I remembered scheduling the appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed. I remember the mask being lowered over my nose and mouth. I remember the world slowly turning black.
I woke slowly, shook into consciousness. I tiredly tried to lift my hands.
Why can't I...
Looking down, I saw my right hand cuffed to a brown leather briefcase. I squinted my eyes, noting how my hands were chained together, and that that chain was tightly linked to the floor. I blinked hard a few times, almost returning to unconsciousness. I finally noticed the gag in my mouth and the sour taste that flooded my senses.
Where am I? What is-my phone.
The thought cut through clearly and I struggled to turn my hips to the left. I twisted for some time before I had managed to turn, becoming more alert by the time I had accomplished my feat. I took a moment to look around. The small space continued to shake rhythmically.
I must be on a train of some sort.
I raised my hand as far as I could, getting a few fingers into my pocket. My fingers felt around a sheet of a wrinkled paper and I managed to isolate the sheet in between my index and middle and pulled it out of my pocket.
A series of numbers, letters, and symbols were typed on the sheet, incomprehensible.
I began to slide, the chain holding me in place, as the train slowed. I heard shuffling outside the door before it opened.
Lights from the guards flashlights blinded me and one of them said, "She's awake. I'll grab the paper."
I tried to say something, but all that came out was a grunt.
"Be quiet."
The guard took the sheet and took some sort of scanner that had been hanging at her side and scanned in the code.
"Patient for Project Day 3 to Dr. V in Room 1127-E. Subject Code 23906," she spoke into the air.
"Confirmed," she said as she nodded to the other guard.
He bent down and stuck a syringe in my neck. The pain didn't last.
I woke up in a chair. Looking around, a bright light blinded me, and the darkened room around me was indistinguishable.
I blinked quickly, hoping to clear my vision.
The gag was gone but my throat was too dry to speak. The vague taste of blood filled my mouth, but I didn't feel any liquid.
I guess I just had blood from the surgery and it dried...
A door opened. I grunted.
"Now, calm down. Let's see who you are," a soothing, feminine voice said.
The bright light turned off and the room lights turned on.
A large, dark Indian woman stood next to the light switch, her large, black brimmed glasses pressed against her chubby face. She walked over to me. I tried to move my arms, but discovered they had been restrained to the seat.
"There's no need for that. Just calm down and we'll get you out of here soon," her voice echoed in the room.
I looked around. Several black walls contrasted with the white shelves, but the room was largely nondescript. The woman, who I assumed was Dr. V, stood next to me and unlocked the briefcase. She took out a manila folder and a thumb drive from inside.
She quickly flipped through the file and then said, "Ayomide Makena. That's an interesting name. Well, I'm going to have you moved into a better room for a basic exam. There is no need to be afraid."
She smiled softly, revealing a healthy set of straight, white teeth. I realized how big my eyes were and how heavy and quick my breathing had gotten. I tried to calm myself and tried to ask a question.
"Shhhh..." she said soothingly . "We'll get you some water after you've been moved and then you can ask any questions you may have."
She smiled again and then left the room for a short time. A few guards came in and picked up the entire chair and carried my through the facility. We went down a long concrete hallway, taking a few turns.
As we walked, the cold air cooled my head and woke me up a bit more. After Dr. V opened the door to a room, swiping her ID across a sensor outside, the guards put the seat down in there, and after Dr. V gave them her thanks, left. She went to get me a cup of water from a sink, putting down the file and thumb drive on the counter next to it.
Looking over to the right, I saw a tray with syringes, scalpels, and other medical instruments sitting on the table. They were covered in dried blood.
I felt my pulse quicken, but forced myself to remain calm.
She brought it over and undid the restraint on my left hand, the one with briefcase on it. She placed the water in my hand, and I slowly brought the cool drink to lips. I drank down the cold water completely and gratefully. Dr. V smiled again.
With all the strength a could muster, I brought the briefcase into a forceful contact with the doctor's head.
