Drifters

by Santos, J. A.

  “Yes, she is still there sir.” One of them said as if he was not talking to the man at his side, but more to someone on a radio. “Are you sure sir? Understood?” he turned and looked at me again.

  “What does he want now?” said the other as he tapped the first man in front of him and he turned around.

  “He said to let her go?” his robotic voice sounded all confused as if not believing the ordered issued to him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  They looked at me and took out some Taser guns and pointed them at me.

  “No funny stuff, understood?” one of them said as his voice was so muffled that I did not understand at first.

  “My quarrel is not with you simple minded robots.” I said. I’m so mad at Marino once I’m out I will look for him and just end it, find Max and start a new life, maybe in Canada. I like the place and learned so much there.

  They came closer and unlocked the cage stepping backwards as I stood from the bed and walked towards them. They were definitely scared and knew exactly what I was capable of. I closed my eyes as I opened the cell’s door and let them leave. That was the sign if I opened my eyes they would be gone for sure, but they stayed there looking through that wide plastic lens of the HazMat suit.

  “Leave me.” I said as someone with a billion dollars would say to a butler. They did not move. “What do you want?”

  “We… we have orders to lead you to a safe location.”

  “You’re fucking with me, right?”

  “No miss,” said the other and I could see its eyes inside the suit from a small slit that only could let me see whoever was inside, it was a woman eyes I saw and somewhat familiar.

  “Where is max?” I asked and moved closer to them, they stepped back. “I said, where’s Max!” I screamed this time and they cringed downward.

  “Please don’t hurt us,” said the woman.

  “Answer my fucking question.”

  “He… he… he’s with Marino at the safe location.”

  “So you are my guide to them?”

  “Y… y… yes,” said the man.

  “Good, take me there, now.” They stepped aside as I walk between them looking at the dentist chair and all the blood in it, was it Max’s blood what had Marino done here. I walked to the back of the truck once there I stepped from the back of it with a jump to the floor and onto a dirt road, same as the fertilizers plant had. I knew it was not the plant since the drive from where Marino caught me in the clearing was close to the plant and we drove for hours. I looked back as one of them, in the suit did the same, jumping to the floor from the trucks back then holding the woman by the waist helping her climb down.

  “Husband and wife?” I asked as the man turned around swiftly and jumping a little.

  “Yes.” he said the sound of the robot man sounded differently outside the truck it had less of an echo to it.

  “What do you two do for Marino?” I asked curious to what Marino really had in mind.

  “We do stem cell research for him; I don’t know why he asked us to come for you, but I can guess.” said the woman.

  Scientist, with Taser guns, scared and in HazMat suit, what was his plan?

  “Where are we?”

  “Northern Arizona; near monument valley,” said the woman.

  I looked around to see the reddish sand and the high rising mountains; I looked at the road in front of us it lead to a wobbling heat at the far end.

  “You must be hot in those thing, take them off.”

  “Are you sure we can, aren’t you infectious?” the woman said as I moved my head from side to side.

  “What had Marino told you?”

  “Just to be cautious of you and to take as much safety as we can, that you could infect us if we were not cautious enough,” said the woman, she sounded like if she was asking to herself what was told was all a lie, something in her made me more cautious than the man. I could see the sweat inside the suit they really were hot and I knew it would be welcome if I dismissed Marino’s infectious comment about me.

  “Listen, don’t trust Marino he has something in his head for you two, he is planning something from you maybe give me some false information or lead me to one of his traps, but me being infectious is a lie. That only will happen if I bite you and I’m not starving so do as you please.”

  They looked at each other as if they couldn’t believe me. I just turned around and started walking not caring what they would do.

  “Stop, please,” said the woman as I heard the Velcro strip from the suit and the zipper come down with the trickling sound of every tooth separating the pieces of plastic that held the suit together.

  “What,” I said turning around as I saw the woman for the first time without the suits helmet and still taking off the rest of the suit. She looked just like me with one minor difference, her hair was black. I looked at her with wide open eyes, surprised. It was like looking at a mirror of the inevitable truth of Marino’s Plan. “You look just like me?” I said stunned at the fact.

  “I noticed too, when I first laid eyes on you.” She said as she took her husband’s head part of the suit off. I was glad to see it was not a copy of him nor of Alex it was someone different.

  “Are you human?” I asked and rushed to her putting my hand over her left breast as she finished taking the suit off and I heard it, the beat, my doppelganger is alive, Marino had made me alive. But why?

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I know that the impossible had been broken since I was born, since Jeremy found me on that small shack embraced by to talking corpses so long ago and by the notion that I was able to move around with no beating in my chest, just a ravaging hunger that had dire consequences if not held in check.

