Cruelty and Kindness

Monsters Chapter 5

They gently lowered Chloe to the floor while Tat-Face trotted through the door to get Goldilocks, he must have been napping in another room because he took about ten minutes to walk in. Chloe was lying on her side on the dirty concrete floor when Goldilocks stood over her shaking his head. "Chloe, Chloe, Chloe." He said somewhat sadly, "You're a mess. Here let me clean you up." Chloe glared up at him, her grimy face streaked with tears and dried blood then nodded.

Goldilocks ordered the bucket of water heated up then gently and tenderly gave Chloe a sponge bath. "Chloe you can call me John, let me know if there's anything you need." Chloe gritted her teeth as he gently wiped her raw tender flesh with warm soapy water. By now pain was a part of her life but she had to be clean. "This is all your own fault Chloe," he told her with a soft voice. "If you hadn't have been so stubborn we could have finished this a long time ago without so much pain, I never really wanted to hurt you."

'You seemed to be enjoying it at the time,' she thought. Chloe was working on a plan where she could think of three possible outcomes. Outcome A; Chloe lives, all the bad guys die, Chloe does the happy dance on the bad guys graves. Chloe liked Outcome A. It gave her warm fuzzy feelings inside. Outcome B; Chloe dies, the bad guys die, Chloe does the happy dance in Heaven while all the bad guys burn in Hell. Chloe didn't like Outcome B very much. Outcome C; the bad guys figure out what Chloe's up to, the bad guys live, Chloe dies, probably very slowly by inches. The bad guys are disappointed that they didn't get the Sigma File but they learn to live with it. Chloe didn't like Outcome C at all. There was no Outcome D because she wasn't going to give up the Sigma File under any circumstances.

"I have to put some antiseptic on your cuts. I'm sorry but this is going to sting." As John dabbed the wounds Chloe jerked and whimpered a bit and John smiled. He wasn't really sorry. He enjoyed hurting people. He enjoyed it a lot and he felt Agent O'Brian deserved everything he did to her. He had gone into a rage when he discovered Mueller was transferring to LA after he had spent so much time and money planning to use him to get the Chinaman but after spending even more money for information on the Chinaman's counterpart in LA John Snow exulted. Chloe O'Brian was a gift from God proving his divine plan for the domination of the white race. Unlike the Chinaman, O'Brian was racially pure making her a prime candidate for conversion. She had set up the network for CTU and was well regarded as a genius. Best of all for John's plans she was also known to be a rude hostile bitch with a history of insubordination and disciplinary problems who had been fired in the past and had been rumored to have been arrested on different occasions. She apparently had very few friends, no boy friend, and no family in the area except an ex-husband she rarely spoke to. Someone who probably hated her job and hated her coworkers. One of the first steps in John's plans was to cut the subject off from her support base but apparently O'Brian didn't have much of a support base to begin with. She was probably also starved for affection. John Snow was a handsome man who knew the effect he had on women. He would destroy Chloe and rebuild her in his own image.

CTU

"Richard Hardt is their computer expert," Agent Mueller told the group gathered in the briefing room. The screen showed surveillance photos of a bald man with a goatee and one of him as younger man, clean shaven with a crew cut dressed in an Air Force uniform. "Hardt was given a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force after assaulting an officer who confronted him for attempting to start a Ku Klux Klan chapter at Nellis Air Force Base. He is very short tempered but good with computers. Not as good as O'Brian but he could probably be able to tell if she's trying to pull a fast one. Since they must have taken O'Brian for her skills, he is a key figure.

The screen switched to surveillance photos of a dark haired man with mirrored sunglasses. "Justin Rose claims to be a professional hit man with sixty seven kills. I personally think that's a load of crap but I can confirm he's killed at least three people. He can be one vicious bastard."

The screens switched to police mug shots of a man with a reddish blond beard and a young man with a swastika tattooed on his cheek. "Carl Baum and Michael Mead are basically dumb muscle. Both had served prison terms for assault and battery. I don't know either one very well."

