01-17-2020, 09:41 PM
Unknown Location, Lauchenoiria
17th January 2020 – early morning
Kerrie Lee waited until just before they came into her cell with her meagre breakfast. She had been biding her time, getting used to the routine and conserving her strength by ignoring her interrogators and sleeping as much as she could. Her interrogators had yet to physically hurt her, she hadn’t visibly resisted, and she had adopted a permanent facial expression of slight boredom whenever someone was watching. Which, generally, was always.
She was lying on her bed, the too-thin blanket lying to the side where she’d kicked it off while seemingly tossing and turning in the night. It was freezing but she didn’t want her movements to be restricted. She was feigning sleep, and waiting until she heard the tell-tale sounds of a key turning in her cell door. She waited until they had opened the door, with one stepping inside in order to wake her, and then she moved.
With surprising speed, she flew out of bed and landed a kick in the guard’s stomach, throwing the woman against the wall hard enough to knock her unconscious. Before the other guard outside could even react, Kerrie had punched her in the face, stunning her a little. Someone grabbed her from behind – a man – so she pushed her weight against her assailant and used it to kick the woman in front of her, knocking her out just as easily as her compatriot.
The man cried out for help, but he needed both his arms to restrain her as she fought against him, which meant that he didn’t react quickly enough when she managed to get an arm free, grab his own gun from its holster and shoot him in the head as he was holding her. She dropped to the ground as his grip loosened and she stood for a moment, breathing heavily. She had been acting on the strange instinct of an Aurora – she hadn’t actually expected to successfully kill him with one shot.
Shaking her head, she spun and headed in the direction of where she thought the exit was. They had tried hard to disorient her, but she was well-trained and she had managed to create a mental map of the facility in which she was imprisoned days ago. She moved quickly, turning corners silently with the gun she’d stolen from the guard. She was aware she was likely leaving a trail of the man’s blood and she felt a little sick. Apparently, she hated killing.
“Stop her!” someone called from behind her. She ducked around a corner and quickly glanced back, but they were not yet visible. She continued. When she stumbled upon a startled and terrified looking person wearing the uniform of a cleaner, she refrained from shooting the woman, instead running past quickly. The red footprints she was tracking along the corridors meant she could hardly avoid being followed anyway. All that mattered was speed.
She turned another corner, right next to where she believed the exit to be, and the world tipped upside down.
She was lying on her back on the ground, dazed. Her head hurt, ached really. She let out an involuntary moan of pain. She was pinned, they must have tackled her. People were yelling, but she couldn’t really make out what they were saying. Her vision was blurry, but she managed to catch a glimpse of the doctor who had examined her when she’d first been captured. He was looking at her head.
She moaned again, and reached out towards him, then the darkness took over and she fell unconscious.
*
Lorentonia, Lauchenoiria
Emelia Gómez looked around her house one more time and sighed. The boxes were all packed, as if she was moving, but she wouldn’t be joining them at their destination. On paper, she was moving to Summersea with her husband in order to take a new job. But really, she was going home in order to retire from the job she’d been secretly doing since her teens. Emelia had decided to return to Kerlile.
“Well, I suppose we should get going,” her husband Tom said, walking up and putting his arm around her. She nodded and then turned around to hug him. “Finding it tough to leave, huh?”
“Yeah, something like that,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder.
She had loved him, when they first married. She still did, in a way, but time had weakened it. He cared for her, but he had wanted children and their relationship hadn’t been the same after she had failed to give him any. Of course, she had been trying her very best not to get pregnant – she knew it was far too dangerous for her. So, they had drifted apart over time, even though they still got on well.
She kissed him goodbye and got in her car, while he got in his. She was thankful they had two vehicles and thus couldn’t travel together, or her plan would have been ruined. She wanted him and their belongings out of the house she’d lived in so she could remove any clues as to her real identity that she had gathered over the years. And to get Tom far away from somewhere he’d be reminded of her.
Tom drove off first, and Emelia followed, making sure to hang back at the first set of traffic lights she saw about to change. Using this technique, she fell farther and farther behind him, until there was no way he could see her in his mirror. Then, she turned north and headed through the forest, heading for the Kerlian border and left Lauchenoiria for the final time.
