You’ve Been Accepted!
Congratulations! According to your vaccination records, you have met all requirements and have been accepted into the Spring 2024 ANTI EMT-B Program!
The last step is to send in a headshot and current address for billing purposes. Your seat in the class is NOT guaranteed until you have submitted this information. If you do not submit within the next 7-10 days you will be unenrolled from the class.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. Thank you, and I am very excited to see you in class!
Moira
The email put a stupid grin on my face. I grabbed my phone and called Luke.
“No kidding, when does it start?”
“Not sure. They haven’t said.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re actually doing it.”
Luke, one of the few friends I kept in touch with after dropping out of college, was there for me when my father died.
Heart attack killed him. Keeled over in the living room while we were watching a movie. No one else was home leaving me to push on his chest until his lips turned blue. By the time my mom heard about it, he was brain dead.
I abandoned college a month later.
“Where’s it at?” Luke asked.
“Somewhere outside the city.”
“Oh, nice, not too far. What company is it through?”
I checked the email.
“It says ANTI.”
“Hm, I’m not familiar. Must be local. Hey, let me know when it starts, maybe we can study together.”
I told him I would and hung up.
A week ago Luke told me he was getting EMT certified through a 16-week-course so he could apply for PA school. He mentioned how it was a good route for someone without a college education. The money was decent. But the memory of my dad on the living room floor is what pushed me towards it.
I found a clinic offering a 1-week course to get certified and applied, eager to complete it in a fraction of Luke’s time.
My mom was happy to see me excited about something again. She told me not to worry about the price and to have fun.
After submitting my headshot and address, I woke to another email yesterday waiting in my inbox:
Welcome to the ANTI Spring 2024 EMT Basic initial education course! We are so excited to spend the next 7 days with you, teaching you to become skilled EMS providers.
I have attached the syllabus to this email, take a moment to look at the schedule to see what we have planned. The first day of class will be tomorrow, Monday, February 9th. All classroom sessions will be from 1800 to 2400 and will be held in our very own ANTI classroom. The address is listed in the syllabus.
Just a reminder, this class is a hybrid educational experience requiring much self-guided learning as well as in-class participation. Extraordinary self-discipline and perseverance are imperative. Each day you will have assignments to be completed at home that will be due by the start of the following class. In-class there will be group activities to complete.
Be aware that there is a zero tolerance policy for absences. Any absence, excused or otherwise, will result in immediate termination from the class as well as contractual punishment.
Let me know if you have any other questions before the first day of class. We look forward to meeting you all tomorrow!
Moira
If it meant I could start work in a week, I was fine with a six-hour course.
I made sure to get some quality sleep and hit the gym early this morning. Spent some time in front of the mirror doing my hair. Who knows, I thought, maybe there’d be some cute girls there.
At around 5:15 I left my house.
The directions on my phone eventually led me to the outer bounds of the city. The further I drove, the less apparent the trademarks of civilization. Though I enjoyed the quiet.
“Your destination is on the right.”
I stopped the car. The only other man-made structure besides the road was a dead-end sign impaled in the ground in front of me, and an empty lot; nothing more than a gravel cemetery.
Houses stopped dotting the side of the street a few miles back, replaced by trees and dense bush. Daylight was beginning to wane.
My directions had clearly failed me so, doubling back I tried to find a parallel road to follow.
Another 10 minutes of aimless driving and I was getting worried. It was 5:54. Not wanting to be late on the first day, I put my faith in the phone’s directions one last time.
When I reached the dead-end sign again, the sun was set and the lot wasn’t empty anymore.
A row of cars lined in front of a squat brick building. There were no street lamps here yet shadows danced atop the asphalt, cast by a light coming from inside.
I pulled in and parked.
“You have arrived at your destination.”
I looked around, craning my neck and half-expecting a construction crew, somehow capable of erecting a building in 20 minutes, to be loitering about.
Headlights appeared in the rearview mirror. A pickup pulled into the lot.
It was a middle-aged man with a trucker hat who stepped out and casually walked through the entrance of the building.
