The Unknown

SEVEN | breakout.

Tess got to work busting the locks open, allowing the overwhelmed and frightened kids to stumble out of their cells. She tried to give them a few calm, soothing words. Some of them gave thanks with tears in their eyes, while others seemed too stunned or traumatized from the entire experience to speak.

"If you think for a moment that the city is good, remember what they did here," Jade said. Her voice brewed with white-hot anger, fists clenched. "They went to these measures to keep the Species from accessing these kids. Children locked in prison—for nothing! It's reprehensible. And it only delayed the inevitable." 

The hall was long, and there were somewhere near a hundred teenagers and young adults milling around once they were all freed. They all wore discolored white medical gowns. If Tess let her eyes unfocus, they looked like a gathering of aimless ghosts.

Jade had explained that they'd need to get everyone to the surface for the Species to pick them up. Maybe the city had known this when they hid the kids so deep underground, stolen from their own homes and families.

"Listen to me if you want to get out," Jade announced, raising her voice. A hushed crowd formed. "All we need to do is get outside. Then you'll be transported elsewhere so you can all receive medical attention. That's the priority for now. Stay calm and follow us to the stairs."

Most of the kids walked slowly, hesitantly, out of the place they'd been held for years. A few found the energy to try to jog or run, but most were too physically weak and malnourished. Out of the basement, their eyes squinted against the harsh fluorescent lights, used to near darkness. Tess stayed at the tail, helping the stragglers and keeping an eye out for guards.

Down the hall, they began to file into the staircase, which would be a challenge for their unaccustomed leg muscles. 

Standing at the back of the slow-moving line, Tess spotted unmistakable movement in her periphery—a medical worker peaking out of a doorway.

The worker withdrew and tried to slam the door shut, but Tess dashed over and stopped it with her boot. The woman shrieked with strain, trying to force it closed, but she was no match for Tess's bioengineered strength. She planted her other boot on the door and kicked it open, advancing on the woman in her white coat.

To her surprise, the woman held her ground, wearing a venomous expression. "I know what you are," she said, baring her teeth with disgust.

"What's that?" Tess asked with a charming smile.

"You're not human."

"That's right, I'm something more." She extended her hand, tracing her dangerous fingernails down the woman's sleeve. "You should be ashamed, you know, holding children prisoner. Experimenting on human beings. You people took samples and scans of us against our will. Do you know how dehumanizing that is?"

The woman didn't move an inch, but her wild, darting eyes betrayed her inner fear. "Keeping the kids here was a necessary evil. Better than handing them over to your kind. The needs of the many—the future of the entire human race—outweigh the needs of the few.

"You are taking far more lives, do you understand that? Can you get it through your head? Us, dehumanizing you?" She scoffed. Her voice became guttural, the emotion bursting from deep within. "You're holding them hostage in their own bodies. You're monsters, stripping away everything that makes us human!" She took a few labored breaths, setting a condescending gaze on Tess. "But you're only a pawn. They're only using you."

Tess frowned, taking an involuntary step back, thoughts whirling.

She quickly composed herself, stared the woman down, and whispered, "It's not so bad once it happens to you. And it will. I'll make sure it will." Tess grabbed the woman's hand. She tried to tug away, but Tess pricked her skin with a fingernail, and within seconds, she collapsed. Tess caught her and slung her over one shoulder, determined to deliver her directly to the Species.

Back in the hallway, the last of the kids were filing into the staircase. Tess followed them, carrying the woman with ease. Soon, they were on the ground level, then in the cool night air. She set the woman down gently and found Jade.

"I've got one extra," Tess explained, pointing out the unconscious woman.

Jade looked quizzical. "What, did you prick her with your nails?"

"Yes."

"They won't want her," Jade said dismissively.

"What do you mean?" Tess had never heard of the Species turning anyone down. The plan was to take the whole city, after all.

Jade ignored her question, busy giving orders to the kids around them.

So Tess walked back to the woman. Her eyes were closed, her face was pale, and her lips were turning blue. Her chest didn't move with any breath.

Tess gasped and eyed her own hands—the red nails glued to her fingers—with horror. The tranquilizer was too powerful. Or maybe the intention had never been to spare any lives.

She tried to tear a nail off, but it seemed to be fused with her real fingernail. Her heart was pounding. She returned to Jade's side, dazed, and tried to pretend everything was well.

"We'll need to be getting out of here," Rosalie said, appearing at her side.

 Tess didn't say anything, eyeing the horizon. It was just beginning to glint orange with a small slice of sunlight. 

"Jade put coordinates and instructions in our communicators. She said we'll have a few small solo assignments, then meet up together to do something bigger."

"Guess I'll see you then," Tess said hollowly.

It took a moment for her to realize Rosalie was staring. "Girl, if something's wrong, you can—"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about my body's time here." Tess plastered on a steadfast expression. "It was a bit traumatic back then, but I'm fine." Searching for a new topic, she glanced at her nails and felt sick. "Hey, do these things come in a neutral color, or did you give Jessie hot pink nails like yours?"

She giggled. "I convinced him black looked cool. Like a retro emo aesthetic."

Tess made sure to laugh too. Then she gave Rosalie a hug and disappeared into the still-dark streets, beating the encroaching sunlight.