  “What are you,” I asked.

  “I don’t know, now looking at you I don’t even think I am real anymore.”

  “Do you feel it?” I urgently ask just to make sure I did not have to destroy another of Marino’s creations.

  “Feel what?” she said confused

  “The hunger, do you feel it.”

  “You mean the dieses? No I don’t have it.”

  “Impossible.” I gasped at the mere reflection of myself with black strands falling down. What if she’s lying?

  “You said you do stem cell research for him, have you seen your cells under a microscope?”

  “Yes, Marino had always said to do a comparison test every month from mines with some subject alpha, which I know now it must be you.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “The D.N.A was the same and I always thought something was strange but I never asked.”

  “You are not a good scientist for what I can see. How old are you?” I asked as I watched her finishing taking the suit putting one leg out at a time. She had a black tank top with white shorts inside the suit.

  “Twenty three,” she said.

  “Now I know why Marino asked you to take me to the safe location, he wants to drive me nuts.” I said turning around raising my hands to my head, scratching my red flares and walking again the opposite direction.

  During all the conversation the man did not say a word, he just stood there looking in utter disbelief as me and his wife looked like identical twins with different color of hair. I walked as the woman rushed to my side.

  “How is it like?” She asked

  “It is not what you think it is. It is grotesque, but sometimes things are needed to be done to survive.” I said in a frustrated voice.

  “I understand.” She said in disappointment.

  The man came to her side and grabbed her hand making a twisted fist from their fingers.

  “How is it like?” I asked the same question as I nodded to their hands tied together as we walked.

  “Well,” she said looking at the man’s face with tenderness in her eyes, as if love was an emotion that even for a monster like me was something worth experiencing, and I know how it feels. I know it was real between them; she looked at him as
I looked at Marino so far away in the past. “It’s something wonderful to wake every day at his side, have dinner with him, even work together as we grow older and expecting.”

  “Congratulations, not that it will make any difference if Marino wants to kill you too.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Because he is an even bigger monster that I would ever be and I will end his life; once and for all be free from him, heart and body.”

  “Marino has all but been keen to us. I don’t think he would do such a terrible thing to us.”

  “He would and will; who’s blood in the chair?” I asked changing the subject and pointed over my shoulder with my thumb to the truck, now but several hundred steps away.

  “We don’t know, when we got there it was like that.” She said confused by the sight of the blood in the dentist chair, “Marino said not to clean it that you had to see it.”

  “Jeremy?”

  “Don’t know. We have not seen him for three days.”

  I stopped. No, it can’t be. Marino could not have. I turned around and grabbed her by her shoulder and squeezed hard enough that she moved down like a wad and a little whimper of pain escapes her mouth.

  “Hey, let her go!” screamed the man. I turned my head and growled at him; deep, angry and desperate. Jeremy had been good to me; I despised him for his work, not because of the man he was.

  “Where’s Jeremy?” I said slow and steady the growling coming from my throat was more intense and I was ready to deal her a death I can surely do, but she knew nothing, it could be seen in her eyes, opened wide as my mouth. Jeremy had disappeared for three days. I cannot believe it. I moved my head from side to side as I let go of her and she falls to the ground.

  “Take me to thre safe location now and we will not stop.”

  Chapter Thirty Four

  We walked all the way in silence to a dome kind of structure big and stained white. I had no way of describing it, just white with patches of black mold all over and high enough, almost three stories high. We stopped at a metal rusted door where they, still holding hands, opened and went in first. I was always behind them as they lead the way. I was not going to be surprised by them as the information they had provided did. I never asked for her name, I did not cared, I wanted to know Jeremy and Max were safe and sound, probably somewhere around here, hopefully.

  Inside we went down through some stairs circling a big tube of cement; we kept going down for about five minutes when she stopped on a walkway in the middle of the circling half way down the stairs. She looked at me with concerning eyes as she let go of her husband’s hand, giving me a hug.

  “Marino said not to go down there with you.” She said as she let go and a small trembling I could hear in her voice, scared I would not survive whatever Marino’s plan was. ”Be safe sister.”

  I looked at her as those words rang in my ears. I looked at the man at her side; he was worried also, but said nothing.

  “Go, don’t ever go back to Marino, live your life away from him and you will be safe I guarantee it.” I said turned and kept moving downwards just some few minutes more.

  What was on his freaking mind? What was his plan? I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. The woman and her husband were gone, hopefully never to return to Marino’s side. It did not matter; I will make sure that even if they tried he would not exist.

  The world I used to live was now coming to its end, I would be free from Marino, he would be dead and Jeremy, Max and I would be safe. No more chasing around, no more hiding. Maybe Max and I could be like the couple who had gone away, back up the stairs and hopefully never to return to what is left of Marino’s organization.

