Holding Cells
Sep. 4th, 2009 11:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_sky"Hey- hey!"
Ellen blinked, swallowed, immediately regretted it. Her throat hadn't felt like this since Moira's radiation treatment, her jaw hurt, her abdomen-
"You okay?" the voice spoke again. "You all right?"
It was a woman's. Ellen blinked and sat up. There was a dizzily vertiginous moment as everything swam around her, but it passed, and the world settled into the form of a brightly lit room with bluegrey metallic walls. She looked around for the speaker; it was a dark-skinned woman in the worn leathers and old fabrics of a longtime Wasteland traveler.
"'Bout time you woke up. I was starting to think they'd fried your brains or something." The woman shook her head; Ellen grimaced at the mere thought of the motion. "You got a headache? That'll get better. Don't know if that'll help, but it'll get better..."
Ellen shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
"They must REALLY like you," the woman continued. "At least they let me keep my clothes. Looks like they stripped you of everything but your skivvies."
"...!" said Ellen as she looked down and confirmed that this was, in fact, the case. She hugged herself a little tighter and tried to muster her words, but all that came out was "....?"
"Sorry, kid," said the woman sympathetically. "This is really happening. You're stuck here, just like me."
"Wh-" Ellen cleared her throat, wincing at the searing feeling. "Who- what-"
The woman shrugged. "I don't know why they put you in here with me. Maybe it's another experiment. Not like I can ask them to find out. But since you asked, name's Somah."
"'m Ellen," Ellen managed. "Ellen Park."
Somah nodded. "Beyond that, I'm thinkin' not much matters if we're gonna stay stuck in here."
Ellen glanced up at that. There were no windows in the oval, metal-walled room, only seams in the walls. The ceiling was at least twenty feet overhead, but a pair of pipes or rails crossed the intervening space along the room's longer axis. High above, the light of what Ellen assumed was a surveillance camera's lens gleamed between them. And there was a space where a door should have been, but it was filled with an odd, shimmering distortion; when Ellen managed to scramble over and touch it, the energy zapped her fingertips hard enough to fling her hand back several inches.
"Gets worse the harder you try to get through," Somah said. "Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of to get out of here."
"What do they WANT??" Ellen blurted, not wanting to think about the foggy bits of memory that were swimming at the back of her mind.
Somah shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine," she said. "I can't understand what they're saying. I don't remember half of what they did to me, and that might be a good thing."
Ellen could still hear that weird little whine as the wheel spun up; she swallowed against a blaze of pain and nodded.
"I know we ain't the only ones; there's a whole bunch of us in here. They'll pluck folks out every now and then. Sometimes they bring 'em back, sometimes they don't. Either way, I ain't keen to find out what they're doing."
Oh, God, thought Ellen, and dropped into a crouch. This couldn't be happening, but it was, and it was all just far too much; she had to put her head between her knees before she hyperventilated herself senseless...
"You okay, kid?"
Ellen shook her head almost imperceptibly. No. No, she was not okay. Wasn't it obvious?
Lord God Almighty, I don't know what's happening, I just want it to stop. Please-
She managed, in between the barely restrained gasping breaths, to get out a few words. "So. Um. How do we get out of here?"
"I've been here a little while, but haven't found a way to-" Somah broke off with a curse. "You hear that? It's coming again. Back against the wall! Now!"
Ellen was far too overwhelmed to ask what 'it' was. She nodded and flattened herself against the nearest wall. Moments later some sort of dolly or cart slid along the overhead rails, curled metal arms gleaming along its underside in a manner much too familiar for her liking. It passed out of sight; there was a scream. Somah winced as the device passed overhead again, its arms curled around a struggling man who might have been any one of a dozen residents of Megaton.
Ellen put her head down and started hyperventilating in earnest.
"Don't lose it, okay? We can get through this!" Somah's voice said urgently. "I'm thinking maybe now you can understand it's a good idea to get the hell out of here?"
"What- what-" Ellen waved a hand helplessly upward, trying to get her breath to stop heaving. "What the-"
"What, you've never seen a giant metal claw scoop somebody up and carry him off to God knows where?" Somah inquired. "You got me. I don't know where they're taking him, and I'm not interested in staying long enough to find out. We gotta get out of here, kid. Now."