She fell back and I turned for the tray and scrambled for something sharp.
Dr. V, her face red and contorted in anger, had began to get up.
I took a stab, aiming for her eye. I missed.
As she rose, I deeply pierced and slashed through her throat, some of her warm blood spilling on my hand. She tried to let out a scream, but she seemed to be unable to.
After she fell back to the ground, she began to crawl across the floor, blood trailing under her. Choking on her own blood, she didn't last for long.
I quickly undid my other restraints, on both my legs and feet.
I went to the sink and ran water over my hands. The icy water didn't stop my shaking, and didn't help my breathing. Tears began to stream down my face as blood streamed into the sink.
I dried my hands and my face with a nearby cloth, still breathing erratically and shaking.
What is happening?
I went back to the sink and washed my face with the cold water. After drying my face again, a grabbed the file and the thumb drive, shoving the latter in my pocket.
The file opened to a picture of me; it was the picture that was printed on my Drivers License. My name and some basic medical info were typed on the page as well. I flipped through to the next page, my medical history. I flipped through, hoping to find some clues as to what was happening, and came across a page that read "{Confidential: Varnaj Only}" along the top.
Ignoring the stamp I read on.
"Ayomide Makena exhibited the desired mutation in the concerned genes and therefore has been selected for further experimentation in Project Day 3 under the supervision of you.
The subject has already exhibited increased aptitude in both physical and mental spheres. The nature of these expressions are explained further in her section of Project Day 1.
You are to experiment in the possibilities for improvement in the field of passive mental awareness, as was deemed necessary by the board overseeing Project D3. Control Group H will be used for comparison."
Is this why all those people kept-
A sudden knock on the door startled me.
"Dr. V ? Will you need any help with this patient?" someone asked.
I took a deep breath, and did the best I could to imitate the doctor's voice.
"No, thank you."
"You sound a bit weird. Are you sure everything is going all right?"
The knob on the door began to turn. I ran to behind where the door would close.
After opening the door, he gasped as he saw the body. Before he could scream, I had the handcuff chain around his neck and his head to my chest.
We struggled and moved around for a while, but eventually he stopped squirming. I stayed like that for a few more seconds and then let him onto the floor... into the blood of Dr. V.
I rolled him out of it, the outline of the chain reddening on his pale neck, and then proceeded to stick my hand in in the doctor's pocket. I took out the warmed key chain and looked for and then found a key fitting my handcuffs. After uncuffing myself, I shoved the keys in my pocket and ripped off V's ID card. I rubbed my sore wrists for a bit.
Going back to the bloody tray, I grabbed the largest and sharpest scalpel I could find and exited the room.
I went back in and put the folder and thumb drive back in the briefcase, and then headed back out. I looked to my left, and then my right.
I didn't see any doors that exit.
I headed to my right partially down the hallway and then turned right up another hallway.
No guards in sight so far...
I continued along my way up that way, heading towards the door at the end of the hallway which had a glass window which exited to a courtyard outside.
I ran to the door and, scanning Dr. V's ID on the sensor and hearing a click, pushed open the heavy door. Outside, crickets chirped and some birds sang, albeit in the distance. That noise was soon overpowered by the shout, "Subject Unconfined!!! Repeat Subject Unconfined at East to West Courtyard!!! East Side!!!"
My feet had begun rapidly hitting the pavement, as had his, before the message was complete. I sprinted what I assumed was West. I heard doors open and the commanding shout of "Non-lethal!!!", but I didn't bother to look back to see who was making sure my life was preserved for whatever "experimentation" these people had planned for me. I kept running.
A wire fence obstructed my path, but I quickly scaled it.
"Subject has passed Western barrier!!!"
"Do not engage!!!"
Why aren't they following?
I didn't have time to stop and ask though, so I just ran into the Western building, which had an open garage door as an entrance.
I hopped up some stairs two at a time, to the ground level of this side of the facility.
