I WAITED FOR HER TO tell me this was all some kind of sick, twisted joke, and that Sydney was in fact fine and not about to become some super weapon for this pathetic country. What I did not expect was for Bria to reach inside of her bra and pull out a bottle of pills, practically throwing them at me. I caught the orange bottle with both hands and studied it closely. There was not a label but the bottle was transparent. Inside were two white pills. Why did they need a bottle so big when they were so small?

"What are these for, exactly?"

She took this as an opportunity to sit down in the other chair that was meant for Amira and she looked down at the orange bottle in my hand. There was a small smile on her face and when she met my gaze, I swear there was a bit of hope in her eyes.

"I believe these are what you've been looking for since you returned to us," she whispered. "Have you had doubts about this place since you've opened your eyes? Have you told yourself something about this place wasn't right? No matter what Dr. Stanley told you?" I shifted uncomfortably in my seat because she was exactly right. My reaction was my response and she nodded her head. "Before the project began for you and Gwen, we made a deal. Once you returned, I would give you the pills and we would find a way to get you out of this wretched place."

A mirthless laugh escaped me, "And you expect me to believe that? After everything I've been through, how do you expect me to believe what just came out of your mouth? It's all madness!"

"Keep your voice down," she snapped. "Because out of all the women who volunteered to watch your daughter, I fought for her. I made it my mission to take care of your young one while you were gone. She became my responsibility and I have not failed you. Look at her. Does she look like I failed her?"

I saw her standing back by the door, running her fingers along the fabric of her dress and smiling to herself. Her hair was now tucked behind her tiny ears and her cheeks were a rosy shade of red. She looked just fine to me...perfect. I forced myself to look away from my daughter and get back to the conversation.

"What are the pills for, Bria?"

"They're supposed to help you with your memory loss," she explained. "I told you all of this before but for obvious reasons, I'll tell you again. When you and your wife first came here for the experiment, multiple tests had to be run to make sure the two of you were in perfect health. I watched from the sidelines, wondering if the two of you were really going to go through will all this. Everyone else before you died and that made me wonder why you two were so eager to volunteer yourselves. And then your wife told me."

"Told you what?" I leaned forward. "What did she tell you?"

"You weren't doing this for yourselves or to help see if the operation actually worked. You were doing this because that meant Amira would have a safe home. She told me it was hard to take care of her...hard to take care of even yourselves. Even if the two of you died during the experiment, Amira would have stayed here with me under strong protection from the outside world. That was why you volunteered yourselves."

"And these pills?"

"You and your wife are good people, Lucas. Now that Dr. Stanley knows the experiment is a success, he's going to keep going at it. Gwen is the victim of the next part. Lucas, you could be next. Neither one of you deserves this. Sure, you volunteered, but you never truly knew what you were getting yourselves into until it was too late. I'm willing to help get you out of here."

I frowned, "You mean Amira and I."

"Lucas—"

"So, we're not even going to try to help Sydney? We're just going to leave her behind?"

"Give me a few days, okay? I just need a few days."

"A few days for what? I'm not leaving her behind! Do you honestly expect me to leave my wife, Amira's mother, behind? You put two pills in this bottle. One of them must be for her. You planned on giving her one, too."

"I didn't think Dr. Stanley would move this fast with the second part."

"Well, slow him down so you can give her the pill!"

"Keep your voice down," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm trying to help you, Lucas. No one else in this place will help you the way that I'm about to help your family. You're just going to have to trust me, all right? Keep the pills close at all times and make sure no one finds them. The sooner you take yours, the better." She stood up from the chair and smoothed out her skirt. "I'll keep in touch. For now, act as if I never came to visit you."

I watched as she made her way towards the door, stopping to kiss Amira on top of the head, and leaving us behind until further notice. Once the door slammed shut, I pushed down on the top of the pill bottle and twisted it until it opened. Turning the bottle upside down, I emptied the contents in my hand and examined the pills more closely. In the bottle, they looked white. Now, in my hand, they were more of a yellow color. I put one back in the bottle and sat the other on the wooden table, looking at it with pure desperation.

How did I know this would even work? I had to try. I had to fight. This was my last chance to keep from losing everything. I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it dry, coughing once when it got stuck, but then getting it down. I knew what I had to remember. It was not romantic or something cherished. But I hoped it would lead to some answers when I got out.

