Dead Nightmares

by James Lawrence Jr.

  “C’mon let’s go!” Keith said running up ahead. I guess since I’m here he is feeling fearless. I chased after trying to match his pace. Every other hallway we encounter had voices coming from them. My neck started to pulsate with pain, and my breathing was getting more difficult to take in. I stumbled and fell face first onto the floor. Keith stopped and turned back to try and help me stand up.

  “Bro, We have to keep going.” He said tugging me to stand on my feet. I tried to respond, but all I can do is cough. I threw my hand to my mouth to silence the coughing, but it did little to help. My coughing slowly became more violent as blood seeped through my hand. My brother looked at me in horror as I tried to contain the noise. I put on a smile and forced myself up holding back some coughing.

  “I’m fine little K. We need to get out of here.” I said weakly wiping my hand on the back of my pants. He continued looking at me silently and turned walking forward. Towards the end of the hallway we are in there is a set of black double doors. A sigh of relief flows over my chest as we push on to the door. Keith pulls one side open and holds it open for me. As I walk through I felt a feeling overtake me like getting caught by your parents. A lone doctor eating a sub is sitting down at a circular brown table that matched her skin tone. Her eyes fixated at the door as we walked in. Her blank expression didn’t change as she continued to eat. We stood in shock at the door patiently waiting to see what she would do. I was more surprised she didn’t scream when two kids came bursting through a door cover in blood.

  She finally put down her sandwich and stood up. She preceded to walk over to us and finally said, “So you all must be what all the fuss is about.” Her demeanor seems calm and rational, but her eyes gave a cold and distant stare. Keith remained quiet and unsure of what to do next. I looked down at her white lab jacket to her name badge that read Doctor Linda D. Davis. I take half a step closer and pulled the gun from off my shoulder.

  I raised it up while gritting my teeth and said, “Get us the FUCK out of this PLACE!”

  She looks down at Keith and back at me and said, “it’s not polite to curse in front of children.” I jerked the gun closer to her, and my voice got a little louder.

  “I don’t give a DAMN!! After all the stuff HE has been through so far HE is more mature than some people are!” I growl at her waiting for what she would say next. She looked at me for some time before putting her finger over her lip making the quiet sign. It struck me odd for a brief moment before figuring out that I may have convinced her. She walked out the door and peeked her head out before quickly ducking back in.

  “They are on their way here to check out the extra noise,” she said pulling us out the door.

  “There they are!! Get them!” The soldiers said storming the hallway. We were running north towards the main elevator, but as we got closer, they started firing their guns. I turned back and fired my entire clip at them, but I mostly missed due to them getting under cover. The elevator door opened and I threw my gun and started running to get in. I was about fifteen feet away before the door began to close.

  “Troy Hurry!!” Keith said trying to run forward toward me before being stopped by the doctor. I got about seven feet away before my throat acted up. I started throwing up blood and began a deathly coughing fit. I fell down to my knees and could not control my coughing to a point I started throwing up more blood.

  “FUCK!!” I screamed forcing myself up. A bullet hit me in the lower back followed by another in my arm as well as one in my leg; forcing me down onto my own juices. The pain was excruciating and my body was pulsating and burning up. I turned my head to the Doctor and Keith standing at the side of the elevator door as it closed. But just before the door closed, I saw something that played on my fear. The Doctor had injected something into Keith that made his body drop to the floor.

  “God Damn It!” I said screaming; forcing myself to my feet. I pounded on the elevator door knowing it was too late but felt it was all I could do. More stray bullets penetrated my body as it became more burdensome to stand up. I forced myself to turn around as bloody slobber swayed out of my mouth. I could faintly see a huddle of black blur. I heard muffled voices surrounding me. My chest was working against me as I tried to breathe. A sharp pain struck me, and I collapsed to the floor going into another deathly coughing fit. What the hell did that Doctor do to Keith? She was supposed to help.

  My arms felt like spaghetti as I tried once more to force myself up. A foot kicked my arm down, and my hair got yanked up from behind. A face slowly came into focus of a man in his forties. His blue eyes pierced my soul as he continued to stare.

  “What did you think? You could escape like nothing happened?’ he said as his bushy whiskers danced on his lips. My eyes slowly made their way back to the elevator hoping it would magically open.

  He knew what I was looking at, then looked back at me and said, “You don’t have to worry about the other boy” his country accent kicked in more as he talked.

  “The Doctor just knocked him out and he is just going back where he belongs.... Back in storage.” My heart clenched, and my breathing became more forced through my nostrils. I grew more enraged with every new word he said.

  “Oh I hit a soft note huh,” he said while fiddling around with my mouth as he looked for something. I mustered all the strength I had left and thrown my right fist at his face. He stood there unamused. He calmly reached over letting my mouth free and grabbed my arm. He bent it quickly in another direction.

  “AHHHHHHHH” I howled in agony. I knew that bastard broke my arm.

  “Get him back to the Lab. Regroup with the doctor to collect the other sample,” he said slamming my face into the floor. I could feel hands grabbing at me all over my body. My arm felt like ice on the outside and like someone had poured hot embers over it on the inside. It was detrimental. The fucking pain you can't ignore that made me sick to my stomach. I was supposed to protect Keith, but I failed. My body was jerked up and I faded in and out of conscious as I was dragged down the white hallway.

  I awoke later in a small, dimly lit prison cell room. There were two crappy bunk beds attached to the wall and an uncleaned toilet behind me. My body ached as I moved and when I finally arose to my feet using the bottom bed to get up. A voice behind me spooked me.

  “Good to have someone to talk to finally.” the voice said peering over the top bunk bed.

  The voice continued, “I pity the fact that you woke up and that you couldn't have been in a coma. But that would mean I would be stuck here bored with no idiot to pick on.”

  I couldn’t see their face, but I wasn’t afraid to pick a fight. “ What the HELL do you want. Go bother someone else.” Even my words hurt to say. What the hell did they do to me? I guess he saw the pain through my words and came down off the top bunk. He slid down off the top bunk with his black long hair slithering through the air. He had a small and slender frame. The moment our eyes met I knew he was a weirdo.

  “Why are you wearing lipstick.” I said while trying to avoid eye contact. “The other guys around here might get the wrong idea.” He stood there for a second before laughing. Even his laugh sounded feminine.

  “I’m wearing lipstick because I am a GIRL, you idiot.” she said striking a pose. You don’t need to know my name but you can just call me Faith.”

  “They stuck me in the same room as a girl!” I said as the surprise and pain caused me to crash to the floor. She struck me with her foot and pressed it hard against my chest. The pain was oddly satisfying as much as it was hard to breathe. She seemed to enjoy toying with people.

  “What’s your name?” Faith said continuing to press down on my chest.

  “My... my.. name is...” I fought to say before she finally took her foot off my chest. I clenched my chest trying to ease the pain.

  “My name is Troy.” I growled at her.

  “Listen up. I don’t really have anything to say to you except this TROY. This is the beginning of the end.” Faith said.

&nb
sp;