The Cursed Pandemic

"Even with all of us...I'm not sure we could get anyone out." Amelia says honestly. There were dozens of anti-para soldiers, and those were just the ones they could see.
"We have to! We have to!" Mini wailed. "They're suffering!"
Ame bent down, gathering Mini in her arms. "Well, we found it. Only its hell, not haven." She scoffs. "C'mon...we should go before we get spotted."
 
Locke looked back at the horrible camp. They needed to find a way to stop this. He could tell Mini was upset. He put a hand over her hands, and looked at her with sad eyes. "We wont be able to end their suffering if we die before we save them. We'll find a way though. I promise." The group was silent as the began their long drive back home.
 
Texas nodded solemnly as the group relayed what had happened and what they had found. "So haven is a concentration camp, huh? Wow...i...i had heard such places existed but....on that sort of scale." Texas took off his hat, running a hand through his hair. "As much as I hate that such a place exists....i don't know if we have the people or resources to rescue them without mass casualties."
 
"Maybe... we don't have to." Locke spoke up as everyone had their heads hung low in sorrow. "When you think about it, this is just like World War 2 right now. A whole demographic of people, unjustly persecuted by extremists. But if the rest of the world found out, they'd be outraged. They'd take action."

"What are you saying there, Torchy?" Flint asked

"I'm saying we take a covert squad over there and collect evidence, photos, video, anything we can to prove that this exists and we take it to the media. We show the world how inhumanely our kind is treated, and we build up support so that we can fight back." Locke said, determination in his eyes. He'd spent a long time on the ride home thinking about what to do, and he wasn't going to waste an opportunity like this.
 
"It's a nice thought torchy, but people hate us...they are terrified of us. Even if they were bothered by the camp, why would they help us?" Amelia asks.
 
"That's the thing, we need to build sympathy. Need to show them that we're more like the common people then they realize. It'll be slow, but this is the perfect opportunity. People will lose their minds when they see this atrocity." Locke declares.
 
"Maybe." Texas nods. "How do you recommend going about getting that footage, Locke? From what I hear you guys couldn't get that close because of the number of guards and the amount of security."
 
"Well our vantage point was good enough for some photos of the facility itself. Getting inside, that'll be tricky. It might require a couple of us going undercover. I can probably burn through one of the gates and get in, the we lay low and gather what evidence we can for a few days. Hell it's my idea, I'll go in alone. You guys shouldn't have to suffer through that because of my id-" He was suddenly interrupted by a hand over his mouth.
 
Ame glared at him, her hand covering his mouth. "You're an idiot if you think you're going in alone. You wouldn't survive by yourself."
She looked at the others. "We should keep the group small for less chance of discovery. We also need the kind of surveillance equipment that's small and easily hidden but will transmit the data back to you guys for immediate surveillance and use."
Texas nods. "We have equipment like that from previous raids...but are you sure you two are up for this. If you go in...you may never come out."
Ame glared at her knees. "I know what its like to be caged and tortured with no hope of escape. If we can do something for them...then yeah...its worth it to me."
 
He stared at her for a moment, genuinely touched that she'd offered to go in with him. It was only when Locke saw her expression, filled with pain and anguish, that he understood. She'd been trapped in a place like that before. He nodded and turned his head to Texas. "We'll be ready by first light tomorrow. We'll need someone to head with us there so they can take the truck back and avoid suspicion."

Claire volunteered for that job, being the other person who'd seen the camp herself. Texas nodded in agreement and the meeting was adjourned. Leaving the two of them alone again. He looked at Ame, still staring at her knees. He put out a comforting hand on her knee, his eyes filled with care as she looked at him. "You can always back out if the memories get too painful. I'll understand."
 
Ame nodded, quiet for a long moment as she stared at the fire in the fireplace. "My dad....he sold me to an experimentation facility when I was 5 years old for a couple hundred dollars. I was there for 15 years. Half the gear they have now adays is because of me and...what they did." She looked over at him, the great pain apparent in her eyes and in the way she was hunched over as if trying to hide from the memories. "I swore...that...if I ever got out...I'd destroy them. Every last one. This job will help with that. I'm not backing out."
 
The pain made his heart ache, he'd only known this girl for slightly over a week and yet in his heart he felt closer to her than he had to any other being in his life. He got out of his chair and wrapped her body in a warm hug. Despite her awkward position, he found a way to make it comfortable for them both. "We'll destroy them, I promise you that, but don't lose yourself to vengeance along the way. I've lost too many friends to those bastards and their crimes. I cant lose you too."
 
Ame stiffens at the hug, but as he speaks she loosens slightly, a tear rolling down her cheek.
*****
Claire wishes them good luck as she drops Locke and Amelia off a mile from the camp. Neither of them had anything but the clothes on their back and audio/camera nano-transmitters hidden in their hair. They were half a mile away and Amelia had begun to tremble slightly. Why had she agreed to this? What if they got trapped here and couldn't get out. They'd planned to stay a total of 2 weeks and rescue as many captives as they could at that point...but there was no guarentte they would succed.
 
He looked over to her, saw this poor girl trembling and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be with you the whole time. Now's the last chance to back out if it's too much though."
 