For now, I imagined the things I once thought were true. I thought about how I believed my feelings were true and everything felt so real. Looking across the room at Amira, I wondered if everything that was forced into my mind will eventually be erased. Would they be replaced with the memories that were actually true? I was eager to find out, but also frightened.

Only a few minutes passed before I was ravaged by pain. I cried out, feeling like a hammer was repeatedly hitting me in the back of the head. I leaned to the side and vomited over the side of the table, my stomach twisting and my throat burning. I pressed my hands to my head as if it could stop the throbbing there.

The room was beginning to spin and I laid my head down against the table, squeezing my eyes shut. I tried to control my breathing. It felt like a lifetime of agony but it was probably less than five minutes when I was able to open my eyes again. My stomach was twisted and I knew I was going to somehow clean up the vomit before someone else walked in.

Slowly, I stood up from my chair and pulled my shirt over my head, careful to step around the mess and then wipe it up with my shirt, tossing the dirty cloth in the corner of the room to be hidden from view. My breath came out in jagged breaths, like I would get sick again at any moment.

"Daddy?"

I looked up to see Amira still standing in the same spot with her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes wide and watery with fear. I wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine and that this was for a good cause. Almost immediately, I felt my body going numb and I was forced to lay down on the floor.

A heavy feeling deadened my limbs and made my tongue feel like paste. A light tingling feeling made its way through my body and it slowly turned into an itch. The itch quickly transitioned into a burn and it felt as if my veins were on fire. It increased more and more and I was unable to handle the pain. I gritted my teeth together to keep myself from screaming out.

My hands formed into fists and I felt myself throwing my body forward. I threw myself back only to throw myself forward again. I was sweating everywhere and I felt as if I had just gotten out of a pool. My breathing quickened and the skin on my face began to crawl. I wanted to claw at my skin and stop all of this. I kept thrashing about and my clothes were drenched. My ribs ached and my entire body was in flames. I was able to feel my brain remodeling itself; replacing false memories with true. They all seemed to come into my brain at once, bombarding and overwhelming me. The pain was too excruciating and it was only getting worse by the second.

I threw my head back against the floor and screamed.

• • •

I stood off to the side with a bright smile on my face as she examined the different fruits and vegetables sitting in front of her. The shopping cart was still empty because she kept putting stuff in there only to take them back out a few moments later. She reached up to her face, readjusting the oxygen mask and turning around to face me.

"This was and still is a bad idea," I teased, reaching forward and running my thumb along the only part of her fact that was exposed—her chin. "I told you we could've ordered a pizza instead. We've been in here for nearly an hour and you still don't know what you're going to cook. The cart is empty. That should tell you something."

She tossed a green pepper into the cart, "Ha! It's not empty anymore."

"Pizza," I whispered under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Pizza," I repeated and attempted to circle around her before nearly tripping over my own two feet.

She frowned, "We...We can't order a pizza! I want to cook. After all, these are your parents, Lucas. If I don't make a good first impression, then they won't like me and they'll turn into those people who always talk badly about me behind my back whenever they get the chance. It's already bad enough we live together and your parents still don't know about me."

"But I already talk badly about you to your face."

"Stop it!" she attempted to punch me but I caught her fist and held it close to my chest. "I just want tonight to be special, you know? It's not everyday I meet your parents for the first time."

"My parents like pizza."

"Yeah, but—"

"Gwen," I grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. "You're overthinking this. My parents are going to love you just as I do. It's just food. We could have just salad and they would be pleased."

She closed her mouth and looked back at the shopping cart for a few moments, "Are you sure because I know I can come up with something—"

"Babe," I frowned.

"Right, right, I'm sorry. Pizza it is, then, but I'm blaming you if they don't like it."

"Deal."

• • •

"Walker, first name?"

The young midwife looked at Gwen for an answer but she was too busy focusing on the pain to answer.

"Gwen," I answered for her, frowning and rubbing my own hand up and down Gwen's back with a supportive touch.

"Are we comfortable here?" Megan asked, looking around the somewhat small hospital room as she continued to braid her daughter's hair to the back and adjusting the mint colored paper gown around her shoulders.

"Y-Yeah, everything's fine, Mom." Gwen breathed out, hooking her arms around my neck and placing her chin to my shoulder with a heavy sigh.

"How far are we now?" Megan looked at the midwife, glancing at the beeping monitor and trying to understand the numbers blinking on the screen with a small frown.

"Not much longer. The contractions are spaced out and Gwen is a bit too anxious to proceed with any pushing right now," she explained, picking up the maternity care notes and flipping through them, preparing for the coming steps.

