Chapter Twenty-Three

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Aiden coughed, his eyes blurring with tears. The gas dripped into the chamber at a slow rate, taunting Aiden with the prospect of certain death. He would die, and he would die slowly. General Xylem had made sure of that. Hatred burned through his body like fire. The poison of the gas was trickling into his body little by little, and the pain was like nothing Aiden had ever felt before. It gripped every part of him and clung to him like a infant to its mother. Outside the walls of the chamber, Agent Toryn was nowhere to be seen. He'd vanished out of thin air, and Aiden feared that the agent had gone to meet his friends on the main floor of the building. Aiden couldn't even warn them. They were doomed.

"Jayda," Aiden managed. She had leaned against the side of the chamber, the furthest she could get away from the gas. She looked at him with hazy eyes, grimacing. She seemed to be in even more pain than he was. 

"There has to be a way out," she gasped. "Some sort of vent, to flush the chamber."

Aiden looked around. Their metal prison was large enough to fit five people at most, which could buy him and Jayda the few precious moments of life they needed to survive. The murky gray gas hung in the dwindling air around them, making it more and more difficult to see across the chamber. He thought he saw a series of vents on the opposite side. Formulating a plan in his mind, Aiden plunged into the cloud of gas before Jayda could say otherwise.

"The hell are you doing?" Jayda exclaimed in a hoarse voice.

"I've got my knives. I'm going to try and pry the vents open so I can climb out and shut off the gas valve and override the circuitry for the chamber," Aiden explained in a hurry. "Watch my back, will you?"

"Too dangerous," Jayda coughed.

"No," Aiden replied firmly. "You're more vulnerable to the gas than I am, for some reason. It's safer for you to stay over there. The effects are getting to you faster than they're getting to me." Aiden justified his argument as he worked away on the vents. So far, prying the ventilation grates apart with his knife wasn't working too well.

"What makes you more immune than me? Did the Medical Bay give you some extra strength medication, or something?" Jayda argued.

Aiden pondered the thought for a second. He fought to remember anything he might have taken in the past that Jayda and the others had not been subjected to. The memory of a searing headache popped into his brain, along with the answer. 

"Zariah gave me headache medicine," he remembered. "It was months ago, and I could be totally wrong, but she said that they were pills from her own Unit. They also said that they had other plans for Zariah. Maybe she's partially immune to the gas?" 

"Well, good for her," Jayda retorted. "She's not in here with us, is she?" She was met with an intense coughing fit following her sentence.

"No," Aiden replied quickly. "But I just might be able to pull this off."

He looked down after a few seconds to find, to his dismay, that he hadn't even made a dent in prying apart the grates. Another idea crossed his mind. He ran his fingertips along the sides of the vent, and sure enough, he felt industrial-like screws digging into his skin. He removed the knife from in between the vent cracks before redirecting his attention to the screws and using his knife to untwist them from their locations. He'd already removed two screws from their placements in the wall and was already working on a third. He looked back at Jayda, who was now pressed up into the corner of the chamber, breathing heavily. Her eyes were shut tight and the gas hovered by her chest, passing in and out of her nostrils in puffs of thick, gray fog. Aiden was beginning to tire. If Zariah's headache meds really were the cause of his immunity, even they had their limitations. He removed the last two screws from the vents before throwing the panel aside. Sure enough, he saw freedom on the other end. The vent opened up into a broad tunnel that Aiden hoped would lead to a grate on the other end, beyond the chamber walls.

"Stay alive," Jayda muttered.

"You too," Aiden glanced at her. 

He thrust himself through the crawl space, taking large gulps of fresh air once he'd made it past the walls of the gas chamber. His lungs tingled at the sensation of breathing in fresh air again. He crawled through the vent as fast as his legs could go, and once he'd reached the end of the tunnel, Aiden kicked the grate out of the wall. Once he wriggled himself out of the vents, he immediately sprinted for the control panel that Agent Toryn had been managing only minutes earlier. His eyes darted around the array of unfamiliar buttons and mechanisms wildly. For all Aiden knew, one wrong action could be the end of Jayda. He hissed in frustration, turning back to the chamber. Jayda was hardly visible by now, a small body immersed in a giant cloud of noxious gas. The gas was beginning to pool out of the vents that Aiden had come from only a minute earlier. 

