Crazy
2021
Colin didn't bother talking to anyone anymore. It did no good.
He hadn't expected to wake up at all, to tell the truth. The creatures, whatever they were, had killed everyone in the warehouse that he had seen. So when he had woken in an ER, he had been more than a bit shocked. He had been even more shocked when he had found out that he was the only survivor from the facility and everyone blamed him for what happened. Apparently a 'fire' had broken out in the building and all the other people had died. He had been found in the parking lot unconscious. No one else had gotten out of the building and even now, two years later, the bodies were still being identified. Mind you, COVID wasn't helping anything at all, but he had told people what he had seen. After the third 'discussion' with the docs suggesting medication to deal with his 'delusions' of man eating creatures, he had shut up. He had dealt with such people before and knew he wasn't going to win against them. Even before the company lawyers had shown up and all but ordered him to stay silent, he had stopped trying to explain something that could not be explained. He had no idea how he had survived. He sort of remembered a male voice and a female voice, but they were garbled. Indistinct even in his clear memory which wasn't always the best with the state of his usual fatigue. The rest of it, he remembered, but no one cared. They wanted him to be guilty so they could blame someone. He didn't have a powerful family or powerful friends, so he was screwed, but he wasn't going to make it easy for them.
The cops had come many times demanding answers. He just stared at them, and eventually, they left. Fire department, OSHA, even the ACLU had shown up to try and get him to give a statement about what happened. Each time, he had just looked at them. The company lawyers were clearly happy that he wasn't talking to anyone else, but he just looked at them too when they demanded answers. He didn't bother talking to them. They blustered and blathered, but in the end? They had no proof of what happened. He had picked up far more than most would have thought. A skilled listener could do that. And even better? It was legal as long as he didn't use the information to commit crimes. He had heard one of the lawyers talking on her phone as he had been shifted to a more secure bed 'for his own safety' of course and she had been all but adamant that he was hiding something. He wasn't, but he knew none of them would care. He was old, his feelings were far less important than the feelings of idiot children, after all and no one cared if an older man was hurt or killed as long as the kids didn't get emotionally traumatized. As far as he was concerned, emotional trauma was the least of his worries. He had no idea what had happened, but like he had told that poor doomed idiot just after the kid became lunch, he knew a trap when he saw one. The warehouse had been a trap and Colin was in one now. He was an only child and had no immediate family left in this country. Add to that? He lived alone. He would not be missed whatever happened next.
The cops were a mix. Some of them were cool, but most of them were annoyed with a mystery that they had no way to solve. They had a bunch of bodies but all other evidence was 'inconclusive'. They had taken his work attire and tested it until it fell apart apparently, but it had shown no signs of fire. Being in one or setting it. He didn't remember anything about fire from that whole mess, so, it must have happened after he fell asleep? Was knocked unconscious? Again, there was no evidence of anything wrong with him, except an 'ungodly fatigue level' and 'critically low levels of vitamin D', according to the docs. That could be explained away by working the night shift as he had many times when the shifts needed coverage and no one else would. Good money, but painful shifts in schedule and eventually, he had stopped. The docs, nurses and orderlies were all professional, but he unnerved them too with his absolute silence. He didn't talk to anyone. The reason was simple, he had no idea who he could trust. The emergency doors of his workplace had all been blocked or chained shut. Not happenstance, that. Planning. The inference was clear. No one had been supposed to survive the attack. The one time he had said that to a doctor, the man had just looked at him funny and recommended a higher dose of anti-depressants. After that? Colin just stopped talking. He never resisted anything they did, even the really weird tests. He was polite, respectful even to the nurses and orderlies, but he stopped talking. There was no point. No one was listening.
They had been reasonably polite when they had remanded him to this psychiatric hospital, citing post traumatic stress and other medical gobbledygook. But from what he heard when the docs and nurses did not realize he was listening? He wasn't going to leave until someone in a position of authority got answers. Since Colin had no answers, well, he was stuck. They could keep him here forever under the wonderful leadership of the current administration of the US, since laws did not apply to them, apparently. He had heard about the uprising that had tried to topple the government, of course, but he hadn't really been surprised. Of course, there would be legal cover, probably throwing allies and/or wackos under the bus if Colin knew anything about the man. Which he did. He had met Donald J. Trump once in passing in 1995 and the man had not impressed him. Especially after the man had used unethical tactics to get an entire apartment building's residents evicted so he could tear the place down and build some new Trump world thingamajig. Oddly enough, the new place never materialized and all the middle class families who had been tossed out had been left to fend for themselves. So yeah, Colin wasn't surprised at anything that had happened recently. Why should the high and mighty man care about stupid things like ethics, laws or anything that didn't benefit him directly? There were people making billboards to the man praising him as the second coming of Christ for goodness sakes! Colin personally didn't give two shits about Trump one way or another, but he was never going to trust the man or anyone connected to him and that was from a long time before the man had taken the Oval Office. It wasn't anything political. To Colin, the man was a conman and a liar. Not even a good liar, like most politicians Colin had seen. An abysmal liar. The sad thing? So many people simply couldn't tell! Or they didn't want to see the truth. It wasn't Colin's place to correct them. He was nuts after all.
