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That morning had come faster than I had expected.
My alarm abruptly launched me out of my blackened and empty dreams. The red glow of its illuminated numbering was the only light within that sunless room. It forced me to be reminded of the fact that nothing but dozens of layers of soil lay over the tops of our heads. And endless miles of soil lay below us.
‘As long as man lay without light, he is nothing more than a ghoul’. I thought to myself as I hit my alarms button and started off my day.
Before I knew it we were all back in that accursed concrete warehouse that contained Subproject 23.
“Good Morning everyone. Our expedition will be commencing soon.” Dr. Hargroves voice rang out over the large barren room full of tireless staff members. “Reminder: Group One will leave in exactly thirty minutes. Group Two will leave exactly six seconds after them. No mistakes today.” And with that the preparations went into full effect.
Group One was full of the builders. The lab techs that would be bringing out our supplies to create our forward outpost. They’d be setting up base camp while us, the exploratory team, were on the other side of the portal.
What would be an hour for them would only consist of 6 seconds for us. At that time we’d push through. I would take control over the Comms System. Meanwhile, my team would move up to the last known coordinates of Stevens and Carter.
Several technicians helped my team suit up into our lightweight gear. A thin veil of fabric would end up being our only protection from the horrors that awaited us on the other side of the entryway. But no amount of gear could keep us away from the horrors that lay within our own imaginations.
I groaned and called out to the others while being suited up, “You guy’s got lucky. In my day you could barely scratch your ass while you were in your suit.”
Tim laughed. “Listen to this old man. Telling us how hard he had it back in his day.” I looked over to Tim and mustered up the most sarcastic smile I could. He leaned over in a mocking rendition of an elderly man, his arms and legs shaking.
The moment he turned to face me I raised up one very important finger towards him. Just in time for the researchers to seal my helmet over my head.
After a few moments of my own heavy breathing I heard a voice come over our internal radios.
“Checking, Checking.” Clark called out. The crisp audio filled up the empty dome of my helmet like a blaring gong.
“Loud and Clear.” Henry replied. He paused for a moment. “Let’s find Stevens today.”
“He deserves that much at least.” Tim murmured to himself.
“And Dr. Carter. He’s been through enough.” I added in modestly.
At the end of my words Dr. Hargroves toneless voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Attention, attention. The entryway is about to be activated. All staff don your ear protection.” Several workers put foam earbuds in their ears. A few of them turned their backs towards the machine.
“Lab is clear.” Dr. Hargrove stated before flipping a switch.
With a loud click the whirlwind of machinery began to whir to life. The portal began to open. The back wall fell apart into the inky darkness of the same void that had filled my nightmares for the last few decades. A void that I never thought I’d see again.
I felt my stomach turn. Seeing the impossible swirling of empty matter was something man was never meant to view. Every ounce of your being told you that what it was, was wrong.
“Group One, prepare for departure.” A large line of technicians carrying boxes and gear stepped up to the entryway. One of them turned towards the observation post and raised their thumb up in the air. Dr. Hargrove returned the gesture.
“Group Two, prepare for departure.” I twisted myself around and faced Dr. Hargrove, extending the same motion towards him. He nodded and I spun back around towards the gate.
“In Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Depart.” With that all of the men on line pressed through the portal at the same moment. A sickening sucking noise filled the room.
Tim, Clark, Henry and I took their places in front of the portal. Hargrove had already begun the six second countdown for us.
“Ready?” I called out.
“Ready.”
“Aye.”
“Let’s go.”
“…Depart.” With those words we stepped through the entryway.
The void birthed us on the other side. My stomach turned and I swallowed burning bile.
‘Breath.’ I kept telling myself. ‘Breath.’
The landscape had changed completely from the last time I had been there. In every direction there were towering skyscrapers and endless building complexes. Empty streets with billowing gusts of red sands stretched as far as the eye could see.
The only thing that had carried over from our reality was the temporary science outpost that the first group had set up. Colossal industrial lights billowed their lights down upon the tents. Each tent was filled with computers and research equipment. Several other lights had also faced outwards, towards all the surrounding alleyways and streets.
“Group Two has been received.” A voice called out through our headsets. “Auxiliary personnel may now leave the area.”
A large group of technicians walked back towards the entryway and stepped back through it, exiting the way they came.
“Why are they leaving?” I asked my team.
