The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments)

by Jacqueline Druga

  Carlos looked through them. “They definitely aren’t as desperate as they seemed before.” He passed them to John.

  John shook his head. “They look like a fur rug on the hillside. Are they eating something?”

  Cal snatched up the binoculars. “That’s maybe why they aren’t attacking. It looks like, two maybe three deer. Explains why they aren’t coming after . . .” Cal looked up to the sky when she felt the sudden sensation of wetness on her nose. “Damn it.” Soon, almost instantaneously, huge snowflakes began to fall. “It will be nearly impossible to see them if we have a storm.”

  Rickie stuck his tongue out trying to eat the flakes. “This is cool. It’s like that song, over the river and through the woods.” He licked his lips. “It’s like perfect.”

  All heads turned to him at once.

  Cal snickered. “Rickie, why is it perfect?”

  Shrugging, Cal returned her gaze to the woods. “I wonder if they will still charge. I mean, if they don’t, we can sleep a lot easier . . . You know what?” Cal picked up the rope that was secured on the roof and handed the rifle to Rickie. “Cover me.”

  They all screamed ‘wait’ at her as she went over the side of the building.

  Cal blew them off. Climbing down quickly and setting her feet on the ground, she looked up to those who stood on the roof peering down at her. She lifted her hands and shrugged. Nothing happened. She paced back and forth, never straying far from the rope—her lifeline to safety. The stampede never started; perhaps they didn’t see her. She wondered if she should call out, but figuring everyone on the roof already looked like they were about to have a heart attack the way they were pointing and all, Cal decided it was time to go back. She enjoyed her brief moment of freedom on the grass outside the building. She looked up to Rickie, gave him a thumbs up, wiped the snow from her face and reached for the rope.

  She heard a growl, heavy breathing and more growling. Slowly, as her hand extended, she turned her head to the sound. There, not three feet from her, stood one of the animals just waiting to attack. His front paws were ready, his mouth open. “Oh, shit.” With a leap she jumped to the rope clenching it seconds before the wolf’s snap took hold of the other end. In a fierce tug of war, Cal verses the wolf, she climbed. “Hold the rope still up there!” Cal yelled as her body whipped back and forth into the metal building. Her climb was slow and painful. It was a fight to get to the top. Yet, in her own way, she found the climb masochistically enjoyable.

  Jake’s eyes popped open on the first bang of aluminum. It wasn’t the normal thunder or continuous pounding. He could hear voices shouting above him, muffled, and hard to make out. His body jolted with the gunshots, and he sat straight up in bed. “I have to get up there.” Swinging his feet over to the floor, Jake, forgetting he was still recovering, stood up. Blindly he stumbled his way to the other room to get his clothes.

  Feeling the dresser he could barely focus on, Jake stopped in his search for clothes when he heard Cal yelling as she opened the other door.

  “I don’t give a shit!” Cal yelled to John and Carlos. “Nothing happened.” With a loud slam, she closed the door. “Damn.” She turned to face the room and an empty bed. “Where’s Jake?” She asked herself out loud. “Jake?” She headed to the bathroom. “Not in here.” She walked through and saw Jake standing at his dresser, a look of total frustration upon his face. “Jake, what are you doing out of bed? You promised me.”

  “I did no such thing. I told you I would rest for a little bit. It’s been hours.”

  “Jake, get back to bed. You still aren’t well.”

  “How am I supposed to get well if all I do is lie around?”

  “Exactly.” Cal took hold of his arm. “Bed, now.”

  “No.” He pulled his arm away. “What happened up there? I heard shouting. Was it the wolves?”

  “Sort of.” Cal reached in his drawers. “What do you want to wear? Sweats or fatigues?”

  “I can pick my own clothes out.” Jake rubbed his eyes to focus. “And what do you mean by sort of?”

  “I mean, the wolves aren’t charging us anymore. They’re just watching.”

  “But I heard banging.”

  “That was me. I am going to have one hell of a bruise on my elbow. Look.” She twisted her arm to show him.

  “It sounded like it was coming from the sides of the building.”