"Okay," Ellen managed. "Okay. How?"
"Hmm..." Somah glanced at the forcefield, then up at the walls. As her gaze traveled upward she said, "Okay. Got an idea. They've got surveillance on us, right? Must mean they want to make sure we're alive when they come for us. How about we give 'em reason to doubt that?"
"Huh?" Ellen squinted at Somah, a little of her panic forgotten. "How do you mean?"
"Let's put on a show for 'em. You ever fought barehanded?"
"Once or twice, yeah..."
"Then we fight." Somah smiled. "If it looks like we're trying to kill each other, they'll need to send someone in to break it up. That claw thing's not real nimble. We'll have to overpower whoever they send and make our break for it quickly, but it's not like we've got any other options, do we?"
Ellen shook her head fervently. "We'd better let anyone else out that we see, too," she added.
"More people, more distraction. Good thinking, but save it for after the fight-" And Somah threw the first punch without warning.
The next few minutes were something of a blur for Ellen. She was already dizzy and confused, so the constant charges and dodging and tumbling didn't do her any favors. She'd never been the greatest of barehanded fighters, either. On the other hand, both Annabelle and Mr. Mills had taught her a few moves for dealing with people who tried to corner her, and right now she had all the motivation in the world to use them; Somah yelped at her once to lay off, it was only a show. All she really knew for certain was that Somah had her in a headlock and she was getting ready to ram an elbow back into the older woman's midsection when the forcefield dropped and the two silver-suited aliens stepped in.
"NOW!" Somah bellowed, dropping Ellen in favor of a direct lunge.
The little green beings were startlingly tough for their size and apparent frailty, lashing out at every opportunity with their weird, slender electrified rods. Not, however, tough enough; one cut lip and bloodied nose on Ellen's part later, both the aliens were down. "Okay," Somah said tersely. "Grab anything useful and run for it- who knows when they'll send more after us!"
Ellen wiped her nose on the back of one hand, snatched up the nearest electro-rod, and bolted.
Ellen blinked, swallowed, immediately regretted it. Her throat hadn't felt like this since Moira's radiation treatment, her jaw hurt, her abdomen-
"You okay?" the voice spoke again. "You all right?"
It was a woman's. Ellen blinked and sat up. There was a dizzily vertiginous moment as everything swam around her, but it passed, and the world settled into the form of a brightly lit room with bluegrey metallic walls. She looked around for the speaker; it was a dark-skinned woman in the worn leathers and old fabrics of a longtime Wasteland traveler.
"'Bout time you woke up. I was starting to think they'd fried your brains or something." The woman shook her head; Ellen grimaced at the mere thought of the motion. "You got a headache? That'll get better. Don't know if that'll help, but it'll get better..."
Ellen shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
"They must REALLY like you," the woman continued. "At least they let me keep my clothes. Looks like they stripped you of everything but your skivvies."
"...!" said Ellen as she looked down and confirmed that this was, in fact, the case. She hugged herself a little tighter and tried to muster her words, but all that came out was "....?"
"Sorry, kid," said the woman sympathetically. "This is really happening. You're stuck here, just like me."
"Wh-" Ellen cleared her throat, wincing at the searing feeling. "Who- what-"
The woman shrugged. "I don't know why they put you in here with me. Maybe it's another experiment. Not like I can ask them to find out. But since you asked, name's Somah."
"'m Ellen," Ellen managed. "Ellen Park."
Somah nodded. "Beyond that, I'm thinkin' not much matters if we're gonna stay stuck in here."
Ellen glanced up at that. There were no windows in the oval, metal-walled room, only seams in the walls. The ceiling was at least twenty feet overhead, but a pair of pipes or rails crossed the intervening space along the room's longer axis. High above, the light of what Ellen assumed was a surveillance camera's lens gleamed between them. And there was a space where a door should have been, but it was filled with an odd, shimmering distortion; when Ellen managed to scramble over and touch it, the energy zapped her fingertips hard enough to fling her hand back several inches.
