by C. J. Boyle
Kera looked at Brody with disgust. “The sheer magnitude of what is going on right now, and that is what you have to say? They are like Ken Dolls down there?” She continued to watch the hall. “Half of all humans changed into Links and now they are killing the other half. Seems like the end of the world to me. And my son is out there.” She motioned to the TV. “Part of it all. Doing God knows what.”
Brody joined her at the infirmary entrance. “Who let them out?”
Kera looked at him confused. Brody looked at her and then back down the hall. “It’s the middle of the night. Everyone should have been locked in their cells. Someone had to let them out.”
“The Warden.” Both Kera and Brody turned around to look behind them. The Doctor stood there with a somber look on his face. “I mean, he’s a Link, right? It had to be him. Besides that, he has a ‘safe room’ in his apartment complete with a monitoring system and the ability to lock or unlock any door.”
Brody’s eyes widened. “You gotta be kidding me!” He looked at Kera to see her reaction. Her mouth was gaping open. He looked back at the doctor for verification. The doctor suddenly looked terrified. They both turned around just in time to see a Link fling itself against the glass door. Blood smeared all over the glass. More Links came running down the hall. The trio watched in horror as healthy Links killed and started to eat the injured one. Kera covered her mouth and turned away.
“Don’t worry, they won’t be able to break the glass. But eventually, they will be able to get in.” The doctor said looking up at the ceiling. “We need to get out of here.” The doctor turned around and walked briskly towards the back of the infirmary. They walked through a room containing an x-ray machine and other equipment. The doctor kept closing and locking doors behind them as they went. “No need to make it easier for them to follow us.” They came to a door that was locked. Dr. Wallace fished in his pockets for his keys.
Just beyond the wall, they could hear screams and crashing sounds. Kera began to breathe heavily. “Your honor, I’d like to change my plea,” she said softly.
Brody looked at her with concern. “Is she okay, Doc?”
The Doctor opened the door. “Nope. She’s not. Come on.”
Brody grabbed Kera by the upper arm and led her down the stairs. She yanked her arm away from him. “No! I want to change my plea!”
“She’s in shock,” Wallace said as he descended the stairs.
Brody tried to grab her arm again, but she smacked his hand away. He had enough. He pushed her up against the wall hard and stuck a finger in her face. “We don’t have time for this! Get it together, you understand me? Get it together!” He stared at her waiting for her to say or do something. She blinked a few times and then nodded. He grabbed her by the arm again and they both went down the stairs. At the bottom, the doctor led them into a long corridor.
“Where the hell are you taking us, Doc?” Brody knew he had never been in this part of the prison before. He was completely lost. “Where are we?”
Keeping his quick pace, the doctor looked over his shoulder briefly. “Right now we’re under the outdoor basketball court headed toward the apartments.”
Brody suddenly stopped. “What? God damn it!”
Dr. Wallace turned around. “What? We have to get to the Warden’s apartment. We can hunker down in his safe room for a few days if we have to.”
Brody shook his head, “Secret safe rooms, secret underground corridors, what’s next?”
They started walking again. “What’s the matter? Did you think you were so important that you should know everything?” Wallace asked.
Exasperated Brody shouted, “No! But why do you know more about this place than I do?”
They came to another door and Wallace took out his keys again. “It was a condition of my employment. I actually have a safe room too. But my room doesn’t have any monitors or control panels in it.” Wallace paused to make a point, “Look, if the Warden is still in his room, you’re going to have to kill him. You do know that, right?”
Brody nodded sarcastically, “With what? My good looks?”
Dr. Wallace considered him for a second. He smiled and laughed, “Well, if that were possible you could probably do it.”
“Thanks, Doc. Just open the damn door.”
They walked through the door and Brody realized that now they had to go up several flights of stairs. They were closing in on their goal, the Warden’s apartment, but what would they find? Of the three of them, he was the only one trained in hand-to-hand combat. As they ascended the stairs, below them came a deep guttural rumble. All three of them looked down to see a group of Links staring up at them. One growled, gurgling blood out of its mouth and, when the growl seemed to reach its peak, the other Links joined in. They rushed forward towards them.
Kera shrieked in terror and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. She tripped but Brody picked her up and pushed her along. The Links were surprisingly fast and terrifying. They were behind Brody swiping at his legs. He yelled, “Run! No matter what just keep going!” He took his flashlight off his belt and swung it at the Link closest to him with one arm and punched another in the face with his other. Both fell backward into the other Links giving Brody a temporary reprieve. He ran up the stairs after Kera and the doctor. Under pressure, the doctor had trouble unlocking the door. Brody screamed, “Open the door! Open the door!” He turned around and kicked a Link in the face as others grabbed at him with sharp claws tearing into his flesh.
Wallace finally got the door unlocked and the three rushed through it. Brody kicked, punched and jabbed at the lead Link until he could get the door closed behind them.
