Til The Next Day

[CelticSol]

Four human experiments escape from their prison, an unknown location known simply as the Institute, with nothing but sparse supplies and the clothes on their back to survive in the unforgiving Canadian Rockies. Using their beyond human abilities, they must struggle to survive the wild, and later blending into the complexities of the new, civilized world with their strange appearances and stranger powers, the Institute hunters and death riding right on their heels.

 

[CelticSol]

Everything spun around her, despite the how solid the cold cell floor was against her forehead. It was pleasantly dulling the ringing in her ears to a quiet resonance, and held the back pain - like her head was splitting open even with the bandages and stitches holding her together. This was one of the harsher beatings she'd ever received- she had punched a lab-coat straight in the face with her nails when he had tried to administer a sedative to do some type of surgery she didn't recognize but knew it was nothing good, because something about the name sent a chill down her spine that threw her into a panicked frenzy. A guard had punched her in the face after he had ripped Ryder off the startled and screaming scientist, which wasn't treatment she was unused to, but he had grabbed her by her hair and slammed her forehead into the wall hard enough that her forehead had split open like an egg on the floor. The other lab-coats had intervened then, fearing their precious specimen would be damaged, and all their hard earned progress would be lost to a fiery temper as she was fading in and out of consciousness.


She curled a little tighter on the floor, curling her arms around her head a bit tighter. She was acutely aware of the whispers that fell silent every time she moved - she was 90% positive that many of the other mutants in her cell were curious as to how she was even still alive, from all the times she had been dragged into this cell either unconscious or worse, close to death. But she pulled through, and now, she was somewhat of a figure of strength to them, taking these punishments without a single cry of pain. She wasn't superhuman though (okay, she was, but in durability, not so much). She used to cry and cry hard when the beatings happened - weep and wail, sob and shriek, y'know, the basic drill - but now she rarely made a sound, even if they hit her particularly hard, like they had. They had once broken multiple ribs and not noticed because she had stayed so quiet, and she had left it untreated for nearly a weak before an examination exposed the broken bones. She had needed surgery and had been left alone in her cell until she was healed. Or at least until she could run without her lung being jabbed with her ribs.


A small mercy she wasn't used to, really.


She picked at some of the frayed and bleeding skin around her fingernails, holding her barely healing head against the concrete to soothe some of the throbbing pain. She kept herself faced away from the bright, fluorescent lights, with her hands over her head to block out more of the blinding light, trying to keep the pulsing in her skull to a minimum. She closed her eyes lightly, wishing that she could be like one of those avian-hybrid kids. All they needed was to get outside of their cages and they were home-free if there was no electric field, but she... She was bound to the ground, and because of this, was doomed to always be caught. The Institute would always find her, and just like the experiment she was, she was going to be stuck here like a god damn rat until she dropped dead.


She was resisting the urge to scream and rage - or maybe that burning behind her eyes meant she wanted to cry - when suddenly, the unbearably brilliant light suddenly wasn't so brilliant, and she uncovered her head to look curiously up at the lights. They were flickering. Actually, that didn't justice to how much darkness there was in comparison to the light. The mutants, perplexed, had all stood up to either inspect the lights or for one of the tallest members, a mountain lion and panther mutant named Imara, to lift up the lightest and smallest so they could peer through the small window at the top of the cell wall. The smallest, a lynx mutant boy who called himself Aidan, looked through the bars, cupping his hands around his eyes to block out the almost seizure-triggering lights.


Aidan, after a few minutes of trying to decipher what lied beyond the window, loudly proclaimed to his expectant audience, "It's a snow storm! The power's going out!"


Nearly ever mutant was gathering around Imara to see for themselves when the lights flickered once more, then they fell into complete darkness. To Ryder, the dark meant nothing more than a few minutes to practice with her night vision before the generator kicked into gear, but to the others, it meant a fun little break from constantly feeling eyes on your back so they could have fun. It was almost sad how the word 'fun' felt almost foreign on her tongue - almost alien. It didn't have a place here, in this hell-


A near deafening siren split the air - and her head, holy shit it was pounding - as the door of their cell started to roll open, to the wonder, confusion, and fear of the mutants within. She was barely aware that she was standing until she was at the door, the sharp whispers and hisses of her feline-hybrid kin ringing behind her. She peered into the hallway, expecting a countless amount of guards to be standing there to herd them away, or exterminate them all at once. Instead, there was nothing in the hall except other braver, more curious mutants looking into the corridor, seeming as bewildered as she was. She glanced back at the other mutants, who were herded all together like a small cluster of wide, reflective eyes. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her as she slowly stepped into the hall. Nothing happened. No shock. No pain. Nothing.


