෴Raz෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Call Mom

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Half an hour after his escape at the clinic Raz had gotten on and then back off the interstate and was traveling along the surface streets toward his place. As soon as he’d felt safe on the familiar drive home, merging into city evening traffic like any other day, Raz regretted his impulsive actions and wonder if he’d overreacted.

Shit. What the hell is wrong with me? I could buy a nice used car for the price of that test. Now I won't get the results or even the single treatment that's included. I bet they won't even retest me after how crazy I acted. What the hell was with the -1 ability slots? Everyone starts with at least one!

He glanced at the sky and realized his mother would still be over the Atlantic. With any luck, he’d be long asleep by the time she landed in wherever she was off to this time.

The radio interrupted the song playing with some breaking news. It was something about a terrorist bombing of a medical clinic. Raz turned it off, annoyed at the interruption.

He checked the time and realized that if he hurried he could pick up some hot wings from the grocery store for dinner on the way home, and to just leave his mother a voicemail for when she landed.

Sia might be off work. Maybe she wants to get together tonight. I’ll have plenty of time to call Mom later.

He pushed the phone button on his steering wheel and spoke to the car. “Call Sia.”

The phone picked up right away. “Hey, honey, how's your day been?”

He could feel the smile in her voice and just hearing that drained away some of the tension he’d been carrying since the clinic.

He took a deep breath and let it out all at once. “Babe, I have got such a story for you. But first, I’m thinking of heading up to my grandpa’s old fishing cabin this weekend. Interested?”

“Mm-hmm” She replied. The low tone and hum to her voice loaded the answer with innuendo. “You know I am. The lake, the solitude, no one to see us skinny dipping. Oh, and yeah, the fishing part isn’t so bad either.”

“Glad to hear it. Wouldn’t have been the same without you.” Raz smiled at the thought. “So I’m planning to grab some chicken wings. I can get some for you and swing by.”

She sighed. “I wish. I’m still working on this project, and I’m not sure how soon I’ll finish. You’re always welcome, but you can't be distracting me right now. Let’s be real, if you come over now, we’re gonna get distracted.” She purred. “But, I have a better idea. You head home, skip the in-town traffic, get your work out done and whatever else you need to do, then come by my place around ten and we’ll pretend we’re having a kinky booty call.”

Raz chuckled. “If you’re trying to threaten me with a good time, that’ll probably work. Text me if you need me to pick anything up on the way. I’ll let you get back to it. Love you, babe.”

“Love you more.” She replied before hanging up.

Raz couldn’t hold the smile in and just mused about later that night, until he remembered he had another call to make.

“Call Mom” The car dialed her number and as expected he went straight to voicemail.

“Hey mom, I saw your text about your trip. Sorry I wasn’t able to see you off this time. Got caught up. Anyway, I guess I should just confess now, give you some time to process it before you can tell me off about it when you get back. I got ability tested.”

He noticed a truck coming up too close behind his car with the brights on. He shifted to the slow lane to let it pass. Instead, it stayed right behind him and slowed down with him.

“Ugh, I swear Atlanta drivers are just looking for a reason to be assholes as soon as they get on the road.” He adjusted his mirror to keep the bright lights out of his eyes. “Sorry about the language, mom. Anyway, I should say I tried to get tested. Seems they got some weird results and I’ll probably have to save up for a while if I wanted to get another test done.”

“Not sure how long you’ll be this time, but I was thinking I might take Sia up to grandpa’s old cabin for a weekend soon, so if you get back and I’m not picking up the phone, don’t worry about, or come on up and join us, plenty of poles and fish.”

He stopped talking to decide whether to go around the SUV that had gotten into the lane ahead of him and was slowing down for no good reason.

“So anyway, I just wanted to let you know now. I know dad had some strong opinions about getting ability tested, and I’d be the first to admit that the whole experience turned sketchy at the end. But anyway, I love Dad, but he’s gone, and I think at this point I have to do what I think is best for my-”

As he braked to avoid hitting the SUV in front of him that had slowed down for no good reason, a loud crunch from the rear of his car interrupted him. His phone flew off the seat next to him and lodged high in the passenger footrest area.

“What the f- Damn it. What a jerk. That is why you don’t tailgate! These idiots need to learn to drive.”

