David Bernstein - Machines of the Dead

When Jack was initially told about the bot program, it hadn’t occurred to him who or what the test subjects were. He had assumed lab animals, rats and whatnot. But people? He supposed after the bots were tested on animals, the results being positive, that people, volunteers, would be next to be tested on. It made sense, and was after all what the pharmaceutical companies did.

“You’re saying they’re using people against their will?”

“Yes. Torturing and killing them in the process. Now, with the city the way it is, their supply is low. Maybe even gone for all I know.”

“There are people here, besides the employees? Civilians?”

“You remember that locked door we talked about earlier, the one by Reynolds’ office?”

“C-wing. Yeah.”

“That’s where the people were kept and experimented on. C-wing is filled with labs and rooms; rooms where they keep the subjects locked up. There were over thirty homeless people in there at one point. But now…” T he kid shook his head. “Now they might all be dead.”

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Of course I’m sure. Doc Reynolds has been torturing them. Infecting them, seeing how long they last, pumping them full of fluids, nutrients, then shocking them to kill the things before starting all over. But most of them die after a few times, too weakened to continue, their bodies giving out.”

“Who told you this?”

“One of the guards. A guy named Devon. After a night of cards and heavy drinking, we went back to his room. We talked about our families. He kept drinking. I asked him about that locked door, where it went. He laughed, then told me everything. How Dr. Reynolds was taking homeless people and locking them up, experimenting on them, like something out of a horror movie. He said he had no idea if there were any left alive, and the only reason he sent you out was in the hope you’d bring back more people. People for him to experiment on.

“The next day, I thought I’d be called into Reynolds’ office for a chat, as I’m not supposed to know about what’s really going on, but never was. Devon said nothing to me about it again. I think he was so drunk he must have blacked out. Doesn’t remember telling me about it. He was so hung-over the next day he could barely stand without wanting to puke.”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dr. Reynolds was a monster. A modern Frankenstein. No wonder the man had been acting strange earlier.

Kevin was pacing again, like a Bengal tiger at the zoo.

“All right,” Jack said. “Calm down. Take a seat and we’ll figure this out.”

The kid stopped, looked Jack in the eyes. He laughed coldly, then said, “You don’t get it. He’s run out of people, and hasn’t gotten the bots to work properly yet.”

“So?”

“So he needs subjects. You and your friend are next.”

Jack felt as if he had been slapped. A lump formed in his throat that he tried unsuccessfully to swallow.

“You shouldn’t have come back, Jack. You should’ve stayed up there, tried to leave the city.”

Jack shook his head. There was no way anyone was leaving the city without using the escape tunnel or a helicopter. He was nothing but a trapped lab rat now. But thanks to the kid, he was aware, and could do something about it.

“Why did you tell me this?”

“I… I don’t know.” Kevin shook his head quickly, then ran a hand over his scalp. “You’re my friend, Jack, and this has been eating away at me for days. I can’t sleep or eat. After fighting overseas, returning home and getting this assignment, I figured this would be a great place to be. A safe working environment. I feel like I’ve been tricked-sent to work for the Devil.”

“There’s no way the military would sanction this, right?” Jack asked.

“No way. Not from what I know. This is some secret, underground shit. Some rogue branch I’m guessing. I’m sure in his official reports it’ll show that he used rats or monkeys.”

“Do all the guards know about this?”

“I’m not sure. Only the ones with access to C-wing I would guess, the high-ranking guards. Lopez and I don’t have access to that area. Being in such a small place, confined, I’m surprised we weren’t all brought in and told about it. There were others like us, but they aren’t here anymore.”

Jack did think it was strange. Why would Reynolds bring in people he couldn’t trust? “Was there a high turnover here, soldiers coming and going?”

Kevin nodded. “I’m newer than most. Maria Lopez, a friend and one of the guards here, lower-level like myself, did warn me not to get too comfortable with my current assignment, as a lot of soldiers were swapped out. Said only a few stayed on permanently. I wasn’t sure what to think of it, so I made sure I did everything I was told and did it well.”

“He was probably planning on swapping you and your friend out of here, only taking on people he could use, pay off, and trust to keep what went on in his lab a secret.”

“That makes sense. The only guards that never left were the ones that had access to C-wing.”

“Have you told any of the others like yourself about this?”

Kevin shook his head. “For all I know they’d report me. Try to get in good with the doc. Who would want to leave this cushy assignment? The only person I felt comfortable talking to about this was you. If you didn’t make it back, I’d have no choice but to talk to someone else. Luckily, for me, you did come back. It’s just not lucky for you that you did.”

“Can you trust any of them? I mean do you know any of them? Served with any of them before?”

“Yeah. Lopez. We served in Iraq together. She’s a good person. She’d never go along with what’s going on here.”

“And the others?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’ve no idea about them.”

Jack had thought he’d been subjected to the most awful part of this whole situation and that the worst was behind him, but as usual it was the human condition that proved to be the most terrible thing on the planet.

“And where do you fall into all of this? What do you propose we do about it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have any fucking idea. We need to get the hell out of here. And fast. I want nothing to do with this. If I get out I’ll blow the whistle on Reynolds.”

Jack heard what he wanted to hear. If he and Zaun got to the outside, tried exposing Reynolds, most likely no one, especially the military, would believe them. However, having a soldier tell the tale was a different story. A more believable story. One that would call for an investigation at least. And if none of that worked, there was always the media, which meant they’d need proof.

“Okay,” Jack said. “How long do we have before he comes for me and Zaun?”

“Hell, I’ve got no idea, but I can’t imagine it will be long. Like I said, if he hasn’t run out of subjects yet, he soon will. For all I know, I’m as expendable as you. Shit, he might be planning on using all the low-ranking guards to experiment on. I mean, what choice does he have?” He paused, then added, “And Jack, I’m not leaving without checking C-wing for survivors.”

“Agreed,” he said, glad to hear that Kevin felt the way he did. It seemed as if the only thing the kid was sure about, because other than that, Kevin was looking to Jack to be the leader. Looking to him for answers. He wasn’t the soldier, but he was the elder, and he guessed that made him more experienced in the kid’s eyes.

“How difficult is it going to be to get all this accomplished and leave undetected?” Jack asked.

“Impossible. We’ll have to use force. Extreme force. Most likely fight our way out of here. Even kill. We should take out Chambers and use Reynolds as a hostage. With Chambers out of the picture, the others will be a little less organized and unsure, for a little while at least. They’re soldiers and will fall back to their training, becoming a cohesive unit. That’s why taking Reynolds hostage is a must. If we have him, his files… we should be all right. Both he and Chambers, from what I was told, are the only ones with access to the escape tunnel.”