As she coaxed her kin out of the cell, Ryder felt a grin stretch across her face.


(This got really long, so I'm going to let you have Fang and Stella react to this. Jasper will come in during my next post. @Dethbycoffee . Sorry for the wait. Work got super busy. ;-

 

[InactiveCoffee]

Fang stood in a far corner, keeping to himself as normal. Ryder had only just been tossed back into the cell, head practically split open. Not exactly surprising, though it did seem that someone had gone a little far this time, and Fang knew it hadn't been Ryder. Intuition told him that much. His eyes scanned the room, whispers and murmurs filling the air like white noise, and rather irritating Fang's hearing. It wasn't like he didn't have slightly enhanced hearing, or anything. He sighed softly, and shook his head. This is to much. He thought to himself before the lights began to flicker. A yelp sounded from beside him, and suddenly arms were around his waist, a head buried against his chest. He couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him as he set a hand on Stella's head. "Chill out, Stella. It's only a snow storm. The power won't--" he started, and then the lights went black. Of course. Total contradiction before he could even finish a sentence. Stella, on the other hand, only seemed to squeeze him tighter. He coughed, prying at her arms to get her to loosen them.


She leaped back, "Oh my god. I'm sorry, Fang. I was just..." she started, tears in the corners of her eyes.


Fang took a deep breath, and again, his hand patted her on the head. "Don't worry about it, Stella. You're scared. I get it." he sighed, shaking his head, a smile on his lips. Stella was the only one who seemed to get him to smile. He looked up as the siren split into the deafening silence, and looked toward the cell doors as Stella practically glued herself against his back. His eyes widened as the doors began to open, and Ryder seemed to push herself to stand, moving into the hall. He turned his head, and spoke over his shoulder, "Come on, Stella. We might be able to escape." he said softly, and began to push through the crowd, making sure Stella was still behind him.


Stella kept close to the avian hybrid, her hands clutching his shirt about the waist to avoid his large black wings. Her eyes darted this way and that in the darkness, screaming when the sirens started. A small whimper escaped her as Fang led her through the crowd, fingers twisted in the cloth of his shirt. She chewed on her lip as her eyes continued to dart back and forth, "Fang? What's going on?" she squeaked, feeling a tear leak down her cheek. She quickly raised one hand to wipe it away, swallowing down the rest of the tears.


"I don't know, but if we're going to escape, this is our best chance." The dark teen responded over his shoulder as he neared Ryder. He paused at the threshold and looked at the few others who had been coaxed out of the cell. No one was writhing in pain. He took a deep breath, and stepped out of the cell, his breath still in his chest as he waited for the shock. When no pain followed, he released the breath, and couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him as the revelation washed over him. "We can get out. We can escape. This is our chance! Before the back up generators come on!" He said, excitement in his voice as he turned to look at Stella.

 

[CelticSol]

The other mutants, once they saw Ryder was unharmed by leaving, followed hesitantly after. Laughter started to ring out as mutants found their freedom, some hugging, some still looking around at their surrounding likes they were about to wake up from some dream. Some of the mutants actually bursted into tears at the revelation that freedom night not actually be that unrealistic of a dream. Ryder, on the other hand, was breathing in almost exaggeratedly, hands on her hips and a grin promising trouble on her lips. She looked over her shoulder at the other mutants making their way into the hall. "You smell that, everybody?" No one really answered her, lost to their own joy and she grinned wider, seeming more and more like the Cheshire Cat every second, "Because it smells like freedom to me."


