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Twenty-Two: Chapter 2

Official recordings of Dr. Steiner Head Researcher at (Information Redacted)

Date: (Information Redacted)

Location: (Information Redacted)

I have to admit, I had better hopes for the new students. I've looked over their physical and mental records and they aren't that promising when I look to the future. Many of them will have to face enduring hardships that will push them over the edge. All of them are strong, there's no denying that, but they're strong in individual skills such as physical dexterity or mental capability, but none are very flexible. I don't expect many of them to make it through the first year of instruction, even if they are extremely malleable children.

I'll need to make adjustments to the course to ensure that attrition isn't too high. A lot of resources have been put into the construction of this facility and I would hate to see it go to waste because the course was too rigorous. Though, I need to make sure it's just hard enough that those that do push on, are always challenged. This course is to turn these children into capable leaders of the future who won't let us down as their predecessors have. I don't want to even think of what would happen if this program fails, especially since it was almost entirely paid for by the Soviets.

I hate to think that we were only able to get this program off of a piece of paper and in stone because the Soviets think we're training super soldiers for them. As soon as they figure out that we're just using them for our own devices and plan to just disappear with the spoils of or efforts, they'll begin to hunt us, if the other difficulties don't shut us down first.

This facility is too close to the concentration zones. I've tried to tell the board of directors that, but they wouldn't listen, the Soviets wanted it here and to keep up the illusion, we had to follow along. I know they see the wisdom in what I've said, I can see it in their eyes. Some don't think that this will succeed and that we're dooming a lot of good souls to die out here, but what's done is done. I'll make sure no one who doesn't need to goes outside. I'll keep the activity to a minimum and hopefully our presence will go largely unnoticed. No guarantees, but in the meantime, I'll need to set up the first round of screenings for the new students. Now that I think about it, I did notice one who had some more hopeful data in his records. Excellent genes.

Dr. Steiner

--

I didn't understand what Forty-Seven meant by test. I had taken tests before, more than I could possible hope to remember, but they were all over knowledge or how fit I was, all easy. How could creating such a blood bath be a test? It was insanity.

"What test?" I asked Forty-Seven, who came back and we both sat down at one of the unturned tables. The swelling on the side of his face had finally stopped, but half of his face was now puffed up and a bit of drool was leaking from the corner of his mouth which he wiped away periodically. Other than that, he looked fine.

"I heard some of the other people talking about it." Forty-seven said with a little bit of pain showing on his face with each word. "They said that they needed to push the final test soon. Something was putting them on edge and they were rushed." He played around with the fork he had and must have realized how silly it was too be carrying around a fork so he set it on the table, but his eyes darted to it every once in a while.

"I don't understand." I tried to piece together what was going on. I had been here for so long and nothing really ever happened during that entire time, I had no bearing on anything significant. It seemed that Forty-Seven knew more than me. I would need to keep him around, if not for the information, someone to talk to. I didn't want to face the place alone.

He gave me a look. I wasn't sure if it was bewilderment or something else. "They didn't tell you anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I've been here for so long and I don't know what's going on."

"How long have you been here?" It was a question that scared me and I had an idea of where it was going.

"I don't really know, but if I had to guess... ten years." If a jaw could hit the ground, Forty-Seven's would have. His eyes grew and he stared at me.

"A decade?" I didn't answer. It was depressing to think about. "I've only been here a few months and was actually on my way out."

Words could not describe how I felt. A mixture of shock, anger, sadness, everything flooded through me all at once. For some reason, I had been stuck here for years upon years while others seemed to have just breezed through.

"What do they do here?" I finally asked, looking to get to the bottom this mystery. "Why would they keep me here for so long and not tell me why?" I grabbed a fistful of my hair in each hand.

"They say this place is meant to train people." He shrugged.

"To do what?"

"I was going to be trained for some sort of information job. I don't know, I didn't listen to the briefs when I first got here."

What briefs. It was almost as if he was speaking in an alien language to me, talking about all these things that I never got. What made me so special or not special enough?

When I didn't reply, Forty-Seven stood up. "I'm sorry I'm not helping you at all." He picked the fork back up. I guess he just couldn't part with it. "But, we should get moving before anyone finds us."

I stood up as well, but didn't move from my spot. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"To the surface... out." He said it in that way again, as if I knew nothing. He was right to do so, I didn't know anything and I would have to rely on him for information. Until I learned everything I needed from him, there was no going anywhere but where he wanted to go.

"Why out?"

"That's how to pass the test." He pointed upwards. "I don't know why they withheld so much from you, but the test is to use everything we learned to escape the place and those that make it get to leave.... And there are only so many spots available." He said the last kind of fast. I knew what he meant, if there was only room for one more person, he wouldn't hesitate to take it and I had to admit, the feeling was mutual. Until then, we needed to get to the surface first.

"That's what everyone keeps killing each other." I sighed at how fast we were capable of turning on each other to try and get to the top.

"Not everyone." Forty-Seven said as we walked out of the mess into the labyrinth of where ever the hell we were. I didn't know if Forty-Seven knew where we were going, but he walked with enough confidence that I assumed he had at least a general idea of where to go. "I saw a few groups of people working together. We'll need to be careful of them."