"The leader is John Snow." The screen showed a police mug shot of a young teenaged skinhead. "This is from his only arrest at 17 for assault with a deadly weapon. Since then he has let his hair grow out." The picture switched to a security camera photo from the airport. "He was fourth in command of Reich Reborn before the raids and is the senior member still at large. He is a bit of a ladies man and is extremely vain. He also considers himself to be an expert psychologist although his education consists entirely of what he was able to read in the prison library. I believe he is planning to brainwash Agent O'Brian into joining Reich Reborn. He has probably tortured her but won't cause any permanent damage because he wants to use her. But if he thinks she's trying to double cross him he won't hesitate to kill her."

'At least they gave me clothes,' Chloe thought. She was now dressed in a dirty, baggy, gray sweat suit that some thoughtful person had gone through the trouble of pre-sweating for her. It was damp and smelled like a locker room full of beer. Normally she would be thinking Eww Yuck! But at the moment she was just glad she didn't have to see her battered body anymore. Wait, come to think of it she'd seen Tat-Face wearing this. 'Ewww Yuck! Oh Dear God I hope he wore underpants!' Mike! She had to remember to call Tat-Face Mike. These guys all introduced themselves to her and seemed to be real chummy all of a sudden.

Whiskers, no wait, Carl came in with her order. A double cheeseburger with curly fries and a large Coke. She normally drank diet but right now she was on survival mode and needed calories. Chloe sat at the table and began to open the sack when she felt Goldilock's hand grasp her shoulder and squeeze the welts and bruises hard enough to make her eyes water. "Say thank you to Carl!"

"Thanks," She muttered.

He squeezed harder "Like you mean it!"

"Thank you Carl!"

John relaxed the pressure "See Chloe, that wasn't so hard. You just need to learn proper manners."

"Whatever."

John wrapped his arm around her head and pressed his thumb into a nerve cluster below Chloe's ear. Pain raced through her head. "Not whatever! Say I need to learn proper manners!"

"I need to learn proper manners!"

John released her. "You'll find that life is simpler if you just learn to act like a proper lady."

Chloe dug into the cheeseburger. 'They're training me like a dog,' she thought. They want me to be a good little doggie and obey them. Well I can play along for a while. I can be a good doggie. I just won't be a nice doggie. Soon they'll find out what the word bitch really means.'

After her supper they led her back to the cage. The dirty mattress now had clean sheets, a pillow, and a comforter. It looked good, Chloe was weary and exhausted . She could hardly remember the last time she had slept. Suddenly John clicked his heels together and brought his hand up in a Nazi salute. "Heil Hitler!"

The other four men also snapped to attention and saluted "Heil Hitler!"

Chloe just watched sullenly. Then , without warning, John rammed his fist into her diaphragm knocking the wind out of her. Chloe bent over whooping, trying to inhale but she couldn't. John grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. "You will show proper respect for the Fuhrer!" He screamed. "Now let's try it again!"

They gave Chloe a moment to recover then John snapped off another salute. "Heil Hitler!"

The others saluted, "Heil Hitler!"

Chloe stuck her hand in the air, "Heil Hitler." she muttered.

John gave her a backhand across the face, "Louder! With more enthusiasm!"

Chloe snapped a salute "Heil Hitler! She shouted.

John then gently took Chloe in his arms and kissed her forehead. He held her head to his chest and softly stroked her hair. " There now. That wasn't so bad. It will become easier every time you do it. I think in time we can become really good friends."

Hate boiled up inside Chloe but she tried to remain calm. This was the same way her Daddy used to comfort her. HOW DARE HE! Only two men have held her this way. One out of love and now another out of hate. She understood the technique. Cruelty and kindness, the twin pillars of brainwashing. Punishment and reward. She would make small compromises here and there to avoid punishment. Each compromise would cut her further off from who she was and change her into who they wanted her to be. The big one would be the Sigma File. If she ever gave it up she could never go home again. She would be cut off from her old life and depend more and more on these losers. It wasn't going to happen. She had to keep anchored to who she was. 'I am Agent Chloe O'Brian of the Counter Terrorist Unit.' she thought. 'I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. These are my enemies. They are not my friends and they never will be. They tied a sixteen year old girl to a chair and forced her to watch while they slowly burned the flesh off the bones of her hands and feet. They deserve to die. I am in control.'

