Zoe whimpered and took the Doctor's hand.
Rachel's eyes radiated anger and defiance as she stared back up at the Colonel, who was half a foot taller than she was, then she half turned and looked to the girl, then down, and she nodded, conceding, "Fine." Her eyes slid back to the Colonel and she insisted, "I don't want her mistreated."
The Colonel looked to the corporal and nodded, then he turned and strode away, toward the other Stryker.
As the corporal slung his weapon over his shoulder and removed a set of handcuffs from behind him, Zoe's eyes were wide with fear as she watched him, turning to keep facing him and resisting even after he took her wrist and twisted it to turn her back.
Doctor Caswell took the girl's shoulders and held her firmly, ordering, "Zoe. Zoe! Look at me!"
Tears streamed from Zoe's eyes as she whined, "But I didn't do anything wrong! I'll pay for the stuff I took in the store, I promise! I was just hungry!" She turned her head and looked behind her as best she could as the handcuffs loudly buzzed around her wrist.
Rachel took the girl's head in her hands and turned her attention forcibly back to her. "Zoe, listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong, okay? This is just a precaution to make certain nobody gets hurt. It isn't your fault. Just relax, Honey. It will be all right."
Zoe kept her gaze on the doctor's as her other wrist was tightly cuffed, then she lowered her eyes and nodded, her jaw quivering as she conceded in a whisper, "Okay."
In no time they had her inside the Stryker and strapped tightly in her seat with a four point harness that had two straps over her shoulders meeting a buckle that connected the two straps that met over her hips. She could barely move at all and it was clear that this setup was meant for prisoners. She kept her head down and would look at no one, just the floor in front of her and her gray, bare feet held closely together close to her seat. She did not feel like she had done anything wrong, anything that would warrant being treated like this. It was upsetting, simply adding to the trauma she had experienced over the last four days.
Doctor Caswell took the seat beside her and the big man they called Tex took the other.
As the machines lurched forward and their journey began, Zoe was quiet, very reserved and huddled herself as small as she could as best she could.
"Can I see what you have in your bag?" Rachel asked as pleasantly as she could manage.
Hesitantly, the girl just shrugged.
Doctor Caswell rose from her seat and unsteadily made her way to the shopping basket that had Zoe's teddy bear and sack. The moving Stryker made this a chore but she made it, got the sack and sat back down. Rummaging through, she raised her brow and a "Hmm…" sounded from her. She extracted the toothbrush, the deodorant, then the first bottle of pills, and this she studied for a moment. She squinted slightly as she read, "Atomoxetine. Huh." She looked to the girl and said, "This explains a lot. Why do you take these?"
Zoe shrugged again and mumbled, "It is supposed to help me cope with stuff."
"Kind of levels you out?" Rachel pressed gently.
With another little nod, Zoe confirmed as best she could, "I guess so."
Rachel nodded back ever so slightly as she looked back to the bottle. "This could also explain even more. It looks like we have some work to do when we get back."
Zoe had never liked hospitals and she found herself being escorted through one by a doctor and a soldier, both dressed in black commando gear. And she was in handcuffs. The looks and stares from those people who milled about, mostly those in medical scrubs, police uniforms or soldier's camouflage, did not bother her as much as the prospect of another examination, or worse, getting a shot!
The place was, of course, clean, mostly white and very sterile looking. Checkpoints were ever so often and there were more soldiers about than should have been. Solders and police and others with guns were encountered many times during her trek deep into the hospital. An elevator ride took them into the basement, into the area where X-rays and labs were. This area seemed just as sterile and artificial lighting made it seem even more so.
Her stomach crawled nervously and she glanced about the few times she actually looked up from the floor.
"Just relax," Doctor Caswell advised. "We're going to see a colleague of mine who may just be able to help you."
The lower level of the hospital was a maze of hallways. They would go through a lobby and into a room somewhere only to end up in another hallway.
"What time is it?" Zoe asked in a slight voice.
Rachel glanced at her. "What, Honey?"
"What time is it?" the girl repeated. "I have to take my medicine at seven, after dinner. Dinner is at six and I have to take my medicine right after. Right after."
Tex asked, "Are you hungry?"
She was, but only shrugged.
"Feel like eating brains?" he asked with a teasing tone.
Zoe glanced at him and grimaced, snarling back, "That's nasty."
"Just kidding," he assured.
"She won't get it," Doctor Caswell informed with a disapproving tone. "Trust me on this."
He shrugged. "Sure, Doc."
They finally approached a door that was different from the others. No door handle, no windows and a keypad of some kind to the right. Doctor Caswell removed a card from her pocket and waved it over the keypad, there was a beep and the doors hissed open.
Inside was an elaborate laboratory, a spacious place with many work stations, computers, jars and bottles of liquids and powders in glass door cabinets. Two examination tables were in the middle of the room, each with an array of lights overhead. Metal instrument tables sat at each as well, tables that were covered with light blue cloths to conceal what lay on them. A desk at the far end to the right looked out of place. It was an attractive oak desk with comfortable looking cushioned wooden chairs sitting on the opposite side from where the tall back chair of the same design was occupied by a simple looking man in a white lab coat, a man who wore thick rimmed black glasses and had thinning black hair that had gone silver at his temples. He looked up at them as they entered and his eyes widened. Slowly, he stood and shifted his glasses as if to focus better, his mouth hanging open as his gaze was fixed on the girl who was being brought to him.
Zoe did not study him for long before turning her eyes down again, and even as she heard him approach with slow, hesitant steps, she would not look up again.
"Doctor Kavorski," Rachel greeted. "We have someone here we thought you should meet."
"Amazing," he breathed as he approached.
Having seen many doctors in her life and having been poked and prodded, tested and retested until there was simply nothing left to check for, Zoe was used to this kind of treatment. But this time she did not have the comfort of her parents, she did not know these people and she was handcuffed! Aside from that, she still did not understand what was going on, what was happening, or why this was being done to her. She had no way to. Even as Doctor Kavorski pulled on a rubber glove and lifted her chin to look into her face, she would not look at him, instead keeping her eyes directed across the room.
"I'll need to give her a full examination right away," Kavorski insisted. "I'm stunned here. A zombie with green eyes."
Zoe insisted in a meek voice, "I'm not a zombie."
Kavorski drew a breath, taking a step back as he stared at her with wide eyes, then he shifted his gaze to Caswell.
Rachel took a bottle of the girl's pills from her pocket and tossed them to the other doctor. "I think we may just have a key right here."
Catching the pills, he adjusted his glasses again as he read the label, then his eyes slid to Doctor Caswell.