by Aaron Bunce
“No need to wait, the results will only take a moment,” Dr. Reeds said and pulled the ampule of blood from the syringe before inserting it into a small computer on the desk.
Jacoby moved towards the door but the young man cut him off, while the other nurse hovered just inside the door. He looked into the young man’s face, but it was like there was nothing there beyond the paper mask and surgical scrubs – just dark, lifeless eyes. He blinked and the young man’s face clarified. He had freckles around his eyes and bushy eyebrows, with a pronounced nose.
“Calm down, Jacoby, they’re here to help you,” Anna whispered and squeezed his arm, but he twisted free of her grasp. He would fight them if he had to. Fight all of them, to break free and keep Anna safe.
The computer beeped and chattered loudly. Reeds picked up his tablet, immediately flipping through a host of colorfully glowing numbers.
They will surround us. They will kill us. Run Now!
His feet twitched, the spasm shooting up his legs. He tried to shake the strange thoughts and feelings away, but it was like his fight or flight impulses could talk.
“I’m sorry to say that your bloodwork looks even more troubling now. We need to immediately check you into the hospital wing for further tests and observation. I’m afraid this has become an emergency situation.” Dr. Reeds stood and nodded over Jacoby’s shoulder. A sizable orderly appeared through the door, pushing an old-fashioned wheelchair. The man had medium-length shaggy brown hair, a squat, crooked nose, and a scar that ran down through his lip. He looked like a man that had survived more than a few scrapes and tussles. He wore a white Planitex Medical Services shirt stretched over a muscular chest and arms. Tattoos peppered his arms and hands – some of the ink was faded, old, while some looked new. Margo reappeared from behind Anna, the auto-injector held ready.
“Jacoby, this is Randle. He is going to help us get you back to the hospital block. Why don’t you have a seat in the chair…Margo needs to give you a quick injection to help bring down your blood pressure.”
Randle moved towards him, the pressure crashing into Jacoby’s brain in a wave, his vision and hearing immediately going fuzzy. “No! No shot. I don’t want anything. I…am…fine. I just want to go!”
“I understand, Jacoby. But you need this,” Dr. Reeds said, clutching to his white coat with shaking hands. “Help him into the chair, Randle. He could stroke out at any moment.”
The young male nurse and the orderly moved in and grasped Jacoby’s arms, moving him gently but firmly towards the wheelchair. Margo hooked an arm around Anna and guided her towards the door.
“Let go of her,” Jacoby growled and fought. The pressure in his head thrummed in time with his heart, hot jolts snapping down his neck, through his shoulders, and into the rest of his body.
Randle, the orderly, hooked Jacoby’s arm and jerked him down into the chair. He twisted and wrenched free, bouncing back to his feet. The orderly reached for him, tried to hook him around the neck, but Jacoby ducked under his arms. Randle over-corrected and fell over the wheelchair, tumbling feet over head to the ground.
“Just-just-just stop, please! We just want to help you, Jacoby!” Dr. Reeds shouted.
The monitor on the wall started to beep loudly, the displayed numbers flashing bright red. Dr. Reeds’ head snapped up, his eyes going wide. The monitor showed a heart rate of over four hundred beats per minute. That wasn’t possible.
“How? What?” the doctor rambled, “He’s going into cardiac arrest. Sedate him, now!”
Jacoby’s heart pounded, but nothing that felt out of control. On the contrary, he felt good…beyond good.
The male nurse threw his arms around Jacoby in a bear hug, pinning his arms to his body. Randle fumbled his way to a knee and then pushed off the ground, blood flowing out of both nostrils. His scarred lip curled up in an angry snarl, muscles pulling his face into a severe and devilish mask.
There was something familiar in Randle’s expression that sent a wave of fear coursing through his body, a glint in his dark eyes that promised violence and pain.
No…no, he thought as the memories flooded back in. The look, the expression, wasn’t just reminiscent of his father, but an almost photo-realistic rendering of his worst side…the side that always meant violence.
Randle pulled a hypodermic needle out of a pack on his belt, removed the cap with his teeth, and lunged. Time seemed to slow, the bright overhead light gleaming off the needle, several glassine droplets of sweat appearing on the orderly’s angry face. The pressure behind his eyes responded in kind, a hot jolt filling his chest and firing out into his extremities, everything shaking and swelling at once.
