{"id":762,"date":"2019-06-06T02:40:08","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T02:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/?post_type=portfolio_page&p=762"},"modified":"2019-06-06T02:40:08","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T02:40:08","slug":"aftermath-of-the-unified-tech-explosion","status":"publish","type":"portfolio_page","link":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/portfolio_page\/aftermath-of-the-unified-tech-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"Aftermath of the Unified Tech Explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]1.1<\/p>\n

Darkness.<\/p>\n

Choking on searing smoke.<\/p>\n

<Can\u2019t see.><\/em><\/p>\n

Screams of pain everywhere.<\/p>\n

<So hot. What\u2019s on my chest? Concrete?><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHey! Over here! There\u2019s someone here!\u201d<\/p>\n

<Can\u2019t move.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, help me with this. Stay with me, ma\u2019am. We need to get this concrete off you.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Huh. I was right. Can\u2019t laugh. No ribs intact.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJesus, she\u2019s been shot! Get the crash cart over here now!\u201d<\/p>\n

<No. Let me be. I\u2019ll bleed out soon.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCan you get a pulse?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s weak and thready, but it\u2019s there. Come on, let\u2019s try to \u2026 holy shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know who this is. Oh my God, I know who this is. We need to move her now.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Damn. I can\u2019t go anywhere without being recognized.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cContact the surgical team and tell them to meet us. If we let her die, he\u2019ll kill us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s in pieces!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can be rebuilt! Most of her is metal anyway!\u201d<\/p>\n

<Shit. This isn\u2019t what I planned. I\u2019m not supposed to be alive. Let go of me, dammit!><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.2<\/p>\n

Voices drifting in and out of her nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s fucking inhuman. There\u2019s no way a normal person would have survived that. Just the blast alone should have killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n

<I can hear you, dickhead.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou think she\u2019ll pull out of the coma?\u201d<\/p>\n

<Coma? What the fuck?><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor our sake, I hope so. He\u2019s been pacing around here for six months now. If she doesn\u2019t pull out of this, we won\u2019t have time to resign. He\u2019ll kill us. Or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Who the hell is \u2018he?\u201d><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes she have any more surgeries lined up?\u201d<\/p>\n

<Wait. Did you say six months?><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNope. The last one was three days ago. If she\u2019ll wake up, he wants her to begin physical and mental rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Oh no, I know what that means. Fuck that.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need to be sure she isn\u2019t brain damaged. That car that hit her cracked her skull.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Car? I don\u2019t remember a car.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe said in another week we can start bringing her back up. He wants her moved to SABRE no later than the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus. She\u2019s in for hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

<SABRE? The fuck is that?> <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou think she\u2019ll make it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legends I hear about her? Yeah, she\u2019ll be find. If she can walk again, she\u2019ll be a mindless assassin before you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Nonononono not again\u2026><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.3<\/p>\n

Flashes of nightmares So much pain.<\/p>\n

<I need to wake up. I need to wake up and get out of here. I don\u2019t want to be a machine. Not again.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cReady to flush her system?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

<Flush who? What?><\/em><\/p>\n

Feeling edging back into her arms \u2026 her legs \u2026 pain increasing with every second \u2026 the wounds from the bullets still agonizing\u2026<\/p>\n

<My name is Kerry Sheridan.><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure this won\u2019t kill her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTruth? No. But he says do it, so we do it. Hit the switch as soon as her brain waves register consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. You gonna give the poor bitch something to bite on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something slides between her teeth. She can taste the leather.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoc, her heart rate just jumped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s regaining consciousness. Get ready\u201d<\/p>\n

<Oh God, no \u2026 my name is Kerry Sheridan \u2026 my name is Kerry Sheridan!><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHit it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She screams around the leather bit, her body rigid, wracked with pain.<\/p>\n

<NOOOOOOOOOOO!><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIncrease the current. Five minutes, no longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is crazy! She\u2019ll die!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShut the fuck up and do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

More pain. Her entire body burns. She can\u2019t move. She can\u2019t fight. After a couple of minutes, she couldn\u2019t even scream.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough. Turn it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pain stops. Her body twitches uncontrollably, her muscles still feeling the agony of the current. Someone gently pries her jaw open and removes the bit, replacing it with a cool sip of water.<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy, small sips. There you go. Can you open your eyes for me?\u201d<\/p>\n

She coughs, takes one more sip of water, and opens her eyes. The man leaning over her looks friendly, his glasses sliding just to the end of his nose. He smiles at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you are, sweetheart. You\u2019ve been through quite an ordeal. Can you tell me your name?\u201d<\/p>\n

She thinks, but nothing comes to her. It\u2019s even hard to put words in the right order.<\/p>\n

She focuses, and manages to say, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiles at her again, and lightly pats her hand. \u201cIt\u2019s all right. You\u2019ve been badly hurt. We\u2019re going to give you a shot for the pain, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

She thinks she nods; her muscles aren\u2019t doing what her mind wants them to do. She feels the sting of the needle, and the man smiles again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay. Just relax, and let the Scorpion sting you to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wants to ask what that means, but she can\u2019t. Her eyes close and she\u2019s pulled into sleep.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]1.1 Darkness. Choking on searing smoke. <Can\u2019t see.> Screams of pain everywhere. <So hot. What\u2019s on my chest? Concrete?> \u201cHey! Over here! There\u2019s someone here!\u201d <Can\u2019t move.> \u201cCome on, help me with this. Stay with me, ma\u2019am. We…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","portfolio_category":[],"portfolio_tag":[57,56],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_page\/762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_page"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio_page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"portfolio_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_category?post=762"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leighgrissom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_tag?post=762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}