  “That was me. I climbed down from the roof to bait them, but they didn’t charge. There was one wolf though, he was hanging out. He grabbed the rope when I was climbing back up.” She pulled Jake’s shirt down immediately as soon as he placed it over his head. “Made for one tough climb back . . .”

  “Cal!” Jake removed her hands. “Don’t mother me, all right?”

  “I’m sorry I was just trying to help you.”

  “I don’t need the help. Please.” Jake stepped in his pants; it was obvious his balance was still off. “Please. I’ll be all right.”

  “It’s just that . . .”

  “I’m not Rickie.”

  All expression dropped from Cal’s face. “You’re right. You aren’t Rickie.” She turned, leaving him alone in the room.

  “Cal.” Jake walked slowly back into her room, holding onto the wall as a guide. “Do not think I don’t appreciate what you have done for me. I want to take care of myself. I don’t like to see you so catering. It bothers me. I hate the thought of you looking at me like I cannot take care of myself. That’s the last thing I want. And that’s exactly how you look at me.”

  “How do you know?” Cal peered up at him. “You squint when you look at me.” She stood up. “You can’t possibly see my face, because I don’t look at you like that . . .” She poked him in the chest. “Asshole.” Calming herself, she moved further away from him. “I don’t know why this is bothering you so much, but it does. I refuse to fight with you, Jake. So, I won’t mother you, as you put it, again.”

  “Thank you. I would appreciate that.” Almost stumbling, Jake made his way back to the bed. He sat down on it, realizing as he did, how weak he still was. Yet, he was bound and determined he wasn’t going to let Cal know. They were a team in this project and, as far as Jake was concerned, he wasn’t pulling his weight. Sick or not sick, that was something he couldn’t have.

  After standing with her back to him, tapping her fingers against her folded arms, Cal had to leave. “Excuse me.” She brushed by him, ignoring his hand that reached to her. She closed the door and paused in the hallway that felt so cold. “OK.” She walked slowly down the hall passing Fr. Dan’s boarded up room, noticing the light odorous smell that emanated from it. “I will not let this get to me. Why I even let myself get close like that I don’t . . .” Cal stopped. A noise had grabbed her attention away from her self-bitch session. It sounded like a wet, crackling noise, almost as if someone’s hands were working and squeezing wet clay. She tilted her head to let her ears listen more closely. She looked up at the door where she stood. It was Griff’s room. Leaning her head to the door, she heard the noise again. “Oh shit.” She reached for the knob, and then stopped. Darting off, a little frightened by the eerie noise, she ran back down the hall to her room. She slid stopping at her door. “No, I can’t run in here and tell Jake that. Besides, why am I getting weird about this?” Looking back, she knew she had to check one more time. Back to Griff’s room she walked. His door was getting closer and her heart was beating stronger with each step she took. Placing her shoulder close to the door, she listened. Nothing. Shrugging it off as her imagination and high blood pressure at the moment, Cal continued her calming walk.

  ^^^^

  The words on the pages may not have been the most interesting ones, but they were clear. And ever since Jake had awakened that morning and could see, he decided he was going to read the book he had started. Of course Jake knew that had he not had lost his sight that book would have sat half read. Reading was just something for him to do since the continuously falling snow outside made it impossible to g
o out.

  Jake had to admit to himself that he had been less-than-pleasant to live with his first day of being well. Maybe that was the reason for the cold treatment he was getting from Cal. He would assume it was since Cal was far from being cold to Rickie. In fact, they sat on the floor at the foot of the bed he laid on talking away. Their chattering and laughing made it nearly impossible for him to get into a book he didn’t want to read in the first place. Then he heard it. The sentence, ‘I bet you were a great mother’ coming from Rickie. Placing the book down, Jake closed his eyes, dreading Cal’s response. He opened his eyes in surprise when Cal didn’t bite Rickie’s head off for talking about Jessie. Instead she answered him calmly.

  “I guess I was.” Cal’s fingers rubbed against the carpet in nervousness. “At least I thought I was. I doted too much though.”

  “You make that sound bad. I wish I had someone that doted over me.”