His thoughts flitted from one possibility to another, moving faster than he ever thought possible. He saw the orderly moving towards him, the nurse pulling Anna out through the door, and Dr. Reeds yelling into a data point. He could see every movement, every possibility at once.
Jacoby flexed his chest and shoulders, pushed his arms away from his body and broke the nurse’s hold. Then he swiveled in a flash, grasping two handfuls of the man’s scrubs and wrenched him around. The orderly crashed into them, his arm snapping forward and plunging the hypodermic into the nurse’s back.
“Ow…aarrgghh!” the young man cried, exhaling in a violent cough that knocked his surgical mask from his face. His dark-brown eyes went wide with realization.
“You son of a bitch!” Randle cursed, wiping his bloody nose on his right sleeve. Jacoby let the male nurse slump to his knees as the bigger man rushed forward, his teeth bared in a reddish-yellow snarl.
“Stop…I just want to leave…”
The orderly hit him with all the force of a charging bull, a mass of crushing arms and churning legs. Jacoby staggered back, the weight throwing him into Dr. Reeds. They all stumbled together, crashing into the stainless steel desk in a heap of flailing limbs, bunching scrubs, and white lab coat. Examination tools and computer hardware hit the ground in an explosion of rattling metal and shattering plastic.
“Randle, that’s enough…” Dr. Reeds started to yell, his breath exploding out in a rush as the orderly’s knee missed Jacoby and smashed into his genitals instead.
“Jacoby, please stop! They’re just trying…to…help,” Anna yelled from the door. Her fingers were wrapped around the doorframe as nurses tried to pull her out in the hall.
His rage welled up inside, blossoming and pushing forth like a tidal wave. The voice, the chaotic thoughts he’d struggled with, was there, whispering and shouting at the same time, bending and pushing him into action, urging his arms and legs to move – to not give in to his learned response. When his father flew into a rage, Jacoby would curl up in a ball or hide. But now…
Fingers to rake – gouge his eyes. Bend and snap – break the fingers. The voice in his head bellowed violent promises…no, urges. It was part of him, and it wanted him to fight back.
“I don’t want…to…hurt you,” Jacoby grunted, fighting back as his own body started to twitch and move against his will. “Please…I just want to…leave.”
The orderly yanked him off of the gasping doctor and squeezed, his muscular arms wrapping clear around Jacoby’s upper body.
“I was spec ops, you puke. I’ve whooped bigger, meaner, and tougher than your scrawny ass,” Randle grunted and squeezed, lifting Jacoby clear of the ground.
“Please don’t hurt…” Anna’s grip broke and she disappeared out into the hall.
Rend…break…snap his bones. Tear his meat and spill his blood. A red fog started to sweep across his vision, but Jacoby fought for control, fought to resist the angry and violent urges.
“Please…let…me…go,” he grunted, struggling to draw breath. Randle squeezed even harder, his chest and shoulders popping under the force.
Jacoby snapped his head back in desperation, just managing to catch Randle in the face. The big man grunted, cursed, and fell back. His grip finally failed. Jacoby landed hard and managed a single step towards the
door, before a hand bunched up in his shirt.
Randle swung him around, a fist snapping out and catching Jacoby in the stomach. The impact knocked his breath away and he sagged to a knee. His vision blurred, the pain tearing through his midsection like a hot spike.
“Please…stop,” Jacoby pleaded when his breath returned. He held his hands up as a ringing filled his ears.
“Doc is here to help people, but pukes like you don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself,” Randle snarled, lifting Jacoby off the ground by his wrists and throwing him violently against the exam table. Randle’s face was red, sweat dampening his hairline. His pupil’s looked like wide, black saucers.
Fight back. Bend him…break him.
“Randle, that’s enough. He’s not fighting back,” Dr. Reeds winced, wobbling and clutching to his groin.
“They need me around for pukes like you – shitty, worthless rock crackers strung out on brain boilers and booze. Pukes that lose control and endanger good people. Sacks of crap and piss that aren’t good for anything else,” the orderly raged, his fists swinging in out of control haymakers, hitting Jacoby’s arms, chest, and stomach.
