The moment they plunged into the water, he immediately felt its frigidness weighing him down. They were drowning in a raging river, surviving the fall only for them to now die as water swooshed through. He choked, desperately trying to keep Alexia’s head up as he fought the current. His vision blurred and he fought it off, knowing that if he fell unconscious, she would die too, and their escape would all be in vain. He saw the dam and facility moving farther and farther away from them until it was nothing more than a gray speck in the distance.
They were far from the river’s edge, and Ryker frantically tried to swim for shore.
Come on, come on, he told himself, seeing Alexia’s face pale. The river’s fury wasn’t letting up anytime soon, and he had a feeling it would lead to the sea in a couple of hours’ time. The sea was nowhere they should be, and he fought the tide to get to safety.
Ryker knew he was losing his strength, and he very well couldn’t shift in the middle of the river, unless he was willing to lose his grip on Alexia. His lungs were taking in water; he was drowning with his weight and hers. There was no way out of this… they were going to die here…
“Run, run! Don’t look back!” his mother screamed.
His eyes bolted open, and with what last ounce of strength he had, he fought the waters, and he swam for shore, clinging onto rocks -- his body feeling like lead. He dragged Alexia to safety, grabbing her by her shirt and flinging her onto the ground.
Get up, get up, he forced himself. His eyes were beginning to close; his arms felt numb, and so did his legs. The last thing he heard was the roaring river behind them.
*
He knew he wasn’t dead. His eyes slowly began to open, and he had nearly forgotten where he was. Then he forced himself up, using his palms to sit up. He saw Alexia still asleep, and she was as drenched as he was, but her hands were colder.
Ryker tried to shake her awake, to no avail. He flopped back down, this time on his back. The air was colder than it had been earlier, and dusk was setting in. He told himself he had to move, M.I.D.A.S. could be on their backs any moment now. Where were they? He looked around to see them densely covered by trees. They were on the bank of the river, lying on pebbles and sand. He took a breath and slowly sat up.
She was alive, alive but pale, he thought. They had to find shelter. Ryker suddenly felt like he was eight years old again, hiding alone in the mountains, finding food and a home on his own; except now, someone was relying on him. He had half a mind to leave her alone, but he had made a promise. She meant something to the doctor who hadn’t known Alexia except for within the walls that had surrounded them in the facility.
There was no telling who else was in these woods or if they were still inside the government zone. He had to get up and get moving, move away from this accursed place. He held her hand again and saw her stir, her brows moving.
“Alexia,” he whispered, his face close to her ears. “You have to wake up. We have to go. They’ll be here anytime.”
Alexia inhaled deeply and opened her eyes, her body hurting like she had been forced to shift herself. The voice did not sound like he was from the facility. Her vision sharpened, and then she looked around in alarm, sitting up, panicking.
“Where are we?” she gasped. Then she clutched her rib, feeling a sharp throbbing run through.
“I’ll explain later,” Ryker hurriedly told her. “We have to move. Now.”
He held out his hand and helped her up.
Her knees buckled, but she forced herself to stand. “I don’t know if I can run-“
“We walk. We walk and hide until you’re better.”
Ryker scanned her and saw no heavy external injuries. There were scratches on her face and arms, possibly a fractured rib, and forming bruises. Her wrist looked ugly as well, from the hasty removal of the microchip he had done. It was autumn, and he knew the cold would be harsh to her, as she was just wearing thin hospital pajamas.
Ryker let her lean against him as they hobbled their way into the deep cover of the forest. She was shivering as soon as nightfall came, and still they hadn’t found even a cave to crash in for the night. Alexia was breathing heavily, determined not to let Ryker down. The forest was thick, the ground was filled with sharp rocks, and he knew Alexia was getting scratches on her paper-thin skin.
“Would you like me to carry you?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “You’ve already carried me far enough.”
Ryker took a breath. In his haste and adrenalin-rush, he hadn’t noticed he had held onto her, had done close contact that wasn’t combat or for work. Ryker had never held onto a female stranger before, and it suddenly made him feel awkward. He didn’t say anything else. They walked up and down hills, small cliffs, and over fallen trees. He was guiding her in the dark, waiting for every step she took. The moon was partially hidden by clouds, casting a pale glow above the trees.