Raz got out to give the tailgater a piece of his mind and exchange insurance information.

෴Fidel෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Insertion

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The building sat in a rundown industrial area. Another worn old warehouse among many, only unique because of subtle reinforcements and a few more security cameras than one might expect from a simple warehouse.

At the front door, Fidel entered a code, and the reinforced door opened, revealing the way from the deserted parking lot into a small lobby. Fidel picked up Raz and slung the limp form over his shoulder fireman style, with no more visible effort than another man might carry a medium-sized empty box or rolled up yoga mat. A bulky item, but not one of any significant weight.

Fidel pressed the intercom button. “I have the subject.”

A crisp and formally toned reply came back. “Excellent work as always Fidel. I’m so glad you could extend an invitation to another guest. Please bring him into the empty holding room. We’re going to have a bit of a show. I'll let you in.”

A few minutes later a man wearing a long lab coat pushed the door open. Fidel carried Raz inside.

The man in the lab coat looked at Raz’s unconscious form as though he might be a bug or other vermin. “How was he incapacitated?”

“Spray.” Fidel grunted.

The other man smiled. “How long ago?”

Fidel glanced at his wrist. “Ten minutes.”

“Excellent. Take him to lab one.”

Fidel grunted in assent and walked off toward the labs.

“Hold up there Fidel.”

The lab-coated man called out at Fidel’s receding form. Fidel stopped and turned back around.

“Once I’m done in the lab, place him in the holding room with Joseph, or whatever he’s calling himself today. But first I need to dose our new guest. Wouldn’t want him feeling anything less than calm and extremely loquacious. While I regret that we can’t use my personal methods to gather the information we want, I can’t deny that an informal interview first seems to provide us with better and faster results. That, and we simply don’t have time to waste on long interrogations. I’m going to dose him on the heavy side. Sure it might impact his short term memory and impulse control for a while, but let's just consider that part of the fun.” The man in the lab coat said with a smile.

෴Raz෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Rude Awakening

෴෴෴෴෴෴

The intense stink of unwashed bodies mixed with old tobacco smoke and a hint of decay jarred Raz awake. He clutched his blanket and rolled over to try to go back to sleep.

“Wake up kid.” a voice whispered in his ear. The urgent tone caught his attention.

Raz sat up and clutched his head. “Oh my god, what happened?”

He took a deep breath and discovered the smell was coming from his blanket.

“Kid, if you don’t get up now, they’re going to take you next!” Someone whispered in his ear a little louder.

He turned toward the speaker. Raz blinked until his blurred vision came into focus. Crouched above him was a positively ancient looking man dressed in worn, dirty clothing. His outfit might have once upon a time been a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt under a patchwork of stains.

Raz wondered why a hobo was talking to him, and how he could make it stop.

The man grabbed his blanket, “Get up or don't, but gimme my coat back.” He shook it out, throwing out a cloud of dust and stronger stink. He buttoned up the coat’s three remaining buttons with shaking hands and a slow and exaggerated care. He looked at Raz, shook his head and walked over to the edge of the room and sat down.

Without the ‘blanket’ Raz felt the cooler air and hard floor. He took a look around the room, seeing a number of indistinct lumps around the room. The bright light coming from the smoked glass doors stabbed into his eyes. He closed his eyes tight and then shielded them with his hand. He stared at one of the lumps on the floor that was near the doors until he could tell the shape was an old man wrapped in layers of clothing and blankets.

Raz got to his feet. The man whose jacket he’d been sleeping under beckoned, and he walked over.

The old man grunted a greeting. “You’re gonna wanna sit down.”

Raz sat down as near as he dared to the smelly old man. The old man waved him closer, and whispered something Raz couldn’t quite hear.

Raz reluctantly scooted a bit closer, instantly more aware of the smell than he wanted to be.

“Listen kid, sorry I had to wake you. The name is Steve, but everyone calls me Hutch. They always take someone close to the door, or someone near the back. I don’t know why they dumped you in here, but being in the center of the room is gonna be a bad idea real soon.”

Hutch swung his arm in an arc to encompass the room. “Most of these burnouts haven’t noticed anything real in years, but I notice things. I’m pretty sure this isn’t what they said it was.”

