51 Caugh

Marcus rushes into the crowd at the main level. He finds a spot behind a tent to crouch and hide.

Marcus looks over his shoulder before whispering, "I don't know what the hell just happened, but thanks for the save."

He, or rather, She clears her throat a few times. Pretending to be male is easier with the device keeping her vocals on the lower end. No one has looked twice at her. Her height and angular face have always been a disadvantage for her love life, but now it seems to be her saving grace. She looked Ika straight in the face and he didn't recognize her at all.

She rubs a hand along her square jaw and smirks.

'Maybe I was built for espionage.'

WHY DIDN'T SUBJECT 001 MENTION THE GPS SCAN AND

KNOWLEDGE OF THE COORDINATES TO ACQUIRE THEIR ---

'If I told them Priya is alive they'd want to have proof and know how I know. Then we're back to being interrogated.'

APEX WOULD NOT HIDE THIS INFORMATION

THE LOSS OF HOMO SAPIEN LIFE IS EQUIVALENT

TO THE LOSS OF UNDERLING LIFE

PRIORITY 9 STATES--

"I'm not--," Sia bites her lip and goes back to thinking her thoughts.

'I'm not Apex. He said my orders are the same as his own. Revealing this information would put me in danger. Isn't that against Priority 1?'

AFFIRMATIVE

'This is a good thing.'

A door slams open. Heavy footsteps stomp toward the tents. She pretends to be tying her shoelaces until they pass by. When the footsteps continue by without incident, Sia rises up and mingles with the crowd.

She can see an area where white sheets are hung up over thick cords of rope. It screams 'Medical area' as clearly as police caution tape signifies a crime has been committed. She weaves through the crowd until she can get nearby.

'We'll have to do this alone. If we succeed they'll be indebted to us. That's what you want. No one is going to trust us this early, and we don't have enough money. But if you want men that will storm those labs for Apex...we need people that won't just leave us behind when the going gets tough. We need to make them want to repay us and want our approval.'

She peeks into a gap in the white screen and sees Turner's unconscious body laid out on a makeshift stretcher. The sheets on the thin cot are stained. Turner appears like a corpse for several moments before tiny tremors in his chest and shoulders verify that he is indeed still among the living.

A wooden table is sitting beside the cot with a few items on top. Small glass bottles with clear liquid inside of them. The labels are small. Beside the glass bottles are packaged cylindrical items piled atop each other. There is a large strip of letters that reads 'Warning:' and minuscule letters explaining information about the item.

'Can you identify those things from here?'

SCANNING...

MORPHINE

UNUSED SYRINGES

'All of those are morphine?'

AFFIRMATIVE

'Well...I think he can spare a few for his friend,' Sia inches over to the other side of the bed.

Everyone seems to be busy.

"What are you doing?" an accented voice pops up behind her.

Sia jumps and spins around. She doesn't see anyone.

Sia tilts her head and looks to the left, 'What the hell?'

Sia frowns at the short man standing off to the side in her blind spot.

"Are you worried about him?" Pheno moves the faded white sheet aside as he slides pass Sia.

Sia adjusts the blindfold on her left eye, 'Damn it.'

"Uuuh. Yeah. I didn't want to disturb him," she shuffles over to the other side of the bed and faces away from the table.

"He looked really bad off. I'm glad you were able to help him out." Sia's worried tone causes Pheno to examine the quiet form in the bed.

Pheno steps over to the foot of the bed and gestures to the bulky bandaged knee joint that peeks out of the stained sheet.

Pheno sighs, "We had to get rid of much below the knee, but my work is well."

Sia nods to the doctor. Her polite smile thins as she imagines the surgery.

"How long until he's up again?"

"Not sure. The supplies here is scant," Pheno gestures to the metal shelving unit against the wall," I don't have what I want. I don't have what I need."

Pheno shakes his head, "He will wake and we shall see what is next. No need to waste worry."

Sia's mind blanks for a moment. The polite words she had been taught to say as a child would not fit this situation.

After a long moment of silence, Sia remarks, "Then I won't worry...."

Pheno nods and sits down in a chair near the bed.

Sia slides past the sitting man and gives a small wave, "Well, I'm off."