Colin had endured visits from various groups in his extended stay here in the psych hospital and several had been government related, so when another suit showed up, he wasn't perturbed. Some of the governmental types had been doctors, all claiming to want to 'help him'. Usually with drugs. Higher doses or stronger. Some had seemed earnest, but all had been with the government. He had been fired from his job, of course. He hadn't shown up for work in two years! He had eventually gotten internet access and looked for his email. His workplace access access had been revoked and when he had tried his personal email, the mails from his job basically only told him that he had 300 days of unpaid time accrued and he would be terminated for job abandonment. So, no job email and his personal email was odd. It wasn't working quite right. It was far slower than he remembered it being and it was oddly empty for him not accessing it in almost a year. It was only when he shut it down that he realized why. A chatbox opened as soon as he did and someone demanded to know who was accessing his email. Instead of answering, he had closed the system down and then unplugged it for five minutes, hopefully enough time to wipe the RAM. He had never seen anything from that, but he expected sooner or later, someone would come and ask about it. Maybe politely, maybe not. Hopefully, they would leave just like the others did, furious when he didn't talk to them.
He wasn't really surprised by the guy in the suit. This guy was different though. Most of them couldn't wait to try and shake his hand off or blather about how important they were. The man did not introduce himself. He just sat and looked at Colin. He didn't speak at all, just looked. For his part, Colin looked back. He knew he looked like hell. Two years in a mental ward took their toll. He had let his beard grow out to the point it was starting to inconvenience him and he showered once a week whether he needed it or not. He did work out as best he could, doing push-ups, sit-ups and basic martial arts practice in the half-assed privacy of his room. Or more appropriately, his cell. The door did not lock, but the main doors leading out of the facility never unlocked. They were two sets of doors and they always had staff there as well as security guards. The patient gown he wore was all they would let him have and while it was enough for modesty purposes, it was still a patient gown and flimsy. He was on his third day wearing it. They put a new one on his bed every day and he didn't bother with them until he showered. The only reason he did it then was that the dirty one always vanished while he was in the shower. A small rebellion, but a heartfelt one.
The staring match went on for several minutes, Colin blinking when he needed to, but not reacting otherwise. Then the man in the suit smiled. It was not a nice smile.
"You will do."
Something stung Colin's arm and when he stared down, a small tuft of orange hung form the limb. He was woozy. Some kind of tranquilizer dart? Words came to him through a haze.
"Just the bait we need. You will help Make America Great Again."
The man stilled as Colin surged back upright.
"I don't give a shit about your America since it has nothing to do with 'freedom' or 'justice' like the one 'I' grew up with." Colin said in cold, dead voice as the man stared at him. "And, for the record, the day I start marching in a line with a bunch of fanatics who think tattooing a flag onto their butts makes them patriotic and screaming 'Heil Trump', I hope the world vanishes in nuclear fireballs." He plucked the dart out of his arm with a snort. "Have you ever heard the term, 'acclimatization', Trump licker?" Colin asked, still seated. "Since you are a complete idiot for believing anything that man says like the bullshit slogan you just quoted, I will explain and I will try to use small words since you are a complete fucking idiot." He flicked the dart at the man and had the satisfaction of seeing the fool wince as it bounced off him, tuft first, more was the pity. Colin's aim was not as good as some of his compatriots in martial arts had boasted, but at this range? It didn't matter. "It means drugs don't work as well on people after they have been drugged over and over."
"Don't do anything rash." The suit warned as he put his hand inside his jacket.
"Now, why would I do that?" Colin inquired, trying to keep his face blank as the man drew a small pistol. "Rash is what your boss does." He smiled grimly and the other slowly shook his head. His eyes, and aim, did not waver, but Colin was done being nice. "I have spent two years in shitholes like this because of morons like you. Maybe you can kill me with that, maybe you can't, but I will hurt you." Now, his smile froze on his face. "And frankly? After what you just said? I will enjoy it, you political piece of shit."