Two minutes were left until 6. I unsatisfyingly attributed my inability in finding the place to the loud music I was playing on the ride. With that thought in the back of my brain, I exited the car.
Walking up to the building I could make out its lack of details in the dark. No windows or design of any kind. Just the door with the light.
Inside was a short hallway leading to a stairway down. At the bottom was a door where muffled voices leaked from.
I ran a hand through my hair, straightened my back and opened the door.
Four tables were spread out across the room. Chairs circled each one. Almost all of them were already filled. Near the front of the room, opposite of where I entered, was a desk and a black door.
Looking to meet some new people, I found a spot at a table with three others. Once I settled, everyone introduced themselves.
“Hi, I’m Josh.”
“Danielle.”
“You can call me Pat.”
I introduced myself. Pat and Danielle looked around my age, while Josh was probably somewhere in his 30s.
A silence followed that teetered into awkward territory. Before I could think of something to say, a bell rung loud from a speaker on the wall. It was six o’clock.
“Taking me back to high school with that one,” Josh muttered rubbing his ear.
The black door at the front of the room opened and the class fell silent.
The way it was positioned in the corner, the open door blocked the class’ view of the entryway. Echoes of heavy footstep filled the silence. Then the apex of someone’s head was visible, peaking over the top as they walked in.
The man who entered was massive. What was probably an xxxl dress shirt suffocated his enormous frame and the seams of his khaki pants threatened to tear and split from his tree-trunk-sized legs. A mountainous gut protruded over his waistline but it wasn’t his fat alone that was responsible for his size. The man was a genetic giant.
Pinned to his chest was a cute nametag with neat cursive.
Leslie.
Despite his size, his head looked petite compared to the rest of his body. He sported a buzzcut and had a round and very flushed face with beady eyes that sunk deep into their sockets.
The hulking man lumbered in front of the class and turned to face everyone. Every breath was heavy, like it required effort.
Nobody said a word, probably in awe like I was.
He fumbled around in his pocket with sausage fingers and managed to pry free a handkerchief that looked like a post-it note in his palm. Folding it in half, he wiped the moisture from his head and neck. By the time he had placed it back into his pocket, new beads of sweat had formed on his brow.
The giant smiled. The corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears, and his blue eyes swept over the room, resting on each person for a second then moving to the next. I was the last to be tested with his stare before he finally spoke. When he did, his voice was slow and sounded like it came from a trombone the way it varied in pitch.
“Hi, I’m Big Les. I will be your EMT instructor. I’m happy to finally see all of your beautiful faces in person. Today is our first day of class. I’m glad that you all made it on time. I learn best with a hands-on approach and that’s how I plan to teach this course.”
Big Les waved towards the still open black door.
“My team and I will make sure you leave from here with a new perspective and an eagerness to impart your freshly learned skills on others.”
Pat leaned in and whispered to the group.
“I don’t think he’s blinked once.”
“So weird,” Danielle laughed.
Two more people entered. A paper-thin woman, white as an eggshell, shuffled in and stood close to Big Les. Those large roving eyes reminded me of a light house and if it wasn’t for her bad posture she’d have been quite tall - though still nowhere near Big Les’ height.
The other, a short but incredibly stocky man in a paramedic uniform. He strode in and stopped and turned on a dime. There was a big grin on his face though different from the one Big Les wore. A little more plastic.
“Meet my wonderful staff. This is Moira and Gleb,” Big Les said pointing at each of them.
“Now that everyone is here, let’s begin.”
A hand rose in the air.
The giant paused for a second.
“What’s your name, mister?” Big Les asked.
“That’d be William.”
It was the man in the trucker hat from the lot.
“Do you have a question, William?”
“Just wondering if I could grab a tissue.”
“Please do.”
William stood and walked to the desk at the front of the room where a box of Kleenex were.
Big Les continued.
“If you looked at the syllabus, our first lesson today will cover the human anatomy -“
While he spoke, my attention was drawn to where William stood, just out of view from Big Les.