Bending over, I breathed in and out, letting oxygen replenish my body. I looked around in the dark room, only lit by the outside courtyard light. I noticed silhouettes waiting at the barrier. I looked along the ground and saw a flashlight back down the stairs in the garage area, where I assumed something had been parked at one time, although since the courtyard was enclosed, I didn't know what. I went back down the stairs and grabbed the light, hoping it would prove useful.
That is a generous barrier.
From the entrance to the West Wing to the fence was at least 70 feet.
I hesitated a moment before I turned on the flashlight and headed further in the facility.
As I approached the door, I looked around for anything that may help me in the garage. After scanning the room with the flash light, I found a circuit box. I flipped the circuits and the garage lit up.
Must go to the same generator as the other wing.
I heard shouting over at the fence and decided it was time to go in.
I unbolted the heavy door and went in, keeping it open behind me.
Inside, the hallway lights dimly lit the hallway, some of the fluorescent lights flickering.
This seems like the perfect setting for a horror story.
The walls were the same nondescript concrete, and the few black metal doors. I moved slowly down the dim hallway, listening for signs of life. As I passed and intersection I felt a breeze. I looked to either side. A large, rusted, metal fan was turning at the end of the hallway to my left.
How old is this place?
I shoved the ID into my pocket, and held the scalpel in one hand, and the flashlight in the other. I continued down the central hallway looking down every left and right hallway, seeing if there was another exit.
There doesn't seem to be anyone in here.
Something felt off, and I heard the creak of a door echo.
Shit.
I felt a surge of adrenaline as my heartbeat quickened. I turned left and headed down the hallway.
No doors are opening now. Or whatever that was.
The West groaned some more with another door opening.
At least I'll have an exciting death.
I ran down the hallway to the end, where another hallway extended back to the front and went further than middle hallway I had been travelling down. Looking back to the front, the direction to where the garage was, I saw a figure of a person.
I ran.
"Nope," I said aloud.
I continued down the long hallway, my heavy footsteps apparently causing more doors to open.
This was a great idea.
I continued to sprint down the hallway, my heart feeling as if it were about to explode.
Ahead of me a figure slid out of a hallway.
I turned to the right.
As I continued to run, my breath heavy, I felt beads of sweat run down my face.
Coming to the west side of the West Wings central hallway, I looked down the path. There was a door on the end, heavily barricaded. It was probably the exit.
Great.
I turned around, finding another person emerging from a hallway ahead.
I ran ahead to the end and then turned to my right down a hallway.
All the doors were closed. One opened.
Shit.
I tried the knob of a door near to me. Didn't budge.
Keys?
I shakily took the keys out of my pocket, and tried two in the door.
The second worked, but the door wouldn't budge.
I slammed myself against the door.
Shit. More noise.
After body slamming it again, the door budged a little and I managed to slide myself in as a nearby voice cried, "Here!"
I closed the door and firmly put the metal desk back to barricade, and looking around, pushed the nearby mini-fridge over, and slid it under the desk and against the door.
I almost shit my pants as a familiar voice behind me said, "I wondered if you were ever going to show up here."
It was my brother.
I would have hugged him, but he looked nasty, like he hadn't showered in months.
"There was water and food in here. It was kind of like the employee lounge, but the kitchen was on the West Side. You doing OK?"
I just nodded. We hadn't spoken for months, not since I had decided to separate myself from my family.
"You look different."
"Yep," I said softly.
"It's been almost six months. Four since I've been here. And then all this shit happened."
"She's in here," a voice outside said. The sound of banging on the door filled the room.
"Can I see the scalpel?"
Taking the blade part in my hand, I handed him the handle.
He took it, looked over and examined the metal, and then lifted his sweat stained shirt and shoved it into his abdomen.
"What the fuck!?!" I screamed in response.
He raised the blade inside him. The doors banging was getting louder.
My brother laid down.
"What the fuck were you thinking?! What are you doing?!?!"
