Amoeba (The Experiments) (56 page)

“So was it him?” Aldo asked Greg at the meeting. “Was Larry the Stasis?”

Greg looked at Aldo then
at the rest of the investors. He hesitated, smiled. They smiled. Then Greg turned serious. “No.”

A large eruption of moans began.

Greg grew confused by this. “What? Why does that make you unhappy?”

“Could you imagine
?” Douglass spoke up. “If Larry was the Stasis and these things ate him, they would get that stuff in them, and not only do we have walking dead, we have a walking dead stasis.”

Aldo peered up
at Greg. “Would that happen?”

“What?” Greg asked. “Would they turn Stasis if Larry was the Stasis? Theoretically
, I’d have to say yes. But . . . unfortunately, we have never fed a Stasis to anything alive. That may be an interesting point of research.”

Daniela, Reed’s investor, joined in the conversation. “I’m new to this. When do we see the catch?”

“It’s half way through the experiment, Haynes,” Aldo said. “Shouldn’t the catch be dead?”

“No.” Douglass intervened. “Think
, Aldo. The Catch is saved for the crucial last three or four weeks. You know, when they are all worn down. It takes four to six weeks to complete the metamorphoses, so I wouldn’t look for the Catch to die for at least another month.”

Greg, wondering why he was there at all if everyone had the answers, in
terjected into the conversation. “Douglass is right. Another month or so, and you’ll find out who The Catch is when he dies.”

“I still think it would have been a ball if Larry was the Catch
,” Aldo commented as he rocked in his chair. “I loved those walking dead. Good job. We’ll see them again, won’t we?”

“No.” Greg shook his head. “That little event of seeing them is over with. We move on.”

“It’s too slow,” Aldo stated. “Things are moving too slow.”

“I agree
,” Douglass added. “We want some action.”

Daniela got his two cents worth in. “I thought for sure I’d see some real mental duress. See these people fall apart then hit them physical
ly. Other than the guy Jake calls Tonto, there really isn’t anyone on the edge.”

“Yeah.” Lancing, Judge’s investor, spoke up. “My guy wilted for a spell, but he snapped back. Tension. Will we at least be seeing tension?”

Greg opened his mouth, but couldn’t talk. The questions kept coming at him.

“Tension is good
,” Aldo said. “I love when they are at each other’s throats, ready to kill each other. Stressed out, that is a big part of the experiment. Right, Haynes?”

Greg opened his mouth again
, but still not a chance to talk.

“You guys who weren’t here before . . .” Douglass’ hand waved in dramatic fashion. “I have to tell you
, there is nothing like when they are stressed. Tense. Ready to kill each other and BAM. Here comes something to add more stress. They can’t handle it.”

Aldo’s hand slammed to the table. “That is what is missing
, you know. At least when Jefferson ran this thing, he gave us some good old fashioned tension. When’s the next thing going to happen? I’m getting a little impatient here, Haynes. The zombies were good but . . .”

Greg lost it. “Hey!” He silenced them with
his one word loud yell. “First off, I am
not
Dr. Jefferson. Secondly, those people were not dead, so quit annoying me by saying there were. Do you honestly believe we could have placed eighty-two dead bodies on the island and regenerated them? No. Use some common sense.”

Dr. Jefferson, qui
et and watching, smiled slightly at Greg’s lack of cool.

“Now
,” Greg continued. “You want to know what’s going to happen next, I’ll tell you what is going to happen next.” He stormed across the control room. “Let me get the folders that we were going to hold off giving to you, and I’ll give them to you now. Then maybe you can all stop this whining. I hope you’re all happy. You’re ruining your surprise.” Greg marched to the door. “Like a room full of goddamn spoiled rotten kids.”

Slam!

Aldo jumped a bit in his chair at the loud closing of the door. He turned to look in the silence of the control room. “Now let me get this straight.” His finger extended then pulled back. “We give him millions of dollars and . . . he yells at
us
?”

