Amoeba (The Experiments) (51 page)

Greg considered himself a nice guy, even though others did not. And he even debated on not being the nice guy as he went to the empty commissary to get a cup of mud coffee. But knowing he had a reputation to live up to, at least in his mind he did, the nice guy route was the one he took.

Aldo sat in the commissary, playing with the paper cup of coffee, turning it more than sipping it.

“Thought you’d want to see this.” Greg extended stapled papers over Aldo’s shoulder.

“What is it?” Aldo asked as he took them.

“Results of Cal’s examination.” Greg walked around him and sat down.

“I’m not a doctor. I don’t know what I’m looking at.”

“You’ll know this.” Greg pointed. “Page two. Second line.”

Aldo flipped the page. His hand slowly dropped as his eyes widened. Speechless
, he just looked up at Greg.

An hour or so of rest was all Jake was allowing himself and Lou to take. Just an hour. And then they would scout for the glow of a campfire, hopefully their guiding light to the three prisoners who remained. Jake must have been more tired than he thought. No sooner did he lean back against that tree than he fell asleep, a deep asleep, slipping immediately into a dreaming phase.

The dream seemed s
o real. The sound of doctors being paged over the intercom. The feel of those flowers in his hand as he moved quickly and with a happy feeling down the corridors filled with nurses. Feeling that glow when he turned into the last room and seeing Cal sitting up in bed. A blue blanket in her arms.

“Jake.” She smiled his name. “Look.”

Jake’s heart beat with enthusiasm setting the flowers on the bed, kissing Cal, and peering at the baby she held in her arms. “Oh, Cal.”

Cal extended the baby to him. “Hold him
, Jake.”

So tiny and fragile that baby felt as Jake lifted him, pulling him immediately close to his chest. The pouty face, the closed eyes. “Cal, he’s ours?” And just as Jake, still in awe, lowered his eyes to the baby again, the emptiness hit his arms. “No.” Jake looked around. “Where did he go? Cal!” The room grew black. “Cal!”

“Cal.” Her name escaped him as he brought himself awake. Jake’s heart raced and he ran his hand across his face. The animal noise around him brought him back to reality and out of the dream. But the feeling of loss was still with him. How could it not be? Because like in that dream, Jake had something he wanted snatched from his grip, without warning, and unlike anything before, there was nothing he could have done to stop it.

There was a hint of a well-smile on Cal’s face that Billy enjoyed seeing. The swelling had gone down, and besides the bruising, Cal was looking better and moving more easily. She breathed without wheezing as she moved, sniffling some from the damp air left over from the torrential downpour they had an hour earlier. But they were outside walking - slowly - to the dining building, and Cal looked as if she were enjoying every moment of it.

Billy gripped her hand, staying close to her, shoulders touching
, an unacknowledged sense of support. “Wait until you see how hard Rickie worked this morning to make you breakfast.”

“Rickie has learned a lot off of Lou
, hasn’t he?” Cal’s words were still not as strong as she usually spoke them.

“Yeah
, he has. I don’t get as frightened at the prospect of eating his food.”

“He told me he has aspirations of going to culinary school when we get done with the experiment
,” Cal said as they neared the building.

Billy laughed. “Oh I can see that. Chefs are temperamental as it is. I can see Rickie if someone hates what he made.”

Cal looked oddly at him. “What do you mean? Rickie doesn’t have a temper.”

“Cal, he goes monster.”

Cal laughed and grabbed her side that was still sore. “Billy, he’s joking about that.” She shook her head and walked through the door Billy had opened for her. “And you believed him. I thought you were college educated.”

Billy hesitated before saying anything further. “You’re right.” He followed her in. “How gullible of me.” He placed his hand on her back. “Here
, sit down.”

Cal stepped over with a painful grunt and sat on the bench. The spot at the table was already set for her. “I see Reed is assisting.”

“Unfortunately.” Billy leaned over her shoulder. “Stay here. I’ll get your breakfast. Rickie broke out the last of the sausage from the freezer since he knows you like it.”

“Thanks.” Cal folded her hands, shifting in toward the table. She saw Judge wave as he walked in, stopping before going to the line and walking to Cal.

“Morning. You’re looking better,” Judge said.

“I’m feeling better today, thanks
, Judge.”

“You know
, you may not feel much like hearing this, but I picked some nice green tomatoes. Was gonna try to fry them up for you today. What do you think?”

“I think that would be nice.” Cal smiled. “Thank you.”

“Good.” Judge nodded. “I’ll do that.” He gave a pat to her shoulder and moved on.

Before Cal knew it, a plate was set before her and a cup of coffee. “Wow.” She sniffed in the aroma. “Rickie did work hard.”

“Eat.” Billy told her. “Oh, ketchup. I’ll get it.”

