Days blurred together as Allison was moved from test to torturous test. Her hip ached although it was healing. Everyone Allison encountered, except the Collectors, was very nice. Even in Dr. Neff’s absence. They seemed to genuinely care about her well-being. Allison was startled every time someone delivered a kind word or common courtesy to her. She was these people’s prisoner. Why were they so nice to her?
One day at lunch she was placed in a small room full of tables with benches all bolted to the ground instead of her normal quarters. A man in a stark white uniform delivered her grilled chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots artfully arranged on a plate. As she ate, Dr. Neff entered the room carrying a tray of his own. She had not seen him all day and the sight of him caused her stomach to drop. He sat across from her with his lunch.
“How is everyone treating you, Allison?”
“Better than expected.”
“Good. I wanted to provide you some education on the next part of testing so you can be prepared. These next tests are the ones the subjects have the most difficulty with.” He took a moment to eat a few bites before continuing. “I want you to be prepared for pain. However, it is not pain without a purpose. I am a man of science, not torture. We need to illicit a response from you that will trigger your strength so we can get some readings. Your results have been astonishing so far.”
“So, you are going to cause me, and others like me, pain so you can benefit?” Allison slammed her bowl onto the tray, sending soup splashing onto the table. Dr. Neff frowned.
“I am not the only one benefiting,” he said. “The entire country will benefit from what we are doing here. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made by the few to benefit the many.” Dr. Neff patted food from his lips with a napkin. “What we have gained from your blood samples alone has been more beneficial than every person before you. You should feel honored; you are special. I knew there was something unique about you the moment I saw you at the medical camp.” Dr. Neff smiled.
“I don’t feel honored. I feel like a lab rat.” Allison dropped her fork to her plate. “Let’s cut the crap. I know you have no intention of creating a universal cure. You can’t, but you only need one anyway, right? So when are you going to drain me of all my bone marrow and kill me?” Allison threw her tray across the room, shattering the bowl and splattering the wall with food. Dr. Neff looked behind him before pulling a small tablet from his pocket. He tapped the screen a few times and the little red light on the camera in the room’s corner turned off.
“Well, aren’t you a smart girl? You are correct.” Dr. Neff’s voice dripped with disdain. “I have every intention of sacrificing your miserable existence to save my son. Who the fuck decided you deserved to be cured while he still suffers?” He slammed his fists down onto the table, slightly denting the top. Allison’s stomach burned, her rage trying to break through the fog of medication. “Your time to die will come soon enough. I have a few other things I need from you first. My work will change mankind; it is for the greater good. The others here have worn out their use.” Dr. Neff rose to his feet as Allison absorbed his words.
Allison’s heart ached in her chest as she realized there were more people here, like her, trapped in rooms and being treated as specimens. How many did he have? Where were they?
Allison watched Dr. Neff walk across the room, adjusting his tie and smoothing his hair before he opened the door. In that moment she realized there was nothing scarier than an evil person who feels their actions are morally justified. Allison had believed she was a monster, but now that she had spoken to real evil she realized she was wrong. Dr. Neff was the monster, not her.
Chapter Twenty-Six Dr. Neff
Dr. Neff dropped the rat back into the glass cage. It slammed itself into the glass trying to take a chunk out of his flesh. He secured the lid before he slipped off his bite-proof gloves and walked through the decontamination chamber, raising his arms and turning slowly as the mist showered his decontamination suit with chemicals. Once done he removed the suit and hung it back on its spot on the wall.
He began the lengthy walk to his temporary office, grabbing a coffee with two creams, no sugar on the way. He came upon a processing tech whose name he couldn’t recall. Jimmy? Johnny? The man looked up from the folder in his hand and in the brief moment their gazes connected, fear flooded his eyes. The tech turned his head away, averting his attention back to the folder in his hands. Dr. Neff’s skin prickled with a surge of excitement. The tech pressed his shoulder against the wall as he passed. Right as they were side by side in the hall, the doctor slammed his shoulder into the other man’s, knocking everything from his hands.
“I’m so sorry, sir. Sorry,” the tech said as he scrambled to pick up his items from the floor.
“Watch yourself, you idiot!” Dr. Neff said as he stepped forward, landing on the tech’s hand. The tech stopped moving. Dr. Neff leaned forward, applying more pressure to the man’s hand.
He screamed, “Please sir, please! You’re going to break my hand!”
He imagined the man’s bones breaking beneath his foot. Each little finger snapping in two. Each tiny bone in his hand shattering into pieces. Trapezoid, scaphoid, triquetral all in crumbled little pieces still wrapped
