“Silas,” a voice called from the stairs.
We turned and faced the voice. It was a tall balding man. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place where I knew him from. Silas and I walked over to the man.
“The doctor would like some help with the screamer. She is in quite the up roar and people are getting upset,” the man said.
We hurried down flights of stairs and found the screamer fighting her restraints. There were several people in the room watching and waiting, weapons pointed at her. Everytime she screamed everyone in the room dropped to their knees and covered their ears. The none gifted struggled the most, they curled into a ball almost convulsing, some tried crawling towards the exit but were paralyzed with pain.
Wes came into the room evaluating the situation. He took a few steps into the room and stopped. He covered his ears and closed his eyes. I could feel the energy pulsing through him I wanted to take it. It was a desperate need but I fought against it. The screamer continued to scream like a banshee but the room had been muted. Wes kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds and then he opened them, he was grinning ear to ear. Everyone in the room got to their feet and moved around freely.
“Thank you Wes. If you could possible keep the screams blocked for a little while longer that would be greatly appreciated. Hannah will be back soon to knock her out again,” Dr. Nickels said.
“You have to kill it, now!” An older women stated, she was standing next to a man I guessed to be her husband.
“We can’t be this close to it. It is hurting us, it can’t be a good thing that blood comes out of our ears, eyes, nose and mouth every time that thing screams. The screams send terrible pain throughout my body and I don’t know that we can survive if it keeps doing that,” the women said, clearly panicking.
I can’t say I blamed her, I knew the pain it caused me and I was gifted. Not having a gift must have made it worse. I wanted the screamer dead too, I thought to myself.
The screamer continued to scream and fight her restraints. I watched Dr. Nickels take vials of blood from her. Her blood was almost a blackish color with a dark tint of red mixed in. She attempted to bite at him but was unsuccessful. I stood unmoving and watched not sure what to do, except end this and put a bullet in her head. She calmed for the briefest moment and glared directly at me. Our eyes locked and I felt an odd sensation come over me.
“Help me,” she trembled.
“How?” I replied.
I knew we were communicating without speaking.
“Remember,” she screamed.
I fell back into Silas. He caught me and steadied me. My body shook uncontrollably.
“Hey, are you alright?” Silas asked.
“Yeah,” I laughed, “I thought she spoke to me. I know it sounds crazy.”
Silas and Wes looked from me to the screamer, unsure how to respond.
“Quinn, the group is back,” a voice yelled from the hall.
“Great,” Quinn replied, “Send Hannah in.”
Hours later the action finally died down. Hannah put the screamer to sleep and amazingly enough Wes wasn’t completely drained. He was quite thirsty but didn’t need to go in the tank or pool.
“I think we are getting stronger with our gifts,” Greg stated; as Silas and I joined him in the cafeteria.
“Have you had any bad dreams since you got sick?” I asked Greg.
We sat at the same table we always did and consumed water for our dinner. Others sat at nearby tables and seemed to enjoy the chicken sandwiches, french fries and green beans placed before them. I watched a young man inhale his chocolate pudding cup. I remembered how I used to enjoy pudding. My dad and I would make the cook and serve kind. I stood in a chair by the stove whisking the milk and pudding until it became thick and bubbled. Now the thought of food turned my stomach upside down and back again.
“I haven’t had any bad dreams but I have had dreams, mostly the same dream. I am standing at the edge of a big open field. There are others there but I don’t have a clear picture of them. I think you are standing in the center of the field but I can’t make out a clear picture everything is blurry. I always wake up when I hear the screamers, scream,” Greg explained.
Silas glanced up at me but didn’t say anything. I wondered if I had seen Greg in my dreams too? We fell into pointless conversation after that. The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful.
Day 80:
A week went by in the blink of an eye. Dr. Nickels kept us busy sending us on outings into the city to collect supplies for his never ending experiments on the screamer. Wes and Hannah had been alternating night shifts to keep the captured screamer at bay. There had been numerous screamers randomly appearing at the gate and attempting to get through. They seemed to sense the captured screamer within the walls. I’m not sure if they wanted to free her or eat her. The doctor injured the screamer with all his test and I wondered again if the screamers at the gate knew. I thought this over while I watched Addy shoot two screamers in the head. They fell backwards and hit the asphalt with tremendous force. Addy had become unbelievably fast with every weapon she used. Her gift of speed had developed remarkably well over the weeks. She could move so fast no one would see her until she was at her destination. I took her ability one night and tried it out. It was exhilarating to be able to move with such speed. It felt as though I was in slow motion but really the speed was lightning fast.
Since the captured screamer arrived there was a divide between the gifted and the none gifted. The none gifted had started to ban together and the gifted were forced to come together. Tension was thick in the air and could be cut with a knife. Quinn had attempted to talk with the none gifted but they had somehow convinced themselves we were a threat. I suppose they were right. We had very powerful abilities but not one of the thirteen of us wanted to hurt them. Quinn explained to us that they were scared and no one knew what to do anymore. People were scared of what they don’t understand and they didn’t understand us. They didn’t understand the screamers. Quinn had me speak at a meeting. I explained that we had to work together and we were trying to help keep everyone safe. I wished I had kept my mouth closed because Hannah’s father yelled out so everyone could hear, that I was the biggest threat to all because I could take the others gifts. That proved to be unwelcome news I found even the gifted had been standoffish with me. Silas, Quinn, Hannah and Gabe were the only ones that treated me the same.
I found it better to keep to myself. The gifted hadn’t been mean to me but I could sense their unease when I was around them. I guess I would have been uncomfortable too knowing someone had the ability to take away my gift.
“Hey, you hiding away outside again? I remember when you hated the night.”
Silas stepped out of the shadows and sat down on the roofs edge next to me.
“It’s funny how not so long ago the screams caused such pain and now they have become normal night sounds,” I stated wiping away a small drip of blood from my nose.
“I think we can thank Wes for that. He has learned how to keep a permanent shield around the warehouse. It blocks out the pain from the screams,” Silas stated.
“The screams do sound muffled now. They are out there owning the night but unable to bring us down,” I added.
Silas smiled and rested his hand on my leg. I put my hand on top of his. We sat and listened to the night screamers. I watched the gifted at the gate kill each screamer as it lunged. What had this world become?
Day 85:
The sky was an ugly grey and black when we exited the gate. We had crammed into three trucks. We headed into the now run down city. The ride was uncomfortable. Weeds and other growth had poked through cracks in the road. Mother nature had begun taking back what was once hers.The truck trudged along over potholes and debri. I watched grey clouds dance across the sky. Gabe, Wes, Addy and I rode in a red beat up GMC pickup. While Silas, Sally, Jacob and Nate rode in a black ford truck. Hannah’s dad, Mike and three beefy men I didn’t know rode in the last truck. Addy navigated the road while Wes drove. Dr. Nickels gave specific directions to a facility he needed us to go to. We drove many miles and ended up on the southern side of the city. The paved potholed road turned to dirt and a huge sign on the side of the road said, “No Trespassing.” Further down the road another sign stated, we were now entering a government facility and we should turn around. “Authorized Personnel Only.” Violators could face heavy fines or imprisonment. I swallowed hard as we passed the sign, wondering where the hell the doctor was sending us this time. We had been on numerous runs to hospitals, pharmacies and medical supply stores over the past couple of weeks.