[h3]JULY 2235, FORMERLY NANTAHALA FOREST, FORMER NORTH CAROLINA[/h3]


[indent][indent][indent]Light, more dazzling and blinding than she could remember, greens a shade almost too offensive to behold. Each step sent pain through her, each hit on the senses an assault to one not yet ready to be awake. Was this thinking? Had the air ever been so clear and strong as it was now? Shock, curiosity and fear, they were all a confliction of emotions that sent the dazed blonde into a fit of panic, though outwardly she looked as if she were enjoying an innocent stroll. But there was nothing normal about her being here, nor was there anything of memory to her. Even as she stumbled and caught herself on the tree beside her, she withdrew her hand as if the bark had scolded. Wide green eyes looked up as high as they could before a noise caught her attention and she whirled around.

For one who should have been so cautious, she did not let sense stop her feet from carrying for her. She was searching for answers whose questions she could not form. The where’s, the whys and the who’s would not stop, her mind hurting almost as much as tired and battered limbs. She pushed through the wild flora, ignoring whatever attack the wildness made on her flesh. A collection of scratches, welts and wounds had already gathered, tearing through the fabric of her suit.

Scattered across the forest floor was smoking debris, litter so out of place to the natural wildlife around her. It caused step to falter and mind once more to race, just where the hell was she?

The confused Elmina Lennox stopped for just a second, raising her wrist up to eye level and looking to the black cuff that circled her. One lithe finger traced the engravings, the numbers and letters, and mostly the word murder. In that one second and with that one word, absolutely everything came back to her.  And before she could stop, she doubled over and vomited all over the forest floor.

All this was not a nightmare; it had been exactly one hundred and forty-five years since she had had a dream. It had also been one hundred and forty five years ago that she had been locked in that small chamber and every thought, feeling and memory was locked away. She looked to the digital clock blinking away on the cuff, reading the date. 22:07:2235, 10:37. She watched the numbers blink as the horror settled in, at the great space of time that had been stolen from her whilst she had been suspended in a frozen state of nothingness. Anger riddled her as she looked over the cuts and scrapes on her fingers and hands, the results of clawing herself free of the tangled mess she had awoken in. The glass front of her chamber smashed, but restraints still in place. The ordeal was still fresh in her mind as she touched at the split in her lip and large cut on her forehead, brought back to the present when once more she heard a loud noise. 

Approaching now with a quieter step and crouching down on her walk, her hand taking hold of a heavy stick as she went, Elmina stopped before breaking through the trees and peered round. But caution was replaced with an immediate sense of duty as her intended weapon was dropped from hand, and she ran through. Once more her boot was caught and she stumbled again, and cursed as she straightened up to look at the carnage that sent plumes of dark smoke up through the air. “Shit!” Breathed Elmina pushing a hand up to expel back flyaway hair. She stood before the metal monstrosity, and it was bigger than she could even remember. There were large breakages in the wreckage, and face down only a foot away from her lay a bearded man in his own blood. Elmina did not even check to see if he still yet held a pulse, heading instead for the destroyed craft.

But an increased heat met her with each step she took, and she coughed as the smoke grew thicker. Elmina doubled back, looking to wreckage and for another way in. She did not know why she lingered, only that compassionate side of her wanted to help. A somewhat inappropriate smirk creased her lips as she climbed through a busted escape door, she could remember the man who had sentenced her to the forsaken prison that she was void of all compassion.

Her boots crunched on broken glass and fractured structure as she climbed inside, emergency lighting now failing and providing only a dim and sporadic illumination. One step in and her boot crushed down onto a soft and uneven substance, and a quick look down sent her backwards. Wide and blank eyes glare up at her, neck punctured by a piece of shrapnel and blood pooling around him. Elmina swallowed and looked ahead, stepping over the body as she walked carefully through the lopsided structure.

The wreckage was that of the Apox centre, a first of its kind and the creation of one Herrity Apox, a man with a cruel yet brilliant mind. A prison, it was a solution to overcrowded prison and the way to rid the earth of the most dangerous and feral prisoners. The UN and their desire for totalitarianism thought their goal better reached if the filth of the world was no longer on it, and rather than face executions, why not just make them disappear? The UN spread a message of peace, told the world over that they would not resort to violence to counter violence. Elmina knew better, after all, she was an official within UN and the niece of a particularly nasty and ambition man, Grant Lennox. The man responsible for her being here, or rather not being in a box beneath the ground.