He saw her look of relief when they came upon moss. Ryker scanned the area, seeing granite rock formations, with sharp edges, and he spied a crevice large enough for one person to slip into. He looked at her and nodded, seeing her stare at that slit in between the rocks.
“Stay close by. I’ll go check it out first.”
Alexia heard the shriek of an owl in the night, and she shivered once more. She tried to digest what had happened. The plan was ill-prepared, but she was out of the facility for the first time, wondering if the rest of the world was actually like the picture-book Dr. Delaney had given her.
It was the first time she had stepped on moss, and it felt like a softer, moist carpet. She actually liked the feeling on her soles. She looked up to see the moon shining faintly, surrounded by clouds, and happiness crept up to her, seeing it for the first time without glass and walls surrounding her. How warm was the sun going to be tomorrow?
“It’s safe. Narrow enough to sit in or lie down,” Ryker announced. His voice reminded her of water, fluid-like and deep. “You can go on in.”
She nodded, stepping gingerly into the slit, feeling the cold earth under her palms and feet. The cave was pitch dark and she stooped the further she got in. It was just enough for her head to have a few inches of space as she sat down. Ryker crawled in next, bunching up fallen branches carelessly at the narrow entrance, making it look like it was all natural, and not a cover-up.
“You’ll have to get used to the dark.”
“I’ll get used to it,” she said quickly. “But I never got used to the pain they gave me.”
“I’m still not used to the pain of shifting. Maybe I will be soon enough. This regime has a funny way of forcing things out of you.”
Alexia said nothing, unsure of where he was facing. She hugged her knees, and her clothes still clung on her, barely dried up because of the air. Ryker felt her discomfort, disliking the idea that formed in his head.
“Is your name really Ryker?” she asked him after a few seconds.
“I’d like to think it is. It’s what I remember, before I was adopted. The Locklear couple took me in when they saw me looking for food in a garbage bin.”
“What were they like?”
“They were…” Ryker paused. They were many things, they were so many things, except cruel. They had taken him in, even if he was no blood-relation to them. They had nurtured him, treated him like their own son. “They were loving.”
Loving. The closest thing she had felt to love was Dr. Delaney’s concern for her as a doctor. The compassion was there, but she hadn’t felt the love.
“What about your parents?” he asked, forcing himself to talk to her.
He was no talker, but he didn’t want her to feel lonely, even if she was already free and out in the wilderness.
“I barely remember anything from my childhood. Sometimes, I feel like I was grown in a lab,” she admitted. “Those doctors were no family, but I pretended they were my friends.”
“You didn’t have any friends? Anyone else that was kept in, like you?”
Alexia sighed, bowing her head. “They all died before they reached the age of ten. I was the only one who made it out. It’s weird. I’m actually free, out of that place. I grew up there… they all died there. They never got the chance to see what’s outside.”
“Did you -- did you have werebeing friends?”
“I used to. I’d like to think they were. We were children, stuck in a place where the adults treated us as if we weren’t human. We banded together. Some of them died; some of them, I never saw again. You killed one of them, I think…”
Ryker looked at her, even if she couldn’t see him.
“Who was he?”
“The weretiger,” Alexia told him. “I taught him to read and write, but as soon as he turned twelve, he was transferred and trained to be some weapon.”
Caliban, Ryker thought. “I- I’m sorry I-”
“Don’t be. You didn’t know. And it was a fight to the death. At least they know that their enhanced werebeings aren’t the alphas in this world. You shifted naturally. Some of the children, like he was -- they were forced to alter their DNA. They were tortured; they were as young as I was. I saw how they suffered, and they needed my blood to survive. It was the best I could do, to give blood away so they wouldn’t die right away. It gave them better chances at healing. Caliban was one of those children.”
“Has he always been heartless?”
Alexia shook her head in the darkness. “No. He was kind. Scared of everything they did. We were all alike, scared and lonely, hurting and imprisoned. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t hear their screams and cries for help. I cried, but I didn’t call out for anyone. No one could save me. Can you imagine I spent my whole life there? I don’t even remember my family, my parents. I’m sure I had a family. I dream about blurred faces, calling out for me, loving me…”
She stopped, lost in thought, wondering how they would make it in the hours to come. She didn’t think about days; she was afraid they would catch up to her.
“We’re going somewhere far away.”