Henry replied in a solemn tone, “The shadows out here have never killed anyone. Well, not that we know of. But the techs have. More bodies out here means more liabilities.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “So you’ll be here with a skeleton crew Chief. Stay safe.”
I nodded. I had to wonder how many researchers had lost their lives out here. “I understand. Same goes for all of you. I want to hear about every step you take.”
“Roger that.” Henry acknowledged.
Meanwhile Tim let loose a quick whistle before chiming in, “That’s a lot of steps.”
Clark immediately interrupted the group.“Henry, are you still in charge of the coordinates?”
Henry nodded and pulled out his tablet. A city map littered its screen.
“Looks like it’ll be Fifteen blocks North. Seventeen blocks West.”
“Fecking Hell.” Tim moaned. “Seemed a lot closer last time we were here.”
“Just keep your Guard up,” Clark said, his rifle aimed upward towards the rooftops adjacent to us.
“Alright everyone, we heard Tim. It’s a long walk so let’s move.” Henry took a step towards their objective. The others followed suit.
I turned myself towards a small desk surrounded by clear plastic sheeting. A computer with several monitors was set up inside.
“All yours, Sir.” One of the techs called out. “Do you need any help getting there?” I looked down at the wheels under me. Red sand had wrapped themselves around the metal spokes like tendrils.
“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind.” I replied. The man quickly rushed over to me and helped me move towards my station. “Actually, I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.” The young tech said.
“Why do you guys not just set up inside the buildings? There’s less wind in them. There’s got to be less sand too.”
The man laughed uncomfortably and shook his head. “It’s more dangerous. You’re not alone in those buildings. Hell, you’re barely alone out here.”
I lowered my head and contemplated what he had said.
Without another word he had effortlessly unzipped the plastic sheeting around my new home and guided me inside.
“Thanks.” I tried my best to smile at the man.
“No problem. It’s already all set up for you. Just click on the person you want to view. It’ll pop up some live footage. If you want to speak with them you can click the transmitter button. It’s good for long distances. Once they get closer to camp they’ll be able to talk through your headset again.”
“Got it.” I wheeled myself up to my desk and began to take account of my surroundings. The young tech zipped my tent back up and carried himself back to his duties.
The monitor showed a list of three names. Right next to them displayed a mockup of the currently charted city streets. A large red drop pin showed the objectives location. No GPS was available to us. It would be up to me to manually keep track of the location of my men.
I dragged my cursor over towards Clark’s name and double clicked.
A small window of a live recording began to play. Tim’s voice crackled over the speakers in the tent.
“I fecking hate that noise.” Tim mumbled.
His voice carried with it none of its usual sarcasm.
For the first time since I came out of the portal I became aware of the noises around me. Loud lamenting moans called out from every nearby building and from every nearby floor. They reverberated within my ears, cutting through my helmet.
There were no words, just pained ecstasy. The multitude of different voices blended together into a cacophonous wind. A flurry of sounds that carried with it the torment of hundreds.
“Push past it.” Clark quipped back. Not just bringing Tim back to task, but also myself. “Mission first, bullshit second.”
“Easy for you to say Mr. Spook.” Tim said as he scanned nearby windows.
The men continued their ceaseless walking down those desolate streets. Every now and then flashes of vehicle reflectors could be seen shining through the dust. A small reminder that this world was a mockery of our own.
“Can you read me?” I called out using the button next to my terminal.
“Jesus.” Tim muttered out in surprise.
“Yeah, we read you.” Clark replied. “We’re four blocks north of camp.
With that I moved their drop pins four blocks north on my map.
I looked outside of my little clear plastic haven towards the buildings that towered over me. Like the vehicle reflectors on the roads, the earthly brick and mortar bodies of the buildings had cast an uncanny chill down my spine.
I glanced up towards what we would have considered the heavens. Yet the sky here was blotted out by a bright vortex of red sand. I could only wonder what the sun beyond the mist must look like.
As I was returning my eyes to my monitor I quickly caught a flash of something in a nearby window. For just a moment it appeared like a living black mass had pushed against the glass. I kept staring but couldn’t make anything out.
In the end I ignored it. That’s all I could do. There were a handful of other technicians that could handle the unnatural monstrosities around base camp. My job was to handle the monstrosities that appeared around my own men.
With that I diligently marked down every block that they walked through. Every noise that they heard, I took note of. Though the situation was tense, things were going relatively smoothly.