17th January 2020 – early morning
Kerrie Lee waited until just before they came into her cell with her meagre breakfast. She had been biding her time, getting used to the routine and conserving her strength by ignoring her interrogators and sleeping as much as she could. Her interrogators had yet to physically hurt her, she hadn’t visibly resisted, and she had adopted a permanent facial expression of slight boredom whenever someone was watching. Which, generally, was always.
She was lying on her bed, the too-thin blanket lying to the side where she’d kicked it off while seemingly tossing and turning in the night. It was freezing but she didn’t want her movements to be restricted. She was feigning sleep, and waiting until she heard the tell-tale sounds of a key turning in her cell door. She waited until they had opened the door, with one stepping inside in order to wake her, and then she moved.
With surprising speed, she flew out of bed and landed a kick in the guard’s stomach, throwing the woman against the wall hard enough to knock her unconscious. Before the other guard outside could even react, Kerrie had punched her in the face, stunning her a little. Someone grabbed her from behind – a man – so she pushed her weight against her assailant and used it to kick the woman in front of her, knocking her out just as easily as her compatriot.
The man cried out for help, but he needed both his arms to restrain her as she fought against him, which meant that he didn’t react quickly enough when she managed to get an arm free, grab his own gun from its holster and shoot him in the head as he was holding her. She dropped to the ground as his grip loosened and she stood for a moment, breathing heavily. She had been acting on the strange instinct of an Aurora – she hadn’t actually expected to successfully kill him with one shot.
Shaking her head, she spun and headed in the direction of where she thought the exit was. They had tried hard to disorient her, but she was well-trained and she had managed to create a mental map of the facility in which she was imprisoned days ago. She moved quickly, turning corners silently with the gun she’d stolen from the guard. She was aware she was likely leaving a trail of the man’s blood and she felt a little sick. Apparently, she hated killing.
“Stop her!” someone called from behind her. She ducked around a corner and quickly glanced back, but they were not yet visible. She continued. When she stumbled upon a startled and terrified looking person wearing the uniform of a cleaner, she refrained from shooting the woman, instead running past quickly. The red footprints she was tracking along the corridors meant she could hardly avoid being followed anyway. All that mattered was speed.
She turned another corner, right next to where she believed the exit to be, and the world tipped upside down.
She was lying on her back on the ground, dazed. Her head hurt, ached really. She let out an involuntary moan of pain. She was pinned, they must have tackled her. People were yelling, but she couldn’t really make out what they were saying. Her vision was blurry, but she managed to catch a glimpse of the doctor who had examined her when she’d first been captured. He was looking at her head.
She moaned again, and reached out towards him, then the darkness took over and she fell unconscious.
*
Lorentonia, Lauchenoiria
Emelia Gómez looked around her house one more time and sighed. The boxes were all packed, as if she was moving, but she wouldn’t be joining them at their destination. On paper, she was moving to Summersea with her husband in order to take a new job. But really, she was going home in order to retire from the job she’d been secretly doing since her teens. Emelia had decided to return to Kerlile.
“Well, I suppose we should get going,” her husband Tom said, walking up and putting his arm around her. She nodded and then turned around to hug him. “Finding it tough to leave, huh?”
“Yeah, something like that,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder.
She had loved him, when they first married. She still did, in a way, but time had weakened it. He cared for her, but he had wanted children and their relationship hadn’t been the same after she had failed to give him any. Of course, she had been trying her very best not to get pregnant – she knew it was far too dangerous for her. So, they had drifted apart over time, even though they still got on well.
She kissed him goodbye and got in her car, while he got in his. She was thankful they had two vehicles and thus couldn’t travel together, or her plan would have been ruined. She wanted him and their belongings out of the house she’d lived in so she could remove any clues as to her real identity that she had gathered over the years. And to get Tom far away from somewhere he’d be reminded of her.
Tom drove off first, and Emelia followed, making sure to hang back at the first set of traffic lights she saw about to change. Using this technique, she fell farther and farther behind him, until there was no way he could see her in his mirror. Then, she turned north and headed through the forest, heading for the Kerlian border and left Lauchenoiria for the final time.
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