“How far away?”
“Alaska,” he said.
“Nothing is there, right?” Alexia asked, surprised. “They told me everything had been destroyed. It’s just a barren land filled with ice and wild animals.”
“And werebears. Possibly.”
“Why did you take me out of there with you?”
Ryker sighed inaudibly, knowing that Alexia would find out sooner or later. “Because Dr. Delaney asked me to. I wouldn’t have been able to escape without her help.”
“Dr. Delaney…” Alexia repeated. “Is she safe? How did-“
“She risked her life to get us out. I don’t know if she’s still alive.”
“Of course she won’t be,” Alexia said bitterly.
“Get some rest,” he told her. “Alaska is a long way to go.”
Alexia lay down the ground, using her arm as a pillow. She shut her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Her mind was racing with hundreds of things. She was afraid of sleeping, lest they come swooping down in the middle of the night. She didn’t want to go back to the facility. Sector 12 was hell, but it was the only home she’d known her entire life. There, she had a bed; there, she had food. There, she was subjected to experiment after experiment. There, people spoke in hushed tones to her, as if she was nonexistent or some animal who couldn’t comprehend human speech.
She didn’t know what was going to happen once they woke up. There were no vitamins here to help with her deficiencies, no proper meals, no change of clothes. She didn’t know if Ryker was going to abandon her if need be. Dr. Delaney wasn’t here to talk to her in a kindly manner. There was no one else but Ryker, who seemed distant, even if he tried to be nice to her. It was all Dr. Delaney’s doing. The question was, why? Why only now? Because Ryker was the strongest and he disliked the government? Or was it because Dr. Delaney had tired of how the system worked and showed pity on her?
There was little she could do now, except follow Ryker’s lead. He knew better; he had lived outside of the facility, he had interacted with people, whatever it was he did before he was forced into the lab. She had no survival skills. She realized that she was born specifically just to be a test subject, and no other skills were instilled in her, except for her ability to read and write. They had taken her childhood away from her; she was ignorant of the world, but she wanted to be of use to Ryker…
Ryker was lost in his own trail of thought. He knew he wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight, the adrenaline still rushing through him. He kept his eye on the entrance, hoping they wouldn’t find them yet. They needed to get through to Washington in order to get to Alaska. He was worried about extradition, though. Those in the East were far more lenient to werebeings, although they kept close tabs on them. No doubt, the government of the United States was on the hunt for them by this time. They were pricey test subjects, and he had won the last games. They would want both of them dead before the rest of the country knew what had happened.
He looked at Alexia’s hunched figure, knowing she was cold. He had thought about it earlier, of shifting to keep her warm, but the thought of being close to her body again made him feel awkward. It wasn’t his hormones that needed satiating; it was the fact that she just might die, and he would lose someone else he was supposed to care for and protect. He didn’t know her, he could have left her, but hearing a snippet of how her life was clearly mirrored his own. They had no childhood, they had no parents, and they had no friends. All he knew at the moment was that he had to survive, cross a border, come back into the United States via Alaska, and find that mythical group of werebeings who were thought to have been wiped out a millennia ago.
He had read in books that the country’s civil and nuclear war had caused the total destruction of Alaska. No one lived there anymore, save for a few military patrols. Winters were harsher than they had been years ago, with a record 200 inches of snow during those months. Can we make it, he wondered. They had around four thousand miles in between them and Alaska.
He had thought about crossing through Canada but figured they would keep a close watch on all entry and exit points in each state. Alaska was their best option for now, if they could get to Washington safely. They had to move fast, knowing the government would send out werebeings to do the dirty work for them -- werebeings who were trained to become soldiers, who could easily sniff them out from miles away. They could not change their scents, but they could mask them for as long as possible.
His mind was running with possibilities for survival. In the wilderness, he could survive on his own, just like how he had survived as a child. Alexia was a different story. Even though she had not been coddled in the lab, she had still been given proper nutrition and a roof over her head. The world would be harsh to her, and he had no way to mask its harshness. He did not intend to baby her out here, though. She had to learn, and learn the hard way -- without either of them dying, of course.
I’m not going to be another government statistic, Ryker swore to himself, hearing crickets and the rustling of the wind outside of their cave. Starting tomorrow, they would need to cover at least thirty miles a day, and how they would do it, he didn’t know. All he knew was that they had to get away, as far away as possible.