As I was switching to Clark’s camera I saw Henry freeze up. His body suspended mid step. “Did you guys hear that?” The large man said, his head darting rapidly from side to side.
“Hear what?” Clark asked, quickly turning around to cover their rear.
“Something about a cut.” Henry whispered over the radio.
I felt my heart jump. I immediately lurched into action. I switched over my camera view towards Henry.
“Henry, look down at your feet right now.” His field of vision quickly shifted downward. Around him were large footprints in the sand of taloned claws.
“What the fuck is that?” Henry asked, backing away slowly from the track marks.
I swallowed my panic hard. “Tim, check Henry for any cuts in his suit. Clark, provide overwatch.”
Each of my teammates dutifully followed my orders. Tim hurried over to Henry and immediately began doing an inspection of his suit. Clark hastily shifted his body around to maintain some sort of scene security.
That’s when the screaming of the city stopped.
And all I heard was silence.
‘Why was it quiet?’ I thought to myself. ‘Had I gone deaf?’ I could still hear the sounds of the plastic walls rippling and crackling around me. I shook my head in genuine fear.
Tim’s voice broke my focus. “I found something.” Tim called out. He opened up his supply bag and pulled out a thick piece of medical tape to cover the hole with. “How did you know there was a tear?”
“That’s how it got me.” I said. My voice trailing off and my finger far from the intercom.
Almost immediately a shot rang out. Henry turned towards Clark. Clark’s hands were still on his rifle but his legs were shaking.
“Sir, I saw something. Well, I didn’t see anything, but I saw footprints. They were just popping up in the sand.” his voice filtered away.
“Listen, you all move forward. But if anyone hears anything, sees anything, you stop, you examine and you take your time. We’re our own worst enemies out here.”
Clark took a hand off of his rifle and pinched his thigh. His legs tightened up underneath his grip.
“Aye sir.” he said.
“Listen, if Henry’s good, just keep moving.” I replied. Tim stood up and put his tape away. Henry took in some deep and heavy breaths to test his filter.
“Everythings looking good now, Chief. Let’s go.” Henry said with a hollow-hearted determination.
And together they pressed forward.
The silence around us was all consuming. It was almost as though the very world commanded the city to be quiet. Whereas God had given us his word, whatever was out here had stripped it from us.
“Seventeen blocks west.” Henry called out, staring down at his tablet. “Then we’re at our destination.”
I updated their location again. I gave a slow inspection of the world outside. I needed to give my eyes a break from the bright glow of my monitor for just a moment.
I couldn’t help but notice that the all devouring sands seemed to be getting darker. The typical dull red colors were melding away into a deep crimson midnight. Whatever light source lay beyond those dusty red clouds was quickly fading away.
“Turn on your headlights.” I ordered. Each of them responded by clicking a little button on the side of their visors. The three of their lights attacked the encroaching darkness surrounding them like a hot knife through butter.
But even with that fierce cone of light, we could barely see past the flurry of darkened sands. I would only be able to see what God would allow me to see through those cameras. I prayed it would be enough.
Yet still, my team just kept venturing forward. They no longer cracked jokes or quips back at each other. They treated the darkness like a beast that we hadn’t yet seen. They focused entirely on their surroundings with little deviation.
All I could do was watch them through my monitor. I’d watch as their heads turned to clear out any alleyway they passed. I’d see things in those empty back streets. Things I wasn’t sure that anyone else could see. Things I was too afraid to ask about.
But the one thing I could be sure of was that every time they had turned around the encroaching darkness was just a little bit closer. A little bit darker.
“Six blocks left.” Henry called out to the others. The shadows of the sands engulfed the city around them.
Between the dust and the night sky, almost nothing could be seen.
I thought about how in this vast expanse of a city there were only four lights. Each one shining like a beacon in this empty void. Three tiny little mobile specks of illumination and one large stationary beacon.
I felt a chill rush over me at the thought. And for just a moment I was thankful for the sand. It cloaked the darkness, sure, but it also obscured us from the darkest depths of this new Hell.
“Target up ahead.” Clark called out.” His voice shook me from my thoughts. I switched to his camera and watched as he aimed his rifle straight down the vacant street. Laying in the middle of the lane was an ancient body, half covered with dust and wearing a grizzled suit. A suit that looked just like ours.
“It’s Stevens.” Henry muttered.
“Stay focused.” I called out to the three. “Be alert. Stevens got ambushed in this exact spot. Let’s not turn out like him.”