Pheno nods and pulls a wad of papers from his pocket. He looks down at the pages. Sia feels dismissed. She scurries off in a random direction.

After a moment of following the flow of the crowd Sia spots parked vehicles. She nudges her way to the edge of the stream of Wart dwellers and stumbles out among old and modified automotives. When she is hidden among the cars and trucks, she pulls a bottle of morphine and a sealed syringe pack out of her jacket pocket.

Sia gazes at the items with a triumphant smile, "Pretty cool, Sid. I didn't know you could do that."

...

"Now, you need to wow me with your automotive knowledge. You know how to hotwire a car?"

Sia pockets the items again and waits for a response. It takes a moment, but the device replies.

AFFIRMATIVE

"Good. Good. Well, let's go."

Ika pushes open the door to the stairwell and jogs into the crowd on the main level. The door crashes into the wall beside it. It swings on its hinges and closes by itself. He makes his way to the gaggle of civilians and roams around a bit.

He keeps his eyes up high and stalks through the throng of people like a snake in the grass. When he reaches a cement wall, he turns in a circle and returns back the way he came.

Faded white sheets stick out in his peripheral. Ika alters his plans and strides toward the makeshift emergency care corner. He slides a hand into a gap in the sheets and lifts the sheet to gain entrance into the cordoned area. As usual, he frowns at the lack of certain elements that were a comfort in the old world. The absence of EKG machines, IV poles, anesthesia devices, and sterilization equipment fills him with trepidation.

He falters when he gains sight of the stump of gauze positioned on the edge of the thin cot. His jaw tightens.

"I'm surprised. You're my second visitor," Pheno comments while reading the messy scrawl on his notepad papers.

Ika steps forward and presses his palm against Turner's head. The injured man's forehead is damp with sweat, but he doesn't seem to be in immense pain.

Ika wipes his hand on his pant leg, "Did it go well?"

Pheno's shoulders raise slightly, "Time will tell."

Ika sighs and rubs his forehead with the back of his hand.

He glances over at the top of the seated man's head, 'Not very reassuring, are you?'

Thinning brown hair dusts across a tanned scalp. The doctor's hunched shoulders almost meet his ears as he examines his notes. Pheno pulls a short pencil out of his pocket. Ika's eyes fixate on the medic's stained sleeve as his small hand begins to scribble on a crowded page.

Pheno seems to sense Ika's attention and lifts his head to make eye contact with the other man. Apathetic eyes of black meet Ika's stormy grey orbs. Ika's upper lip twitches at the indifference in the medical professional's gaze.

Ika averts his eyes and turns back to Turner's unconscious form, 'Fire the receptionist.'

The doctor's brow creases and he looks back down at his paperwork.

"Do ya think the guy we found knows of access to medicines?" Pheno asks.

Ika stares at Turner's ghostly complexion, "He didn't mention having any meds. Just food."

"Well, if you find the time...," Pheno mutters, "I shoulda asked when he was here."

The doctor scribbles something out of his notes, and taps the end of his pencil against his thin lips.

"What?"

"I told before... you're second. The new guy was first."

Ika's brow raises, "Did he mention where he was going next?"

"No."

He strides over to a sheet to exit the area, "Which way did he go?"

Pheno points him in the direction Marcus had exited the medical corner. Ika vanishes on the other side of the sheets as he walks briskly toward the mass of bodies. Ika grits his teeth as he elbows through the crowd. He breaks away from the sea of dwellers.

He is standing beside a cement beam when he pulls out his radio.

"Anyone see a tall guy in a puffy brown jacket? Unknown face, Over," Ika calls into his walkie-talkie.

He leans against the beam and taps the radio against his thigh as he waits. The cement is cool against the back of his neck. He slides a thumbnail between his teeth and tugs on the edge of it as he waits. The nail is salty and firm under the scrapping of his teeth.

Thin lines mark the ceiling of the underground parking garage. Scarring from the first major disaster this place withstood. Ika blinks up at the cracks as he digs his tooth beneath his thumbnail.

He is debating tearing off the nail when a transmission comes through, "Unknown face? There's a guy walking around the trucks right now. Over."

Ika's hand drops from his mouth when he hears that, "Copy."