Blood Bourbon

Test Tubes

The only thing out of the norm with the schedule the next day, was that after his round of testing and blood drawing, Daryl was returned to his room and given something extra in his IV. It was a small needle that was inserted through the tube and into his system but judging by the fact that it was one of the scientists that gave it to him, Daryl knew it was different.

They watched him for long enough that the sedative had begun to dull his awareness, though he felt a distinct burning sensation within himself. It wasn't nearly as bad as Treatments but his body reacted to it enough that he threw up several times before the reactions subsided. When the reaction finally started to fade away, the scientists frowned at him and walked out of the room without saying much. Wyona, looked particularly unimpressed, as if she blamed him for whatever went wrong.

Daryl barely managed to pull out his IV line before drifting into a fitful sleep, finding himself woken constantly by sounds that were far louder than they should be. He was exhausted by the time the nurse came to do rounds, but he had thankfully heard the woman walking down the hallway and put in the IV before she arrived. It was only after she checked him over and noted a few things on her sheet did he realize he could smell her better. Not just her perfume but the smell of her was more apparent than it had been before.

She shoved a glass of that damned meal replacement in his hand and walked out of the room without acknowledging that he was anything more than a piece of lab equipment for her to inspect.

They came for him earlier than normal, two Hunters clipping on the collar and roughly throwing him into a wheelchair, which he hadn't used in several days now. Both of them were tense, the one not pushing his chair walked beside him, gripping the end of the leash tightly. Her other hand rested on the butt of her gun.

They uncharacteristically stayed with him as the scientists came forward and drew several samples of blood, turning to their machines and computers with a fervent interest that was even more out of character.

"Are we done here?" The Hunter beside him asked, her body tense as she watched the scientists with annoyance.

"Ah... one moment." Wynona muttered, watching something on her screen. "There! His body didn't reject it."

"I could have told you that." The male Hunter who was on his other side muttered, glaring down at him.

"Oh darn." Wynona muttered, drawing Daryl's gaze back to her, seeing her frowning in confusion at the screen. "It wasn't rejection we were seeing before, but...manipulation. His body accepted certain parts of it... and seemingly discarded other parts. We have to run more tests to see what he managed to synthesize into his body."

Another scientist stepped up, frowning. "It discarded the parts we were trying to make it take."

"What does that mean?" The Hunters both hand their hands on their weapons, their expressions hard as the glared between the scientists and Daryl.

"Oh, we can probably fix it. We just need to refine our work a little more. Once the helicopter comes in the morning and we can head to the main land with our data and samples, we should be able to isolate it better. But... he's without the resistance to supernatural bites. We couldn't shut that part down in him, and it's highly unlikely he's found any benefit from the injection at all." Wyona paused, glancing to Daryl finally, giving him a frown. "How to you feel, Echo six nine?"

"Like shit. Ma'am." Daryl offered a shrug, glancing to his feet.

"Is anything weird today? Anything different than yesterday?"

Daryl paused, miming thought, sensing the Hunters on either side of him tensing. He had a sneaking suspicion that they would not be happy to know that he had improved physically. Daryl may have been tired, but he felt younger, more alive than he could remember feeling. "I feel hungry."

"Hmm.. Could be increased metabolism, or it could be due to how sick he was." The scientists continued talking as the Hunter's wheeled him out of the lab and back down the hallway. Above, he heard a metal door open, and smelled a warm rush of fresh air rush through the hallways. It smelled of sunshine and the ocean and it was everything he could do not to turn his face upwards towards it.

The two Hunters were quick to get rid of him, leaving him in his room after taking the collar off and putting his restraints on. As they were leaving, a nurse came in, hooking up his IV and dropping off another cup of meal replacement. "You're going to be given the day to rest, Echo Six Nine. I'll be in with your next meal."

"Thank you Sir." Daryl nodded, watching as the man turned and walked out of the room with barely a backwards glance. Lunch was a couple hours early, and supper should be about six hours away. He could hear people moving throughout the ship, though most were in beyond his ability to detect. He knew that moving in the day time would be hard but he didn't think he would be given this much time alone again.

He unhooked the IV, giving himself time to drink down the meal replacement, knowing it might be the last meal he managed to have. Then he set about trying to break out of his restraints. It was some sort of electronic pass code system, and whereas he had no clue how to hack into technology, he did know how to pick a lock. One of the various things his brother had taught him over the years, which he had been practicing on the restraints for the past few days. Using the needle from his IV, he toyed around with the fastening until he heard the click of it opening.

When the wrist restraint loosened, he pulled his hand out and did the same with the other one, pausing when he was done, waiting for some unknown alarm to go off and alert everyone that he was free.

He forced himself to move when no one came, sliding out of bed and tugging the blankets back up over it neatly, before turning off the machines that monitored him and then unhooking himself.

Daryl then listened hard at the door for several minutes, bracing himself, calming himself down and waiting to hear anyone in the hallway. When he was certain the coast was clear, he slipped out the door and moved quickly away from his room. He paused at one of the stair landings, frowning when he took in the evacuation sign on the boat. In case of emergency, everyone was told to go upwards, but according to the map, there was a water level dock several floors down, with boats.

He could hear people moving up above him, including Hunters, so, hedging his bets, he turned and started downwards, knowing he would have to pass the main lab on his way. Something about the idea of leaving behind everything they took from him sat the wrong in his mind. He knew he needed to try and get out quickly and without detection, but he didn't want to leave them with the ability to do what they had taken him for in the first place.

Daryl wrestled with those thoughts as he descended deeper into the ship. Escape or stop to sabotage what they had gained from him?