The Orphanage: Mikey (musc)
by Jaypat
Mikey held his lucky ball cap to his head as he ran through the woods as fast as he could. He had to get away from there. He had to hurry. Already he could hear the dogs barking and the men shouting. They were after him. He thought about climbing a tree, but with the dogs that wouldn’t work. There was a small river a little ways from here. If only he could get there before the dogs. Dogs couldn’t follow you if you waded down a river. He’d seen that once in a movie.
A movie, ha! This whole thing seemed like a movie. The place he’d been living in was a sham! He remembered when they moved him there from the orphanage when he was 12 years old. They said he was getting too old to be adopted, that this place was created for kids like him. Yeah right! Kids who had no families, no one who would ask questions.
It was dark, but lucky for him there was a full moon and it gave him enough light to see by. This far out in the country there was no other source of light, no nothing. He guessed that’s why they chose it. Sure, it seemed great when he first got there; lots of space to run and play, trees to climb, rivers to fish in. And it was a big old house they all lived in. Mikey had even had his own room, but then all the medical exams had started. They said it was just to keep them healthy but they were always pinching him and prodding him and taking blood and giving him shots and making him lie quietly inside big old machines for hours on end. He wasn’t stupid. This went way beyond keeping them healthy.
Then just three months ago, the “vitamin shots” had started. Mikey didn’t like those at all. He felt woosey for hours each time he got one. Finally he’d had enough. He hadn’t showed up for the last one. He’d hidden. Sure they had looked for him but they couldn’t find him. He’d chosen the best hiding spot possible. Right in side Mr. Gibson’s office. They’d never suspect he was there. There was an empty cabinet inside the credenza just big enough to hold him. That’s where he was hiding when Mr. Gibbons had come in with Dr. Myers.
“What are we looking at, Myers?” asked Mr. Gibson. “How far along is he?”
“He’s fully processed. Almost all of the boys here are.”
“And he had his last shot when?” Dr. Myers flipped through some papers.
“Four days ago, right on schedule.”
“You sure he had it?”
“Of course. If not… well, if not, we’d have known by now.”
“So, how long before this becomes a problem?”
“I’d say we have another twelve hours.”
“Then what?”
“If he doesn’t get his shot by then, I’d say we’re looking at a full cascade reaction.”
“We can’t let that happen, Myers.”
“I’m well aware of that, sir.”
“That boy has to be found and found now.”
“We’ve got everybody on it; even his friends are looking for him.”
“His friends? You sure they don’t already know where he is?”
“Yes, Sir. It appears he didn’t tell anyone what he was planning to do.”
“Kids, they’re so damn unpredictable.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’ve always felt experimenting on them was a mistake.”
“With respect, Sir, there are just some problems animal research can’t solve.”
“I understand that. It’s just…”
“Yes, sir?”
“Nevermind. Just find the boy before we have a real incident on our hands.”
Then Dr. Myers had left.
Mikey had stayed frozen in his hiding place for hours, long after Mr. Gibson had left his office. He could hear the dogs barking in the distance. He’d always wondered why there were so many guards and dogs here. Now he knew and he was terrified. They had been experimenting on him for years, on all of them! What had they done? He’d only understood a little of what they had said, but it was enough to convince him that he had to get out of there as fast as he could, and not just for his own sake, for all of his friends, too. Someone had to be told.
As soon as night had fallen, Mikey had crept out of the credenza and made for the office window. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance getting out through any of the doors. He looked out at the empty silent grounds before he opened the window and climbed out. He jumped down and headed straight for the garden wall. If he could just get over it, he would be home free; nothing between him and about thirty miles of woods. They’d never catch him.
As Mikey crept towards the wall, he began to feel a strange sensation building inside him. It was kind of like the pins and needles he felt whenever his arm or leg fell asleep, but not so strong. He guessed it was just due to being crammed inside a cabinet all day, and he didn’t think anymore about it.
The garden wall was easy to climb. He’d done it dozens of times. Of course never in the dark. But there were lots of craggy stones and heavy old vines that made great hand and foot holds; plus the moonlight almost made it as easy to climb as if it had been broad daylight. But just as he reached the top, a flashlight beam hit him.
“It’s him!” came the shout, and Mikey just let himself fall off the wall to the hard ground on the other side. His ball cap fell off, but the fall didn’t hurt near as much as he expected and he hopped up, grabbed his lucky cap and started running as fast as his legs would carry him.
And now the river was in front of him. He couldn’t believe he’d run so far so quickly. But just as his goal was in sight, he began to feel his body give out. His knees became weak and he just couldn’t seem to catch his breath. Monster size butterflies were swarming in his stomach; and he began to feel dizzy and nauseous.