Waiting is what the others did in the dining building. They waited for Cal and Jake’s return, and the second they stepped into the building, everyone, but Reed that is, stood up.

“O
kay.” Jake held up his hand. “We have a lot of bodies out there to clean up. We will exercise precaution in handling them. There’s a clearing not too far from here. We’ll carry them and burn them. Judge, I need you to go to that clearing and make sure we have the room. The last thing we want is for the fire to get out of control.”

Judge agreed and stood up. “You’re talking about the clearing beyond this building?”

“Yes.” Jake nodded. “Can you go there now?”

“I’ll get right on it.”
He limped slowly to the door.

“Rickie
, you go help Judge.” Jake turned to the others. “Paul, Lou, and Billy, you guys will work with me to move bodies. Cal, you stay with Reed.”

“Jake
, I want to help,” Cal told him.

“Right.” Jake scoffed. “You will not touch a dead body. Especially those dead bodies. You got that? Help . . . help . . . him.” Jake twitched his head to a whimpering Reed.

“Sarge,” Rickie spoke up. “Like, is it safe leaving Cal-babe with flute here?”

“Why wouldn’t it be safe leaving Cal with Reed
?” Jake asked with an edge. “I highly doubt he’s going to harm her.” Jake shook his head. “Okay, let’s get started before the heat sets in.”

“Sarge
,” Rickie called out. “But, like, what if Reed dies?”

“He’s not gonna die.”

“But what if he does?” Rickie hounded.

“Then he does
, Rickie.” Jake moved to the door.

“But Sarge . . .”

“What now, Rickie?” Jake snapped.

“If he dies and comes back
, he’ll be one of them.”

“No
, he won’t.”

“But
, Sarge, like, I saw that movie. They rise back up and . . .”

“Rickie!” Jake yelled. “He will not become one of them. All right? He won’t. So drop it and let’s get going.” Jake had a sense of mean
ness to his voice that Rickie had never heard.

“O
kay.” Rickie held up his hands. “Chill, Sarge, just asking.”

Cal looked at Jake. What had happened to his mood? She had to wonder if she had set him off. “Jake.” She caught up to him and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Listen
, I, uh . . . I’m sorry I insulted your anatomy.”

“What?” Jake looked down to her. “What are you talking about?”

“Your mood. You got in a bad mood because I . . .”

“Cal. No.” Jake stopped her from saying anything further. “Trust me. No.” He walked away and opened the door. Jake stopped and looked back. “Sometime today
, people,” he said, and stormed out.

Lou let out a long whistle. “O
kay.” He moved to the door. “I think I’ll just not wait any longer.” Shaking his head, Lou walked out.

Cal stood by the door. Paul walked by her then Billy.

Billy stopped before her. “Just tell me one thing. With Jake in that mood, and me having to go out there and help him, it’s not me, right? I didn’t do anything, right?”

“No
,” Cal told him.

“Good.” Billy let out a breath and left.

“At least I don’t think so,” Cal said softly after Billy was gone. Then she shrugged, turned around, and went to help Rickie with Reed.

The folders landed with a loud ‘whap’ as Greg walked around the table, slamming folders down hard in front of each investor. “You want excitement?” He slammed another folder. “You want tension?” Another slam of a folder. “You want answers?” Greg tossed down the last one. “Dr. Jefferson has spoiled all of you. You want to know, open the damn folders.”

“Haynes
,” Aldo snapped. “This is verbal abuse.”

“Tough.” Greg marched to him. “Tough. You, like these participants
, agreed to sit back and take it all in. You guys pissed me off, so sit back . . .” He leaned closer to Aldo. “And take it all in.” He moved to the railing of the level.

Aldo leaned over to Douglass whispering. “He drives that black convertible
, right?”

Douglass snickered.