Aiden heard the faint sound of a fist slamming onto the side of the bulletproof glass in warning. He veered to the left, dodging the bullets streaking in his direction before they could bury themselves within his body. Aiden saw Agent Toryn, accompanied by two strange looking soldiers, chasing after him with faces contorted in rage. Aiden's eyes widened in realization. 

They were the same soldiers that he and Zariah had seen on the night of Eden and Maddox's attack.

Aiden shot down one of the soldiers before they could even react, and managed to hit Toryn in the shoulder. Toryn and the other soldier fired off a few more rounds at Aiden, who had positioned himself behind the side of the gas chamber for shelter. Aiden peered out from his cover to return fire, but was met with a fist connecting brutally with his jaw. Aiden assumed that the second soldier must've run around the opposite end of the chamber in order to sneak up on him. Although it had certainly taken him by surprise, Aiden grabbed the soldier's head and slammed it against the side of the chamber. The soldier howled in pain. Aiden quickly gained the upper hand, putting two bullets in the man's chest once the soldier had stumbled back to recover. 

Aiden stepped over the dead body of the mysterious soldier before returning his attention to Agent Toryn, who had just finally made it over to Aiden. He seemed to be struggling with his wounded shoulder, giving Aiden a small advantage. However, Agent Toryn was smarter than he looked. He disarmed Aiden in a swift movement while he had been caught off guard, Aiden's rifle clattering to the ground. It seemed as though the two of them were left to fend for themselves using hand to hand combat. Unable to draw his handgun, Aiden struck Toryn across the face with his elbow, and the man buckled to the right side. Aiden smashed his knee into the agent's skull and threw him onto the ground, hard. Aiden reached desperately for his handgun before pointing it between Toryn's fearful eyes.

"Deactivate the gas chamber," Aiden ordered. "Before I put the rest of this clip into you!"

Toryn struggled to his feet before obediently reaching for one of the buttons along the control panel. He pressed it, and Aiden was met with a loud beeping noise as the sound of gas flushing from the chamber was clearly audible from beyond the metal walls. Aiden turned back to the agent before taking his gun and striking it across Toryn's face. The man's eyes rolled back into his skull, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. 

Aiden panted, sprinting over to Jayda in the gas chamber. She was slumped against the corner of the room, breathing shallowly. She gasped as oxygen began to fill her lungs, and she immediately keeled over to vomit across the chamber floor. She looked up at Aiden from the ground helplessly, and he returned her gaze, horrified at what he saw.

Jayda had been reduced to brittle bones and gray skin within a matter of minutes. Her hair was in clumps and her face had sunken into her skull. It was as if she were a partially decomposed corpse that had risen from the afterlife. The sight sickened Aiden. Jayda was strong, beautiful and independent. She was the pinnacle of life within their group of friends, and it felt unnatural to see her look so weak and sickly. Aiden whipped around, pressing the intercom button on the control panel.

"Come on, Jay," Aiden glanced at her, offering her a hollow smile. "Let's get you out of here."

Jayda's empty eyes met his. She shook her head, attempting to return his grin weakly, but failing. "Can't... feel anything."

"Your legs? Your arms? What the fuck did that gas do to you?" Aiden curled his hands into tight fists. 

"Sorry, Aiden... might... break protocol."

Aiden's hopeful demeanor faded in an instant. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Jayda coughed, which sounded wheezy and fragile. She clung to every word, desperate for each of them to escape her lips properly. She was trying hold on long enough with every ragged breath she took in. "Theo... all of you... get the fuck out of here."

"No. I'm not leaving you behind," Aiden grit his teeth. "You're coming with us. That warning saved my life. I'd be dead if it weren't for you, Jay. Now come on. I'm going to open the chamber, and I'll carry you out of this place if I have to."