“I fucking hate people like you. Hate…fucking hate…HATE!” he raged, his fists continuing to batter.
Jacoby backed away, using his arms to protect his head and face, but the man was too strong, and too overtaken by rage.
“Please…stop,” Jacoby sputtered breathlessly, blood dripping over his lip from a cut beneath his eye. He squinted though his hands, flinching back as Dr. Reeds limped forward and tried to pull the orderly back, but Randle shoved him violently away.
“Call security. Call them now!” the doctor yelled.
He will break us. Show him our strength. Break him first and he will learn never to cross us again. Make him hurt, or give me the freedom to do it for us!
Randle spun, rounding on the doctor and Jacoby lunged, throwing his weight onto the big man’s back. He hooked one arm under his chin and the other under his left arm and held on. Randle roared and ran backwards, smashing him into the wall. Darkness and stars washed over his vision, the pain barely perceptible through the haze.
Randle’s face was an ugly mask as he rounded on him, his fist swinging in impossibly fast. Jacoby saw the strike, but felt the impact in his shoulder long before the pain registered.
He will kill us. Fight back! Jacoby fought the urges when his right hand started to shake, and instead tried to curl up and protect himself, like with his father. Randle would tire eventually, or someone would come to help.
Jacoby was on his knees, the blurry fist striking his arms and chest again. He felt each strike, the violent crack of knuckles on bone popping his joints and bruising his skin and muscle. Randle swung again and again, his eyes now wide and black. His reason was gone – his teeth bared and savage, like a shark sent into blood frenzy.
Stop being weak. Fight back! The impulses grew suddenly stronger, until Jacoby’s elbow jabbed out, deflecting one of the big man’s punches. His right fist swung out next, connecting solidly with Randle’s jaw. The orderly’s head snapped aside, teeth clattering loudly.
Keep hitting him until his insides become his outsides! Hit-hit-hit! Crush him.
Emboldened, Jacoby ducked forward and swung as hard as he could, his fist hitting Randle in the chest. The big man barely moved, his body absorbing the strike like a mountain of muscle and bone.
You hit him in the tit? You are weak.
“Stop this!” Dr. Reeds shouted as nurses ran into the room.
They tried to pull Randle back, but the big man turned back to Jacoby, the humanity gone from his black eyes.
“L-i-t-t-l-e p-u-k-e,” he growled, a thick rope of saliva sliding out of his mouth and hanging down his chin.
Randle lashed out before Jacoby could react, his hand flashing forward in a blur. The impact rocked his head back, pain flashing from his face, back through his ears, and down his neck.
Jacoby felt his head hit the wall and his legs went wobbly, but it all felt so far away. The fist flashed in again, but he was helpless to stop it. Randle’s fist crashed into his nose, cracking his head violently against the wall.
The pressure exploded behind his eyes, the small, irritating voice now booming off the inside of his skull. Up became down and dark, light. The room spun as a sharp pain split his skull in two. Everything broke apart, until he was sideways, upside down, and on his head at the same time.
The pressure slid forward and all around him, wrapping around the room like a billowing sheet of liquid black. Jacoby tumbled backwards, falling, tumbling, and silently screaming.
Then it all seemed to straighten, the sense of motion wrapping around him and propping him up. The pressure filled his head. It seemingly filled every nook and cranny of his skull this time, slipping down his neck and into his mouth until he was sure he would be sick – it was kinetic, all joy, anger, and lust wrapped up into a concussive and violent potential.
Ahhh, I’m free. No more cage, no more dark corners. You and me, Jacky, now we are one. He felt the voice in his head, sliding down his neck and into the rest of his body, the strange urges and impulses wrapping around his own thoughts and desires. It was strength, power, and rage – everything he wasn’t.
At least everything he never used to be.
1300 Hours
“I already told you, I don’t want to wait out there. Why aren’t you listening to me?” Anna spat and tried to wrench free from the nurse. “I want to wait with my friend…with Jacoby. I’m not going to leave him alone.”