He calmly lay there for a moment, bleeding some, before responding, "Inside there is a flash drive with all the data collected here. I had it stuck in after I found out what was happening here, and all of these subjects began to organize. I knew, but they didn't have a clue. You are part of project Day 3?"
I nodded.
"This was Project Ferror. I was an early Day 3-er, but they allowed me more rights and access. It doesn't matter now. You need to get out of here with the USB out of my body after I die. It's covered in a little plastic bag inside here," he said pointing to the wound.
I wanted to scream.
"Now, calm down."
I still wanted to scream.
Why here? Why now?
Some strange things about my past began to make some more sense.
His blood was pooling on the concrete floor.
"There is a backway out of this room. Just... just go the pantry, and there is a... you'll know when you see it."
His eyes began to flutter, and then close. He was still breathing, but it was light and quick.
I stood there, squeezing my hands in my rough hair. I couldn't calm myself down. I kneeled down and applied pressure to his wound, tears rolling down my face.
The banging continued. The breathing stopped.
After sitting for some time over his corpse, the blood had managed to pool around me and stain my jeans.
My breathing had calmed. After a minute, I stretched out my hand to do as my brother had asked.
(This part gets pretty nasty. You have been warned.)
I closed my eyes, and felt around until I found the incision. As I stuck my hand in, a sloshing sound invaded my ears, and the warm, squishy feeling enclosed my hand. It was warm, soft, and wet. I gagged.
I felt around for a second. The door banged on.
I couldn't feel any plastic bag. I forced my eyes opened. Looking at my hand inside the bloody wound, I almost threw up.
I pulled out the blood soaked hand and bent over the wound. I turned so my shadow wasn't on it.
I pulled back each side and looked around at my brother's insides, gagging at both the sight and the smell, and fighting back tears.
"Oh God..."
I looked for a minute, and noticed the faint glint and bend of something that didn't look like tissue. Keeping the incision plied open with one hand, I stuck the other in and picked for the plastic, missing the first time, and almost drew out God knows what.
(That was the worst of it.)
I hesitated to put my hand back in. I decided to search his pockets. It was in his right one.
I slammed my fist to the floor, blood spattering on my shirt, and yet out a frustrated yell.
The banging got louder. I couldn't stop shaking.
I finally got up went to the pantry and looked around after the desk had moved a bit. There was a window, letting in light from the stars outside. It was only about three feet across and one foot tall.
I grabbed a can of beans and broke the glass. A warm breeze caressed my skin. The sound of waves crashing gave me hope.
I avoided any broken glass on the floorand knocked out any remnants that may have remained on the window.
Shit. If there is a shoreline to be found, I can't swim there covered in blood.
I looked around.
Water.
I grabbed the pack and shoved it through the window. It barely fit.
I heard the creak of metal as the desk finally moved.
It took them so long. They must be weak. Time to go.
I hopped up and squirmed through the window, being thankful of my smaller butt for the first time in my life.
Picking up the water, I ran through the grasses and trees that covered the area, hearing my breathing and the ocean waves get louder as I did.
As I exited the canopy I looked out on the ocean, and the distant outline of mountainous land.
I stripped and quickly bathed myself in the bottled water before gulping down a few lukewarm drinks.
Looking over my body to make sure there was no visible blood, I quickly began to rub myself with sand, hot tears heating my cheeks. I drank one more bottle and then used the remaining bottles to generously clean off my sand covered body.
As I entered the cold water, only my underwear to provide warmth, I shivered. I dipped the briefcase in for a few seconds, no bubbles came up. I waited, the briefcase, which I had deposited the plastic encased flash drive in, needed to stay dry.
No sharks at least. Yet.
Lifting the briefcase out of the water, I re-opened it using the code 23906. With a click, it sprang open, the contents untouched by the water.
Just to be safe, I closed it again and submerged it. When I reopened it, the inside was still dry.
Closing it, I walked deeper into the water, looking to the distant land.