Only nodding, Cal was still amazed at how well Rickie did. As she reached for her utensils, fingers not even touching the fork or knife, she felt the nudge in her back. Though stuffed up from the damp we
ather she could still smell Larry. She tried to ignore him, but he sat down next to her.

“Nothing keeps you down does it?” He asked angrily. “What does it take
?”

Cal patiently waited for him to get to his point and get out. She wasn’t in the mo
od for a confrontation or feeling up to it.

“I heard
, Cal. I heard they jerked off all over . . .”

Bam!

Larry’s face careened down to the table with a crash so fast, Cal’s plate rattled and blood shot out from the sides of Larry’s face as if a melon was smashed before her. She jolted, then sprang up as fast as she could when she saw Billy directly behind Larry, more angry then she had ever witnessed him.

Billy’s hand was red from the tight grip he had to Larry’s head, pinning him to the table. And with one quick motion, Billy clenched Larry’s hair
and whipped back his head. In a swoop down to the table, Billy grabbed the knife and placed the sharp edge directly to Larry’s arched throat speaking gruffly to him. “Guess who’s out of the experiment?”

“Billy!” Cal screamed lunging forward and grabbing Billy’s hand just as the knife seared into the skin drawing blood. “No.” She stopped him from slicing any further. “He’s not worth it
, Billy, please. He is not worth this on your conscience.”

“Cal.” Billy said her name painfully.

“No.” Cal held his wrist tighter, burying her forehead to the back of his shoulder blade. “He’ll get his. Trust me. He’s not worth you doing this. Not you, Billy. This isn’t you.”

Billy’s hand trembled as it instinctively pressed the knife harder against Larry. And hearing Cal whisper one more ‘please’ to him, Billy dropped the knife. Cal’s fingers immediately slipped in between his
, and he released Larry harshly, turning around.

Cal pulled him gently away from the table. “Let’s go. We’ll eat at the room.”

Billy closed his eyes. His body shook. “Cal, I’m sorry.”

“No. Shh.” She reached up and touched his face. “Thank you for defending me. He really will get what’s coming to him
, and it will all be worth it.” Cal’s eyes shifted to Rickie who was closing in. “Rickie, will you bring some food up to my room? The three of us will eat there.”

“Sure
, Cal-babe.” Rickie nodded, stepped back, gave a thumbs up to Billy, and walked away.

Cal held Billy’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Before moving, Billy brought Cal into him, hugged her briefly, then keeping his arm around her, more so for his own support, he walked from the dining area with her.

Rickie, before getting some breakfast for the three of them, wandered over to the table where Larry lay face down moaning. “Dude.” Rickie snickered. “Did you, like, know you’re blood’s, like, all over the table?” Snatching up the ketchup bottle that lay on its side, Rickie laughed once more and moved on.

“Can someone tell me why this fuckin asshole isn’t dead yet?” Aldo’s hand extended in a point as he sat in his leather seat in the control room. Papers were spread across his lap, his own work he had brought with him. “I hate that Larry Kale.” He shook his head after viewing a bloody Larry go into his bungalow.

Lyle spun around in his chair. “I thought Billy had him.”

“Yeah, well, I’m personally thinking of buying out his investor.” Aldo shifted through his work.

“Why’s that?” Lyle asked laughing. “I thought you said you hated him.”

“I do. But anyone that lucky to escape all that he has escaped just may survive this experiment. And if that’s the case, I want him.”

“To secure a win?”

“Hell, no.” Aldo shook his head. “To secure his accidental death when he arrives back.”

Lyle laughed some more. “Actually, I’m hoping Cal remembers him having something to do with what happened to her. We don’t know for sure
, but my gut tells me she does.”

“Mine too.”

“But even aside from that.” Lyle swirled his chair. “With all that asshole has done, I am a bit surprised Cal just didn’t let Billy end it.”

“Nah.” Aldo made a scoffing face. “I know my girl. Trust me.” Aldo looked up
at Cal’s monitor and smiled with a wink. “I believe she’s just waiting for the right moment.”

“East,” Jake stated as they trudged.

“Why east again?” Lou asked. “And why do I smell
sulfur?”

“East because I say
so, and sulfur because the volcano is nearby.”

“That’s not good
,” Lou stated. “So we’re on the other side of the island again?”

“You’re not paying attention.”

“I am. But we keep moving.”

“We keep moving because they keep moving. We’re bound to catch them when they rest up again. This island isn’t all that big.”

“Tell that to my legs.” Lou looked down to his muddy shoes. “And now walking is harder since we’re trudging in sludge.”

“With all this
, we’ll have to be careful when we get to that next cavern,” Jake stated.

“How do you know we’re hitting another cavern?”

“Listen to the sound of your voice.”

Lou sang out a note and shrugged. “Still sounds bad.” He snickered. “Hey
, Jake, just about when do you get to the point when you give up your search?”