“Ma’am, please. It’ll be better…uh, safer, if you just come with me. You need to…” The nurse swiped for her arm again but Anna pulled back against the wall. The nurse caught only air, lurched stiffly, and almost fell. Her paper mask fell free in the process. A thin sheen of sweat covered her top lip, adding to the slightly darkened skin ringing her eyes. She looked tired, sick, and scared.
“My mother is a ‘ma’am’…and I told you like a dozen fucking times already, I’m not leaving Jacoby here. I am the closest thing he has to a family, and you’re not just going to…to sweep me out of here like some afterthought.”
The nurse took a deep breath as if to argue, but her shoulder’s sagged a little, the weariness in her eyes deepening.
“Please, just let me go to him…” Anna said calmly, just as a loud crash sounded from the exam room behind the nurse.
“Jacoby!” Anna screamed and ducked around the nurse, just clearing her grasping, clutching arms. She bounced from the left wall to the right, pushing off and running forward.
Anna approached the exam room door just as a pair of nurses tumbled into the hall. The first woman tripped and sprawled face first into the opposite wall with a sickeningly loud smack.
“What in the hell?” Anna gasped, skidding to a stop as the second nurse tumbled over the first, her dark scrubs torn and askew.
Anna jumped over the nurses and pulled herself into the exam room. Her foot landed on a metal tray, the debris shifting and sending her stumbling and fighting to correct. She’d nearly found her balance when her left foot landed in a large puddle of clear liquid, the rubber sole of her shoe instantly sliding out from under her. She tumbled painfully to the ground, her butt and shoulder landing hard.
A loud smack split the air – the telltale crack of knuckles cracking against flesh and bone.
“Jaco…” Anna cried and spun around. She took in the chaos of the room in a single, passing glance. Doctor Reeds stood between two nurses, a short orderly with mid-length black hair actively pushing him back towards the door. Another orderly, much taller and more muscular stood near the far wall, tattoos dotting seemingly every inch of available real estate on his arms. His tight white shirt was soaked through with sweat, and his sandy brown hair was a wet, tousled mess.
“Randle! Stop this now, stop it! Stop!” Doctor Reeds yelled, but the orderly shoved him back.
Anna flinched as the big man, the one doctor R
eeds called Randle, swung his fist forward, the resulting smack sickeningly loud. The big orderly stepped back and turned, breathing hard. His face was sweaty and red, his lips pulled back in an alarming expression – almost equal parts snarl and smile. But it was his eyes that almost unhinged her. They were wide and bulging, seemingly black in the white light…empty.
“Get…out…of my…way,” Reeds growled and tried to fight his way past the smaller orderly.
“Just go, doc!” Randle gasped, his voice a breathy growl. “This little p-u-k-e is d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s. Just doing my j-o-b. To deal with the dangerous o-n-e-s!”
Anna wiped her hands on her pants, less concerned with what the fluid was that she’d slipped in than what was going on against the far wall. There was something about the big man’s voice…no, it was the way he talked. Slow, breathy, and rumbling, more like an animal growling than a man speaking. It prickled the hairs on her neck and arms.
“Doc, get back!” the smaller orderly snarled and pushed Reeds back hard again. The doctor staggered and tripped, a pair of nurses catching him before he fell.
“This is absolutely unacceptable…insubordination, that’s what it is! Bob, let me by! Randle…you need to stop this! He’s not fighting back. He’s not causing any trouble!”
The big orderly turned fully and took a step towards the doctor. Anna gasped. She stifled a shout as the big man’s face clarified, her feet and hands pushing her back without thought. Randle didn’t look right, didn’t look well. His skin was stretched back from his eyes and mouth, his expression so tight he almost looked like he was wearing a mask. Drool slid from his mouth, wetting his chin and sliding off in stringy droplets.
The big orderly moved, finally revealing Jacoby slumped against the wall behind him. His head lolled to one side and his eyes closed. His face was a bloody, battered mess.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Anna cursed and pushed to her feet. Her hands balled up into fists and she moved towards the big man. She’d never been much of a fighter, but the impulse hit her so hard and fast that she couldn’t deny it – she wanted to make the big man hurt, despite his size and terrifying appearance.
