This is part 2 of my series! Don’t forget to check out Part 1 here.
I apologize for the wait, I have been busy with a few assignments since the last post.. The company is also now going through a change, BlackHawk Security is now called the BlackHawk Corporation. I don’t fully understand the reasons for the name change but it may be because our company now does a lot more than security jobs, but I won’t talk about it here so I can have time to write about my experience. If the great people of reddit wish for me to talk about the changes going through the company then I will in the comments, but for now here is one of the jobs i took that stuck with me.
I was stationed at Fort █████████, a research base in the middle of Siberia. There were 3 buildings; A research lab, a barracks, and a containment chamber built into the side of a mountain. There were 10 personnel; 4 security operatives, 5 researchers, and a supervisor. I had been stationed at this facility for about 2 months before the incident. On the day of the incident, a truck arrived at around 0813 hours (8:13am for those who don’t know military time) and dropped off a returning researcher who had went on vacation, 2 people in business suits and trenchcoats (Fucking Admins..), and a guy in security gear. The guy was probably 20 or 21, which was especially young for this line of work, and looked nervous as hell. Me and another operative used a device on our uniform to click “Hello” in morse code to the new guy. He looked confused and didn’t click back.. There was a reason why we had to speak in morse code..
When working at Fort █████████ you get used to not speaking, and for good reason. There was one rule and one rule only; DO. NOT. TALK. If an individual even whispers a word, they were to be thrown into the containment chamber via the airlock. We were taught morse code to communicate with each other through devices on our uniforms. I don’t fully know what happens when someone accidentally talks, but I had been working for the company long enough to know that anything my commander said wasn’t a joke.
It was a cold winter day, Me and the new guy (His name was Jack) were stationed in sector 3.. the containment chamber, which was a solid steel box..10 inches of thick concrete covering the outside of the box with the airlock door on one side… the airlock door we were to never open unless the rule was broken. I was used to walking around in this area, even though the ambience from the wind blowing and snow falling in this area was amplified for reasons I don’t know. It was this patrol that my mistake would cost the lives of 6 personnel.
I blame myself for not telling Jack the rule… but I had thought his commander would have told him the rule. We were walking along the designated patrol route in complete silence. He was a shy person, which is probably why he didn’t say anything before. As we were walking, he looked at me. I look back and press the button on my uniform, creating a beeping noise that I repeated to spell “What?”. He then raised his eyebrow, turning his head back to look at the path in front of us. As we were returning to the barracks, he looked at me again. I looked him in the eyes… We stayed like that for a minute until.. “so.. did you catch the bears game on Sunday-“
It all happened so quickly.. alarms blaring, Morse code playing over loudspeakers, air horns playing. I tackled him to the ground, he was screaming. “WHAT THE HELL MAN?!? ALL I ASKED WAS-“ He stopped talking and I jumped up in fright. He was shaking, like he was having a seizure. He started bleeding from the eyes, that blood then turned to a black liquid. He was screaming in pain so loudly that my ears felt like there were needles poking the inside of them over and over again. I grabbed my rifle and used the butt to try to knock him out.. At this point my eyes were watering due to the pain my ears were in… but I dared not let any sounds of pain escape my lips.
My efforts to shut him up were useless, so I just began dragging his seizing body back towards the chamber. Once I arrived, I opened the airlock door.. throwing him inside. Through the window of the door, I could see him. He stood up, running to the door and banging it with all his strength. “PLEASE LET ME OUT!! PLEASE IT HURTS PLEASE MAN, PLEASE LET ME OUT!!!l”. Then, the large, metallic, blast door behind him began to open. He turned around and let out a blood curdling scream, seeing something I could not. My eyes were closed and my hands were over my ears.
Then as soon as it started, silence overtook the snowy hell. I opened my eyes, looking through the airlock window. He was just standing there, menacingly, staring off into the darkness that enveloped the containment chamber. He then turned around to look at me, I will never forget the face that I saw. He was smiling, much like the employees of my first job. He looked happy, but his eyes told a different story. His eyes were bloodshot and wet with tears, I could see his eyebrows sloping opposite of each other, like a kid trying to draw someone expressing sadness. It’s hard to put into words but I tried. His smile was so wide I could see his gums, each bloodied tooth visible through the sunlight creeping through the airlock window. He then opened his mouth and spoke in a low, raspy voice.