  “It’s not that it’s bad. It just gets to be too much.” Her eyes lifted to Jake, who quickly pretended he was reading. “Jessie was my whole entire life. I had her when I was still a teenager. So anytime she got ill, or was hurt, I felt compelled to do things for her, which was fine, since she was my kid. I just tended to go overboard. And she always let me, lying in bed even when she knew she was better. I guess I liked to do that.”

  “When I lived with my grandmother she was neurotic when I went out. She always made me wear my Saint medal. Were you like that? Were you neurotic, always thinking something was going to happen?”

  Jake’s protective instincts for Cal kicked in before he thought. “Rickie.”

  “Dude, I was just asking her about the way she was. I mean, I know how she is with me.”

  Jake sat up, leaning forward. “But don’t you think that’s just a little insensitive?”

  “No.” Rickie shrugged. “Not compared to some of the shit you say to her. But . . .” Rickie faced Cal. “Cal-babe, if I was being insensitive, I’m sorry. I was just trying to have a little idle going with you.”

  “No. Rickie that’s fine.” Cal rested her hand on his. “I’ll answer you. Yes, I was neurotic. I was neurotic every time she walked out that door. But being neurotic can’t stop something from happening.”

  “No. It can’t.” Rickie looked up at Jessie’s picture. “She would have been one bitchin’ babe when she got older. I would have dated her.”

  “And you probably would have been the type of boy she liked.” Cal laughed. “She and I would talk about guys for hours.”

  “You and I can talk for hours.”

  Jake, without them seeing, nodded his head and scuffed his face. ‘Don’t I know it.’

  “Cal-babe.” Rickie took a serious tone. “I think that we should continue this thing after the project. I think you should let me live with you.”

  Cal laughed. “I don’t think Joyce would appreciate that. I live with her in her attic.”

  “Cool. You mean like the disfigured child. Hidden away, locked from humanity?”

  “No.” Cal kept laughing. “I moved in with her after I sold my house.”

  “But you have me now,” Rickie said. “We’ll get our own place. I can move in with you. Nothing romantic, you can save that for all the guys you’ll date . . .”

  Jake cleared his throat. “Rickie, I’m uh, I’m getting tired. Do you mind?”

  “Sarge, no, not at all.” He picked himself up off the floor. “Cal-babe, you want to come in my room and we can finish talking while the Sarge snoozes?”

  “Sure Rickie.” Cal stood up. “Goodnight, Jake.”

  “Cal.” Jake slid off the bed, stopping her before she left. “Don’t go.”

  Cal looked at Rickie. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Rickie.”

  Jake, sighing in relief, shut the bathroom door and pulled Cal away from it. “Thank you. You and I need to talk. I think that maybe you’ve taken something I said totally out of context. I think . . .”

  “What! Right, Jake. Tell me how I can take ‘mothering you’ out of context?”

  “Cal, I was sick. I was irritable. I may have sounded worse than I wanted to.” He saw she really was giving him an I-don’t-care-attitude. “I’m trying to apologize here. I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now can we stop this?” Jake moved closer to her. “We were getting along so good before I got sick.”

  “That’s right. And you pissed me off you big jerk. I was worried about you. Really worried about you and you made me feel like shit. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I didn’t think you could do it. I just wanted you to rest and not worry, so you could get better. No, you had to be an asshole about it.”

  “I thought you accepted my apology.”

  “I did.” Cal said and sat on the bed.

  “Then why are you going off?”

  “Because I’m a woman and it’s my right to go off about things even if you think we’re done with it. You better learn that one, Jake, if you want to be in a relationship.”

  “There seems to be a lot I don’t know. So . . .” Jake walked over and sat down next her, very seriously. “Do you think you could take a few minutes one of these days and write down some of these hidden rules? I’d like to know them. I’d like to do things right.”

  “You’re serious. You want me to make you a relationship tip sheet?” Cal tried not to laugh.

  “If it’s not too much trouble, I would.”