She made her way into the hall, waving others forward behind her, and almost giggled in glee when she spotted a trolley left behind by the cleaning staff in the lab. Heading over and shifting through it, she started to pull out tunics and pants and throwing them behind her. "If we're blowing this joint, we're gonna need clothes. It's cold outside and we won't last without some layers." She tossed tunics at some of the younger ones as she threw on a couple over her own, thin, white shirt, and put on a few pairs of pants. "Come on, come get clothes! We're going to have a friggin' snow day!" Many of the mutants were eagerly grabbing clothes from her when a shout rang down the hall striking fear into many of the mutants.


"Hey! Any mutant not back in their cell will be shot on sight!"


Maj. John Everett, referred to as the Major among fearful mutants, came lumbering down the hallway, followed closely by 4 guards armed with large guns. Many skittered immediately back into their cells as every laugh fell into silence, falling back under the oppression of imprisonment. Ryder clenched her hands into fists. Not again, she thought, we were so close. Freedom had been in her hands, closed tight like it would flee at first sign of weakness, and she would be damned if she let it get away from her when she had it.


As the guards made their way closer, Ryder steeled her will and squared her jaw, her hand reaching for the metal, sanitation bucket in the trolley. The Major came so close to Ryder that she could actually smell the cologne and tobacco clinging to his uniform, and he pressed his gun against her forehead.


"Last warning, kitty," He warned, clicking back the hammer on his pistol. She swallowed, giving a small prayer that this wouldn't be the action that got her killed, and with every amount of force she could muster, slammed the bucket into the Major's temple. It hit him with the force of a wrecking ball, the weight knocking him out almost immediately. The other guards raised their weapons, and Ryder through the liquid bleach into the eyes of the three closest guards, they went down swearing, holding their eyes as they screamed in pain. The last fired at her, the bullet tearing through her bicep. She cried out, clenching her jaw tight and biting it down before it became a scream, and rolled the trolley into the guard. He fell, though he struggled to reach his gun, but Ryder took her very trusty bucket and struck him in head, his head cutting open, and he, too, fell unconscious.


Ryder breathed heavily, looking with wide eyes at what she did. "I... I did it..." She grinned wide, "I did it!!!" She looked back at the others, clutching her bleeding shoulder, "Look! Imagine if we all fought back! They'd never be able to beat us! We could be free!" She looked at every face in the crowd, "Are you guys with me?"

 

[InactiveCoffee]

Fang had pressed Stella behind him when the guards had appeared, tense and ready to fight. Most of the other mutants all retreating to their cells like roaches scattered when a light was turned on. He glared through the darkness, waiting. Then it happened. Ryder fought back and knocked them all out, or practically blinded them. He smirked, and laughed, "Good job Ryder." he said, approaching the feline mutant. He grimaced at the sound of the other guards who were still wailing about their eyes, and short tsk escaped him as he stepped over to them. He reach down, yanking a gun from one of their hands, and used the stalk of the weapon to strike each, their cries going silent almost instantly. He shook his head, "Pansies. I've been hit like that, and harder, and never blacked out." he smirked, and threw the strap of the weapon over his shoulder. "I don't know about the rest of them, but I'm with you, Ryder. I want out of here." he stated, collecting the other weapons, as well as anything else useful off the guards' bodies.


Stella stared, "But Fang... What if they... ya know, catch us again? What will they do to us if we escape?" she asked, clearly nervous. So nervous in fact, her voice shifted slightly and wavered, taking on a shaking sound like a goat or sheep would make. She gasped, and slapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks flushing dark. "No one heard that." she said quickly, and rushed for a large winter coat that no one had taken yet. She yanked it on over her smaller form, and pulled the hood tight over her head to hide herself.


Fang looked to Stella, and frowned. "I know it's scary, Stella. But we have to get out of here. It's only going to get worse if we stay." he said earnestly, and held a hand out to the girl. "Come on. Come with us. I won't let them hurt you." he said with a small smile. The goat-girl blinked a few times, and sighed, sliding her hand into his. "Alright. You better not." she said, smiling warmly. She looked to Ryder, "I'm coming too." she said, nodding.


