’t lying. I really wouldn’t be able to survive out here.

Taran came down to my level and undid the belt around my wings, stroking my hair as he whispered. “Do you think you can still fly?”

Flying was something I did without thinking about it. It was like breaking, like thinking. All Taran had to do was ask and my wings stretched out above us, flapping furiously in the air. In the corner of my eye I saw Dr Marble and the two other scientists run towards us, but it was no use. Taran had his arms around my neck in seconds and we were off in the air, gradually getting higher and higher until the three scientists were nothing but ants on the ground, and their shouts were merely lost in the wind.

“Taran,” I wheezed. I started flying out above the ocean, the Lab moving further and further behind us. “I won’t be able to go for long. We’ll need to land somewhere soon.”

Taran nodded, understanding, and tightened the grip he had around my neck. 

We flew in silence for what seemed like hours, but we worked it out as no more than forty minutes. Taran had both our bags slung around his shoulder, and kept feeding me sips of nectar from the bottle he’d packed for me. That was what was keeping me going. That, and the hope we’d find someone to save the others.

“May, look!” Taran called, pointing down to the ocean. I glanced down, noticing he was pointing down at a boat. It wasn’t huge, maybe a fishing boat or whale watching boat. I lowered myself to get a better look at it, but I felt myself losing consciousness. 

“May, no!” I heard Taran shout, trying to wake me. I felt him press the bottle to my lips for me to drink but it only trickled down my mouth. My eyes closed.