  “I’ll just work on that right away.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  Cal let out a deep sigh and plopped backwards. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Understand why I get like I get.” He lay on his side next to her. “This whole sickness bothered me. I’ve never been sick like that in my life. And to have someone have to sponge bathe you, help you go to the bathroom, shower and dress you . . . you are the only person in the world I would let do that. But being like that is not how I want to be seen. Especially by someone I would like perceiving me as strong.” He so-lightly rested his hand on the side of her face. “And look, I can’t even kiss you. I have this mess on my lips.”

  “I can kiss you.” Cal brought her lips up kissing softly around his mouth, then his neck. She watched his eyes close and rested her head back down. “And Jake . . . I never saw you as anything less than strong. To me that’s how I’ll always perceive you. I had this dream once. I dreamed I was telling my daughter about you. How you were so strong, I told her, that you could almost take it all away.”

  “And can I?” Jake leaned up. “I’m sorry that is really putting you on the spot.”

  “You have pulled me through more than you know. And I’m not talking about just the project.” She extended her arms and sat up. “And speaking of pulling through, pull me through withdrawal. It’s been a few days since we’ve competed.” She stood up, walked across the room and grabbed a box. “Battleships?”

  “Right now?”

  “In your words—humor me.” She handed him his board.

  “What are we playing for?”

  Cal sat across from him on the bed. “Shotgun for a week. Best out of five.”

  “Sounds good.” Jake lifted the lid to the game and began to move about the pieces.

  “Jake? I heard this strange noise the other day. It was coming from Griff’s room.”

  “Do I have to call you Jennifer? What kind of strange noise.” Jake hardly lifted his eyes, seeming barely concerned.

  “Wet.”

  “Wet?” Jake sort of laughed. “Cal, we’ve had really bad weather. You think that might be it?”

  “Possibly.” She shrugged. “I haven’t heard it since. I just wanted to tell you.”

  “OK. Well . . . thank you for that.” Jake raised his eyebrows, blowing off what she had said. “Let’s just forget noises in Griff’s room. Let’s watch me annihilate you instead.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Caldwell Research Institute, Atlanta, GA

  December 3 - 10:45 P.M.


  Sitting back in his desk chair, Dr. Jefferson watched through his window as the rain fell. He rocked back and forth, a simple dim light on upon his desk. In his hand he held the Dictaphone. His eyes shifted from his notes to the window as he began dictating. “Linda, date this for December 4th please. Have it start, dear investors. Can you . . . no scratch that . . . here we sit four months into the project. We have seven viable participants remaining. However we cannot look at those numbers as a failure in what we would like to accomplish. We have succeeded in mentally breaking three of four participants. As we approach the next phase of the project, our participants are in the break phase as you were informed. We feel confident that within one week’s time, with the awakening Linda, this is all one sentence so near, we will see drastic changes, changes that will have an impact for the game. Period, new paragraph, Linda The next holding meeting is schedule for the fifteenth of this month. I look forward to that event. Enclosed please find for your records our most updated status chart. In closing, I would like to say I look forward to an end to the experiment soon. Linda I know you’ll change that so use your discretion. And sincerely, blah, blah, blah.” Dr. Jefferson shut off the Dictaphone and placed the microphone down. He rubbed his head listening to the severity of the storm that whipped against his window. It was time for the next phase—time to move on. When that would start was out of his control. They would hold the wolves at bay until then. But the beginning of the next phase was out of his hands. It was now . . . in Griff’s hands.

  THE EXPERIMENT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  I-S.E. Twelve - Seal River Complex, Manitoba, Canada

  December 5 - 7:10 A.M.

  The last thing Jake wanted to do was get out of his warm bed. He’d been up for over an hour, lying there, nodding off, waking up. He wished he could see outside, but the boarded up window made that impossible. He knew it had snowed again; the silence told him that. Whenever it snowed things seemed to get quiet. Jake hated the snow; rarely did he see snow in North Carolina. When he did, it was nothing like what he was witnessing. At least for the time being, they were able to move somewhat around the buildings. The wolves acted as if they were bored with everyone. They seemed to be keeping watch over the building from the hillside, probably communicating in their own way on some skillful way to devour those who dwelled inside.