His baseball cap flopped to the ground as Mikey dropped to his hands and knees and tried to throw up, thinking it might help him feel better. But nothing was coming up. He guessed it would have helped if he had had some dinner.
And as he knelt there retching, bent over and supported by his hands, he began to feel that pins and needles sensation again, only this time much stronger and all over his body. As he looked down at his hands and forearms, he began to see the flesh writhe and pulse all over them. At first, he thought it was his eyes playing tricks on him, a side effect of no food and a lot of running. But it only took him a moment to realize it wasn’t. It was real. The next leap was obvious. This had something to do with those experiments.
Mikey became instantly terrified. What was happening to him? What had they done to him? He stared wide-eyed and unblinking at his hands and forearms pulsed and shifted. It looked like his fingers and the rest of his bones were actually getting longer and wider. He saw the sinews in his previously smooth forearm rise up under his skin and thicken into hard cords of muscle. What the fuck was going on?
Sharp pains erupted in his feet. He turned over, sat down and yanked off his shoes, not even bothering to unlace them. His socks were stretching themselves thin over his swelling feet. He ripped them off and watched as his feet grew larger and heavier. What the fuck was happening to him? What the fuck was he going to do?
He tried to stand up. It took him a couple of tries with his huge hands and feet, but eventually he pulled himself up. And while he was doing it, he became aware of other changes in his body. He could feel it happening, under his shirt, under his skin; his body was getting thicker, denser, and heavier. And when he finally made it to his feet, there was no doubt, he was taller, too.
And that’s when the dogs found him. The lead dog leapt at him, snarling. Mikey didn’t even think about it. His hand just shot out and grabbed the dog by the throat. It took a second for his synapses to process what had just happened. He had just snatched an attacking Doberman pinscher right out of the air and was holding it suspended by its throat. In shock and surprise he tossed the dog away and heard it wine as it collided with a tree. None of the other dogs were attacking they were all holding their ground snarling and barking. But Mikey knew if he moved they’d come at him.
Suddenly he saw the darting beams of flashlights approaching from behind the dogs. One of them hit him. “Ok, hold it right there, son.” Mikey was caught. Or was he? Suddenly he leapt straight up. It’s not like he thought about it first, he just did it. He must have jumped twenty feet straight up into the air and on to a tree branch. Holy fuck! He sat there for a minute looking down at the guards who were hitting him with their flashlights. One of them pulled out his walkie-talkie and spoke into it. “We found him, sir.”
“And…?” came the voice of Mr. Gibson from the other end.
“It looks like cascade has started.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“Then take him down, quickly!”
Suddenly Mikey found a dozen rifles with laser sights aimed right at him. With out wasting a second he leapt to the next tree and then the next one and the next one, quickly leaving the scurrying guards behind him hopelessly floundering in the underbrush. He had to get away, away from the guards, away from the dogs, and away from the guns. He was running on adrenalin, not thinking, just running. He dropped to the ground, about thirty feet down, and landed on his haunches. It didn’t hurt at all and that was wrong. He should have broken every bone in his body. But he was stronger now, a lot stronger; he could feel it, and he liked it; it felt good. He stood up and suddenly he realized he hadn’t stopped changing yet. He was still growing, very slowly now, but still growing, growing all over. His pant legs had traveled half way up his lower legs exposing his calf muscles. But that was wrong, too. He didn’t have calf muscles, well at least none to speak of. He had never been a particularly developed teen, at least before. But now he was. He looked down at his ripped forearms and his eyes followed them up to his bis and tris. He flexed and watched his upper arms bulge outward and pull his shirt sleeves tight around them. He had power in his arms now. He could feel it. Suddenly the changes no longer scared him, they excited him. How far would this go?
He heard the dogs coming and he leapt back up into the tree. It wasn’t a panic maneuver this time, so he was able to enjoy the trip; the feel of his powerful legs launching him skyward, the rush of the air as he shot upward, and the amazing speed and grace with witch he was able to grab the tree branch and swing himself on to it.
From his new vantage point he could see the dancing flashlight beams making their way toward him. He could also see the river and beyond it, freedom. It was tempting to just get away from here, but another plan was forming in his mind now. He had left a lot of friends back at the orphanage, friends who were now unwilling pawns of the powers-that-be. They were virtual prisoners there, somehow altered as he was, and they didn’t even know it. Well, Mikey was going back there now. After all, it would be the last thing they’d expect him to do. He was going back to save his friends, and to show them what they’d all become… that is, once he figured it out for himself.