"Gets worse the harder you try to get through," Somah said. "Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of to get out of here."
"What do they WANT??" Ellen blurted, not wanting to think about the foggy bits of memory that were swimming at the back of her mind.
Somah shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine," she said. "I can't understand what they're saying. I don't remember half of what they did to me, and that might be a good thing."
Ellen could still hear that weird little whine as the wheel spun up; she swallowed against a blaze of pain and nodded.
"I know we ain't the only ones; there's a whole bunch of us in here. They'll pluck folks out every now and then. Sometimes they bring 'em back, sometimes they don't. Either way, I ain't keen to find out what they're doing."
Oh, God, thought Ellen, and dropped into a crouch. This couldn't be happening, but it was, and it was all just far too much; she had to put her head between her knees before she hyperventilated herself senseless...
"You okay, kid?"
Ellen shook her head almost imperceptibly. No. No, she was not okay. Wasn't it obvious?
Lord God Almighty, I don't know what's happening, I just want it to stop. Please-
She managed, in between the barely restrained gasping breaths, to get out a few words. "So. Um. How do we get out of here?"
"I've been here a little while, but haven't found a way to-" Somah broke off with a curse. "You hear that? It's coming again. Back against the wall! Now!"
Ellen was far too overwhelmed to ask what 'it' was. She nodded and flattened herself against the nearest wall. Moments later some sort of dolly or cart slid along the overhead rails, curled metal arms gleaming along its underside in a manner much too familiar for her liking. It passed out of sight; there was a scream. Somah winced as the device passed overhead again, its arms curled around a struggling man who might have been any one of a dozen residents of Megaton.
Ellen put her head down and started hyperventilating in earnest.
"Don't lose it, okay? We can get through this!" Somah's voice said urgently. "I'm thinking maybe now you can understand it's a good idea to get the hell out of here?"
"What- what-" Ellen waved a hand helplessly upward, trying to get her breath to stop heaving. "What the-"
"What, you've never seen a giant metal claw scoop somebody up and carry him off to God knows where?" Somah inquired. "You got me. I don't know where they're taking him, and I'm not interested in staying long enough to find out. We gotta get out of here, kid. Now."
"Okay," Ellen managed. "Okay. How?"
"Hmm..." Somah glanced at the forcefield, then up at the walls. As her gaze traveled upward she said, "Okay. Got an idea. They've got surveillance on us, right? Must mean they want to make sure we're alive when they come for us. How about we give 'em reason to doubt that?"
"Huh?" Ellen squinted at Somah, a little of her panic forgotten. "How do you mean?"
"Let's put on a show for 'em. You ever fought barehanded?"
"Once or twice, yeah..."
"Then we fight." Somah smiled. "If it looks like we're trying to kill each other, they'll need to send someone in to break it up. That claw thing's not real nimble. We'll have to overpower whoever they send and make our break for it quickly, but it's not like we've got any other options, do we?"
Ellen shook her head fervently. "We'd better let anyone else out that we see, too," she added.
"More people, more distraction. Good thinking, but save it for after the fight-" And Somah threw the first punch without warning.
The next few minutes were something of a blur for Ellen. She was already dizzy and confused, so the constant charges and dodging and tumbling didn't do her any favors. She'd never been the greatest of barehanded fighters, either. On the other hand, both Annabelle and Mr. Mills had taught her a few moves for dealing with people who tried to corner her, and right now she had all the motivation in the world to use them; Somah yelped at her once to lay off, it was only a show. All she really knew for certain was that Somah had her in a headlock and she was getting ready to ram an elbow back into the older woman's midsection when the forcefield dropped and the two silver-suited aliens stepped in.
"NOW!" Somah bellowed, dropping Ellen in favor of a direct lunge.
The little green beings were startlingly tough for their size and apparent frailty, lashing out at every opportunity with their weird, slender electrified rods. Not, however, tough enough; one cut lip and bloodied nose on Ellen's part later, both the aliens were down. "Okay," Somah said tersely. "Grab anything useful and run for it- who knows when they'll send more after us!"
Ellen wiped her nose on the back of one hand, snatched up the nearest electro-rod, and bolted.