  I walked on a polished cement floor; it shimmers with small naked light bulbs that are hanging from the ceiling. The semi dark hallway was long and my steps echoed inside them with everyone I took. I stopped to listen and see if anyone was down here, but it was silent. No sound but me down on this underground hole, Marino was hiding, but where? I have not seen a door for a while and the hallways seemed to go on forever. Then I heard a HI pitch feedback noise and some tapping on a microphone. I looked up and down the hallway from where I came, to where I was going. I arched downward a little and spread my hands ready for an attack, but none came. The sound came again, the feedback, the tapping and a distorted voice came from a speaker I did not see.

  “Welcome dear Sara, I was expecting you much sooner,” the electrical distorted voice said.

  “Marino, why distort your voice? I know it was you all along.”

  “Why not have some fun during your demise.” He said

  “Where are you?”

  “At the end of this corridor, now you know where I am, so come get me.” He said as he laughed and the laughter was so familiar I wanted it out of my head. I cannot believe it, it was all a lie? That was not it. It could not be it. I ran and I ran as fast as I my body would hold; to the end of the corridor. This was not happening how dumb could one person be? Fourth mistake since all this started. How was I so stupid?

  I would have said that my heart raced as the idea first came to my mind, but for that I would have to have a heartbeat and that was not my case.

  I kept running, at the end, a door with the same lettering from the message Marino had left at the old mill and now I understood it, I read it wrong, it said Marino won’t survive this, not you won’t survive this I just put the letter ‘U’ in front of the message after watching the letters drip.

  I kicked the door in front of me at the end of the corridor with all my strength and the door busted out of its hinges and flew to the other side of the room where it hit a transparent wall, probably some kind of hardened glass. My eyes opened wide as I saw him there on a chair with a microphone in front of him, smiling. I mouthed the word no in utter disbelief of who was on the chair. I looked around and see Jeremy tied in the middle of a big round room; it looked like an old Greek arena.

  “Welcome Miss Sara, to your resting place.”

  Chapter Thirty Five

  Why? Was the only thing that came in my mind what have I done to him? I could understand Marino being a devious man using Max and Alex, but Max being behind it all? I don’t get it. I remembered myself on the floor at the clearing just some few hours back enjoying the feeling of being a woman for the first time in my life, thinking I could actually be with someone and never have to worry for his death, now I know I have to worry about mines and not his.

  I looked at Jeremy tied on the floor unconscious and breathing evenly. He was still alive. I ran towards him as Max laughed at me and I did not blame him for laughing I did fell for his trick, stupid me.

  I kneeled down besides Jeremy as I held his head helping him sit on the floor and I undo his binds. He grunts as he comes to.

  “What happened? Last thing I remember was leaving the mill and…” He stopped as he looked around where he was and an eerie feeling came over me. I remember the mill, it was just a day; unless Alex bite had me believing such short time passed and he had me under his spell fro way longer, I should have known something was wrong once my doppelganger told me he went missing three days, how much time had passed?

  “Jeremy what is this place?” I asked

  When from the speakers came the tapping on the microphone again. “Um, Miss Sara, if I may, let me tell you of this place. Here Alex and I were created. Here is where I found about you and how my life was the hell it is, thanks to you.”

  I looked at him with confusion, “Wait, all was a lie; the stepfather, the drifting around with Alex? All was an invention you two devised for me?” I said.

  “O Miss Sara, don’t flatter yourself,” He said “you aren’t even that pretty. I prefer my women dead.” He said as a big smile appeared on his face as the last of Jeremy’s bounds were lessened, the rope fell to the floor and small wisps of dust flew in the air. This place has been closed, maybe for years, but the dust in it was thin. “Anyway we manage to convince Marino to let us go and fi
nd you the rest you already know.”

  “But why do this to me, I didn’t do anything to you.” I said waving my hand up and down signaling his whole body, one I have seen completely naked. I felt so ashamed at that moment, I thought of myself as the eighteen year old and lonely girl all over again. The naïve woman that had never been with a man before; well not by mutual agreement and one that ended really badly for the other part. I did enjoy the three days aftermath though.

  “Yes you did!” he screamed from behind the protective glass and through the microphone his voice full of hatred. “If you had never existed Marino would never have done his experiments to get you back. Do you even know what I have been through because of my extra? That thing the disease gave me besides the insatiable hunger? Do you know how many times I have died and how Marino did it? No, you do not know and you will never know.” He said as he hit a button to his side and metallic doors raised to the whirring sound of electrical pulses in the speakers, only one word was uttered over and over again. ‘Danger’