*
They stopped every once in a while for her to rest. Her feet were bleeding, and although it annoyed him that their stops were frequent, it also gave him time to plot their next course of action. He hadn’t seen signs and didn’t know which part of the country they were in, so he relied on the growth of the trees and the flow of tiny streams.
After the civil war, the country had been reduced to near ruins, and cities had to be rebuilt over the course of the century. The population had once reached 300 million in the 2000s, but it was now currently at 60 million. The country’s second civil war had been a devastating blow to everyone, and it had caused the dwindling of the werebeing population. They were an abomination, and yet they were fascinating -- just like a freak show.
He picked out berries for her to eat, glad there were safe ones. He couldn’t risk sitting down and starting a fire to cook whatever food he could catch in the streams. With berries, they could move quicker.
Alexia was quiet, and he knew she was troubled, but he didn’t say anything. It made things easier to just speak when need be. In the daylight, he saw how pale she was and how the bruises had turned purple overnight. There was a large one on her cheek, and smaller ones all throughout her arms. They needed to find clothes for her and for him. Autumn was not their ally, and winter would be an even harsher enemy.
As a human, he was a recognizable target; as a werebear within city limits, he was destined for an immediate death. Alexia’s condition would slow them down. He knew she needed proper rest, but he couldn’t risk getting caught because then their escape would be all but in vain. Ryker saw a road up ahead, and a car pass by, and he signaled for her to stay in place. There was a sign telling them that they were fifteen miles away from entering Pennsylvania.
They had walked that much, and the river had taken them that far. He was sure the facility and its people assumed they were out of New York by now. He nodded at her, and they crossed the road quickly; their pallid features stood out in the middle of the dark asphalt road. They crossed quickly, Alexia hobbling as best as she could, and just as they got behind thick bushes, they heard the whoosh of a trailer truck pass by.
Trailer trucks could be their way to Alaska, if the drivers weren’t alerted by their faces, which was highly likely. Trains were out of the question as well, as all trains were run by the government, whether high speed or for ferrying products from state to state. Ryker also had enough of bodies of water for a while; crossing lakes and rivers (and seas) was a last option.
They couldn’t very well walk all the way. It would take them months, and Alexia would never make it -- not with her frame. They slid down a hill littered with fallen leaves and branches. It would have been picturesque were it not for the fact that they were anxious to hide from the rest of the world. The woods were thick, with an air of creepiness surrounding them. They had walked for an hour when Ryker stopped, smelling something.
She looked at him wearily, not bothering to ask what it was.
“Come,” Ryker whispered to her.
He gave a short run and stopped in front of a hunter’s cottage, smack dab in the middle of nowhere. It was devoid of people; Ryker made sure of it. They quickly snuck in, with Ryker breaking a portion of the window by the door. His hand bled a little, but he didn’t seem to care. Alexia was shivering as she stepped on the wooden porch, staring around, as everything seemed new to her. Ryker surveyed the one bedroom cottage and saw it hadn’t been occupied in a while -- dust had accumulated everywhere.
They would spend the night here, he decided. He opened a few cabinets, and sighed in relief, seeing canned food and a jar of fruit preserves. At least this would fill them up.
“Find some clothes. There’s bound to be some here,” he told her as she sat on the bed, clearly tired.
She said nothing once more, standing up and rummaging through the cabinets by the bed. By the time Ryker had gotten back from surveying their immediate surroundings, she had found a hunter’s vest, a plaid shirt, two pairs of worn-out leather boots, and, surprisingly, a pair of women’s jeans that were a size too large for her.
He cleared his throat and turned his back as she began to change without even telling him she would. He took a breath and busied himself looking for a can opener, or a knife at least. There were a few unopened bottles of water at the bottom of the sink, and he took these out as well.
She walked up to him and grabbed a bottle of water, to his surprise. He frowned and saw how she quickly finished a bottle. Then she turned her back and went for the bed. It had been barely five minutes, and she was fast asleep. He stared at her figure in those ill-fitting clothes, and he felt a pang of empathy for Alexia. It was apparent she wanted to crash from exhaustion, yet he hadn’t given her the chance to do so.