Murmurs and whispers passed through the surrounding mutants, many shaking with fear, crouching in corners and trembling. Tears leaked down many cheeks. A raucous cacophony of 'no' or 'not on your life' including other variants of denial, and even a few words that kids shouldn't know, swam around the large room. "You guys have a death wish if you think you're going to survive out there. We've never seen outside these walls!" a boy scoffed, his large fox ears flat against his head, "Sounds like none of the rest of us wish to die. So get out of here before you cause collateral damage!" he snapped, crossing his arms roughly over his chest.

 

[CelticSol]

Ryder's excited grin fell into a frown of disappointment as everyone cowered back into their cells. I guess even they could start to believe a cage meant sanctuary. She shrugged off the pain it gave her, that they weren't eager for freedom as they were. She nodded at Fang and... Stella? Maybe? She touched her bandages, frowning to herself. Maybe the hit to her head had shaken her memories. Even now she was struggling to put a name to most of the faces she saw sneering, snarling at her. She looked at one of her former brothers-in-arms with a curl of her lip, "Guess all of you aren't as good as I thought. Bunch of cowards, all of you."


Imara, the mutant who was usually seen as second-in-command to Ryder among the felines, stepped forward with a growl, "Maybe we just aren't willing to walk into a snowstorm. You're a lunatic for thinking you're not going to die out there, Ryder."


Ryder scoffs as she crosses her arms across her chest. "I like to call it optimism. At least I'm not choosing torture and a cell over a shot at freedom," She looks into the crowd, her eyes scanning the faces she saw, "Anyone else feeling like joining the 'lunatics'? I can promise hypothermia will be a better way to die than forceful overdose from whatever crap the labcoats shove into our veins."


A few whispered at this, some liking the idea, but none willing to risk their life on a slim chance. Ryder's hope that they would realize, that they would see that this was going to be their only chance at freedom fell like a sack of bricks into a river, and she sighed, looking to Fang and Stella. So, this was her group? An avian mutant was probably infinitely useful - could scout for anything with a raptor, and maybe helping the others over high obstacles - and Stella, being a mountain goat, would be even more useful, as Ryder had speculated on the location of the Institute and had come to the conclusion it was a mountainous region.


Regardless of possible advantages, what they made up for in mutations and skills, they lacked severely in numbers. There was so many guards in this place that Ryder had lost count when she reached a point in the mid-50's, and that wasn't even counting whatever freaks the labs had cooked up for the sole purpose of hunting down escaped subjects. Ryder resisted the urge to cover her face or bite her fingernails. The three of them against the seemingly endless rescources of the Institute simply not enough-


"I'll... I'll go with you."


Ryder snapped her head up to look for the owner of the voice, and spotted an almost sheepish looking boy, with dark hair and body to tall for the rest of him. He was barely starting to edge into puberty, his jaw line sharpening and his cheeks soft, though he had high cheek bones. He was incredibly lanky, like his body had grown faster than he could put on weight, and grow he did - by the time he made his way up to Ryder, she had to crane her neck to see his eyes, which were a startlingly bright blue. She couldn't put a name to his face, and before she could feel bad, she noticed a tail the same colour of his hair protruding from a cut made into his pants. Too furry to be any type of cat, and the hair looked to coarse to be anything but a wolf.


She parted her lips to speak, but he beat her to the punch, "My name is Jasper Mars. Canine."


Her parted lips spread into a wide, warm smile, "Welcome aboard, Jasper Mars. Glad to have you aboard," She turned to her new partners-in-crime with a lopsided smile, "So, you guys ready to blow this joint?"

 

[InactiveCoffee]

Fang nodded, hoisting one of the many weapons he had nabbed from the fallen guards. His torso littered with the remaining. "Let's get going. Before the power comes back." he said with a wry smirk on his features. "I'm Fang, good to have you along, Jasper. In a way, I'm relieved, then again, it was almost an idea that I'd have two lovely ladies all to myself." he said wryly, chuckling as he turned toward the doorway. He glanced back over at Ryder, and Stella who had made a noise of indignation, "Sorry. Gotta keep a smile somehow." he joked, and trotted for the door.


Stella sighed, and rolled her eyes, a small giggle escaping her. She looked up at the towering Jasper, and smiled warmly, glad to have a hood covering her horns. "My name's Stella." she said lightly, "Nice to meet you. You're from a different cell block aren't you?" she asked as she started to follow after the others.


