Chapter 1 Part 1

               

Chapter One

              This wasn't where she wanted to be. It wasn’t where she ever wanted to be. The scent of lavender was overpowering. She swallowed as the door before her was flung open by two guards. Ms. Foster stood with her hands on her hips. It was the stance Marcia had seen her take on several occasions. She was in trouble there was no doubt about that, but for what she wasn’t quite sure.

                “Ms. Darden.” Ms. Foster stopped and just watched her for a long moment. Marcia wouldn’t give in and met her eyes with pride. Suddenly Ms. Foster slapped her hands on the table in front of her causing the whole room to jump. Lifting her hand she rubbed her temples. “It has come to my attention that someone, has been setting loose the hicklebee kids on underground level 23.”

                Marcia choked down a smile keeping her face neutral. “That’s horrible.”

                Foster watched her glaring, “I think we are coming close to figuring out who is doing it. And when we catch who it is that will be getting caged for a month.” She again stopped to watch her, finally saying, “Dismissed!”

                She left the room and made it to the end of the hall before she broke out into a sprint. She took the stairs two at a time, climbing floor after floor. She stopped on the top floor, catching her breath. She pushed into the hallway and into one of the empty rooms. They had evacuated these floors years ago when the dieses became airborne. They bored up the way out of the huge underground building trapping everyone inside, but the dieses never made it inside.

                Marcia had long ago removed the boards and plastic from the small basement window. She picked up the knife she had stolen from the cafeteria and continued her quest of cutting the plaster away from the window.

                The door open and she froze afraid to make a sound. She slipped the knife down her sleeve. “Think fast,” Gordan called snapping a flash of a camera around the door. The knife was in her hand in seconds.

                “Delete it now!” She chucked the knife across the room sticking it in the door.

She glared at him as he entered the room his hands up, the camera dangling from his wrist, “Fine. Fine. No need to get testy.”

“You know I hate pictures.” She crossed the room and grabbed the knife. Ignoring him she went back to chipping at the plaster.

“So what did the ol’ bat want? She didn’t ask about me did she?”

She rolled her eyes. “Gordan, what would she ever want with you?”

He walked to her, leaning up against the wall, “Well I am devilishly handsome. Whatever could she want without me?”

“Whatever. She just wanted to ask about the hicklebees we keep setting free. She says she’s getting close to figuring out who’s doing it.”

“Are you almost done with that window? I’m getting bored.”

She slipped the knife back in her sleeve. “Here help me.” She dug her manicured nails under the bottom left edge and he grabbed the right edge and the handle. The window didn’t budge. With an angry sigh she slid down the wall and sat. “We’re never going to get out of her are we?”

“Maybe it’s for the best. The dieses could still be out there. And I’m too beautiful to die.”

She looked over at him, “There’s no way the dieses could still be alive out there. It’s been ten years. If everyone out there died the virus would also have died and if there’s still people out there, then they must have come up with a cure.” She pushed her blonde curl out of her face, showing her pointed ears.