"No," Jayda argued. She shook, her voice growing dangerously soft. "You'll die... carrying me... the bombs are going to... a few minutes. This is it.... Aiden... leave me."

Aiden's eyes brimmed with tears, but he choked them back. Emotion filled his voice, raw and powerful. "What about Theo? You and him were meant to be together. That's how it was supposed to be. You and him, till the very end. You were going to get married, have kids, boss Virgil and the rest of us around until you were old and gray..." he faltered.

Jayda looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed, which only seemed to exhaust her further. The gas had sucked all the life out of her, eaten away at her strength and will to survive. She was a shell of the person Aiden had grown up with. 

"Tell Theo..." Jayda trailed off as her eyes began to close. "I... love..."

"No. No, don't you dare, Jay. Stay with me. I need you!" Aiden slammed a fist against the glass, now unable to hold back his tears. Jayda exhaled; a final breath escaping from her poisoned lungs. She slipped away in silence, and Aiden screamed into the open air, the grief slicing him open like a knife. He didn't care if every rebel in the country could hear him. Jayda Cerise had been a lifelong friend and companion. This was his fault. Her death was on his hands, and the guilt was inescapable.

"Aiden!" a female voice shouted from the entrance to the basement. It was Zariah. She seemed distraught, as if there was a huge battle going on outside. "Damn it, where the fuck have you been? What the hell-"

She froze at the sight of Jayda's still body encased in the gas chamber. She clapped a hand to her mouth, a whimper escaping her. She rushed over to her and Aiden, whose fist was still tightly pressed against the glass.

"Jayda," she whispered. "How did she... no..."

"I couldn't save her. I wasn't quick enough. It's my fault," Aiden choked. "She's dead, and it's my fucking fault!"

"It's not," Zariah urged him. "Aiden, I know you. There was absolutely nothing you could have done. You can explain everything after we've gotten the fuck out of here. It's hell on Earth up there. We need you."

Aiden looked up at her. He didn't care if his eyes were red and puffy. "We've been set up. This was a trap of Xylem's. I doubt we've even got a pilot to take us home."

"We do," Zariah replied gently. "Trust me, we all know it was a trap. But Xylem couldn't risk causing suspicion in the Units if he didn't send a pilot to report back that all of us had died. He's waiting for us outside. We have to leave, now. The bombs detonate in less than eight minutes."

Eight minutes? Had they really been in the laboratory that long? Aiden reluctantly got to his feet, giving Jayda one last long look before turning back to Zariah. He was Mission Leader. It was now his duty to make sure that the rest of his friends would make it out of the Askus City Laboratories safely, even if they would be short a member. Aiden hated the idea of leaving Jayda behind, but it was something he had to do. She was right. They never would have made it out if Aiden had been carrying her. He didn't even know if the Medical Officials back at Second Unit could have saved her, or if she would have even survived the trip to headquarters.

"One second," he murmured. Aiden turned to Agent Toryn, who was still lying unconscious on the basement floor. Aiden rummaged through the man's pockets, retrieving the data card Aiden had given him initially. Of course, Xylem would have wanted the rebel research. The General would have been able to use the chemical weaponry against his own people, giving him a huge advantage in the rebel war. Aiden's grip tightened on the glass card, and he slipped it into his pocket before quickly returning to Zariah. Together, the two of them bolted up the laboratory staircase.

"Theo, Rania and Virgil are outside on the roof," Zariah panted. "Theo is signaling our pilot. It's Cain Eamon, the prick I met on our first Consignment Day. He radioed in saying he'd be here in three minutes. He's landing on the roof of the building we climbed down from. We'll have to climb up to meet him."

"How many rebel shooters are outside?" Aiden asked breezily, drawing his handgun. He'd abandoned his rifle in the basement of the laboratories after his struggle with Agent Toryn and the two soldiers. 

"Enough," Zariah grunted, shoving her way beyond the doors of the laboratory's western entrance. She withdrew her marksman rifle, clearing the area of shooters before grabbing Aiden's arm and heaving him towards the laboratory walls. "I'll cover you. Get going!"