“Let’s go.” Wallace led them down the hall. “We’re almost there!”
Just as they rounded the corner the Links broke through the door behind them. Ahead of them more Links appeared. They fought each other to be in the lead and get the food first. Brody was overtaken by the certain knowledge that he was about to die, but he wasn’t about to just give in. If he was going to go down, he was going to take at least one of those bastards with him. As both the groups of Links closed in on them, Brody readied himself.
Kera suddenly grabbed Brody with surprising force and pulled him into the Warden’s apartment and then slammed the door shut. He barely got his bearings before he realized that Dr. Wallace was being attacked by a Link. Brody rushed over and grabbed the Link around the waist and pulled him off the doctor.
“Go! I’ll take care of him!” Brody yelled at the doc. He launched the Link into the air. It crashed down on the dining room table which broke and tipped to the ground. The Link sprang up and rushed at Brody knocking him off his feet to the floor. It pounced on top of him and bit down on his shoulder. Brody yelled out in pain and pushed it off him.
Kera picked up the leg of the table and swung it as hard as she could at the Link's head. It fell to the floor with a thud. She slammed it down on the Link's head over and over screaming, “I’m [hit] not [hit] guilty [hit]!” She kept hitting it and kept saying it until its head was nothing but a bloody glob on the floor.
Brody jumped to his feet and ran over to her. He grabbed the table leg away from her and snapped her out of it. “I think it's dead,” he said looking at her concerned. “Let’s go.” He motioned towards the doctor, who stood in the doorway of the safe room. They could hear the Links outside the door trying to get in. Brody pushed Kera toward the doctor. They rushed through and the doctor closed it behind them. He locked it by spinning a wheel. It made a loud metal-on-metal clanking sound. They were locked in.
“They can’t get in here. They may be monsters but they aren’t superhuman. We’re safe,” Doctor Wallace said as he clicked on the monitors.
Brody looked around trying to catch his breath. The safe room was very small. It had a large monitor on the wall, a small couch, a small sink and toilet, and several cabinets. It obviously wasn’t built for more than one person.
“Yeah, we’re safe. Until we go crazy and kill e
ach other or starve to death.” Brody grabbed some paper towels that were beside the sink and held them against his neck where the Link bit him. He looked at Kera who was sitting on the couch. She was staring at the floor. He pulled the paper towel away and looked at it wincing, “You wanna tell me what that was about?” He looked at her expecting a response but she didn’t even blink. She just kept staring at the floor. He kicked her foot lightly. “Hey, I’m talking to you. What the hell was that about?” He asked, exasperated. “We’ve apparently got time so if you want to vent…” He glanced at the doctor who looked at him and then at Kera.
“Just leave her be. We have more important things to deal with right now,” he said as he flipped a switch here and there. “I’m opening up all the outside doors so that, when they are done… killing people, hopefully, they will leave.” He turned toward a gun safe on the wall above Kera’s head. He opened it and took out a handgun. “We’ll have to kill the ones that are left.”
The doctor finally got a good look at Brody and his bloody shoulder. He pulled up the paper towel to examine his wound. “I’m sure they will leave when there is no more food.”
“I’m not guilty,” Kera said softly still staring at the floor.
Brody shook his head and tried to consider his words carefully. He decided to be factual and use the blatant truth. “Kera, I looked into it. The conviction was a ‘slam dunk’. You were convicted of murdering your husband with a baseball bat – exactly the way you did, just now, with the Warden.”
“You assume it was the Warden,” the doctor chimed in.
Brody continued, “Your husband’s blood was all over your clothes and your fingerprints were on the murder weapon.”
She finally looked at him with tears streaming down her face. “The Warden was self-defense!”
“Okay,” Brody nodded, “Are you saying that killing your husband was self-defense?”
“I didn’t kill my husband.”
“Like I said, it was a slam dunk. And don’t try to say that his blood only got on you because when you found him bleeding to death you rushed over to him to check his pulse or hugged his body against you. Because the splatter pattern on your clothes was consistent with beating someone to death with a baseball bat.”
“That’s enough.” Dr. Wallace glared at Brody. “Are you trying to send her over the deep end? I’m not sure you’ve completely assessed the situation here.” He gestured to their surroundings.
“The police saw what I wanted them to see,” Kera said softly. “Before I die… I want someone to know the truth.”
~ The Truth 2 Years Ago ~
Kera Warren lived in a small, crappy apartment in the city with her husband and her 12-year-old son. Even though the place was small, it was neat and clean. There were photos of Charlie on the wall representing almost every year of his life. Kera stood in front of the photos staring at the one of Charlie when he was nearly two years old. ‘He was easy then,’ she thought to herself, ‘now he’s such a handful.'
“Hey, Turtlebutt! Remember to take the trash out, okay?” She called out listening for a response.
A muffled and very annoyed, “Okay, Mom, I’ll get to it,” came through the wall.