“I’m Raz. Everyone calls me Raz, and no one calls me kid. What do you mean ‘they’? Who are you talking about? Why are they taking people? Where are they taking people?”

Hutch pulled his feet in and hugged his knees. “Well, I guess you’re no Wizard of Raz, I was hoping you might have some answers. I came here in a bus, bout three days ago. Since then they take maybe five people a day.” He reached out and poked Raz in the chest. “They never come back. None of them have come back,” he whispered with a serious expression.

Hutch sat in silence staring off into space. Raz couldn't take the silence any more. “Where do you think they take them?”

Hutch let out a bitter chuckle and clicked his tongue. “That, is a damn good question. Here’s the problem. I don’t know, and they don't care.” He waved his arm at the others sitting and laying around the room. “Everyone who cared has already been taken. Some of them knocked, and one of them pounded and kicked at the door. Anyone who has even touched that door, was the next one to be taken. Whoever is out there, they aren't exactly fielding questions. So I’m not really sure we’re actually prisoners, but I can tell you I’m afraid to go knock on that door and ask. What about you, why are you here?”

Raz tried to think through the fuzzy feeling in his head. “I was on the road, I think there was an accident. I can’t quite remember.”

Hutch looked him over and shrugged. “You look ok. I just signed up for free medical care at a shelter, and now here I am.”

“Yeah, I figured you were a hobo.” Raz blurted out. He clasped his hand over his traitorous mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Hutch laughed. “Hobo, I haven’t heard that word in a while. I think I like it better than some of the other things people have called me.” He shrugged. “Besides, a little honesty ain’t gonna hurt my feelings. I’ve been on the street for a while.” He pointed at the sleeping man in the bundle of ragged clothing by the door. “Not as long as she has, but long enough to have a thick skin.”

Hutch fell silent.

Raz struggled with his urge to fill the silence and lost. “That's a her? I thought she was an old man like y-,” he said.

Hutch slashed his hand through the air cutting Raz off. “Yer funny, but looks aren’t everything. I’m not that old, I’ve just been on the street for too damn long. But never mind that. It doesn’t really matter and I don’t know how much time we have. That reminds me. When they come, don’t look at them, and don't say anything. Just be still and silent. If they want you, I wouldn’t recommend fighting, anyone who acts up gets sprayed.”

The mention of getting sprayed seemed very familiar to Raz and he opened his mouth to interject and barely managed by force of will to clamp his hands over his face and keep his mouth shut.

Hutch looked at him, “You ok there?”

Raz shrugged and then nodded, hands still pressed against his mouth.

Hutch looked at Raz dubiously, shook his head and continued. “They made us sign some stuff, I didn't read it past the part where it promised food and lodging. I don’t think anyone really did.”

Raz couldn’t stop himself, “You did what? You don’t sign an agreement without reading it!” He said louder than he intended.

Hutch frowned, and made a soft clicking sound with his tongue, “Kid, I don’t know what your life is like, but look at me. Look at Harriet over there.” He pointed at the barely visible face near the door. “You must be able to smell it. Everyone I meet makes it pretty damn clear they smell it.” He waved a flap of his long jacket at Raz and sent over a nasty whiff of spoiled milk and a bitter smoky smell mixed with old gym socks.

Raz nodded, trying hard not to say something rude.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is that we’re not folks with so many options we can say no to free food, shelter, and supposedly, medical care. The flyer I saw was for medical testing, and they offered cash in addition to all that.” Hutch looked around the room. “None of us could afford to turn that kind of thing down.”

Raz opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the doors sliding open. He’d only thought the light from the doors was bright. When the heavily smoked glass slid open, the room was bathed in harsh white light that changed the view of the room into lit areas and stark shadows.

Raz shielded his eyes and tried to peer out from under his hand at the people entering the room.

Peering under his hand, squinting, he was just able to see several sets of boots come in against the glare. One of the people in the boots walked a slow circle around the others, seeming to scan the room. Raz froze. He sensed Hutch moving next to him.

A voice at odds with the ominous feel in the room spoke up. “That one.”

The other boots approached Raz. He just had time to realize the danger when a heavy bag stinking of some aromatic chemical was forced over his head, cutting off his air. Raz felt a distant awareness of his body starting to sag, and being thrown over someone’s shoulder as though he were a child.