Aiden decided not to question Zariah's instructions. He began crawling up the side of the building as fast as possible with the help of the spider gear, while Zariah watched his back from the ground. He pulled himself over the edge of the roof, before hollering down to Zariah that he'd made it there safely. He fired off a few shots at rebels emerging from nearby buildings. They would have a small window to jump back onto the structure they'd originally come from and make their way up to the roof to meet Cain and the others. Within seconds, Zariah was by his side, and the two of them sprinted for the skyscraper. 

"Theo, I found Aiden. We're headed your way now!" Zariah shouted into her mic. Aiden's coms were still fried from the gas chamber, leaving him helpless to provide his squadron with proper orders. He was relying on Zariah, who was doing a better job at being Mission Leader so far than Aiden had in all his previous encounters.

"Get ready to jump," Aiden warned her once they'd reached the edge of the roof. Zariah nodded, bracing herself for the leap. Aiden felt his feet leave the ground, and time seemed to slow as he soared through the open air, hands and feet ready for impact. He and Zariah hit the side of the skyscraper near simultaneously, and in unison, they began scurrying up the building. Aiden refused to look back at the reign of destruction and terror that had left him shaken to the core. Instead, he focused the remnants of his energy on scaling the building, mustering the last of his strength to hold on for the sake of his friends' lives; and the memory of Jayda's.

The bombs detonated just as Aiden and Zariah had made it three quarters of the way up the skyscraper. Aiden felt the whoosh of warm air bubble up beneath him, but he kept climbing. He heard some screaming, but he couldn't bear to listen. They'd come too far now. After three minutes, of tuning out the noise beneath him, Aiden and Zariah staggered onto the skyscraper roof. 

Aiden rose to his feet to find Theo arguing with Cain beside a helicopter. Virgil and Rania were perched inside the aircraft, their expressions grim. Virgil was the first to notice them, pointing to Aiden and Zariah from where he was seated. 

"We aren't leaving without them!" Theo hissed.

"Guys!" Virgil yelled, silencing the bickering. All eyes turned to Zariah and Aiden, who ran over to their friends, breathless.

"Good, now we can get the fuck out of here," Cain spat onto the ground, glaring at Theo in distaste.

Theo's eyes became dark with worry at the sight of his girlfriend's absence. "Where the hell is Jayda?"

Zariah stared down at her feet, unable to meet Theo's gaze. Aiden glanced at him with wounded eyes, his chest tightening. He would have rather been riddled with a hundred bullets than tell Theo the truth. Aiden willed it to be just a dream, that he would wake up from a horrible nightmare to find out that none of this had ever happened.

"I'm so sorry, Theo."

Silence swept among their group as the information sank in. Theo's eyes went from worried, to shocked, to disbelief, to empty.

"No," he whispered.

"The Program agent trapped us in a gas chamber. I tried to get us out, but I-"

"No!" Theo screamed. Ignoring Aiden's explanation, Theo sprinted towards the laboratory, which had gone up in flames following the explosion. Aiden and Virgil chased after him, lunging for Theo and grabbing his shoulders before he could throw himself off the roof. Aiden didn't think he would, but he didn't know what Theo was capable of at the moment. The two of them held him back, Theo struggling against Aiden and Virgil's combined strength before giving up in vain.

"Jayda!" Theo cried out into the night. He fell to his knees as tears spilled onto his cheeks and splattered onto the rooftop. His voice was filled with so much pain, it made Aiden wince.

"Theo, we have to go!" Virgil prompted him. He too was suffering the grief of losing Jayda, Aiden noticed, but was keeping his emotions in tune for the time being. Right now, they had to leave. They would mourn her later.

Aiden and Virgil dragged Theo back to the helicopter, where Cain was stationed in the pilot's seat and Rania and Zariah were sitting inside. Rania's head was in her hands, while Zariah stared down at her feet bleakly. They loaded Theo into the aircraft just as Cain began to take off, and the six soldiers took off into the night sky; leaving Jayda and the fiery Askus City Laboratories far behind them in the distance.

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