He was supposed to be doing his homework but she knew that he was in his room playing video games. A good mother would go in there, take the power cord away, and demand that he finished his homework. But she wasn't in the mood for fighting. She went into the kitchen that was little more than a closet with a refrigerator and stove where she had been cooking dinner. Spaghetti. Both the men in her life loved spaghetti. It was cheap and easy so she made it often. And, of course, things seem to go easier when everyone was ‘happy’. She stirred the sauce and then heard the front door slam and it startled her. With a worried look, she shut off the stove and cautiously walked out into the living room.
Her husband stood in the middle of the living room. He yanked off his coat and gloves and threw them on the couch. She had seen that look before. Obviously, he was pissed.
“Trevor, what’s wrong?” She asked.
“I just went by the corner store and tried to buy some beer and the damn check card was declined. What the fuck? Huh? I just put two hundred dollars in there yesterday!” His face turned red as he yelled and droplets of spit flew from his mouth.
Kera flinched, “I’m sorry. I had to pay the electric bill or they were going to shut it off. And we needed some food so –"
Trevor reached out and grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her to him so he could sufficiently instill fear. “Do you know how fuckin’ embarrassing it is to be declined at the checkout like that?”
Kera’s heart raced as she tried to find the words that would calm Trevor down. She knew from experience that nothing was going to get her out of this. “I’m sorry, Trevor. I’m sorry. Look, if you would just let me get a job…”
“I told you no!” Trevor yelled and then punched her in the face. She fell backward against the wall and crumpled to the floor unconscious.
Trevor went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to find that there was beer in there waiting for him. “At least the bitch was smart enough to get me some beer.”
Charlie came out of his bedroom and saw his mother lying on the floor. He went over to her and smoothed her hair back. Tears welled up in his eyes as the rest of his face showed the rage he felt. He walked over to the closet and grabbed the baseball bat out of it and headed for the kitchen.
When Kera awoke, she rubbed her head and looked around. She could hear repeated thumping sounds and an occasional grunt. She got to her feet quickly, afraid for her son’s safety. She had to find him. She quickly followed the sounds into the kitchen.
The first thing she saw was feet - toes pointed upwards toward the ceiling. She couldn’t tell who it was yet because the kitchen table blocked her view. Kera moved farther into the kitchen more looking from the person’s feet all the way up to a bloodied head. She looked up and saw Charlie slamming down the bat into Trevor’s nonexistent face over and over again.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There was blood everywhere including all over her son’s shirt and face. She trembled and covered her mouth. “Charlie?” He didn’t respond. He just kept hitting Trevor. She moved closer to Charlie and put her hand on his shoulder. “Charlie stop!” She took the bat. He just stood there in shock. She dropped the bat onto the floor and took his face in her hands. He was so tall she had to look up at him. He didn’t even seem to be there with her. She immediately knew what she had to do.
~ The Safe Room ~
Kera looked at the floor during her confession. She didn’t really care if they believed her or not. She just wanted someone, anyone, to know the truth. “So I cleaned Charlie up and put him to bed. I put on his shirt and took the bat and hit Trevor’s head until more blood splattered on me. Then I called the police. Charlie, he apparently didn’t remember anything.” She finally looked up at Brody.
He looked at her sympathetically, “I’m sorry. Obviously, I misjudged you.”
“I didn’t,” Dr. Wallace interrupted. Both of them looked at him. “I didn’t misjudge you. I always thought you were out of place in here.” He smiled and then turned back to the monitor. He swiped and touched the screen several times.
Brody frowned and looked at the floor. “So, Doc, what now?” Brody moved so that he could see the monitors.
The doctor shook his head somberly, "I don't know."
Hours later, Kera and Brody were asleep on the couch. Sometime during the night, they ended up in each other’s arms. He snuggled her close during his sleep and she rubbed his chest back and forth. Dr. Wallace watched the two with a happy smirk on his face. He found it very interesting. He knew their relationship hadn’t reached that point yet. Assuming they would even have a “relationship.”
Brody suddenly breathed in quickly and jolted awake. He looked around confused and then realized Kera was in his arms. He was filled with conflicting emotions. He really liked
feeling her against him rubbing his chest, but at the same time he knew that if she woke up that way…she’d punch him in the dick. He didn’t know what to do. He finally noticed that Dr. Wallace was watching them.
The doctor smiled and spoke softly. “Don’t move. You’ll wake her.”
Brody whispered, “How did we get like this?”
Wallace sighed and glanced at the monitors. “Did you just get out of a long relationship?”
Brody tried to look at Kera’s face but the angle wasn’t right. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Wallace shrugged, “You reached for your lover in the middle of the night and pulled her close to you. And she…” He looked at Kera, “She must have loved her husband even though he was a prick. She started petting you.” He smiled and chuckled softly, “It was fun to watch.”