“Barb!” Greg yelled down to her. “Cue it up on the three large screens.” Greg turned around to see the investors talking. “Gentlemen! Hello! You want to know. Look up.” He pointed to the monitors. Each of them showed a cocoon type structure. “Luther. Rapper. Wilson. Check out your monitors. Stasis one, two, and three.” He stormed harshly to the door. “It was supposed to be an added little surprise for you all.” Greg opened the door. “And I hope you’re happy.”

Aldo’s eyes shifted from the door
that Greg had walked out of, to the screen, then to Douglass. He nodded, impressed. “Extremely.”

Dr. Jefferson watched what was going on and hurried out the door after Greg. “Greg.” He called to him. “Wait up.”

Greg, looking peaceful, turned around. “Yes?”

“Was that . . . was that necessary?” Dr. Jefferson pointed back into the control room.

“Yes.”

“You were going to tell them today anyhow.”

“I know. But what did they ask for? Stress. Tension. Excitement.” Greg winked and patted Dr. Jefferson on the shoulder. “All part of the plan, my good predecessor. All part of the plan.”

And the bodies burned.

Dirty, tired
, and sweaty, everyone else had headed back to the bungalows once the flames really started to ignite. Billy would have liked to, but he didn’t have much of a bungalow left. He was grateful that everything he had, equipment, pictures, and notes, were tucked away for the night in their fireboxes.

He had taken his last picture
, and Billy stepped back from the terrible smelling and hot bonfire. He thought he was alone in that clearing, but when he turned to go back, he saw Jake perched on a fallen tree. Jake’s arms rested against his knees, and his head was slightly lowered as he watched the fire roar. Jake was so deep in thought, that it looked like the weight of the world seemed to be on his shoulders. Something was wrong.

After taking a picture of him,
and a little frightened, Billy approached Jake. “May I?” Billy indicated to the empty spot next to Jake.

Jake scooted over.

“So.” Billy sat down. “Are you going to watch until it goes out?”

“I’m gonna
, uh . . . keep the fire going until there is nothing left.” Jake’s voice dropped low. “Nothing left.”

“Jake? Are you all right?”

Jake turned his head Billy’s way.

“I mean
, if you need to talk about . . .” Billy saw Jake just stare at him. “I know I’m not your favorite person in the world, Jake. I know this. But know that I care about you, and this isn’t you.” Billy didn’t get a response. “And I probably just sounded like a hypocrite, huh?” Billy started to get up.

“Billy.” Jake spoke up. “The best thing . . .” Jake stopped to look at his own folded hands. “The best thing my wife did was
to tell me of her mistake with you. Tell me about it right away.”

Billy didn’t know where Jake was going with what he said, but Billy figured if Jake was bringing up the ‘incident’ it was best for Billy to sit down and listen.

“No matter what you do in your life, things, they have a way of coming back to haunt you.” Jake’s voice seemed hypnotic with the crackling fire. “Time has no boundaries against that. Had Cal not told me of what happened, I would have found out on my own, right? She’s pregnant. And that would have made it worse. Finding out that she didn’t tell me something. So she stopped it from haunting her. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Um . . . yeah.” Billy clasped his hands. “Jake, forgive me, but can I ask why you’re bringing this up?”

“This.” Jake motioned his head to the mound of burning bodies.

Billy looked. “O
kay. What do they have to do with what happened between me and Cal?”

“Nothing.”

Billy’s eyes shifted quickly. “Jake, are you all right?”

“Nope.” Jake folded his hands tighter. “You know
, Billy, when I first saw Cal, something clicked in me. And the moment she decked John,” Jake’s head twitched to the right, “I went over the edge. I think, no, I know, I fell instantly in love with her.”

“Witnessing physical violence will do that.” Billy watched Jake look at him seriously. “Sorry.”

“I knew inside that she would become a part of my life. And she did. Cal became my entire world. I love her. I love her so much.”

Billy remained silent. He didn’t know what to say. A part of him was afraid of where the conversation was going.

