CONTENT WARNING: This chapter has scenes of violence (including minors). If you do not wish to read, a small recap will be provided at the opening of the next chapter. I promise I won't forget, like last time.

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The cold room stank of sterilizing cleaner.

Don't open your eyes.

The thin needle slid into the skin of her arm, piercing deeper into her vein. It was close to her birthday April 15th. I’ll be seven, she thought but Ashley frowned. In the white rooms, she could never really tell what time it was. What day was which. She could only guess how much time had passed by the meals and the conversations held around her like she wasn’t there.

“You can open your eyes, little one. It's time to go,” Doctor Jason said.

No. She held them closed. She’d heard the words before, she’d believed them before and it’d always been a lie. They’re always watching.

“Really, Ashley, it’s okay. We’re alone. Open your eyes.”

She opened the first one half-way and looked around the room. Besides her and Doctor Jason, it was empty.

“Go?” Her fingers twitched and she tugged against the wrist restraints. More careful than any of the others, Doctor Jason unclasped what held her down. Her eyes snapped wide and Ashely jumped off the operating table.

The dressing gown nearly met her knees, a chill sliding up from the bottom of it. Her bare feet flexed as she walked along the cold floor, her eyes scanning the walls for windows and cameras.

Doctor Jason held out his hand. His smile was warm, kind even. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had smiled at her like that.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She looked up at him, the lights glinting off his glasses. “Yes.”

His fingers were long and spindly, much bigger than her own, and his palm swallowed her hand. The moment they touched, an urgency seemed to fill him and Doctor Jason tugged her to the door faster than her feet could keep up.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Somewhere far away from here. It's not safe for us anymore.”

With a swipe of his key-card each locked door opened. Doors that she’d seen from the confines of her room, doors that had been locked to her for the last two years. In seconds, her room was as far as it had ever been since the day she arrived at the laboratory.

After three turns, she was lost. At the either door, Doctor Jason swiped his card but the door beeped back. A huff escaped him and he swiped it again.

The blaring alarm started and a bright orange light above the door spun. She wanted to let go, to cover her ears from the roaring sound, but her fingers gripped Doctor Jason’s tighter.

“Goddamit,” he swore and quickly lifted her from under her arms and legs.

He was stronger than she thought, and faster too. Doctor Jason ran and she clung to his neck as the lights blared.

More footsteps echoed in the hallways they’d come from. Doctor Jason sped on through more doors, this time he typed into the keypads instead of using his card. It was slower, but the doors opened.

With a whimper, she buried her face in his neck and closed her eyes.

I want to go home.

“Almost…. there…” he huffed.

Shots boomed and her grip tightened. She couldn’t help the scream that crawled out of her throat.

“Stop firing! He has the subject!” someone shouted, but she wouldn’t look to see who.

She felt the floor thunder into her shoulder before she realized Doctor Jason had fallen. More feet, more running. She crawled beside Jason and shook him. The cold white floor was suddenly red.

I want to go home. Tears blurred her vision.

“Doctor Jason, we have to go,” she whispered. They had only every whispered to each other, and she wondered if he could hear her over the sirens.

Squeaking soles snapped in the hallway and shapes clad in dark vests and uniforms appeared like shadows against the pale walls.

“You said,” she frowned and tugged on his arm as he groaned. “You said it’s not safe.”

He looked up, stifled a cough, and nodded. He stood, with effort, but continued to run. She tried to keep up, her small hand in his. More men shouted but the hallway drew shorter and shorter.

Doctor Jason slammed into the door and it opened into a stairwell. They rushed down until there were no more stairs left.

The last door opened to a parking garage, where the cement floor was colder than the white ones. She tugged on his arm but he waited and looked around between wet coughs.

“They’re coming,” Ashley pleaded but he waved at the empty lot.

Lights on a small two-door car lit and it sped towards them. The passenger door swung open.

“You're fucking insane, Specht. They're on full alert.” The driver wore a uniform like those of the men that chased them.

Jason slid into the seat with a wince and pulled Ashley onto his lap.

“Just, hurry. Get us out of here.”

“Not going to be easy.” The uniformed man revved the engine.

“You still can, can't you?”

The driver’s lips curved into a strange smile. “You can still pay, can't you?” When the driver looked at Ashley he didn't seem so bad, but his expression changed. His smile disappeared. His grip tightened on the wheel. His foot hammered on the gas.

She turned to the side window where guards spilled from the stairwell, guns raised. The man in the suit shouted at the guards but what he said was muffled beyond the car door.

“It'll be okay, Ash,” her mother lied from memory.

Ashley pressed one hand to the doctor’s chest and the other to the car door handle. She knew what had to be done. They only want me…

“It'll be okay, Doctor-”

Three bullets hammered through the glass and into Ashley’s chest.

“Jason!” Ashely sat up and immediately the waking world slammed her back against the tree. Like the wind was knocked from her, Ashley struggled for each breath.

“What the hell,” Shannon spat from a branch below. “You trying to get us fuckin’ killed?”

After catching her breath, Ashley tried to brush away her exhaustion. Her fingers smoothed into her hairline and got stuck on the crusted mud that remained. But sweat clung beneath it and to her temples.

Just a bad dream. It’d been years since the nightmares felt so vivid. Her fingers reached to smooth over her chest where wounds once ached. Wounds that should never have healed.

She looked past Shannon to the other faces in the branches and each one stared back. Fear or concern, she didn’t watch long enough to decide which.

The rain had let up a little while she’d slept, though her sweater was now soaked through. A chill ran through her and her skin was balmy. The fever hasn’t kicked it…

Reid shifted in the branches below. The bows creaked beneath his weight, the leaves rustling as he climbed.

“Are you alright?” His eyes faltered to her covered shoulder.

There was that look, one she’d come to hate. Clinical curiosity disguised with feigned worry.

Ashley sat up a bit straighter. “I'm good.” A fresh ache tugged at her shoulder but she fought the urge to check it, at least while Reid lingered so close.

“It’ll need a better cleaning. The mud-”

“I said I’m good.”

“Okay. Fine.” His voice strained in an attempt to stifle some sort of snipe. “Let it fester.”

He turned to climb down off the branch.

What if he really was worried? Ashley frowned, her eyes lingering on the medic. He and Shannon could have tried something while she slept. A small part of her wrestled the look, argued the point, but inevitably pushed it aside.

“It’s clean enough. I can take care of it myself.” Her words stopped him from hopping down. When he turned back to her she could have sworn he nodded, like he understood.

“By the way, thanks.” She forced a smile. “For letting me sleep. But we should probably get moving soon.”

“We all needed it.” His eyes turned to the small faces just below them.

Three kids. Her forced smile disappeared. This is not what I planned. She’d hoped, when walking back with Shane, that more of their own people made it. Bring the kid back, toss them some supplies and leave before things get complicated.

It was too late for that now. Shannon and Reid were underprepared for what lay ahead. They couldn’t hide in the valley for long and she couldn’t get them out of the city safe.

That doesn’t leave me many options.

She turned away from the kids and found Reid staring like she was some puzzle. In his eyes were so many questions she didn’t want to have to answer. The pressing curiosity he barely hid was a step in the right direction of Ashley not getting shot, but things were getting out of hand.

People make it messy. So fucking messy.

 

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I'm sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out to you. Life tends to crop up! Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed the read.