He sighed, wondering if he should kindle a fire, but then he decided against it. He found three candles, all melted into funny looking stubs, and decided to light just one. He would cook whatever they had found later, after taking the rest that he deserved.
*
Ryker bolted awake, his senses alerted by a different scent. Wildly, he looked around, his heart palpitating, and ready to shift in the event that someone attacked. Then he saw Alexia, hunched over the stove, trying to open a can using a knife.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” he snapped.
“You looked like you needed sleep,” she replied, taking a step back as Ryker stood up.
Nightfall had settled, and the single candle on the table cast an eerie glow on their faces. He quickly opened the can, its serrated edges looking weapon equipped. There was a pan she had recently washed from the water he had drawn earlier.
Ryker didn’t smell anything off in the night, but he still wouldn’t risk it. They were cooking this shared meal above the candle on the thin, and scratched metal plates available. It would take a while, but it was better than a roaring fire or a chimney with smoke coming out of it.
They ate their meal in silence, using dented forks. Alexia ate slowly, unused to the food. So this was canned food; so this was corned beef. Dr. Delaney hadn’t allowed her to eat food with ‘preservatives’ for fear it would alter her body chemistry. She was hungry, but the food tasted foreign. Ryker finished his in less than two minutes.
He eyed her. “You should finish that. God knows when we’ll have proper food like this again.”
“It’s something new…” she began. “I’ve never had it before.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were some rich kid,” he commented, leaning against the chair. “Look,” he began, “I know this is your first time out in the world, but you’ve got to stop acting like it is. People will know, or people will think you’re crazy or medically dependent; then they’ll call on government officers and have you arrested.”
“I don’t want to go back…” her voice dropped. “I know I’m not much help, but please, I don’t want to go back.”
“Who says you’re going back?” Ryker told her. “I don’t want you there either. You’re a guinea pig-” he saw the expression on her face. “It’s a tiny animal with fur, and it’s a term people use for things that are made into experiments.”
She nodded, never having seen one. She imagined it must look like a rat. “I sometimes think I’m no longer human, the way I was treated. Only a few of the people inside showed me what kindness was; the children were kind, until they grew up and were tortured and taught to fight.”
“I’m not fully human, and I have no problem with that,” Ryker told her, annoyed at her self-analysis. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“How?”
“I tried to save a girl. They wanted to poach her; maybe as another experiment, maybe as part of the games. Whatever it was, they still killed her when they looked for me.”
“I’m- I’m sorry.”
“Why would you be?” Ryker told her. “You don’t know me.”
“But you saved me and took me out.”
“Only because Dr. Delaney asked me to.”
“You could have left without me,” she reasoned.
“I keep to my word,” Ryker said. “Get some rest.”
The conversation had to stop there. Too much talking meant opening old wounds and healing ones. Besides, tomorrow would be a long day. They had to get out of Pennsylvania tomorrow. Alexia was no werebeing, but she was as special as they came. She was a rare donor whose blood was needed by soldiers, tested on werebeings. Perhaps the doctor in Washington would have an answer to it…
“The bed is big enough for two people,” she said indifferently.
He shook his head. “I’ll keep watch. I can always take short naps,” he told her, feeling awkward that she had asked him to sleep beside her.
She shrugged and climbed on the bed, in full attire. He took a breath, making a mental note to wake up every thirty minutes. He was afraid of shifting inside the cabin, and afraid of hurting her. Sometimes the animal in him took over when he was extremely stressed or angry. He didn’t want that, and he hoped he didn’t need to shift anymore.
The minutes ticked into hours, and he found himself dozing off. He heard something that made him wake up. It was Alexia. Despite her back being turned away from him, he knew she was crying. She was as scared as he was of the unknown; they were scared of tomorrow, they were scared of the government, and they didn’t want to die. That alone gave him hope. If they didn’t want to die, they would do anything and everything to see this through.
Ryker suddenly wanted to reach out and touch her. Would a pat on the shoulder suffice? Would a hug? No, that would be too weird, and it would shock her and him. What was he thinking? He was entertaining thoughts that were beyond what he was supposed to think of. He had to think of ways to get to Washington; he had to think of ways to stay alive. Perhaps it was loneliness; perhaps it was that need for human comfort. Whatever it was, it annoyed Ryker and bothered him until dawn came.