"My water broke a while ago, and I think my contractions are seven or eight minutes apart. So, what's stopping this child?" Gwen groaned, nuzzling into the crook of my neck and breathing deep into the flesh around there.

"Do you want to walk around?" I offered. "Maybe that can help move things along or be a good distraction?"

"Your husband is right, a little walk around the room can help. Either that, or we might have to fully induce you. The painkillers will soon enough wear out."

"I want this baby out," she drawled out, crying a little and lips trembling from the pain.

"Hey," I rubbed her back. "Look on the bright side of things. Before this day is over, our baby girl will be here and I already thought of a name for her."

"I thought we were going to...to wait until she got here to think of names." Gwen managed to say, groaning and tightening her arms around me.

"Oh, I couldn't help it. The name means princess and it fits her perfectly because she'll be our little princess."

"What's the name?" Megan asked, looking at me with an arched eyebrow.

"Amira," I said with a proud smile.

• • •

Gwen paced back and forth in the waiting room, constantly tucking her hair behind her ears and swearing under her breath. I sat down with Amira on my lap, the two of us watching her freak out. She stopped when she caught us looking and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Lucas, what the hell are we doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean? You were the one who said volunteering for this project could change Amira's future for the better, a future that we can't give her."

"I know, I know," she sighed. "But this is insane and I thought you would have talked me out of it. Do you not remember what I said? We could d—"

"Not in front of her." I quickly said, referring to the little girl on my lap who was clearly listening to everything we were saying. "I know it's hard but you have to think about this. They've offered a safe home for Amira while we're away and chances are they'll let her stay even after we're done with the operation."

"But we won't remember her or much of anything else, for that matter." Gwen whispered, her voice breaking and her eyes filling with tears. "What kind of mother volunteers to forget her own child?"

"Don't say that," I tightened my arms around Amira and kissed the side of her head. "Our hearts will remember her. Think about her future, Gwen. Our world is corrupted and this place is the only place that can save her. We don't have much of a choice, now do we?"

She wiped her eyes and looked away, "No, I guess we don't. I just wish we had more time. Who knows how long we're going to be away? Who's to say she'll even remember us if we come back?"

"When we come back," I corrected her.

"Lucas, there's something I need to tell you before they call us back there."

"Okay," I raised my eyebrows. "What is it?"

"There's a second part and I volun—"

She was interrupted by the sound of heels clicking against the floor and we both looked in the direction of the noise. A tall woman with brown skin and hazel eyes approached us, red lipstick staining her lips and her hair pulled back in a tight bun. A black suit covered her body and she smiled, looking at Gwen, then Amira, and then at me.

"My name is Bria," she widened her smile. "And you must be the Walkers."

• • •

I woke up to the sound of the door sliding open and I looked over to my side. Gwen was still fast asleep and unaware of the noise. Gradually, I sat up and leaned over to turn on the lamp. Bria stood at the end of the bed with her eyes wide. Something was clearly bothering her and she was eager to get it out for someone to hear.

"Bria?"

She shook her head and looked over at Gwen, "Not here. Follow me."

When she turned to leave, I carefully got out of bed and made sure Gwen was still sleeping before I left the room Dr. Stanley was currently keeping us in. I followed Bria down a narrow hallway, jogging to keep up with her speed.

"Is this about Amira?"

"Amira? No, no, I don't think you understand," she looked over her shoulder at me. "It's about all of you."

I stopped walking, "What are you talking about?"

"Dr. Stanley is a very smart man and known of you deserve what he has planned up his sleeve. If you survive the experiment, and I hope you will, he'll be hungry for more. He'll put you and your wife through more tests until your bodies can't take it anymore. Mr. Walker, going through with this is suicide. If you don't die from this, you will die from what else he has planned."

A lump formed in my throat, "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because I know of a way that can save your family," she whispered, pulling out an orange bottle from her pocket.

"Pills," I frowned.

"I have high hopes that you'll survive the first operation," she said. "When you come back to reality, you'll be confused because you won't remember anything from this world. These pills will help you regain your memories and I'll be able to help you and your family get out of here and get to safety."

"Why are you helping us?"

She blinked in surprise at my question and she sighed before looking away from me, "Because I wasn't able to save my brother. He died because I was too late. I couldn't help him but I can help you. Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth? I can save you. I'll give you the pills when the time is right. One for you and one for Gwen. And Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"When you remember, you'll know where to find me. See you soon."