Machines of the Dead by David Bernstein Page B

said he had no idea if there were any left alive, and the only reason he sent you out was in the hope you’d bring back more people. People for him to experiment on.
    “The next day , I thought I’d be called into Reynolds’ office for a chat, as I’m not supposed to know about what’s really going on, but never was. Devon said nothing to me about it again. I think he was so drunk he must have blacked out. Doesn’t remember telling me about it. He was so hung-over the next day he could barely stand without wanting to puke.”
    Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dr. Reynolds was a monster. A modern Frankenstein. No wonder the man had been acting strange earlier.
    Kevin was pacing again, like a Bengal tiger at the zoo.
    “All right,” Jack said. “Calm down. Take a seat and we’ll figure this out.”
    The kid stopped, looked Jack in the eyes. He laughed coldly, then said, “You don’t get it. He’s run out of people, and hasn’t gotten the bots to work properly yet.”
    “So?”
    “So he needs subjects. You and your friend are next.”
    Jack felt as if he had been slapped. A lump formed in his throat that he tried unsuccessfully to swallow.
    “You shouldn’t have come back, Jack. You should’ve stayed up there, tried to leave the city.”
    Jack shook his head. There was no way anyone was leaving the city without using the escape tunnel or a helicopter. He was nothing but a trapped lab rat now. But thanks to the kid, he was aware, and could do something about it.
    “Why did you tell me this?” 
    “I . . . I don’t know.” Kevin shook his head quickly, then ran a hand over his scalp. “You’re my friend, Jack, and this has been eating away at me for days. I can’t sleep or eat. After fighting overseas, returning home and getting this assignment, I figured this would be a great place to be. A safe working environment. I feel like I’ve been tricked—sent to work for the Devil.” 
    “There’s no way the military would sanction this, right?” Jack asked.
    “No way. Not from what I know. This is some secret, underground shit. Some rogue branch I’m guessing. I’m sure in his official reports it’ll show that he used rats or monkeys.”
    “Do all the guards know about this?”
    “I’m not sure. Only the ones with access to C-wing I would guess, the high-ranking guards. Lopez and I don’t have access to that area. Being in such a small place, confined, I’m surprised we weren’t all brought in and told about it. There were others like us, but they aren’t here anymore.”
    Jack did think it was strange. Why would Reynolds bring in people he couldn’t trust? “Was there a high turnover here, soldiers coming and going?”
    Kevin nodded. “I’m newer than most. Maria Lopez, a friend and one of the guards here, lower-level like myself, did warn me not to get too comfortable with my current assignment, as a lot of soldiers were swapped out. Said only a few stayed on permanently. I wasn’t sure what to think of it, so I made sure I did everything I was told and did it well.” 
    “He was probably planning on swapping you and your friend out of here, only taking on people he could use, pay off, and trust to keep what went on in his lab a secret.”
    “That makes sense. The only guards that never left were the ones that had access to C-wing.”
    “Have you told any of the others like yourself about this?”
    Kevin shook his head. “For all I know they’d report me. Try to get in good with the doc . Who would want to leave this cushy assignment? The only person I felt comfortable talking to about this was you. If you didn’t make it back, I’d have no choice but to talk to someone else. Luckily, for me, you did come back. It’s just not lucky for you that you did.”
    “Can you trust any of them? I mean do you know any of them? Served with any of them before?”
    “Yeah. Lopez. We served in Iraq together. She’s a good person. She’d never go along with what’s going on