She decided to think happy thoughts. Outcome A. A weed strewn potter's field with five freshly dug graves marked with metal stakes. Chloe is out there in her shimmering blue silk dress. The one she kept in her closet and never wore because only someone beautiful should wear it. She is also wearing her high topped sneakers. They don't really go with the dress but Chloe doesn't want to destroy her fantasy with uncomfortable shoes. Old Johnnie Goldilocks grave is the center one and she is twirling and dancing joyfully on top of it. The light catches her dress like a glittering waterfall as the dirt clods are crushed and scattered beneath her feet. Her movements are not the awkward clumsy ones she has made on her rare attempts to dance but are as graceful as a swan. It wasn't very realistic. Their relatives would probably claim the bodies and bury them in different locations. Maybe even cremate some of them but a girl's entitled to her silly little dreams. She is very happy dancing away on top of the grave.

As John gently stroked Chloe's hair he looked down at her face. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling. Then John smiled, 'This will be easier than I thought.'

Chloe was dressed in the black uniform of a World War II SS officer. She walked slowly through CTU headquarters mowing down everyone with her machine gun. She enjoyed the shocked look on Edgar's face as the bullets hit his chest. Tony and Michelle both had their pistols out shooting at her. Don't they ever watch horror movies? Everyone knows that guns don't work on monsters. Her machine gun scatters their brains across the floor. Then Jack steps out. He has his hands out showing her that he is unarmed. "Chloe! Please! Why are you doing this?" Chloe laughs as she shoots him in the gut. He falls to the floor and looks up at her pleading. "Why Chloe Why?" She brings her gun up to his face.

Chloe woke up with a start. She was in the cage. She heard another train whistle in the distance and looked up at the clock. 5:38 AM. She will not become a monster no matter what. She will remain true to who she is. At least she got some REM sleep in. She was going to need it.

Breakfast was ham and eggs with toast and orange juice. Apparently they were getting more comfortable with her and were perhaps beginning to think of Chloe as being one of them. After breakfast John led them in their Heil Hitler salutes and Chloe responded as enthusiastically as the rest. John smiled at Chloe and she smiled back. 'So you like Hitler,' she thought, 'If my plans work out the way I want you might get a chance to meet him in a couple of days. If you do tell him I said 'Hi!'

John and Rick led her into the other room where they had set up a computer work station on the long folding table in the center of the room. Chloe scowled at it arms crossed tightly across her chest. "Do they still make these?"

John looked over at Rick, "I was told that this was some of the best equipment available."

"Who told you that? Thomas Edison? Benjamin Franklin? This is completely inadequate."

Now Rick scowled. "Are you saying you can't hack into CTU with this?"

"I can try, of course I can try fighting a battleship with a BB gun. I'm just not likely to succeed." She then looked over at John , "And I do want to please you in every way John." she said struggling mightily to keep the tone of sarcasm out of her voice.

"What do you need?"

"A supercomputer, there's one at the University of California, there are some others in the area at various companies."

"Out of the question! There's too big a chance we will be discovered and captured."

'My thoughts exactly,' Chloe thought. 'Oh well, it was worth a shot.' "I will make up a list of the stuff I need. Now lets have a look at your satellite dish."

The equipment Chloe demanded was very expensive and top of the line. About two thirds of it was completely unnecessary or redundant but these guys apparently had more money than sense. Besides , in the unlikely event that she survived this mess she might talk Bill into letting her keep some of it. The satellite dish was perfectly adequate so she made them get a bigger, more expensive one out of shear spite. It took another day to purchase all of it which she needed to recover more from her beatings. She didn't want to waste too much time here. Jack was in trouble and she didn't have time to lollygag around here with this gang of homicidal maniacs when she had work to do.