Amelia nodded. "I'm fine. Let's do this."
***************

The two let themselves get "captured" as planned. Unfortunately, what they hadn't planned on were Para-inhibitors. Thick metal and gold collars that were fastened around their necks. Ame's body nearly went into shock as hers first activated. She fell to the ground, gasping and writhing as her body's stored sun-stored energy was force-ably dispersed by the collar, leaving her with only her body's natural energy. Locke's ability was deadened in a similar fashion and he hadn't realized just how much fire potential he was carrying until it was suddenly completely gone.

The two were forced into the compound with naught but the clothes on their backs and a thin blanket to keep off the cold. Ame's skin had darkened till she almost looked African-American, as if that had been her original color. "You're on your own for finding a bed. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone who's died and take theirs." The guard sneered at them as he forced them through the final of 3 gates.
 
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Locke was almost carrying Ame to the barracks that they would call home for the next couple of weeks. Her body was completely drained, her skin almost black, and it looked like she was barely retaining consciousness. He dragged her with all of his strength into the cramped hovel, filled with nothing but cots. A kind man, middle aged, saw the condition that Ame was in, and offered his bed to her. Locke gently laid her down and held her hand as she struggled for each ragged breath.

The man's name was Paul, his power was super speed. His body had underwent a similar experience when his collar had been put on him. "We'll take good care of her, make sure the guards give her time to adjust to life without her powers. With luck, they'll stick her with manual labor like they did with me. It's the easiest living you can make in this god-forsaken place."

They were left alone the first night. Served some sort of slop that Locke helped spoon-feed to Ame, she grumbled but wasn't strong enough to feed herself currently. The next day, guards came for Locke. They beat him for asking why he was needed. Paul assured him, that he'd look after Ame as Locke was getting dragged away. The next thing he remembered was being strapped into a chair as his inhibitor was taken off of his neck. He tried to break free of his restraints but all he succeeded in doing was burning his hands, he hadn't even noticed that his gloves were removed.

Then the experiments started. The last thing he remembered was agonizing pain before he lost consciousness. They were testing the effects of his powers on modern tech, looking for a way to create the perfect para fighting armor. They needed him alive so they threw his body into a vat of various chemicals constructed from the remnants of healing para's. His burns healed, but the pain had only begun.
 
"WE HAVE TO PULL THEM OUT!" A Para named Courtney screams at Texas. She'd volunteered to be part of the team combing through the footage, edit it and put it out on the web for the world to see. They'd only been there 5 days and the suffering they'd been through was more than enough to make a grown man cry.
"We don't have the resources to yet, Courtney." Texas replied with a sad sigh. He rubbed his head.
"You're the most powerful Para around! Can't you use your gravity on the complex and rescue them!?" She demands.
"Don't be foolish, my dear." Claire says coming into the room. "Such an act would kill him."
"They're going to die if we don't do something!"
"We are doing something. Here, look." Texas sat her down at the desk and showed her the website that had been set up to gather followers. "There are 40,000 non-para's watching and rising in fury. They're sending in money by the hundreds to help us. And this other number...200 other para's are also promising their support for when we're ready to go after the camp. They are already gathering in the city less than a days drive from the camp."
"Are we joining them?" She demands.
"Yes, of course. Me, Shannon, Shadow and maybe two other people will be going. Flint and Claire will be in charge while we're gone."
"I'll go!" Courtney volunteers herself.
"I'm afraid your skills with technology will not be of much use in a fight...but what you're doing right now...getting support...that's just as important. Alright?" Texas pats her back as she nods. Claire taps him on the back of the shoulder. He stands and follows her to a private corner.
"You sure you're up for this, Texas?" Claire asks, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Of course. Why?"
She points to his nose and Texas reaches up. A thin line of blood was dripping down. He pulls out an already bloodied hanky and wipes it. He smiles at her kindly. "I'm alright, Claire. Right now...we need to save those kids. No matter what."
**********************************
Day 10
Amelia sat next to Locke as he recovered from another round of torturous experimentation. Her skin was still dark but she was no longer in extreme agony from the lack of sunlit energy. They'd put her to work in the mines, a better job than being experimented on, but one that wore on her and her limited energy. Her bright, often violently shining eyes now shone dully. She'd looked for every possible means of escape and had found none. Her hope that they would survive this was fading. Seeing Locke suffer as she had those 15 years was near unbearable as well. He was too bright, too innocent, too kind to be suffering like this...and she was helpless to save him. She straightened, coming out of her thoughts as he seemed to stir. She couldn't smile right now, but at least she could keep the hopelessness from showing...for now.
 
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He couldn't remember much after the first round of experiments, his moments of true consciousness were mere moments, a bath in liquid one moment, Amelia hovering over him the next. When he finally awoke in that bed, he felt numb, but he cried tears of joy because the pain had finally stopped. He could only move his head slightly to see Ame sitting next to him. "Ame? Where am I?" His voice was more of a whimper but it took all the energy he had.
 
"Camp medical bay." Ame says, glancing around. "They uh...they nearly killed you this time. Someone convinced them to let you rest a couple days. She takes his hand, holding it firmly. "I'm sorry...I still haven't found a way out for us yet."
 
"I can't remember anything after day 1. Its all just... flashes... and pain. The fucking pain Ame... its too much." His whimper had turned into sobbing as he found himself curling into a ball to try and make himself smaller. "How long has it been? Someone has to have sent help by now right?....Right?" Their eyes met, his pleading for any sort of hope that they could escape this madness.
 
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