With that, Colin dove out of his chair and slammed into the guy even as the pistol barked. Only an idiot pulled a gun to threaten when he was less than five feet from a hostile who had nothing to lose. Any decently trained cop or soldier would have fired as soon as he had it out. Colin's dad had trained him early on firearms. What they were and what they were not. He didn't bother going for the gun after knocking it aside. Even a fool would know not to let an enemy take his weapon away. Instead? Colin went for the guy's eyes. A quick thumb and one popped. The man screamed and tried to retreat, but Colin was on him, wondering where the hell the docs, nurses and orderlies were. Then again, the fool had brought a gun in here, had spouted political bullshit and then tried to drug Colin. NOT the actions of a law abiding sort. Not even the actions of any of the bad boy black ops Colin's dad had told scary tales about from Vietnam. No, this guy was something worse. Colin had no idea what, but he wasn't about to let the fool kill him any more than he had been willing to let the man take him without a fight. Anywhere he wound up would almost certainly be worse than here. So…
Colin moved with the skill of a trained hand to hand combatant even as the fool tried to back away waving his gun like some kind of magic talisman as blood streamed from his ruined eye. It did no good. Colin's teacher had not trained him to fight in tournaments. Sensei had never seen the value in hurting people unless lives were on the line. In that case? All bets were off. The fight didn't last long. The pistol went off again, but Colin was not hit. The other guy was not so lucky. Three blows as fast as thought and the man fell to his knees, his pistol falling from nerveless fingers as he clutched his smashed throat. Colin hadn't had leverage for a clean strike to back of the neck, so the fool would strangle instead. Colin was jaded enough now that such didn't bother him. He kicked the pistol away from the man even as the suit fell to the floor, his sole remaining eye pleading.
"For the record, and just in case this is being recorded as it is supposed to be any time one of us has visitors…" Colin said firmly. "...I am not political. I don't give a shit who is president of the US. I don't care if some wacko thinks he is the second coming. I care that I nearly died two years ago because of someone's plot. I could have died today because you are a fool. if you had simply asked me to come along, I probably would have. But no. You had to do it your way. Oops." He shook his head. He shouldn't be gloating at a corpse. Maybe he was going nuts.
He bent down and picked up the pistol, noting it was a small automatic, some kind of Ruger. Not anything he knew, but it still had rounds in the clip if he wasn't mistaken. Ruger made good firearms, but this one was not one that civilians were supposed to have. The barrel extension that protruded from the end said it all. It was built to take a suppressor. Military or law enforcement could have such, but no one else was supposed to. Colin looked at the man as he gasped his last and then lay still. Good, Colin didn't need to waste a round or two making sure the fallen man was not a threat. Realistically, he probably should double tap the guy anyway, but he might need the ammo. Speaking of...
Colin bent down over the dead man and patted him down, finding a holster and a holder that held a pair of spare magazines along with a long, thin cylinder that he stared at. Yep, a silencer. Not legal in the slightest. That was all the man was carrying except an odd sling type thing attached to his wrist. From the look of it? It had thrown the dart. No ID, nothing.
"So… Sacrifice or patsy." Colin mused as he tore off the dead man's belt and slung it around himself. It had to look ridiculous around his patent gown, but he wasn't going to be able to carry the things any other way. The dead man's suit was too small, shoes likewise. But a second check found a small pouch attached to the holster that, on opening contained several tightly folded hundred dollar bills. "Ah well, whatever."
He moved to the door, aware that the corridor outside was utterly open. No one would-
He went still as he eased the door partway open and the sounds of people screaming and crying came to his ears. Familiar voices! People from the ward! Other patients. Then the sound of gunshots cut them off!
Fuck… Colin breathed. What the hell is going on?
The weapon was firing rapidly, not full automatic, but fast, As if whoever was firing had a lot of targets. As his dad had taught him,. Colin bent down towards the floor and poked his head out quickly. No one shot at him, but he saw a shadowed form with an angular thing in hand firing into another room. He wasn't as good with gun as he was with his fists or a staff, but the range was short, maybe 15 feet and the guy was busy hosing down someone else. Colin took careful aim and squeezed just as his dad had taught him. The recoil was slight, but the man with the rifle fell in a heap and lay still. Colin did not move from his spot. Unless it was an active shooter, he wouldn't be alone and even if he was? He might have another nut with him. Colin looked one way and then the other, but nothing else happened. Nothing moved. No sound was heard except some people crying.
Colin eased out into the hallways, his aim on the fallen rifleman, but that guy wasn't going to get up. He hadn't been wearing body armor and whatever rounds were in this pistol made a hell of a mess. He hadn't had time to look, just checked to see it still had ammo. He moved up to the fallen rifleman, pistol ready and kicked the rifle away from the dead man before looking. What met his eyes was horror. All of the patients and staff had apparently been herded into the common room and then gunned down. From what he could see, there had only been one shooter, but against a group of unarmed mental patients and medical personnel? It had been enough.
He had to move, but where? And he wouldn't get far garbed as he was. He checked the rifle, but it was some kind of AK variant he wasn't familiar with. Its drum magazine was still half full. He holstered the pistol and picked up the rifle. Some instinct had him searching the dead and he rocked back on his heels as he found what he dreaded. The lanyard was one he knew well. The ID likewise. Colin had been wearing one just like it when this had all started. Same company. That could not be a coincidence.
Politics is bad enough, but now that corporation is sending hit squads? Actually. Why am I surprised? They don't care about silly things like lives. Colin sighed internally and ran for the front door. He had to get out of here. Fast!