At last they had things set up the way she wanted. Rick set up an untraceable link and would watch over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't sending any secret messages or any other tricks. John was going to sit behind her about thirty feet away with a pistol. There would be no way she could get to him without being shot. She hoped they wouldn't figure out what she was up to. She also hoped those chuckleheads back at CTU had actually listened to her rantings. She said a quick prayer to herself and began typing on the keyboard opening up a portal to the CTU mainframe and began entering code directly into it. Rick's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you complete a code or virus on our computer and just download the complete thing all at once."

"Because," she replied in a tone of voice people normally reserved for explaining to five year olds why they can't go to Oz on vacation. "The CTU computers have a firewall preventing outside programs or viruses from entering them. I have to put everything in manually."

"So why's your typing so ragged?"

Chloe's stomach felt like a lump of cement "Because I've had a real crappy couple of days Dickweed!"

"Dickweed! Maybe I should take you back to the rope and teach you proper respect!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Don't take me back to the rope!"

"HA HA HA!" he laughed. "Watch your tongue Bitch!"

'I'd make a real crappy actress,' Chloe thought, 'Good thing I'm not acting.' sweat beaded her forehead.

"How long is this going to take?" John called from his chair.

"With or without the two of you chattering like monkeys?" Rick stepped forward. "Look! I can break into this super secure computer database or I can sit here and chat with the two of you but I can't do both so why don't the two of you just be quiet and stare at me while I work."

She could hear Rick laughing while she typed away. 'Yeah laugh while you still can Dickweed!' The task she was performing was like trying to do three complex tasks at once and was taxing her brain to the utmost. She only set aside a tiny corner of her mind to the man looking over her shoulder. 'Hey Dummy! Look at what I'm doing. I'm doing it right in front of you Dummy! If you weren't so dumb you'd kill me right now Dummy!'

CTU

Patrick McCoy was exhausted. CTU had been working around the clock trying to find Chloe O'Brian and the analysts have pretty much moved in sleeping on cots set up in empty holding cells. Patrick wasn't doing it out of love and friendship for Agent O'Brian. He couldn't stand the nagging harpy but a fellow agent was in trouble and he would do anything to rescue her or die trying. She might be an obnoxious bitch but she's our obnoxious bitch. He was half asleep when a small alarm went off on his console. He hit a few keys and looked at his screen. "Somebody's using O'Brians access codes!" he shouted. Karen Hayes arrived in less than a minute and looked at the screen.

"What's she trying to do?"

"It looks like she's trying to break into our secure data base."

Karen saw Bill coming up, "Worst case scenario, Bill, they've turned Chloe and now she's working for them."

Bill looked at the screen, "I don't think so."

"Well it looks to me like she's trying very hard to break into our most sensitive files."

"That's just it. She's trying very hard. Chloe's got enough tricks and back ways she doesn't have to try very hard. If she really wanted in we wouldn't know about it until it was too late. It's like she's trying to smash in the castle's front gate with a battering ram when she knows the back door is open and unguarded. She's trying to get in but she wants us to know she's trying to get in. Try to figure out what she's up to."

Patrick stared and the code being typed in. The typing was pretty ragged and sporadic unlike Chloe's normal typing. There seemed to be a pattern to it. It seemed somewhat familiar. Then he picked it up. Chloe O'Brian insisted that all analysts in her section learn Morse Code like CTU was some kind of 19th century telegraph office. Sometimes when things were quiet she would idly tap her pen on her desk and woe to the analyst who didn't pick up the message. Patrick didn't know Morse Code, something that O'Bitchy reminded him of constantly but perhaps… "Shari, come over here and look at this." Patrick stepped back when Shari Rosenthal approached leaving her plenty of space. Shari had a reputation for being even crazier than O'Brian.

"So what am I looking at?"

"I'm thinking Morse Code."

Shari eyes narrowed then she grabbed Patrick's notepad and pen off his desk and began scribbling. A-I-N 343,

T-R-A-I-N 725, T-R-A-I-N 1315.

"Sir! We've got something. I think it's times when Chloe has seen or heard trains."

Bill stepped over to see what was going on. Shari looked up for a second from her scribbling. "Sir, all modern railroads track their trains by global positioning satellites. They keep records of where they are at all times by computer."

Bill had a faint trace of a smile "Do they now?"