Taken for Granted » Places

         

Cyrus Zervais

With just a few hard bangs, the wood of the door cracked and a scientist reached inside to unlock it. The door swung open, exploding shards of wood everywhere and causing Ghost to shield his face within his arm. When he finally glanced up, he was met with a group of six scientists; two in front with tasers, three in the back with needles and one off to the side, too worried about how they were going to pay for the door to be fixed, to engage in battle. They were outnumbered.

No one seemed to want to do anything, especially when Rei lead Cyrus out in front and towards the confused group of scientists. Without giving either side the chance to process what was going on, Rei shoved past the first two scientists and stopped in front of the three at the back who had raised their needles in some pathetic attempt to scare Rei. Finally Ghost realized what was going on and bit back the urge to storm out in front and yank Cyrus away from the maniac Rei. The stupid boy had lead Cyrus right into the fight, without even thinking of the consequences. What’s worse is that the two sides began speaking to each other in casual conversation.

“Example One, please stand still while we give you something to calm you down,” one said in a fake sympathetic tone. “You aren’t well. You are all very, very ill and need more rest.”

“How long have we been here?”

“Uh, three months. Now, please stand still.”

Ghost blinked a few times in order to process the information. Three months was a long time, any number of things could have been done to them during that time. Up ahead in the distance he saw Rei deal with the frail scientists and run off down the hallway with Cyrus. Ghost couldn’t help the small breath of relief which escaped his parted lips, however he celebrated all too soon as the two in front with tasers had already lunged towards them.

Narrowly avoiding the oncoming attack, Ghost leapt to the side and pushed one of the scientists to the floor, standing over him as he reached out to grab the taser, which Ghost kicked away with a small snicker. He glanced up swiftly to notice -- but not process -- the scientist with a needle coming straight at him. The tip brushed against his skin before the thing exploded and shredded his flesh with shards of broken glass.

“Ghost, catch up with the others. Protect Cyrus,” Nikolas shouted in a desperate tone, shoving him forward so he stumbled on the scientist at his feet. Managing to regain his balance, Ghost span quickly on his heels, just to catch the final seconds of a scientists’ head exploding and a devastated Nikolas becoming covered in blood. Forcing himself to remain quiet, Ghost sped off down the hallway in the same direction Rei had lead Cyrus.

---

The two burst through the doors at a speed no human could match. The night sky was there to greet them, the true sky and not the fake one they had lived under for so many years. So many stars were etched onto the black canvas above, a bright quarter full moon shone down and illuminated the fields out in front. In the distance the noise of a busy city could be heard; cars roared and angrily beeped at each other and the voices of over ten thousand people carried on the wind. All of which was blocked off by a chain-link fence.

“When’s the last time we saw night?” Rei was grinning at him, pointing high up into the sky at the glowing stars. It was almost peaceful if not for the worry which lodged itself in Cyrus’ stomach, screwing it up like a tightly done knot.

“The others will catch up,” Rei assured him, tightly embracing the blond in a hug before leading him past the gate. “Or at least Ghost will. Who cares? Look at this!” Instead of looking forward, Cyrus glanced back and swallowed the lump in his throat.

“They’ll catch up,” Rei said again, his voice still in obvious awe. “But look at this.” Cyrus finally glanced forward towards Rei, blinking a few stray tears from his eyes to gaze upon the outside world. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen it, but he wasn’t quite enthusiastic as his friend. Cyrus nodded slowly, shuffling along until he was close enough to Rei to bury his head into the sleeve of his jacket. He didn’t want to cry in front of Rei and ruin his joy filled reunion with the real world.

Thump!

The blonde squeaked as something ran into him and Rei, falling in the grass behind them. He didn’t dare to look behind him and find a scientist there ready to jab him with another needle. So he buried his head further into Rei’s shoulder and silently wished for the thing to go away.

“Just fuck off!” the person behind them shouted. Cyrus vaguely recognized the voice and managed to pry himself away from Rei to take in the blood stained and burnt Nikolas. Ignoring his devilish appearance, Cyrus lunged at him and tackled him to the floor in a hug. Tears of joy leaked from his eyes and splattered against the other’s skin until the blonde buried his head in the other’s chest.