Octopus’s Garden Holly Barbo
“Come on, Allie, wake up! Your fever’s broken. You’re out of time. We’ve got to get out of here. They plan to kill you! A girl with big dark eyes looked over her shoulder from the look-out position near the hallway. “Shh! Keep it down, Mitch! Get her upright. She’ll be worthless until she gets some fluid and one of those energy bars inside her.” He lifted the pale girl to the edge of the bed and propping her up, touched a glass of water to her lips. “Allison, take a sip. Open your eyes and look at me. I need you to pay attention.” The weak girl made a protesting sound but took a sip of water. Her eyelids fluttered. “Where am I?” Sensing his building impatience, the girl at the door whispered sharply, “Tell her and get her to eat the bar!” “All right, all right, Pilar!” Mitch returned his focus to Allie. “Listen now. I’ll tell you but not until you take a bite. The food will help you feel more like yourself.” With her eyes still closed, Allison chewed. “Answers now!”
“We’re in the medical research pod of Oceania Four, the Underwater Habitat west of California. They recruited a hundred and twenty of us to help the scientists find ways for humans to adapt to living and working for long periods of time underwater. Do you remember any of this?” Half of the bar eaten, and Allison was sitting up on her own. “Vaguely. It’s coming back. Keep talking.” “We came here to work in the labs. Our college debt would be forgiven and they guaranteed us research jobs.” “So... I got sick?” With one bar gone, Allie started on the second. She could focus now and glanced around the dimly lit room as she listened. “We all did. It turns out we’ve been guinea pigs for their gene manipulation experiments.” “Oh shit. Give me the bottom line.” Allison slipped off the bed and onto her feet. Shaking, she reached for the glass of water and a third of the highly efficient power bars.
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