I had a long swim ahead of me.
I woke slowly, shook into consciousness. I tiredly tried to lift my hands.
Why can't I...
Looking down, I saw my right hand cuffed to a brown leather briefcase. I squinted my eyes, noting how my hands were chained together, and that that chain was tightly linked to the floor. I blinked hard a few times, almost returning to unconsciousness. I finally noticed the gag in my mouth and the sour taste that flooded my senses.
Where am I? What is-my phone.
The thought cut through clearly and I struggled to turn my hips to the left. I twisted for some time before I had managed to turn, becoming more alert by the time I had accomplished my feat. I took a moment to look around. The small space continued to shake rhythmically.
I must be on a train of some sort.
I raised my hand as far as I could, getting a few fingers into my pocket. My fingers felt around a sheet of a wrinkled paper and I managed to isolate the sheet in between my index and middle and pulled it out of my pocket.
A series of numbers, letters, and symbols were typed on the sheet, incomprehensible.
I began to slide, the chain holding me in place, as the train slowed. I heard shuffling outside the door before it opened.
Lights from the guards flashlights blinded me and one of them said, "She's awake. I'll grab the paper."
I tried to say something, but all that came out was a grunt.
"Be quiet."
The guard took the sheet and took some sort of scanner that had been hanging at her side and scanned in the code.
"Patient for Project Day 3 to Dr. V in Room 1127-E. Subject Code 23906," she spoke into the air.
"Confirmed," she said as she nodded to the other guard.
He bent down and stuck a syringe in my neck. The pain didn't last.
I woke up in a chair. Looking around, a bright light blinded me, and the darkened room around me was indistinguishable.
I blinked quickly, hoping to clear my vision.
The gag was gone but my throat was too dry to speak. The vague taste of blood filled my mouth, but I didn't feel any liquid.
I guess I just had blood from the surgery and it dried...
A door opened. I grunted.
"Now, calm down. Let's see who you are," a soothing, feminine voice said.
The bright light turned off and the room lights turned on.
A large, dark Indian woman stood next to the light switch, her large, black brimmed glasses pressed against her chubby face. She walked over to me. I tried to move my arms, but discovered they had been restrained to the seat.
"There's no need for that. Just calm down and we'll get you out of here soon," her voice echoed in the room.
I looked around. Several black walls contrasted with the white shelves, but the room was largely nondescript. The woman, who I assumed was Dr. V, stood next to me and unlocked the briefcase. She took out a manila folder and a thumb drive from inside.
She quickly flipped through the file and then said, "Ayomide Makena. That's an interesting name. Well, I'm going to have you moved into a better room for a basic exam. There is no need to be afraid."
She smiled softly, revealing a healthy set of straight, white teeth. I realized how big my eyes were and how heavy and quick my breathing had gotten. I tried to calm myself and tried to ask a question.
"Shhhh..." she said soothingly . "We'll get you some water after you've been moved and then you can ask any questions you may have."
She smiled again and then left the room for a short time. A few guards came in and picked up the entire chair and carried my through the facility. We went down a long concrete hallway, taking a few turns.
As we walked, the cold air cooled my head and woke me up a bit more. After Dr. V opened the door to a room, swiping her ID across a sensor outside, the guards put the seat down in there, and after Dr. V gave them her thanks, left. She went to get me a cup of water from a sink, putting down the file and thumb drive on the counter next to it.
Looking over to the right, I saw a tray with syringes, scalpels, and other medical instruments sitting on the table. They were covered in dried blood.
I felt my pulse quicken, but forced myself to remain calm.
She brought it over and undid the restraint on my left hand, the one with briefcase on it. She placed the water in my hand, and I slowly brought the cool drink to lips. I drank down the cold water completely and gratefully. Dr. V smiled again.
With all the strength a could muster, I brought the briefcase into a forceful contact with the doctor's head.
She fell back and I turned for the tray and scrambled for something sharp.
