“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.”
“Do you have access to the weapons store?”
“No. I’ve only got my sidearm on me at all times.” Kevin patted the gun strapped to his hip. “That’s it. Only when I’m on active guard duty do I get an M4, and I don’t go back on until the morning.”
“The higher-ranking guards, do they always carry machine guns? Or do they return them to the arsenal?”
“All weapons, excluding knives and sidearms, are returned to the weapons store after a shift. Reynolds orders.”
“Okay,” Jack said, getting up off the bed. “So after we have Reynolds, we’ll need to head to the arsenal. Get some guns, then get the people out of C-wing. After that, we go to the escape tunnel and get the hell out of here.”
“Let’s just hope it goes that smoothly.”
“Wait here,” Jack told him. “I’m going to get Zaun. Don’t go anywhere or talk to anyone.”
Jack left the room and went down the hall to Zaun’s door. Like before, it was unlocked. He went in and saw that Zaun was still asleep. Going over to him, Jack started saying his name and shaking him.
“Jack?” Zaun croaked. “What’s going on? What time is it?”
“Get up and get dressed, take your jacket with you, but don’t wear it. Roll i t up and keep it tucked under your arm.”
“What’s going on, man?”
“Trust me,” Jack insisted, his hand on the doorknob. “Just do what I said. Meet me in my place as soon as you’re dressed.” He opened the door and headed back to his room.
A few minutes later, Zaun entered Jack’s room, and was quickly brought up to speed.
“Man,” Zaun said, “from one screwed up situation to another. This Reynolds guy sounds like a real scumbag.”
To Kevin, Jack asked, “Are you sure you can do this? I mean kill your fellow-”
“They’re not fellow anything, Jack,” the kid said, cutting Jack off. “They’re as guilty and as evil as Doc Reynolds. Orders are orders, but they all know what he’s doing would never be sanctioned. He’s got to be paying them off.”
“But still,” Jack continued, “these are fellow soldiers, human beings.”
“Killing isn’t new to me. It was just always the real enemy, so to speak, that was in my sights.” Kevin put his head down, seeming to be thinking something. Jack looked to Zaun, then back at Kevin. Talk was cheap, and Jack knew when the shit hit the fan, if it did, Kevin might have to kill fellow Americans, soldiers.
Kevin looked up, caught Jack’s stare. “As far as I’m concerned, the men working here are the real enemy. And I’m pretty sure after you guys, I’d be next on their list of test-subjects.”
Jack saw the look in his eyes, and knew the kid was for real.
“Okay,” Zaun said. “We’re ready to roll.”
“I want to bring Lopez in on this,” Kevin said.
“No way,” Zaun said, shaking his head. “Just us. Keep it simple.”
“She’s a friend; a good person, and doesn’t deserve to get stuck down here.”
“I don’t know, Kevin,” Jack said.
“I’ve served with her. She’s a stand up gal. Never got involved with anything shady. She’s got a daughter. Let me ask her. Tell her what’s going on.”