The Seven by Sean Patrick Little Page B

said Indigo. "We got Posey. We escaped the Home."
    "We haven't escaped anything yet," said John. "In fact, we're going to be in trouble soon."
    "How?" said Indigo.
    "Food," said John. "I know you don't eat much, Indigo, and maybe that's a side-effect of your power or something, but the rest of us need to consume a lot of protein and carbs to be able to fuel up. No food means we're going to be weak as kittens in this tunnel."
    "I can get us food," said Holly. "But it won't be pretty unless we can cook it."
    "Trapped like rats," said Indigo. She flopped backward against the wall and slid to a sitting position. John followed suite, and Holly knelt beside Posey and held her head. Posey was still slick and slimy with the serum from the tank. Holly could feel goosebumps on her arms.
    "We should have brought a blanket for Posey," said Holly. "She's still naked and I think she's cold." John tugged his sweatshirt off and handed it over.
    "This is the warmest thing I packed," he said. "I don't really get cold. I think it's part of my gene programming."
    Indigo rooted in her backpack and came up with an oversized hooded sweatshirt of her own. "I got this."
    Sarah took off her plain denim jacket. "She can have this. It's not much. I might have a pair of trackpants, too." She rooted in her duffel until she came up with a pair of insulated black vinyl pants.
    Holly took all of the proffered items and began to dress Posey. She tugged the pants on, and then draped her naked torso with the sweatshirts and jacket. She didn't pull them over her head for fear of causing so much pain that Posey would awaken again. After dressing Posey, Holly laid her down on her side and spooned up behind her, draping an arm over Posey and trying to hold her close enough to share heat.
    "So now we wait?" asked Sarah.
    "Until we figure out something else to do," said Indigo.
    The tunnel became quiet and Holly began to feel sleepy. She yawned. John was looking at her.
    "Go to sleep," he whispered. His whisper was as loud as a shout in Holly's ears. "I'll stay up. I want to watch the yard, anyway. Maybe I can figure out a way to get us out of here."
    "Yeah, like sleep is even possible right now with a battalion of soldiers looking for us."
    "You exaggerate," said John. "It's not a battalion. It's maybe a fifth of a battalion, maybe less."
    "It's enough," said Holly. "It's probably more than enough."
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Andy couldn't believe what he was feeling. If he was undergoing even a fraction of the pain that Posey was undergoing, he could understand why she screamed. Under his skin, his muscles were expanding, rolling, churning like wild animals. His biceps rippled and the skin of his arms stretched like the bicep was going to rip through it. He was sweating and the sweat was oily and gave off a thick, foul odor that made him gag when he accidentally breathed in through his nose.
    His jeans tore open at the calf and the thigh. His shirt bulged and stretched until it ripped along the seams. The copper button that fastened his jeans at the waist popped off and ricocheted off one of the walls. The neckband of his shirt became so tight that it threatened to strangle him. He reached up and tried to slip a finger beneath it, but his fingers had swelled so much that they were almost useless. He tensed his neck; rolling waves of pain shot through his body and the neckband tore open. Andy could feel tears rolling down the corners of his eyes and he shook with sobs that he stubbornly refused to vocalize.
    Dr. Cormair crawled over to Andy's side. He reached into his pocket and produced a jet-spray hypo. "This is a sedative. It will not put you to sleep. You have too much mass and muscle for this to affect you like it once did. It should ease your pain, though. It might also make it difficult for you to move." Andy felt the cold metal of the hypo touch his neck and a slight pulse as the fluids were released into his system. In moments, the pain in his