"Psst, you there?" crackled a voice over the radio. It would've made me laugh if I wasn't so damned tired and achey. Who makes a psst when talking on the radio? It was hard to be quiet and whisper when anyone could turn up the damn volume. Then again, I'm half lying on a bench leaned up against a locker, feeling my heart drum a beat over my brain. Rat-a-tat… Rat-a-tat… It was amazing just how firmly the scalp could tighten over that band of skull with each beat of my heart.
Shouldn't it be beating more slowly now? I'm trying to sleep here.
"Psst? You there? It's Kenny!" It sounded urgent. Maybe I should tell him to try again later. My scalp was busy trying to crack open my skull, thank you very much, and I'd just escaped one madhouse only to be dragged screaming into another. I was a little out of ideas and I didn't think I could save anyone. Well, I'd saved that one guy by pushing his car through the gate.
Wait, did I do that? Or did he just get out?
"Look, man, I hope you're there. Everyone's creeping me the heck out. They're all just staring off into space… You still mobile? You a freak yet?"
That got my interest. If they were all still just standing there, maybe I could make my escape. Without a suicidal preacher to dog my steps and keep the doors sealed, it should be as simple as using my swipe card all the way up to the main desk and going out through the main doors. I knew a bit about the lay out of this place now. A bit. I could just leave and maybe grab some extra paperwork for my trouble. The Walrider was gone from me, or at least, half-hacked off. If I could just put some space between us, I might be able to get out.
I fumbled with the radio until I found the button. "Hey Kenny."
"Hey, I'm thinking we'd better get out of here before the 24 hour protocol starts."
I wanted to ask him what that meant but I wasn't sure if it was part of some occupational health and safety lecture that every new guard should know about. Besides I wasn't planning on staying here twenty four hours. I wasn't a hero about to go gallivanting about the place trying to round up the gang though I'd drag them along with me - maybe, if they didn't twitch too much - if I could. Maybe.
"Look, my dogs have all gone nuts at their bars, tearing and ripping at the metal when they're not trying to eat their own muzzles off. For all we know that's the future of these standing still guys. We should get out of here before lock down becomes a full clearance, right?"
"Shit." Lock down. Of course. If the right passcode wasn't entered into the database by the Chief of Security or one of his minions every half hour, everything slams shut. What else did I know about the lock down here? I just couldn't think straight. If the pain got any worse, I'd probably be gnawing at some bars.
"Whereabouts are you now?" asked Kenny, which made me feel guilty. Here I was only thinking of my own escape, should I even be able to stand, and Kenny was thinking of coming to rescue me. Damnit, why'd the Murkoff agents have to be so human? It seemed like we were all stuck in this mess together.
"Same place, I think." Had I mentioned to him where I was during our earlier conversation? Or where I was going? I couldn't remember. "The locker room by the security ward rooms." Tempted to go back to my bunk. "Hey, you got a camera?"
"A … a what?" He sounded genuinely dumbfounded. That did get a chuckle out of me.
"Night vision. A lot of the fancy video cameras have them."
I had the last recording in my boot. I'd take to keeping it there, tucked under the arch of my foot and held in place by a bandaid. It was a little thing and easily hidden. I needed to think of a better place for it now. Odds are I'd be walking through blood and sewerage before too long.
Why did I have to become a veteran of this crap?
I decided to leave it there for now. What else could I do? Untying my boot laces seemed an impossible task.
"Oh, for the sectors when the lights go out?" asked Kenny. "Yeah, I reckon I can grab one from one of those observation rooms. These places are all in the effing dark ages. Superior security systems on the external sides but then broken down pieces of junk everywhere else. Look, I'll get this camera and come find you. I'll bring Ralph. The dog's old and half-deaf. I got told to put him down but hadn't the heart. Looks like Ralph'll be paying be back today. He's the one not crazy, though I got a hell of a bite from his bunkmate when I got him out of there."
"Okay, so I'll see you soon." Maybe. If I chose to hang around and risk having to deal with heavy-footed Kenny when I doubtless needed to sneak around my pals from the asylum. That thought should hurt. The idea of leaving behind a guy who wanted to help me should sting but I was just too damn tired to care. No, it wasn't that. I knew he was dead already. He just didn't know it yet.
I was talking to a dead man walking. A ghost on the radio. I couldn't grieve for him because I wasn't any different. Not this time.
"Guess I should put the rest of these poor mutts out of their misery," muttered Kenny, and I think I heard tears in his voice. Naturally the only thing that could get the big guy choked up was his dogs. "All right, I'll be coming for you soon."
I nodded as I put the radio down, even though no one was around to see it. I knew I should get up, start heading out, maybe let him know where I was going. At least go and get another cookie. But I was just too damn tired and this time my body wouldn't listen to my protests. Maybe being choked by the Walrider and shot up by these guys was enough to take the wind out of me.
Or maybe it was these pretty images flashing before my eyes. All static fuzz and shadowy roscharch images crawling in front of my gaze, breaking up the image of the locker room over and over and over again. Maybe I could just wait and let it pass over me some more. What was the point? I was going to die here anyway.
But the idea of a cookie must have been motivating because I was up and moving toward the kitchen or maybe it was just the threat that anyone with a radio now knew where I was standing. I could go out to the mess room, grab some cookies and have a decent last meal. Maybe there was some left over lasagne or dessert I could devour while I waited for Kenny to pass by the corridor on his way to the locker room.
Presuming he came.
Presuming I waited.
The journey was a blur but the cookie was like a slice of reality, tearing away all the static and the pain. For several blissful moments I bit into one white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie after another. They were like the Subway versions but better. All the more buttery. You could say what you liked about Murkoff but they fed their staff well. Here, at least.
It was only after I'd devoured about eight of them and the migraine had started to subside that I noticed I wasn't alone. There were about a dozen personnel in the room with me, all standing in front of their benches like I'd disturbed their meal, but they weren't looking at me. I had a dim recollection that they'd been sitting when I'd entered but I couldn't trust the memory so I ducked down into a crouch, even though the lighting here was bright enough to keep me visible, and I crept toward the kitchen itself.
I don't know what I'd expected. A fire? Untended cooking pots burning human fat? Instead I got a sterile kitchen with all of the ovens switched off and several different cooks, servers and dishwasters all standing around and facing their respective walls. Still I moved past them for the fridge and pulled out just about anything I could safely reheat in a microwave. I half-worried the whirring would stir them, but it didn't.
It was a risk, but I was so damn hungry and it seemed every bite I had to eat made the agony die down. It was like food was a painkiller and since it also reduced the flashing images, I was happy to have it. After having my feast, I headed back into the mess room but made it about two steps inside before I realised something awful.
All the personnel now stood at the ends of their tables, the ends closest to the kitchen door, and they all faced my way.
What do you think he would do? Should Miles stay here and wait for Kenny? Wait in the locker room? Leave without him?