“I knew coming into this experiment, when I signed that contract, that since they couldn’t physically take us out of the experiment, they were going to go after us as a couple. And . . .” Jake unfolded his hand. “They did. But even coming in here with that knowledge, I thought . . . there isn’t anything in this world that would make me leave my wife. There isn’t anything that can happen that I can’t get past. They won’t beat us, they won’t break us.”

“And you were right.”

Jake looked at Billy. “So I thought. I think . . . I think if breaking up my marriage to my wife is what Caldwell wanted, then Caldwell just might get what they want.”

“Jake.” Billy held a slight snicker in his voice. “You can’t leave Cal. You can’t do that to . . .”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “I said there was nothing that can make me leave her. I didn’t say there was nothing that wouldn’t make Cal leave me.”

“There isn’t.”

“There is.” Jake stood up. “I’m, uh . . . I’m getting some more wood. Could you go back and sit with Cal? I’m going to be a while.”

“Jake, why don’t I send her here.”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “Stay with her. I’ll be back.”

“O
kay. Look . . .” Billy followed Jake. “You are the most private person I know. You never, ever open up, certainly not like this. So something has really got you, Jake. Talk to me.”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “I really appreciate your concern. But I’ll work it out.”

Billy nodded and placed his hands in his pockets. “Work it out. All right. I understand. But, if you need to unload, you’ve got the perfect person to do that to. You’ve got Cal.”

Jake raised his mouth slightly in a peaceful smile. “Yeah.” Jake walked off.

Billy ran his hand over his sweaty face watching Jake disappear into the woods.

^^
^^

Rickie was wide eyed watching Paul standing at the foot of Reed’s bed. “So, like, dude, you think this was really him?”

“Yes.” Paul nodded. “And once again, I want to apologize for the disturbance last night.” He shifted his eyes to Judge then Cal. “It was all my doing.”

Cal shook her head. “It was Caldwell’s doing.”

“Cal-babe.” Rickie held up his hand and started to walk around the bed,
but a moan from Reed stopped him. “Sorry, guy.” He lifted Reed’s newly injured hand and placed it further on the bed so no one else could bump into it. “Cal-babe. Like, I know the toot can do a lot, but bring back the dead, no way. Tonto did it.”

“I did.” Paul nodded.

“There is no way you did that,” Cal argued. “They weren’t dead. Caldwell probably just went to every single mental hospital in the country and drug up all the psychopathic killers, that’s all. Don’t be silly.”

“Cal-babe, you heard his story. Like
, he over charged that dude for a muffler job and the guy threatened he’d get back at him, big time. And what happened, the dude, after threatening our dear Indian, pulled out onto the street, WHAM. The man is dead.”

“That’s what happened
,” Paul stated. “And he waited. Waited for his chance.”

“May I?” Judge raised his hand. “I kind of have my own theory on what happened.” He saw everyone was all ears, except for Reed. “I believe that these people lived on this island
, and when Caldwell purchased it, they locked them away deep in the basement. Like . . .”

“Oh!” Rickie smacked himself in the forehead. “Ouch. Oh! Like the people under the stairs. Honorable
, dude, you may be so right. It might not be the muffler guy after all. If that’s the case, Tonto, you are off the guilt hook.”

Cal continued to laugh. If they wanted to believe revengeful walking dead or people under the stairs were coming after them, she might as well let them.

Two knocks were at Reed’s door, and Billy, hair wet, poked his head in. “Cal.”

“Hey.” She looked up and smiled. “We were discussing Zombie theories. Come in.”

“Can I steal you instead?” Billy asked.

“Sure.” Cal walked to the door and out ignoring Rickie’s juvenile, ‘oh’s and I’m telling Sarge’ comments. She pulled Reed’s door closed. “What’s up? Where’s Jake?”

“Burning bodies.”

“Still? I saw the smoke
, and I thought you guys were done.”

“We are.” Billy took hold of Cal’s arm. “But, you and I have to talk.”

“About?”

“Jake.”

Cal hesitated, then slowly, and with concern, walked and listened to Billy.