Dr. V, her face red and contorted in anger, had began to get up.
I took a stab, aiming for her eye. I missed.
As she rose, I deeply pierced and slashed through her throat, some of her warm blood spilling on my hand. She tried to let out a scream, but she seemed to be unable to.
After she fell back to the ground, she began to crawl across the floor, blood trailing under her. Choking on her own blood, she didn't last for long.
I quickly undid my other restraints, on both my legs and feet.
I went to the sink and ran water over my hands. The icy water didn't stop my shaking, and didn't help my breathing. Tears began to stream down my face as blood streamed into the sink.
I dried my hands and my face with a nearby cloth, still breathing erratically and shaking.
What is happening?
I went back to the sink and washed my face with the cold water. After drying my face again, a grabbed the file and the thumb drive, shoving the latter in my pocket.
The file opened to a picture of me; it was the picture that was printed on my Drivers License. My name and some basic medical info were typed on the page as well. I flipped through to the next page, my medical history. I flipped through, hoping to find some clues as to what was happening, and came across a page that read "{Confidential: Varnaj Only}" along the top.
Ignoring the stamp I read on.
"Ayomide Makena exhibited the desired mutation in the concerned genes and therefore has been selected for further experimentation in Project Day 3 under the supervision of you.
The subject has already exhibited increased aptitude in both physical and mental spheres. The nature of these expressions are explained further in her section of Project Day 1.
You are to experiment in the possibilities for improvement in the field of passive mental awareness, as was deemed necessary by the board overseeing Project D3. Control Group H will be used for comparison."
Is this why all those people kept-
A sudden knock on the door startled me.
"Dr. V ? Will you need any help with this patient?" someone asked.
I took a deep breath, and did the best I could to imitate the doctor's voice.
"No, thank you."
"You sound a bit weird. Are you sure everything is going all right?"
The knob on the door began to turn. I ran to behind where the door would close.
After opening the door, he gasped as he saw the body. Before he could scream, I had the handcuff chain around his neck and his head to my chest.
We struggled and moved around for a while, but eventually he stopped squirming. I stayed like that for a few more seconds and then let him onto the floor... into the blood of Dr. V.
I rolled him out of it, the outline of the chain reddening on his pale neck, and then proceeded to stick my hand in in the doctor's pocket. I took out the warmed key chain and looked for and then found a key fitting my handcuffs. After uncuffing myself, I shoved the keys in my pocket and ripped off V's ID card. I rubbed my sore wrists for a bit.
Going back to the bloody tray, I grabbed the largest and sharpest scalpel I could find and exited the room.
I went back in and put the folder and thumb drive back in the briefcase, and then headed back out. I looked to my left, and then my right.
I didn't see any doors that exit.
I headed to my right partially down the hallway and then turned right up another hallway.
No guards in sight so far...
I continued along my way up that way, heading towards the door at the end of the hallway which had a glass window which exited to a courtyard outside.
I ran to the door and, scanning Dr. V's ID on the sensor and hearing a click, pushed open the heavy door. Outside, crickets chirped and some birds sang, albeit in the distance. That noise was soon overpowered by the shout, "Subject Unconfined!!! Repeat Subject Unconfined at East to West Courtyard!!! East Side!!!"
My feet had begun rapidly hitting the pavement, as had his, before the message was complete. I sprinted what I assumed was West. I heard doors open and the commanding shout of "Non-lethal!!!", but I didn't bother to look back to see who was making sure my life was preserved for whatever "experimentation" these people had planned for me. I kept running.
A wire fence obstructed my path, but I quickly scaled it.
"Subject has passed Western barrier!!!"
"Do not engage!!!"
Why aren't they following?
I didn't have time to stop and ask though, so I just ran into the Western building, which had an open garage door as an entrance.
I hopped up some stairs two at a time, to the ground level of this side of the facility.