He had frozen, mid-blow. His eyes were wide, fixated on the open doorway where the instructors had entered from. Two seconds passed before he slowly lowered the Kleenex from his face and walked carefully back to his chair.
“I’m sorry,” Big Les said. “Is everything alright?”
William hadn’t bothered to sit. He was packing his things. He was forcing himself to move slower than he really wanted to.
“Yea, kinda, just gotta text from the missus, something about the kid. Got a fever, I think she’s going to the hospital.”
He was doing well trying not to fumble over his words, but there was something dreadful about the way he said it.
He shouldered his bag.
“Sorry to waste your time. Just not for me.”
He headed for the back door we came from.
“But, you’re not married.”
William froze.
“Excuse me?”
Big Les was no longer smiling.
“Sit down, William.”
The air in the room had stiffened. Some people shifted in their seats. They murmured to the ones sitting next to them. William pointed a shaky finger towards the back of the room.
“I’m not gonna tell anyone. I’m just gonna leave, now”
Moira slowly pushed the black door shut.
“For your sake, I recommend you don’t.”
Voices spoke up in protest and a few people began to rise from their seats when the back door flew open.
A boy with messy hair, a little older than myself, had appeared hands on his knees and panting for air.
“I’m… sorry,” he managed between breaths. “Forgot… what time it was. Won’t happen again.”
“What the hell is going on?” Pat turned to me, genuinely asking.
Everyone seemed too confused to speak.
But my eyes were on Big Les. He was smiling again.
“We have our first volunteer! Come on up.”
Gleb had forced William back into his seat with his hands on his shoulders. I didn’t see him leave his spot from next to Big Les.
The boy looked sheepishly around the room, too embarrassed to notice anything amiss. He walked to the front. Moira pushed the desk near where Big Les stood.
A woman with glasses spoke up.
“Sir, I have to ask what’s going on right now. This all is a little unorthodox.”
“Please, just observe the demonstration. I’m sure it will help with your questions.”
The boy looked nervous and he tried to laugh.
“I’m real sorry, I swear the email said 1900.”
Big Les waved his hand through the air.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself.”
He nodded, cleared his throat.
“Hey, er, its nice to meet you all. My name’s Kevi-“
Big Les’ giant hands seized his shoulders with ferocious speed and slammed him onto the desk. The back of his head smacked the wood with a sick crack, the violence of it rendering him unconscious.
“What the fuck?”
“What are you doing? Stop!”
A man jumped to his feet sending his chair flying.
Gleb, again defying my eyes, was suddenly behind the panicked man and wielding the largest revolver I’ve ever seen. The hammer cocked. Gleb reached down and picked the chair up. The man was forced to sit with the barrel of the gun.
“Moira?” Big Les’ voice boomed. “How late is our friend Mr. Kevin?”
Moira slunk over and whispered in his ear. Big Les shook his head.
“Ten minutes too late, I’m afraid. And you were clear of our policy on tardiness?”
He sounded rabid. His voice was beginning to shake, losing the the cartoonish style it once had. Moira whispered in his ear again.
“You forgot? I see. Unfortunately Mr. Kevin, rules are rules, written or otherwise.”
Big Les looked up at the class. He was a wet mess. Sweat cascaded off his nose, seeping into his smile and over the edges of his lips.
“The first thing I’d like to do today is dispel a myth.”
Kevin was starting to come to. Big Les gripped his hair with a thick fist.
“That beauty is only skin-deep.”
With the same ease that someone would remove a band-aid with, Big Les peeled the scalp off Kevin’s skull.
Mayhem. Screams and cries of terror erupted and everyone was on their feet. In my panic I tripped over my chair and crashed to the ground. Feet pounded the around me.
The sound of cannon fire left my ears ringing. A group had fled to the back door. Gleb was happily unloading a cylinder of bullets into them. The woman with glasses desperately pulled on the door, wailing until half of her head exploded. Every time Gleb pulled the trigger, flames would blaze from the barrel of the gun. He laughed while fist-sized holes appeared in those attempting to escape.
