Cries of the Children(104)

“She’s taken the IV out,” the nurse said suddenly.

“Get it back in!” Blanely said. “We have work to do!”

It didn’t work, Marty! It wasn’t enough!

You need something stronger! Give it back to them!

Lorraine knew at once what Marty meant. She concentrated on the IV tubing the nurse was trying to reattach to her arm. It jerked out of the nurse’s hand and whipped around like a snake, the needle at its end like a tooth. The little girl put all her effort into moving the thing in the right direction, slamming it hard into the nurse’s arm even as the woman called Blanely for help.

The nurse was injected with such a large dose of the drug that she collapsed to the floor. Lorraine forced herself to sit up, watching all this in fascination. She had been unaware of any knack for telekinesis, but there was no time to ponder the thought. Blanely was coming at her. Without as much effort as before, she made the tubing jerk out of the nurse’s arm and aim for Blanely. He stopped in his tracks.

“You little . . . monster!” This last word was spat out with all Blanely’s might.

He turned and hurried from the room in search of help. Lorraine heard him lock the door. As soon as it closed, the giant worm became no more than a four-foot length of tubing.

She wriggled down off the table, landed on wobbly legs, and had to sit down on the floor.

You can’t rest, Lorraine! You have to get out of there before they come back!

How? They . . . they locked the . . . door.

Are there any windows?

Lorraine looked around.

There’s just a big one in the door.

Break it!

Lorraine didn’t waste time. Moving as if in a dream, she picked up a blood-pressure gauge and threw it with all her might. Glass flew in all directions. Instinctively Lorraine looked behind her to see if the nurse had come around. She still lay on the floor, drugged. Dizzy herself from the medication, Lorraine had to make three tries before she could crawl through the window frame. She was small enough to miss most of the shards of glass that surrounded it, but one caught her along her bare thigh and left a long cut. She was too doped up to realize she was in pain, trailing blood along the floor.

Run! Run!

Marty’s command sent her flying. She raced down the hall, in the opposite direction from the way Blanely had gone. When she saw someone turn a corner, she ducked into a bathroom. She waited a few minutes, then opened the door and carefully looked out. The hall was empty. She hurried down it, glancing back over her shoulder every few feet. Lorraine was certain they were coming after her. She wasn’t certain if she could conjure up another “helper.”

Three sharp turns led her into a short corridor. A sign marked “stairs” glowed above the door at the end. Lorraine hurried to them, opened the door, and disappeared just as someone was coming out of a laboratory. She ducked down and waited a moment. Then she tried to remember being taken from her “cell.” Had she been brought upstairs or downstairs? She had to choose the right way.

But Marty had said to get away. And she knew she couldn’t help her friends if they were locked up and sedated. So Lorraine chose to go downstairs, to what she hoped would be an exit. She moved as fast as she could, the drug wearing off a little more with each step. By the time she had gotten down five flights, she was completely sober, and not the least bit winded. It didn’t even occur to her that no young child should have been able to do what she had just done.

She had passed by several floors because she could tell there was just too much activity. But on this floor the hallway was darkened. There were only two flights to descend, but she decided to take her chances and see what was here. For the first time in over twenty minutes, she called to Marty.

It’s dark down here. And cold. What is this place?

I think they . . . things up there.

Up there? Where are you? Are you lower than this?

All the way down, Marty told her. They keep me well-hidden.

Why?

Lorraine, I can’t explain that now. You don’t have time to listen. Go into the dark hall. There’s a way out there, I’m not sure what it is, but it is behind a large curtained area. I don’t think they want anyone to know about it.

A secret exit?

I think so. Try to find it, and hurry!

What. . . what do I do when I find it?

There are others looking for you. Good people. You’ll find them.

Who are they?

Marty did not answer.

Marty, who are they?

There was still silence in her mind. Lorraine sighed deeply, frustrated at having lost contact again. She wanted to go deeper into the structure, to find the enigmatic Marty, but she knew she had to follow his orders. Whoever these others were, she’d find them. They were her only hope.