“Hello [REDACTED], I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. I understand why you had to do what you did. You have no choice, you must obey the will of your superiors even if it means you must harm coworkers… I didn’t know the rules, so I’m sorry if I scared you..”
He wiped the blood running out of his nose. The blood covered his upper lip entirely now.
“I will forgive you for breaking my nose, but only if you say sorry.. just a simple ‘I’m sorry’.. you can do that right?”
I almost, ALMOST, opened my mouth to speak.. I was still looking into his eyes when I saw his smile grow wider when I twitched my mouth. I then clicked the button on my vest a few times and the words “I am sorry” formed from the beeping. His smile faltered slightly.
“Oh come on [REDACTED] it’s 3 fucking words, it won’t kill you! Just say sorry and let me out of here.”
I shook my head in response. That seemed to have made it mad, because I saw the smile falter more until it was merely a smirk.
“Can’t even say sorry, you can’t even apologize for BREAKING MY FUCKING NOSE?! DID YOU ENJOY IT? BASHING YOUR RIFLE INTO MY FACE!? WELL? ANSWER ME”
It was taking all my willpower to not cry, it was painful.. I was supposed to be his commander. I had failed him and he was now paying for my negligence.
“ANSWER ME!! ANSWER ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!! TELL ME YOU ENJOYED MY PAIN, YOU LOVED SEEING ME INCHES FROM DEATH, THAT’S WHY YOU DIDN’T STOP ME!”
He was banging his hands on the airlock door, screaming obscenities and demanding I speak. I was tearing up, I didn’t want to make any sound. There were now cracks in the glass… the door wouldn’t hold much longer. Then before he broke out, a hand went over my mouth and another hand grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. In front of me was a BRT (Breach Response Team) operative, he used a Morse code clicker to ask “Did you talk?”. I responded with more beeps to form “No”. He pulled me forward, motioning me to follow him. As we made our way to the base I heard an alarm I hoped I would never hear. It was a low, crunchy, distorted alarm that told us that the airlock door had been torn down.
When we reached the base, we saw absolute bloodshed. Most of the personnel were killed when the event first happened. Apparently, a researcher had yelped when the alarm went off. She was a senior researcher, and had worked at this facility for 8 years now. This goes to show that experience can’t dull human instinct. She had went through the same thing Jack had to go through but unfortunately nobody was able to get her to the chamber in time. The CCTV showed that she had started shaking, bleeding blood then that black liquid. It was then that 2 security operatives attempted to capture her, but it was too late. She spoke loud and clear in a distorted voice. She spoke some strange language not of this world, a mix of Latin, German, and Russian. The two operatives then ran away but were caught by her and were ripped to shreds.
What used to be the female researcher was now sitting in the fetal position outside in the snow, surrounded by the bodies of my coworkers. We ignored her and continued onward to the helicopter pad. On the pad sat a Blackhawk helicopter (what a coincidence), surrounded by a team of BRT operatives. I was escorted onto the Blackhawk and was taken up into the sky as the BRT operatives went to secure the facility. Once we were about an hour away from the facility I broke down in tears. The 3 BRT operatives in the Blackhawk looked at me and got up to comfort me. I got the usual lines of “Don’t worry mate, it wasn’t your fault” and “They are in a better place now” but I was not listening to any of it. I made the mistake that killed most of the personnel at that facility, and I had got that kid killed due to it. I know you will all say that his supervisor should have told him but I should have made sure he knew… It’s too late for him now anyway.
Shortly after this incident the people who contracted us decided to put the chamber 6 feet underground and fence off the surface with guards and walls. Unfortunately, we still have a contract with them. I was reassigned to a BRT unit soon after because of my military background and stayed there until I was assigned to the unit I am still part of today. I can’t disclose the name of the unit but I can say that we are the best of the best. I would share more, but I think I should get this posted since I have another mission to go on.
Stay safe, Stay alert, and remember: there are worse fates than death now.