“Never.”

“Never?”

“Never.” Jake reiterated. “Once, I guess about seven years ago
, there was this militant gorilla leader who was wiping out villages. Single execution style, women, children, and such. I was sent into the jungle to find him. It took seventeen days but I tracked him down.”

“And?” Lou asked.

“Killed him.”

“I see.” Lou widened his eyes. “Seventeen days?”

“Yep.”

“Hey, uh
, Jake. I heard it took some marine only sixteen days to track down a militant gorilla . . .” Lou saw the glare he got. “Kidding. And . . . oh wow. Hey you’re right.” Lou saw what seemed like a break in the world. He stepped to the edge with Jake. “This is a new one.”

“Yeah it is. Excellent
, huh?”

“How exactly are we getting across?” Lou questioned.

Jake pointed down.

Lou peered over. “Climbing
?”

“Nah. Carefully. It isn’t that far and it really isn’t that steep. Just watch your footing because the mud can make it slick and you’ll . . .”

Lou’s shriek echoed and faded as the ground below him gave out and he tumbled, picking up mud, like a stone gathering moss, down the cavern hillside.

“ . . . fall.” Jake tossed his hands in the air seeing Lou land on the bottom. And Jake carefully began to go down the hillside himself.

Lou grumbled as he swiped the mid from his face, lifting himself to his hands and knees. “Great, just great. Now I’m dirty. Not only do I have to piss in the woods and eat constipating food, but now I’m . . .Oh, wow.” Lou rubbed his eyes again and separated the bush he knelt before. “Oh, wow. Jake,” he called out to him. “Jake.”

Jake’s large boots made a thunderous muddy splash as he made it to the bottom. “What’s up.”

“Look.” Lou pointed.

Jake peered through the parted bush. He smiled. Beyond the bush was a small clearing set
in the center of a wooded area. Three tents were set up, with a burned out campfire in the middle. “Listen.” Jake held up his finger.

Lou’s ears zoomed in to the coughing. “Gangrene man?”

Jake nodded and looked again. “I don’t see the others.” Jake leaned into the bush. “But get your weapon ready just in case.”

“Are you going in there?”

Again, Jake smiled.

Wilson coughed violently
. He was fevered and a bit delirious. His chest rumbled with a thickness, and his arm was swollen to twice its normal size. He was lying on the ground inside the tent wanting a blanket or a drink so bad. In the middle of a coughing spell, he heard the flap to his tent open. “Luther?” He called out.

“Guess again.”

Wilson raised his head to look, and in the middle of his gasp of surprise, a handful of mud was shoved in his mouth and Jake gripped on to his hair yanking the man from the tent. Wilson couldn’t scream. He couldn’t inhale. The mud seeping into his throat made him choke as he was dragged painfully by his hair across the ground by a walking Jake.

Jake pulled him o
ut of the camp area, through the bush, and past Lou. When Jake got back into the muddy cavern bottom, he tossed Wilson out with ease. He landed face first in the mud. Jake stormed to the man who barely lifted himself up. His huge hand plowed down to the back of Wilson’s head, shoving his face back in the thin mud puddle. Jake waited, lifted him, let Wilson spit out the mud and gasp for air, then Jake submerged him again. After a moment and feeling Wilson begin to shake, Jake lifted Wilson by his hair bringing him to his knees. Behind him, Jake dropped to his knees over Wilson’s feet.

“Breathe
,” Jake ordered to him.

Wilson coughed,
and mud shot from his mouth,

“Take in a breath of air.”

Wilson gasped and coughed. His hands reached up to his head to Jake’s hand.

“Now. Beg for your pitiful life
,” Jake whispered harshly in his ear. “Beg.”

“Please.” Wilson began to cry. “Please don’t kill me. Please I . . .” A gurgle and a painful moan erupted from Wilson along with a wet tearing sound as Jake’s hunting knife
sank into Wilson’s gut. After waiting and holding the knife in one spot, Jake, with all his emotions, slowly and deeply brought the knife up, ripping from Wilson’s stomach to his throat. Gutted, insides dangling out, Wilson dropped face first into the mud puddle when Jake released him with the retraction of the knife.

After wiping the blade clean
on the back of Wilson’s pants. Jake stood up, put the knife back in his leg strap and faced Lou. “One easily down.”

“What now?” Lou asked.

Jake placed his hands on his hips and looked up and around. “Higher ground. We have to find a place where we can watch for the others to return. I have a plan.”

“What about him
?”

Jake walked over to Wilson. “Take an end,
he comes with us.”

Totally baffled on why he had to touch something disgusting, Lou didn’t argue. He would do what Jake wanted and needed him to do, no matter how bloody or revolting. That was why he was there with Jake
. And after all, Jake was doing his job, and who was Lou to question the details of a job Jake had held for so many years?