Bending over, I breathed in and out, letting oxygen replenish my body. I looked around in the dark room, only lit by the outside courtyard light. I noticed silhouettes waiting at the barrier. I looked along the ground and saw a flashlight back down the stairs in the garage area, where I assumed something had been parked at one time, although since the courtyard was enclosed, I didn't know what. I went back down the stairs and grabbed the light, hoping it would prove useful.
That is a generous barrier.
From the entrance to the West Wing to the fence was at least 70 feet.
I hesitated a moment before I turned on the flashlight and headed further in the facility.
As I approached the door, I looked around for anything that may help me in the garage. After scanning the room with the flash light, I found a circuit box. I flipped the circuits and the garage lit up.
Must go to the same generator as the other wing.
I heard shouting over at the fence and decided it was time to go in.
I unbolted the heavy door and went in, keeping it open behind me.
Inside, the hallway lights dimly lit the hallway, some of the fluorescent lights flickering.
This seems like the perfect setting for a horror story.
The walls were the same nondescript concrete, and the few black metal doors. I moved slowly down the dim hallway, listening for signs of life. As I passed and intersection I felt a breeze. I looked to either side. A large, rusted, metal fan was turning at the end of the hallway to my left.
How old is this place?
I shoved the ID into my pocket, and held the scalpel in one hand, and the flashlight in the other. I continued down the central hallway looking down every left and right hallway, seeing if there was another exit.
There doesn't seem to be anyone in here.
Something felt off, and I heard the creak of a door echo.
Shit.
I felt a surge of adrenaline as my heartbeat quickened. I turned left and headed down the hallway.
No doors are opening now. Or whatever that was.
The West groaned some more with another door opening.
At least I'll have an exciting death.
I ran down the hallway to the end, where another hallway extended back to the front and went further than middle hallway I had been travelling down. Looking back to the front, the direction to where the garage was, I saw a figure of a person.
I ran.
"Nope," I said aloud.
I continued down the long hallway, my heavy footsteps apparently causing more doors to open.
This was a great idea.
I continued to sprint down the hallway, my heart feeling as if it were about to explode.
Ahead of me a figure slid out of a hallway.
I turned to the right.
As I continued to run, my breath heavy, I felt beads of sweat run down my face.
Coming to the west side of the West Wings central hallway, I looked down the path. There was a door on the end, heavily barricaded. It was probably the exit.
Great.
I turned around, finding another person emerging from a hallway ahead.
I ran ahead to the end and then turned to my right down a hallway.
All the doors were closed. One opened.
Shit.
I tried the knob of a door near to me. Didn't budge.
Keys?
I shakily took the keys out of my pocket, and tried two in the door.
The second worked, but the door wouldn't budge.
I slammed myself against the door.
Shit. More noise.
After body slamming it again, the door budged a little and I managed to slide myself in as a nearby voice cried, "Here!"
I closed the door and firmly put the metal desk back to barricade, and looking around, pushed the nearby mini-fridge over, and slid it under the desk and against the door.
I almost shit my pants as a familiar voice behind me said, "I wondered if you were ever going to show up here."
It was my brother.
I would have hugged him, but he looked nasty, like he hadn't showered in months.
"There was water and food in here. It was kind of like the employee lounge, but the kitchen was on the West Side. You doing OK?"
I just nodded. We hadn't spoken for months, not since I had decided to separate myself from my family.
"You look different."
"Yep," I said softly.
"It's been almost six months. Four since I've been here. And then all this shit happened."
"She's in here," a voice outside said. The sound of banging on the door filled the room.
"Can I see the scalpel?"
Taking the blade part in my hand, I handed him the handle.
He took it, looked over and examined the metal, and then lifted his sweat stained shirt and shoved it into his abdomen.
"What the fuck!?!" I screamed in response.
He raised the blade inside him. The doors banging was getting louder.
My brother laid down.
"What the fuck were you thinking?! What are you doing?!?!"
