Share
Chapter 32: Sanctuary, Part 1
Related chapters
FLUX Chapter 33: Sanctuary, Part 2
Jack sprinted out the door not waiting for him to finish. He had a growing pit in his stomach. If Jimmy had her... He ran through the maze of halls and up flights of stairs bumping into people as he went. They waved, said hi, and then asked what was wrong when they saw his face. He just ignored them as he ran past.He reached the surface security section of the complex. Two guards stood at the door. They waved as he pushed through. Once in the section, he made for the interrogation room. The door to the viewing room was open and packed with people. Jack pushed his way in and looked through the window. Jimmy was standing in front of Alex. He heard the chair scoot across the floor, Jimmy flinched, and the room let out a collective "oh" as they watched Jimmy clock Alex across the face. The chair fell to the ground, jolting her body and knocking her head against the floor.Jack left before the chair hit the ground. He slammed open the door to the interrogation room. Jimmy turned and smil
FLUX Chapter 34: Sanctuary, Part 3
He dropped by the cafeteria, picked up a sandwich, and then headed to Operations.Operations teemed with activity, but then again, when wasn't it? Humans sat looking over tables of screens, tapping and swiping at their work. This place ran the whole complex. It was what kept them alive. Here they made plans to acquire food, liberate prisoners, plan attacks, move troops, research technology, and a whole plethora of things he knew must happen, but didn't know how.He walked through the large room to the other side and down the hall where he stepped through a door labeled with permanent marker "Janice Swift". One of these days, he would make her a proper name sign.Janice was tapping away at a computer from her executive desk, which Jack handmade himself out of old wooden crates. He sat down on an old sofa against the wall in front of a coffee table in her office to eat his lunch. He noticed that she had gained a few more wrinkles since the last time he'd seen her. Her dark brown-black
FLUX Chapter 35: Unwelcome, Part 1
Ow. Alex wiggled her fingers without opening her eyes. Her face hurt. Her shoulder hurt. Her leg hurt? Why did her leg hurt? She though she fixed that. She poked the hole in her thigh and felt fresh stitches. Where the hell was she this time? Probably a prison cell. She cracked an eye open and peeked around the room. Definitely not what she expected. Six large tubes lined one wall. One of them had a person in it. Their hair floated around their head like a halo. They held a breathing apparatus in their mouth and were naked, but controls and knobs covered everything below the shoulder. Screens shone brightly in the darkened room as a girl flicked at her flickerboard.Alex opened both eyes and propped herself up with an elbow. The room looked like some sort of research lab. It was filled with glass apparatus and technological devices she couldn't even pretend to name. The Alphas must be using her for experiments. She turned her head towards the brunette sitting at the computer. She was
FLUX Chapter 36: Unwelcome, Part 2
None of the humans in the room turned to look at her as she and Ellie walked through. They seemed very intent on their jobs. Ellie walked up to an older woman, her brown hair was tucked back into a tight bun. She stood staring at a screen and speaking into a headset."That is what I was talking about." Her voice was deep for a woman and very smooth. It was almost hypnotic. It was the same lady from the photo in the room she had woken up in, only older. Maybe that room was her room.The response came out over the speakers on the control board. The man sitting there turned it up so the voice could be heard. And it was a familiar one."Well, I don't know, it could just be water," Jack's voice rung clearly from the little speaker."Keep looking. We need to know," the woman said and then turned to acknowledge Alex's presence. She extended her hand. "Janice Swift. It's nice to finally meet you Alex."Alex shook her hand. "What do you mean finally meet me?""I have heard a lot about you
FLUX Chapter 37: One of Us
Alex pushed the metal door to the lab open. Jack smiled at her from across the large room. He sat on a patient bed with a white felt tab stuck to his temple. Ellie was behind him looking at the monitors.Alex frowned back at him and made her way over."I thought you would be happy to see me," Jack said.She slapped him on the cheek, soundly but not hard. "What were you thinking? Don't these people have teams that you could have gone with? Why were you down there alone?" Alex's face flushed with anger.He just smiled back at her. "I'm okay. See? One piece." He patted his dirty shirt. Cobwebs hung from his beard and hair. She spotted a few blood stained slashes in his shirt sleeve and a double puncture wound on his left forearm."And what about this?" She grabbed his left wrist and held it up. She pulled back the sleeve to have a better look at the two holes. They were a dark angry purple with red rims. "It looks like poison. What bit you?"Jack pulled his forearm towards him and t
FLUX Chapter 38: The Tour, Part 1
Alex flexed her cramped hands. She had spent hours twitching her fingers at Ellie's flickerboard and now she followed her down the hall towards the cafeteria for dinner. Humans stared as she walked by. The two guards following her kept their distance. Ellie just smiled cheerfully, greeting the people that passed as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Alex's forced smile felt more like a grimace, but she held it, trying to look non-threatening as they walked.Ellie pushed open the metal fireproof door. She smiled and invited Alex in. The room was packed with people, which was expected at dinner time. Their chattering quieted a little as she appeared, but after only a few moments the volume surged upward. Alex was not comforted knowing she was the new topic of conversation. Jack stood up amongst the crowd and waved his arms over his head. He didn't really need to wave so much, he wasn't hard to miss since he was so tall and hairy. Even more so now Jack reminded her of those pictures of
FLUX Chapter 39: The Tour, Part 2
Ellie smiled and bumped shoulders with her. "I've never seen him smile so much."Alex shook her head. "Nah, it's probably just the beer.""Nope, nope. I've known that man a very long time and he can hold his liquor. It's definitely you.""What about Brooke? Didn't she make him happy?"Ellie choked on her sip of beer and spit it back into her glass. "How do you know about that?""You can see it in their faces when they're around each other. And he told me just a little when we were out on the road. How long were they together?""It's kind of hard to say. They dated for a while before he was taken, then a little bit after he came back. He just broke up with her before he left on this trip. So kind of off and on for the last six years."Alex remembered their conversation about the girl he wanted to marry. She still wasn't over him. And now Alex was in the way. She wasn't trying to be, but Jack kept fawning over her and that had to cut Brooke pretty deep."Hey Ellie, you're a scien
FLUX Chapter 40: Back to Work, Part 1
Alex rubbed the sleeping sand out of her eyes. Her head throbbed as if it had been struck by a train. She flapped her arms out with a sigh. Last night was blurred, but not forgotten. She drank a little too much. No. She had been given too much to drink and then interrogated. She felt bad for yelling at Jack, but at least she had not given up her secrets. How could he even try that? That wasn't a way to earn someone's trust.The red numbers of the digital clock read "15:23". She'd been asleep all day. Alex stretched her cramped muscles, feeling lazy, but it felt nice to have some down time. Her next step would be to figure out how to use her new contacts to help find Lexi. There were no leads right now, but maybe they could help, if they weren't too busy interrogating her. Her body ached, but it felt as if it was getting better. Alex rolled up carefully, letting herself fall off the bed on to her feet. She showered and dressed, but took her time since she wasn't sure what to do next.
Latest chapter