Kevin had gone cross-eyed, mumbling gibberish. Not paying much attention, Big Les busied himself removing the top of his skull. Fluids pooled on the desk and leaked off the edges to soak into the carpet.
Josh charged towards Big Les only for Moira to appear and snatch his wrist. He stopped in his tracks. Black viscous liquid began to pour from his mouth, and then his nose, ears, and eyes. Clawing at his throat and chest, Josh collapsed, dead.
“What do you want!?”
Danielle was on her knees looking down the barrel of Gleb’s revolver. He licked the blood off his lips and leaned in close.
“Sit down,” he hissed.
“Okay. Okay, we’re sitting,” William said. His hands were raised in surrender.
He spoke to those remaining in the room. “Come on. Come on guys let’s listen to them. We’ll sit.”
He moved to his table, arms up the entire way and sat down. I pulled myself back into my chair. Slowly, everyone returned to their seats.
After the slaughter, eight people remained. A pile of bodies littered the back of the room. The once white walls were now painted red.
“What the fuck is this?” Pat whimpered into his hands.
Gleb holstered his revolver and assumed his position next to Big Les.
The giant’s eyes were closed. He held the top portion of Kevin’s skull in his hand.
A deep breath.
“If you want to understand humans, first you must understand their beauty. It’s depths have no bottom.”
He dug a finger into Kevin’s exposed brain. Kevin moaned and his left arm jerked into the air.
“Amazing. We can start with the nervous system. Make sure you pay attention. There will be a quiz on this tomorrow.”
The next five hours were torture. Forced to take notes while Big Les dissected Kevin, he quickly moved from the brain to the cardiovascular system. He tore open Kevin’s chest. Sometimes he would make us stand next to him to ensure we got a good look.
The most awful smell began to settle in the room. Several times retching could be heard. Pat vomited directly onto his lap.
The most disturbing part was that Big Les was actually teaching us. He went into disturbing detail on all the organ systems and body functions.
“These are vertebrae,” Big Les said, holding up Kevin’s spinal cord. Strands of sinew and gristle hung from the bone. “There are 33 of them and they are split into five groups.”
The entire time Gleb patrolled around the room. He made sure we were writing in our notebooks. Moira had disappeared.
When the bell rung signaling midnight and that class was over, Kevin was nothing more than minced meat. Big Les had carelessly tossed chunks of flesh until the area around him was submerged in gore.
“Wow. Time flies, eh. I’ve covered everything it seems.”
The frenzy in his voice was gone. He used his handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face.
“You are free to go. Make sure you do the homework listed on your syllabus. Tomorrow will be a quiz on what you have learned today. You need an 80 percent to pass.”
He smiled. The way his face stretched made me feel sick.
“I will see you all tomorrow.”
Nobody moved until William stood. His face was pale. He inched cautiously towards the back door.
Gleb made no move for his revolver.
“Goodbye William.”
After William left, we all started to leave. Some stumbled out shell shocked. Pat sprinted, leaping over the stack of bodies blocking the exit. I was the last to go. I tried not to stare at their faces as I passed.
“You look like a bright one.”
I stopped almost through the door. Those tiny eyes stabbed the back of my head. I didn’t want to look.
“I have high hopes for you.”
Up the steps, four at a time, I didn’t stop even when I was breathing fresh air again. Gunning it 80 down a 35 the whole way home, I ran from my driveway to my room.
It’s three in the morning. My dad’s pistol is under a pillow, loaded and where I can reach. They have my address, damn it I gave it to them.
Do I call the cops? They could help but I’m afraid he’ll find out.
All I know is I won’t dare to miss the next class.
I’ve checked the syllabus. This is the homework assignment:
Homework Assignment #1:
Here is where you will begin to cultivate your skills as an ANTI EMT. For tomorrow’s class, please collect one liter of blood to be turned in to your instructors. It does not all have to be from the same source. The blood will be tested for its authenticity. There is a zero tolerance policy for cheating.