He calmly lay there for a moment, bleeding some, before responding, "Inside there is a flash drive with all the data collected here. I had it stuck in after I found out what was happening here, and all of these subjects began to organize. I knew, but they didn't have a clue. You are part of project Day 3?"
I nodded.
"This was Project Ferror. I was an early Day 3-er, but they allowed me more rights and access. It doesn't matter now. You need to get out of here with the USB out of my body after I die. It's covered in a little plastic bag inside here," he said pointing to the wound.
I wanted to scream.
"Now, calm down."
I still wanted to scream.
Why here? Why now?
Some strange things about my past began to make some more sense.
His blood was pooling on the concrete floor.
"There is a backway out of this room. Just... just go the pantry, and there is a... you'll know when you see it."
His eyes began to flutter, and then close. He was still breathing, but it was light and quick.
I stood there, squeezing my hands in my rough hair. I couldn't calm myself down. I kneeled down and applied pressure to his wound, tears rolling down my face.
The banging continued. The breathing stopped.
After sitting for some time over his corpse, the blood had managed to pool around me and stain my jeans.
My breathing had calmed. After a minute, I stretched out my hand to do as my brother had asked.
(This part gets pretty nasty. You have been warned.)
I closed my eyes, and felt around until I found the incision. As I stuck my hand in, a sloshing sound invaded my ears, and the warm, squishy feeling enclosed my hand. It was warm, soft, and wet. I gagged.
I felt around for a second. The door banged on.
I couldn't feel any plastic bag. I forced my eyes opened. Looking at my hand inside the bloody wound, I almost threw up.
I pulled out the blood soaked hand and bent over the wound. I turned so my shadow wasn't on it.
I pulled back each side and looked around at my brother's insides, gagging at both the sight and the smell, and fighting back tears.
"Oh God..."
I looked for a minute, and noticed the faint glint and bend of something that didn't look like tissue. Keeping the incision plied open with one hand, I stuck the other in and picked for the plastic, missing the first time, and almost drew out God knows what.
(That was the worst of it.)
I hesitated to put my hand back in. I decided to search his pockets. It was in his right one.
I slammed my fist to the floor, blood spattering on my shirt, and yet out a frustrated yell.
The banging got louder. I couldn't stop shaking.
I finally got up went to the pantry and looked around after the desk had moved a bit. There was a window, letting in light from the stars outside. It was only about three feet across and one foot tall.
I grabbed a can of beans and broke the glass. A warm breeze caressed my skin. The sound of waves crashing gave me hope.
I avoided any broken glass on the floorand knocked out any remnants that may have remained on the window.
Shit. If there is a shoreline to be found, I can't swim there covered in blood.
I looked around.
Water.
I grabbed the pack and shoved it through the window. It barely fit.
I heard the creak of metal as the desk finally moved.
It took them so long. They must be weak. Time to go.
I hopped up and squirmed through the window, being thankful of my smaller butt for the first time in my life.
Picking up the water, I ran through the grasses and trees that covered the area, hearing my breathing and the ocean waves get louder as I did.
As I exited the canopy I looked out on the ocean, and the distant outline of mountainous land.
I stripped and quickly bathed myself in the bottled water before gulping down a few lukewarm drinks.
Looking over my body to make sure there was no visible blood, I quickly began to rub myself with sand, hot tears heating my cheeks. I drank one more bottle and then used the remaining bottles to generously clean off my sand covered body.
As I entered the cold water, only my underwear to provide warmth, I shivered. I dipped the briefcase in for a few seconds, no bubbles came up. I waited, the briefcase, which I had deposited the plastic encased flash drive in, needed to stay dry.
No sharks at least. Yet.
Lifting the briefcase out of the water, I re-opened it using the code 23906. With a click, it sprang open, the contents untouched by the water.
Just to be safe, I closed it again and submerged it. When I reopened it, the inside was still dry.
Closing it, I walked deeper into the water, looking to the distant land.
I had a long swim ahead of me.