The Patriarch Chapter 2 | Teen Ink

The Patriarch Chapter 2

March 5, 2018
By Jason Howe BRONZE, Northboro, Massachusetts
Jason Howe BRONZE, Northboro, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Tony turned off of his family's road, and headed off at a run. He ran past the highrise. His head was pounding, he remembered the pain of being forced to forget his family, to leave everything behind, to forget everyone he loved. His head kept pounding. He knew the city like the back of his hand. It shouldn’t take him this long to get to the meeting point. The Drive In was just a few blocks away now. Tony stopped running and grabbed his head, trying to subdue the pain. He saw the large screen of the Drive In, looming in the distance. He had fallen to the ground and he was now resting against another abandoned building. Looking a little bit farther down, he saw red and blue lights, flashing against the dark sky. It was a police barricade. It was blocking the fastest route to the Drive In. Tony swore, then he slowly pushed himself off the ground, clinging to the building for support. He thought of his options; there was the three other ways around to the Drive In, and there was the one he didn’t want to think about.
“Well, let’s try that first way around.” Tony thought to himself. Slowly, but surely, he was moving. He took one step then the next. The red lights didn’t go away, but seemed to illuminate his path, though only slightly. When Tony finally managed to reach the first path through, he saw that it too was blocked off by the police.
Tony sighed, frustrated that everything was falling apart. His memories were coming back, something that hadn’t happened ever. His family caught him, yet another thing that hadn’t happened ever. Now the police were blocking all the paths in and out of the Drive In, something that hadn’t happened ever too. Tony looked around again, then he started to run. The Drive In was blocked off, completely. The were only two problems, the first being the entrance to the Cistern, a large underground operation that was constantly throwing wrenches into the Federations’ military plans. The Cistern is not allied with any group, just hates the Federation with a burning passion. The more important thing that is, as far as Tony knew, is that Tess was in the Drive In, probably freaking out, not knowing what the police were doing there!
Tony took another deep sigh; his problems were only getting worse. Tony quickly checked the surrounding streets, looking for a manhole cover, or any entrance to the aqueduct system. After frantically looking about for five minutes, each minute passing too quickly for Tony’s liking, he found a manhole cover. Tony reoriented himself and found the glowing red and blue lights flashing in the distance. He looked down at the sewer, looked back at the lights, thought of Tess, then climbed down the ladder, shutting the entrance behind him.
It was dark. Very dark. Too dark. Tony fumbled around in his bag, reaching for anything, just anything, that would be able to illuminate the sewer tunnel. Not finding his flashlight, Tony swore, then start to run. Luckily enough for him, the sewers were dry, and he was not slinking through waste water. Tony took a left at the next intersection, recalling all of the city schematics that he had memorized.
“Just another two rights, and then I will be there.” Tony thought, motivationally. He continued to run along the dark sewers, following his instincts. He started to run his hand along the right hand side of the sewer, feeling for the door. He hit it, and quickly entered. He rushed past the Cistern of the Cistern, the main hall, the mess hall, and then to the ladder that lead to the Drive In. He ignored the calls and greetings that were shouted at him. He climbed up the ladder, and unscrewed the manhole cover.
He took another deep breath, then he jumped out of the hole, and into the middle of the Drive In. Looking around, he located Tess. She was in the main projector building. Tony stealily crept over to her,
“Tess are you alright?” asked Tony worried.
“Yea, I am fine. I came in here once the Federation started to show up. I don’t know what they are doing here.”
“We can worry about that later. Let’s go.”
“Alright.” responded Tess, secretly relieved that Tony was here. Tony pulled Tess up, then they crept back to the Cistern. The climbed back down the hole, and walked in the main hall. Then all the lights went out and everything went dark.


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Quinn sat up, and was caught off guard by the blinding white lights. Squinting his eyes, the room began to come into focus. He saw cabinets, lots of white cabinets. He saw a sink, a couple of carts, a row of filled syringes. He tried to get out of the bed only to realize that he was hindered by arm and leg braces. He struggled against the braces for a little while, stopping when two steel doors were suddenly thrown open. A man with a neat blue uniform lauded with medals walked into the room. He was in deep conversation with a two male doctors. A total of six nurses followed the imposing trio in.
“Hello, prisoner” pausing to check the clipboard in his hand, “24601. Do you know who I am?” questioned the first doctor.
“My name is Quinn MacArthur. And, no I don’t think that a man like you would even consider the idea of walking past the filthy dungeons they-” nodding to the man in the uniform “consider cells. So no I don’t know who you are.” spat Quinn vehemently.
“My name is Doctor Sfitz Van Duoddle.I am  The chief surgeon, chief doctor and principle owner of Colonial Medicine.”
“Don’t you dare say the slogan” interrupted the other doctor.
“Where we treat gangrene with amputation and sleep next to the pits” said Dr. Van Duoddle merrily.
“You just had to say it, didn’t you!” shot the second doctor angrily.
“It’s part of my job!”
“What? Self Promotion?” The second doctor looked incredulous.
“Yes! You don’t seem to promote the hospital, so I must do double the work!”
“Gentlemen.” inserted the man in the blue uniform, authoritatively. “Let us not get distracted from our work. Doctor Zola,” inclining his head to the second, smaller doctor. “Please make sure that Prisoner 24601-”
“QUINN MACARTHUR!!” interjected Quinn.
“-is ready for the operation.”  continued the man in the blue uniform, slightly annoyed by Quinn’s interjection.
“Yes Master.” replied Doctor Zola. He tightened up the restraints, adding an additional restraint to Quinn’s forehead, pinning him to the table. Quinn felt his sleeve on his left arm being rolled up, and a section around his elbow being wiped.
“What do you want with me anyways?” exclaimed Quinn, in an attempt to delay the impending operation.
“You are here for an experiment.” the uniform man paused to pick up a needle, “You are the first subject test in the B.R.E.A.T.H. program. I like to call it, the Hawk Program.”
“Come again? You said that you were going to experiment on my breath?”
“No B.R.E.A.T.H.! It is an- ”
“Breathe? You want me to breathe?”
“No!! There is a B, followed by an R, then an E, etc.”
“You want me to be a member of the B,” he takes a breath, “R”, another breath, “E”, yet another breath, “ATH?” laughed Quinn.
“You fool!” yelled the man in the uniform as he stabbed the needle into Quinn's arm.
Quinn blacked out again as the drugs coursed through his body.


The author's comments:

So this follows the first chapter. If you haven't read the first chapter, this chapter will make no sense. But read it how you want. 


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