The carnage that I had seen originally must have been isolated to the living area because there were barely any signs of conflict as Forty-Seven and I went along. Occasionally we would come across something such as some blood, but there weren't really any bodies which was a relief.

The going was relatively easy and I began to wonder about how long it would take to get out. It felt as if it would only be hours. There couldn't possibly be a building large or complicated enough to take days to get through. The biggest building I had scene had been in a book talking about architecture and demolition. It was a skyscraper in a large coastal city that towered above everything around it and even then the book talked about how the entire building could be evacuated in a matter of hours. It had already been two. I held onto that thought, it kept my legs moving and my spirits up.

"What's your name?" Forty-Seven asked. It seemed like a stupid question, his name was on his chest. Except that wasn't his name. He hadn't forgotten his, like I had mine.

"I..." I tried to dig back to remember, but there was nothing. All memories that I had from whatever sort I life I used have was gone. "I don't remember."

"Oh." Forty-Seven said, realizing that he had touched a bit of a soft spot. "Well." He bit his lower lip. "My name's Francis, though you can call me whatever you want."

"Francis is fine." I said, just wanting to change the topic, sadly god had a cruel and twisted sense of humor.

The slow electrical hum that could be heard no matter where I was in the building stopped. It had been such a constant part of my life that when it stopped, I noticed immediately. There was a fleeting moment, nothing more than an instant where it was completely silent. Then there was darkness.

I couldn't see anything but the rapidly fading ghostly hue from the still hot lightbulbs. I froze as I tried to adjust to this new environment. I didn't panic, I wasn't afraid of the dark, but I was afraid of not being able to see if there was anything out there. I don't know why the word "thing" came to mind instead of thinking of another person, but it's what I thought and it was terrifying.

"Well shit." Francis whispered as if he had to whisper just because it was dark. "This makes things more complicated if the backup generators don't kick in. If not, we'll have to find and start them up or we'll never get out."

"You know where they are?" I didn't bother asking how he knew, he seemed to know exactly what needed to be done.

"I have an idea." Francis said and took my hand and tugged on it to get me to follow him. "I believe each level has one and if I remember right, we're near one already." I didn't pull my hand away, I let him lead along as he expertly directed the both of us in the pitch black. Even then, I still had my free hand out to make sure I didn't walk into anything.

We went on for another hour. It was slow going as Francis had nothing but memory to rely upon. For all I knew, he could have just been leading us in circles and we would never have known better.

"Are you sure this is the way?" I had to ask as I got the feeling that we were just getting nowhere fast.

"Would you like to lead?" He offered in a slightly annoyed tone. He was getting just as frustrated as it was. Not being able to see, and just how silent it was, it was nerve racking.

"No." I replied and kept my mouth shut. He could have left me behind, I'm sure he would have been able to move faster alone than having to literally hold my hand. I wondered why he kept me around. I kept him around because he was a valuable source of information. Was it because I saved him? Or was it because it was safer in numbers or was there a more devilish motive? I could be some sacrifice, a diversion if we got into trouble. All of these things ran through my mind because there really wasn't anything else to think about with nothing to keep my attention.

The darkness did provide the perfect opportunity to clear my head of thoughts and prioritize.

Here I was, wandering in the dark with a boy who I had just met. He had more information than me about this place and seemed to give it freely enough. There's no way of telling if he's lying so I have no choice but to trust his word. According to him, we're in the middle of some test that can only have so many people pass which has turned people on each other. The power is out and we need to get the lights back on in order to navigate out of the base. I didn't know what to expect was about as useful as a chicken with its head cut off. I stopped thinking, the odds were not good.

Francis stopped moving and I bumped into his back, though he didn't say anything. I almost said something, but a sound echoed down the corridor, or at least I think we were still walking down corridors since we walked in long straight stretches with the occasional sharp turn. I couldn't tell what the sound was. It could have been anything, but it was something.

"We're not alone." Francis whispered and I felt his body shiver. "We should take another route." He tugged at my hand and we walked the other way, much more slowly. I didn't protests, I didn't want to deal with anything while being completely blind. We took care not to make even the slightest noise as we crept the other way.

Though we were, what I thought was pretty damn silent, I kept hearing the sound behind us. It sounded like a heavy breathing, thick and labored and it was getting closer every second.

Our pace quickened to the point where we were jogging, making sharp turns were we needed to. After a while, it was easy to guess where there was a turn. I could hear the breathing behind us still, along with a steps that matched ours. The breathing quickened and so did we.

"RUN!" Francis yelled and pulled me into a dead sprint. I ran as fast as I could. I could hear it behind us, whatever it was and it was gaining on us fast. I let out some sort of desperate cry and I could just feel the impending doom creep up on us.

"Keep going." Francis coughed up between labored breaths. He was struggling to keep up the pace while I was only beginning to be winded.

The thought crossed my mind. I could easily pull ahead of him and I now had an idea of how to navigate in the dark. If I left him behind, there was a chance that I could get away. The thought went through my head several times as I actually weighed my options. Leave him and survive or keep at his pace and possible get caught by what was chasing us. I knew what I needed to do.

I let go of Francis.