Steadily our team moved forward. Each of their steps being muffled out by the dust underneath their feet. They slowly swept through the area with their lights. I bounced back and forth from all three of their perspectives.
“Tim, check Stevens for the recordings. Clark, Henry, keep overwatch.”
Tim pressed forward to Stevens’ decaying body. He dropped down to one knee right next to the corpse.
The other two men had formed a two man perimeter around their fallen comrade. It only took a moment of silence for Tim to discover something.
“Feck,” Tim muttered. “Guys, Stevens’ suit is empty. There’s nothing inside of it.”
My heart tensed up. “Keep looking for the recordings.” I tried to remain in control but my voice betrayed me. I watched as Tim dived back through the dead man’s gear.
“Somethings wrong.” Clark whispered. “I can feel something watching us.”
My hair stood on end.
I felt it too. It felt like a predatory gaze.
I tore my eyes from my computer and realized that my surroundings had changed. I was caught sitting inside of a lit up plastic coffin. All around me was surrounded by an unpierceable black void. I felt as though I was floating in an empty abyss.
All of the lights outside of my tent had been extinguished. Or worse, consumed. My heart beat louder and louder in my chest. I could feel the vibration from its drumming right beneath my sternum. I quickly reached out towards a flashlight near my monitor and prayed that it would work.
With a quick flick of a button, the flashlight ignited. The small beam of light spilled out a steady stream of illumination. I shined the device through the plastic wall of my former haven. I aimed it straight down the alley right in front of me. I gasped as my light hit something.
Three ominous figures stood down the empty funnel of buildings.
Three figures that all were donning the antiquated suits of my former team members. I tried to tear my eyes away from them but I couldn’t. I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
‘Joshua, come here brother, we missed you.’ I heard Georgy’s voice say. The noise coming from within my own head.
The figures began promptly floating through the empty space of the abyss towards me. Their visors reflected my light back at me with a sinister glare.
Just when they were a few yards from my station, a few shots sounded off from my speaker. My concentration broke. The three dead men disappeared back into my imagination and the lights of the camp flooded back over me. I heard several techs behind me moving supplies.
“Movement, my center.” Henry called out over my intercom. He stood crouched with practiced expertise. But his voice was shaken.
I quickly clicked onto his name and saw what he had seen.
Off around the side of a building were the glowing deranged eyes of a man that shouldn’t be. A small emotionless face could barely be seen peeking past the corner of the building’s brickwork. His features scarcely illuminated through the oppressive sands.
“Wait.” I called out almost by reflex. A spark of remembrance hit my mind. “That’s Dr. Carter.” A series of emotions peaked inside of me that I didn’t know I had.
The man’s shimmering eyes flashed towards Henry, almost as though he had heard me speak his name.
I looked at the figure more closely. The Doctor wore no expression on his face. His eyes reflected a deep, visceral intensity I had never before seen on a man.
I heard Henry grind his teeth together. “Listen, Chief somethings-‘’ He stopped mid-sentence.
The man walked around the corner of the building fully exposing himself to our light. Behind the sandy winds lay the man I had seen decades ago. His facial structure was frozen to the exact moment that I had last seen him.
His body however was different.
He was gaunt and pale. His clothes had long since disintegrated around his thin frame. His fingernails stretched downwards like daggers, curving slightly into his bloody thighs.
The Doctor didn’t walk towards my men. He crept. His feet were gliding weightlessly towards them. In the darkness of the night, he had the same silhouette of the shadow men that I had seen all those years ago.
My speaker exploded with Tim’s voice. “Found it!”
Dr. Carter’s head snapped back towards the young Irishman. In that moment, the darkness seemed to consume the old Doctor. Carter took on the veil of the abyss like a robe. It surrounded him. Devoured him into its fold.
Not a single speck of light could pass through the black tar around him. And I watched, what I could only assume was his legs, grow unnaturally skyward. They expanded themselves upwards, pushing his body at least half a story high. The whites of his eyes remained the only thing visible in the darkness of the sands overhead.
Clark screamed out in fear and anger. Within a fraction of a second he began firing shot after shot into Dr. Carter’s elongated form. Henry immediately joined in.
Dr. Carver had let out a noise that I don’t think I had ever heard before. It was inhumane, yet ancestral. The man-turned-shadow darted down an alleyway and disappeared out of view. His long legs propelled him forward with perverted and unnatural speed.