Fang glanced over his shoulder, "What were the halls like?" he asked, pausing in the doorway to glance hesitantly out of the room. If they were to make it out alive, they'd need to be cautious until they were clear of the building. His mind raced through the halls he knew of to search for a likely exit. They weren't allowed much knowledge of the building itself, save for a few areas that were specifically for 'free' time that the labcoats would use to study the mutants interactions among each other. If any two got to friendly though, they'd stop giving them the time together.


Stella couldn't help but watch Fang as he seemed to help Ryder take the lead, sighing softly. "Don't worry about Fang. He seems bossy, but he's really a big softie." she teased lightly, looking over at Jasper. That was when the avian kid hissed for them to be quiet, "There's someone in the hall." he whispered softly, pressing himself against the inside of the doorway.


"Stella. Think you can get him? I'll cover you." Fang said softly, looking to the girl. She drew in a sharp breath, but nodded as Fang pointed to the right side of the doorway, and she stepped forward. She took a deep, slow breath before darting out of the room. A loud yell could be heard, a demand for her to freeze, but her feet pounded hard against the tile flooring, and she bent slightly. Her head made contact with the man's stomach, and down the hall he slid, finally stopping, limp in the middle of the hall. "All clear!" Stella called just loud enough for those in the room to hear her, and hopefully no one else.

 

[CelticSol]

(sorry for the late and short response; I've been ridiculously busy. Also, I might not have service for like a week. Sorry :/ )


Ryder rolled her eyes at Fang, "Oh, like you're such a lady killer," She crossed her arms as she snagged a baton off one of the guards, starting to skim their uniforms for their IDs. She resisted the urge to curl her lip at the overwhelming smell of bleach, and wrinkled her nose at the smell of blood from head wounds mingling with the already distasteful smell. She finally found a keychain paired with an ID card in the Major's front pocket and pulled it out swiftly, spinning her prize around her finger with a satisfied grin. "This should be useful."


She followed Fang at an easy jog, her movements quick but silent, but after going through the door, she was by his side to help take the lead. As he followed them, Jasper didn't reply to the other as they turned the hall, knowing they had to be quiet as they travelled through this area. When Stella knocked out the guard - which surprised him, as he hadn't made her out to be much of a fighter - he finally spoke. "I am from Cell Block D. We're edging our way to B now, if my sense of scent is anything to go by. All of them are fairly similar in terms of structure, with some changes to accommodate some types of mutants. D the closest to the main gate, since I can always smell outside from that part of building, but..." He trailed off, shifting uncomfortably, not used to talking so much,"It's chaos there right now. There's a ton of guards there because the mutants staging a riot, like she tried to," He gestures his head to Ryder, "It's the most obvious escape, but we might be able to find some kind of escape hatch that the guards aren't thinking of."


Ryder sighed, scratching the back of her neck, "But we're gonna need to find a guard to find one of those before the power comes back on. And Stella just knocked out the closest one on hand," She shakes her head, her expression closed off, "Why does this have to be so damn complicated?"


Jasper looks over to Fang, "Do you know any places? It could be anything."

 

[InactiveCoffee]

Fang thought for a quick moment, racing through all the escape routes he had discovered over the time he had been there since he was little. Only one way came to mind. He looked up at them all, a wry smirk on his features. "I have an idea. But none of us are going to like it." he chuckled, his eyes passing over each of the other three as he spoke. "In the basement, there's a manhole cover. It's how this place deals with all it's plumbing issues. I only know of it because I heard a couple guards talking about having to escort a plumber or something down there because something was needing fixed." he shrugged, "That sewer has to go somewhere. We just have to follow the tunnels. I've got innate directional sense, so I'll be able to track which direction we are headed." he explained, tapping his temple when he mentioned his ability to know exactly where north was at all times.


Stella wrinkled her nose, "Ew. We have to go through sewage?" she asked, gagging slightly. She shivered, "Fine. If it's getting out of here, then I'll suffer." she sighed, "Let's make a stop in one of the laboratories and get a few hazmat suits or something if we can. I don't feel like smelling like a sewer for ages." she sighed, tugging at the hood on her head to make sure it was still in place.