The Apox centre was a clever invention; it was a prison for those deemed dangerous and evil. It was much like the old ships she had once seen, the grand boats that took passengers around the world. Only there was nothing grand about the pure grey structure. There was nothing inviting or glamourous, nothing comfortable save for the security quarters for those who were to keep watch over the world’s deadliest. Unlike the others who had been locked away in the cyrochambers and held in stasis, Elmina had been on the Apox centre once before her incarceration. 

Back in the country that had once been known as England, Elmina had been part of the medical team that stocked the medical bay and also tested the chambers, to ensure that all those held within would be comfortable and from harm. Though some couldn’t give a shit, there were still the humanitarian groups that protested prisoners’ rights. Even though Elmina had already been delving into the unlawful when she had been a test dummy, never did she think she would have so much of her life stolen away by the cursed creation. 

She stopped beside the lopsided stairwell, fingers once more gingerly touching at the split on her lip. It was absurd to be in here! Elmina was one of the first in here, and as it room to house one thousand convicts, there could be any number of deadly and dangerous people in here. Even now she could see hands pounded on the screen doors begging for release. What it must be like, to wake up dazed and confused and in the padded tiny cell they were locked in. Everything here was electronic, there was no such thing as keys with Prime. Everything was done by touch and approval. It was then than Elmina once more raised her wrist and looked to the tiny scar on her wrist, and she remembered back to the day before she was locked away. Her uncle had haltered the operation to remove her UN chip, not giving any other reason than a shake of his head.

Hope filled her, if she still had that microchip inside her than there was a chance she could get into the locked chambers, the medical bay! She should have been putting as much distance between her and this place as possible, but she’d not survive long without supplies. Funny that a girl who had lived her life in relative comfort, albeit a highly regimented and ordered one, knew about survival! She could now only thank her constant obsession with the rebel forces and interactions with those who she helped to infiltrate the UN and Prime.

With a new focus in mind, the blonde turned and quickly climbed the stairwells, heading to the very top of the Apox craft, to where the command centre was and where the security would have been housed.

*

It took her quite some time and difficulty, dodging sparking wires and those that lay dying. She stuck to the shadows and kept herself concealed; she hadn’t missed the abled convicts breaking for freedom. Never once did she ask for help or stop anyone, maybe it was selfish but Elmina had her task set and wasn’t going to stop for anyone. When eventually she did reach the top, she headed toward the emergency station with excited yet anxious breath, her mouth dry and head swimming but her focus kept her on. Slowly she raised her wrist to the pad and at first there was nothing and she swore. But she tried again, pressing her wrist harder against the sensory pad and almost squealing in delight when the light flashed green. 

Elmina took a look behind her before she hoped to the door, which opened only marginally. She groaned as she lifted damaged hands to the screen door and pushed with all her might, it only moving inches. “Fuck” She said stopping, rubbing at her shoulder where the frame had dug in painfully. It was then that she saw another figure coming toward her, and Elmina quickly took to defence as she straightened up and squared off her shoulders. But in her desperation to get inside, Elmina tossed caution to the wind. “Help me get this door open!” Elmina rushed, and it was to her fortune that the other person agreed. The con, another female of fair complexion came forwards and helped Elmina force the door open wide enough for them to slip inside. 

Elmina offered no explanation as she rushed in, quickly taking on purpose as she looked around the locked cabinets.  Looking around her, she didn’t stay idle for long. She offered no explanation as she began yanking open cabinets and tossing random bits into the black pack, discarding that which wasn’t considered a basic necessity. She completely ignored the other one behind her as she pulled drawers and cabinets open, the pack slowly filling. Only when she pulled open one cabinet did Elmina pause, her hand nervously reaching forward. An addition she couldn’t remember, and what form of emergency could require these in a medic station. But it was an odd comfort as her hand circled around the grip of the small gun. 

Without thinking she began adding the magazines to the bag and turned, offering the other gun to the woman behind her. “Know how to use one of these?” She asked. Elmina wasn’t a hundred percent sure, she hadn’t really shot a gun before, but being unarmed in a place like this was a death sentence. The spare went unloaded in the bag and she slammed the cabinet shut, before making her escape.  She didn’t need to tell the other woman to follow her, but they made their exit and Elmina wanted distance between herself and the Apox for good.

*

The descended had been more difficult than her climb, her back now weighed down by the large pack and one hand holding on dearly to the gun. Blood, sweat and dirt was now tangled in her hair and on her brow, and her thirst was increasing. But eventually she saw the light of the exit and had barely stepped outside when the balled fist of a man smashed straight into her face, sending Elmina into a heap on the floor and the gun flying from her hand.

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