“Retreat back to the portal. Now.” I called out over my intercom. Tim jumped up from Stevens’ body to join up with the others. He was only a few feet away when a looming shadow bursted out of a dark alleyway and latched itself onto his leg.
Crawling out of the alleyway once again was the deformed visage of Dr. Carter.
“Oh no, oh no.” Tim screamed, his voice echoing through the city’s hellscape. He aimed his rifle at the man and began to pull the trigger. His frantic screams ignited the whole world alive.
A chorus of screams filled the air all around us. Every inch of the city bellowed out with morbid anguish and fully indulged hedonism. The whole world joined Tim’s terrified song.
Clark turned around and unleashed his own burst of rounds into the infernal creature. The shade didn’t react. Instead it picked Tim up impossibly high and hurled him back down to the sands below. A red cloud of dust kicked its way up into the air.
My men were completely blinded.
The only thing I could make out over the terminal was Tim screaming out in intense agony. And the unmistakable sounds of muscle popping and ripping from bone. My brain began to shut down.
The noises of the chaos quickly hushed themselves in my mind.
As I stared silently into the screen my vision had begun to fade.
‘One more to take to your grave.’ A voice called out from within my head. It was familiar. ‘Bobby?’
‘We’ve been here for so long Jameson.’ Yoshi wailed. ‘We can’t leave.’
My vision was nothing more than a blur. The darkness outside had returned in full force. This time I felt it creep inside of my tent. I could see its tendrils wrap around my body through my damaged sight. It gripped onto my face and tried to dig its way inside of my skull.
‘Why’d you do it?’ Georgy yelled out into my ear. ‘I trusted you.’
“Be quiet!” I yelled back.
The tendrils swiftly loosened themselves at my voice. I repeated myself again and again, my voice exploding with anger. The black vines quickly retreated back out of my tent. Back into my own imagination.
Before I could even catch my breath, the sounds of Tim screaming quickly returned to my station. I forced myself back into action. I wiped my eyes with my shaking, sweaty hands and looked back towards the monitor.
I was just in time to see the last strand of Tim’s leg being torn away from his body. The living chasm of the abyss had used its long crooked fingers to strip chunks of Tim’s severed thigh free. The creature lifted the dangling meat to its shimmering white eyes in mock curiosity.
Meanwhile. Henry and Clark had both noticed the same thing. Halfway between Tim and the duo lay Tim’s bag. Tim was close to the creature. His bag, however, was not.
Clark immediately ran forward and picked up the bag. He had the objective in his hands. “The recordings are in here. We have to leave.” Clark shouted towards Henry.
Henry still had his rifle aimed up towards the dark leviathan.
I instantly hopped onto the intercom.
“Henry, I’m ordering you to grab Tim and bring him back home.” I felt my own regret filter out of my voice. “Henry, now.” I shouted.
Clark immediately backed away from the creature and shook his head at Henry. “Don’t risk it.”
Henry stared back at him. Tim’s cries for help were slowly fading away.
And with one swift motion, Henry turned towards Tim.
With all the speed he could muster he ran towards the creature. The beast turned its eyes to Henry and the second Henry had laid his hands on Tim, the creature leaned forward.
I watched through Henry’s feed as the two came face to face with each other. Carter’s new form loomed over Henry with an immense presence. His uncanny eyes were unmistakably predatory. But when Henry had begun to drag Tim away, Carter did nothing.
The twisted man’s silhouette still held onto the detached limb of our comrade as Henry made his escape.
His ghastly eyes followed Henry with every drag and pull.
“Get out of my head.” Henry shouted over the speakers. “We’re going to leave. We will.”
Henry hastily pulled out a tourniquet from his vest. His hands were shaking. He flipped Tim over and applied the medical apparatus to his leg. Tim was barely conscious, his fear and adrenaline completely exhausted.
“Take him and get out of there.” I called out over the radio.
Clark grunted in frustration before running over to Tim and Henry. The duo helped Tim back up to his remaining foot and carried him away. Together they pressed forwards. Their destination was finally homebound.
After a few minutes of consistent progress, I let out a sigh of relief. I took a moment to place my weathered hands over my old face.
I just kept on breathing. It’s all I could think to do.
When I finally took my hands off of my face I still couldn’t see. I opened and closed my eyelids over and over again but my vision never came back.
I could feel the cold sweat of anxiety begin to pour down from my forehead again. I was so close. We were so close. Why wasn’t it over?
