Chapter 7

Chapter 7

            When the man finally put Brock down, they were in a very small room. There was barely enough room for the two men to stand. The room was run down and dirty. Green paint was peeling from the walls and in some places there were large holes in the walls. The floor was covered in a blanket of dust and grime.

            There was nothing in the room but a chair in the corner and a cabinet against the wall farthest from the chair. Taylor threw Brock down into the chair where he tied him up. After he was tied up, Taylor pulled open the cabinet.

            Inside was a variety of tubes, vials, and needles. Taylor grabbed a small vial, a huge needle about 5 inches long, and a tube. He attached the tube to the vial and the needle to the other end, then turned back to Brock.

            At the sight of the needle Brock began squirming in the chair, not accomplishing much. “That isn’t going to help you any, Mr. Douglass,” Taylor remarked with a mischievous grin. He took hold of Brock’s hair, pulled his head to the side, and jabbed the needle into his neck.

            Brock’s head suddenly felt extremely hot. The room seemed to spin around him. He could feel the veins in his neck become very tight. It felt as if something was trying to move inside of them. It reached the top of his head then stopped moving. When it did, he felt weak and couldn’t hold himself up any longer. He would have fallen out of the chair but it just tipped over instead.

            Brock grunted in pain as his head hit the floor, landing with a solid crack. Taylor stood tall over him chuckling at his pain. The room went black…

 

            When Brock regained consciousness he was still lying on the ground. He was untied and the chair was gone. Pushing himself to sit up against the wall, he looked around the room (not much to look at) for Taylor.

Brock didn’t see Taylor. Instead he found another man sitting in the corner, watching him. The man was very rugged, his face covered in scars and grey stubble. He wore a camouflage hat, vest, and cargo pants and was gripping an M-16 in his hands. “You’re awake!” the man said, clearly surprised. “I was looking for supplies ‘round here and found you in this closet. I took a look at you. I thought ya were dead at first. You got quite a damn lump there on yer head. What’s yer name, son?”

Brock’s head was pounding. He could barely think straight. “Uhh… I’m… I’m Brock,” he told the man, not able to get the words out.      

The man locked eyes with Brock before saying anything. “Brock, huh? Nice to see another man around here. Thought I was the only one left in this God forsaken place. Except those government sons a b*****s.”

Brock was beginning to get a grip on his thoughts now. “Yeah, I’ve had some experiences with ‘em too,” Brock said, thinking of his run-ins with the agents. “So, I told you my name. Who’re you?”

“Name’s Marshall. What the hell you wearing there, boy?” asked Marshall with a smirk.

For the first time since waking up Brock gave thought to his clothing. He looked down and found he was in a hospital gown. I must look ridiculous! Brock felt his face go red. “Oh… umm… I woke up in this. I guess I was a patient here or something. I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember a thing before I woke up.”

Marshall let out a deep, airy laugh. “Oh, good. Thought you were some kinda cross dresser or somethin’!” he remarked.

Brock shook his head and laughed. “No. No. Nothing like that. Where’d you come from. Clearly you’re not from here.”

Marshall just stared for a moment, as if he was deciding whether he should answer Brock’s question. Apparently deciding it was okay, he said, “I was sent in. I’m supposed to rescue survivors. I was told of some other group in here trying to clean s**t up.”

“The government agents,” Brock interrupted.

Marshall nodded. “Yes. So I’ve been in here looking for people who are still alive. You’re one of the first I’ve found. There was another woman. She’s out and safe now. We should get you out of here, son.”

Brock stood up and shook his head. “No! We can’t leave yet!”

Marshall stood up too. “Why the hell not?” he questioned.

Pointing to the door of the closet, Brock shouted, “There’s a little girl out there! She’s my friend. I can’t just abandon her! The agents have her and we have to find her!”

Marshall looked at the ground and sighed. “I don’t think we should be here longer than we have to be… but I guess if she’s that important to you… I’ll help. Do ya know where she is?”

“I don’t have a clue.”

“How the hell you plannin’ to find ‘er then?” Marshall asked. “This place is huge!”

Brock thought about it for a moment and remembering his encounter with the agent he had interrogated, he said, “We could try and get some info out of the agents. I don’t know how well that will go but I’ve had some luck with that once already.”

Marshall sighed again. “I guess that’s worth a shot. The hell else we got? What you got for supplies?”

Brock looked around the room for the bag he had been carrying. He hadn’t even thought about it since he woke up. It was nowhere to be found. “I had a bag! But they knocked me out in a hallway! I woke up on this table. They must have taken my stuff! There was a gun and food and lots of medical stuff. Damn it!” Brock yelled out in frustration.

“That’s a damn shame, son,” Marshall said. “We could a used that.”

Brock glared at him, annoyed by his stating of the obvious. “Yeah, you’re telling me. Well, I have no weapon now! I’m good as dead!”

Marshall reached to his side and unstrapped a holster. After doing so he pulled a bag off of his back that Brock hadn’t noticed before. Out of it he pulled a black short sleeved shirt and dark colored jeans. “Put these on ya. And take this gun. It’s just a pistol. Nothin’ too fancy but it’ll get the job done,” he told Brock as he threw the clothes at him and set the gun down. “I’ll letcha get yerself changed,” he said and stepped out into the hallway. He peeked his head back through the door. “Hey, Brock.”

Brock looked up from the clothes he was holding. “Yeah?”

“We’re gonna find your friend,” Marshall reassured.