Hmm, I'm wondering if I placed the years correctly
Liz stared at the lieutenant then at her two friends, who were rubbing the area where the needle had protruded their skin then at the staff behind her, who met her eyes squarely. “How long have we been-” “Eight years out there,” one of the guys…who knows which one is Silver and who is Mac, interrupted Randall’s question. Liz scoffed and leaned over, in disbelief. She’d been chopping heads off for eight years? “Yes, Ma’am- Liz,” the girl who had offered her the chair said, scratching her face. “Listen I know it can be a shock because you lost count on the outside. Relax it’s fine.” The lost count of months wasn’t the issue- she had lost years. “Yea Liz it’s fine, even I was thinking four, maybe five years,” Randall confessed as he patted her back to comfort her. “Eight is cool.” Eight? It’s more like three for Liz. What…how? She knew she had a memory loss of some sort but five years missing? The blood drained from her face. She tried to track back now- home, teenage pr
She stared at him as the ‘dinner’ alarm went off then and Sharp pushed her away from him, waiting for her feet to steady before saying, “Go eat, I’ll meet you tonight- when your room ‘bunkies’ are asleep.” Nodding absentmindedly, Sharp left her with a warning. “I mean it Elizabeth, eat.” Liz forced her food down for she had lost her appetite, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew she would need her strength for what Sharp was about to tell her. They had gills? Should she tell her friends what they were, now or when she had more information? Tomorrow, she’ll tell them…hopefully she would have processed her being dead by then. This must be a sick joke- or maybe she’s asleep. This is a nightmare- pinching herself proved she was awake when the pain scorched her flesh. Gills? How does that work because she remembers how much she dislikes water with depth. Touching her faded scars- no gills he said. How far did science reach...was that the reason for the apocalypse- science study? A surge
“Marcus Sharp, hmm. Has a nice ring to it. How long was I- ugh- a clone?” “Three years ago, you escaped. On the fifth day. You were Liz-C5. C3 died on day one. She drowned in the dam while attempting to escape. But you got out.” “So, he’s dead?” She reverted to Marcus Min Lee, a deep frown shaping her face. The previous three versions of her being dead sort of caused an acidity build up inside her. “Marcus? Yea. I’m sorry. Oh, he died naturally of course. Peaceful- Liz erm- well, she had cancer and passed before him.” His tone is quiet now. Quieter. “Oh…how sad. His mother then his wife? Why didn’t he make another her then?” It was a cold thing to ask but then again, she isn’t really human is she, Liz thought then. Sharp raised his head to the sky before answering slowly. “I guess he did try but he didn’t want a different person. See, Liz and him grew old together so making a clone version of her would create a different person, not the same Liz he knew.” Yup, that made se
After an unrestful night, and still undecided, Liz held back in telling her friends the truth, a bit. She figured she might ease it in…day by day …perhaps weeks? It took another day to settle that it took three months to create a clone replica and that she’d died and died and died again. Just why had her clones attempted to escape from here really? Is it what Sharp had said- that they’d been confused when awaked with the assault of memories? Was this place friend or foe? The next morning Liv signed up for garden duty because she needed to eat. That’s it…at least until she gathered her bearings and figured out her place here. Who knows maybe they might need her skillset, elsewhere. It was a good tactic done by Bio Lab- ensure everyone works for better production but limit food as it is now the most important thing after survival. Matt and Randall followed her example although they still whined about being out in the field- the wrong field that is, but less. More food has a wa
Moving along with her tray, the next day, she smiled when the mashed potatoes plopped down onto it, talking in a low murmur that only the man next to her could hear. “War with whom?” She had an entire night to think and the morning period as she picked fruit again. Who knew fruit picking could help clear the mind? With too much to digest now and a thousand more questions, Kia was far from her, newly occupied with information, and thoughts. “Isn’t the world in need of peace now?” she questions again without receiving an answer for the first one. “More than 75% of America died within the first month,” Sharp whispers back to her as they take their seats, sitting isolated from the others. Randall and Matt were both glaring at him from two tables down in the cafeteria. “What? What do you mean America?” Frowning at his strange words, seeing her boyfriend Marcus, yet not having much memory of him- or of Liz’s time with him. It was mostly blurred but …that feeling…that emotional pull is t
Liz At early dawn, they saw them returning and hurried back to their room before the others noticed. They were all the first to shower in their rooms except Lane and Matt who got bunked together. Then came down to breakfast as if all was well and pretended to not know what was happening. Lieutenant Sharp and his team were leaving when Liz arrived, having the option of eating first. Her zapper was also part of the team. Troy. She had been the first to get there out of her friends, she realised and wondered if now was a good time to let him know her intention. Nobody was injured or bloodied she notes but not surprised one bit. She knew what they were capable of. But the lieutenant left after giving her a once-over look. Sharp came to find her as breakfast was over, pulling her into an empty room. “Are you okay? You look like you haven’t slept?” He folds his hands, crossing his ankles as he rests his head on the wall. How observant. “I’m fine just tired, “she returns with a furrow o
“What? How did you get here?” he gasped as he pointed a gun at her. Huh, he’s cute, she thinks as she took in his chiselled jawline and narrow nose. His thick eyebrows were an asset to him too as well as his full lips- what she could make out anyway, for half of his face was hidden by the darkness. His navy-blue attire; jacket and trousers but hatless. She wondered about his rank when she saw the many pins on the jacket. Liz didn’t know a lot about a lot of things for her mind was more than a hundred years behind the times but he looked important. Maybe she should take him back so Sharp could question him. “I swam- duh,” Liz gestured to her wet black attire and rolled her eyes. A gunshot was then heard, and she saw the fire and the smoke from the barrel of the gun. ‘Well, someone doesn’t like my humour.’ Then in the next split second, she realized he was fired at her but Liz felt no pain. She freaked for the next few seconds. ‘Am I bulletproof too?’ Glancing down and not seeing
Lieutenant Sharp Hours later they were exhausted and laid sprawled on the sand breathing heavily. The three ship’s crew and radio- were all dead. The young lieutenant had a deep vertical frown set between his eyebrows. Liz was soft-bellied- she wasn’t like them. She hadn’t killed anyone, just thrown them overboard or broken their bones, leaving them. Sharp had to be the clean-up guy after her, so the others wouldn’t notice and report back to the commander. There’s no telling what they would do to her- run more tests? Day after day, month after month, year after year like the rest that was locked away? Or end her ‘miserable’ life, as ‘they’ would normally say when a clone was declared useless to ‘them’. By they and them, he meant the doctors and scientists who worked to give him- them the clones, an existence. Liz might not be able to endure it. This was the reason why she ran the first time. Sharp was beginning to see just how inhuman it all is. He- they all might be clones…rep