In the darkness of my vision I couldn’t make out anything other than my own labored breath. I kept waiting for the light to come back but it never did. After some time I reached forward towards my desk and my hands met with nothing.
I felt an endless amount of time pass by within the depths of my own mental prison. How long I was there, I just couldn’t say. But long enough that I almost gave in.
But at that final moment of sanity, in that dark place I had called my mind, something finally lit me up.
Three aged yellowed lights had shone out from inside the darkness that had lay in front of me.
There stood Georgy, Bobbie and Yoshi. Their ancient headlights had lit me up like a deer in the night.
“Boss, it’s time to come with us.” Georgy called out. “We can show you everything you’ve missed.”
A muffled voice came out from the darkness next to me, so faint I could barely hear it. “Chief, can you give us an update on our location?” It was Henry. He sounded exhausted. His breath labored.
“No, leave them.” Yoshi’s voice interrupted. His voice was a faint memory of the man I used to know.
“Chief, can you hear us? It’s getting harder to see out here.” I turned towards the voice. It felt a little clearer now.
“Don’t leave us again.” Bobby cried out. His voice echoed with sorrow.
I turned my face to my old team for one last time. I finally saw them for what they were.
Their suits were broken, bloodied and torn. Their faces were pounded into unrecognizable masses. The same unrecognizable masses that I had abandoned them with all those decades ago.
“You’re not leaving here.” Bobby’s flattened and broken body commanded. “You owe us.”
“I do owe you. And I’ll pay for it. But for right now I have to help my team.”
I bit down on my tongue hard enough to rip a chunk of flesh off from it. That gave me enough strength to turn away from my past guilt.
I knew I had failed my last crew. I wouldn’t fail this one.
My world slowly came back into fruition. I was back at the monitor, hand already on the intercom.
“Give me some landmarks, I’ll try to find you.” I called out to them.
“Oh thank God.” I heard Tim’s mumbled voice mutter.
“The block to our North has four large buildings, South has six, East and West have 7.” Henry stated, his camera swaying back and forth in either direction.
I quickly matched it up with a nearby intersection next to the objective marker.
“Okay keep heading south. I’ll guide you from there.”
“Aye sir.” Clark replied. His voice was loud and clear.
Block after block I guided the men back home.
The screams from the empty city never ceased. Their wails were crying out towards us like clawed hands trying to pull us back in. Every step my men took sent a message back that we wouldn’t give in. That we wouldn’t listen to their dark songs any longer.
Before I knew it I saw three dull headlights approaching our camp from a distance. They were a block closer than I had calculated.
I tried to reach out to them through my headset but couldn’t get a response.
The technicians had already moved the bulk of equipment back through the portal. My tent was the last to leave.
The same tech from earlier who helped push me into my tent guided me back out of it. “We finally did it,” I thought. ‘We’re finally going to get everyone back home’.
By the time my crew had made it to the entryway, every speck of evidence that we had ever been there was gone.
My men quickly pushed through the empty camp straight into the portal. Not a word was spoken between us.
I was the final man to leave. I turned my eyes one last time towards the dark and empty city. Just a block away in the darkness I could see three bright lights shuffling their way towards me.
‘I’ll pay for what I did to you. I promise.’ I closed my watery eyes and wheeled myself back through the portal.
Tim, Henry and Clark didn’t have much to say to anyone after the incident. Tim’s leg healed quickly. He’d have to have a fake leg but he’d make it work.
All of them seemed a little different after all that happened. They were distant. Each of them said they were just ready to explore the world. And to leave that hellscape behind. They all had suffered enough over there.
It was time for them to move on.
To be honest I think the toll of visiting that place could wash away the strongest man’s constitution. I could only pray that my mind was able to put something back into its correct place after that. And for just a moment, I thought that there might actually be a chance for me to live out my remaining life.
But Dr. Hargrove had one last surprise for me. One last joke.
On the eve of my departure he had called me up into his office.
“Hello Joshua. I’d like to thank you again for retrieving Dr. Carter’s recordings. They’ve proven to be invaluable. Both to our research and to our funding.”
I ignored the man across from me. My initial bitter resentment had faded away into a dull pain. I just didn’t have the energy to hate the Doctor anymore.
At least I didn’t think I did.
“The reason I bring this up is, well, how would you like to watch it with me?” Doctor Hargrove smiled.