Chapter 35: Smashed

There was a wet thud and the monitor flew from my hands and clattered off the warden and onto the floor where it smashed open, the inside parts scattering across the floor. The warden was out of it, a smear of red blood streaked across the pillow and red tendrils sneaked out of his nose.

I flew off of him, snatching at the access card pinned to his waist band around his thighs. I felt like I was going to pass out. I had never hurt anyone like that before. Had I killed the poor guy? There was no time.

I snatched and pulled and the card finally came off the retractable cable. The card didn’t have a name or a photo. It just said “staff number 4-78”. Next to it was a black tube that was cold to touch. It was hooked onto the waistband, so I removed that too. It had a button on the end. When I pressed it, more metal shot out of the other end. It was one of the telescopic nightsticks like they’d used to beat down Gutierrez and his guys.

I tore the room apart looking for clothes. There was storage boxes under the bed and the wall opposite had two doors on it then could be used kinda like cupboards. None of them had my clothes - or any clothes or covers for that matter. Even a surgery gown or whatever, that would have done. But nude I went, silent and barefoot with the card clutched in one trembling hand and the nightstick in the other.

At the door I froze. I didn’t know who or what was on the other side of it. Very suddenly I was too afraid to go on, but one look back at the bloodied man on the bed told me that I had no choice. I twisted the handle, knowing it wouldn’t open. There was a little dark box near the door, so I leaned over and scanned the card against it. There was a buzzing and a click, and now the handle turned when I tried it.

I opened the door only slightly. I saw nothing. I heard nothing either, save for the drone of lighting or equipment or air conditioning - whatever it was making that sound.

I stepped out and looked up and down. It looked very much like any other corridor at Renew - absent of any character or real identifying features. Double doors lay at each end, and several single doors went off to other rooms.

I tried to remember being shuffled to and from the rooms that contained the crosses. They were torture chambers, really. Let’s call a spade a spade. I had this feeling that when I was brought back to the room to sleep I had been turning right into the room and then the hood was taken off. Or was that the cell before I was brought to the hospital-style room with the ECG and all the other equipment? I cursed myself for not paying more attention. I had been here in the advanced program, what, a week? Two? I honestly couldn’t tell.

I figured I would chance it on my hunch that I turned right into my room. This meant that the double doors now to my left as I was leaving the room probably led to the crosses. I didn’t want that, and so I turned right instead. There were a couple of doors as I walked along. I could see through the frosting of the glass that they were similar rooms to mine with bedding and monitors, but they were almost definitely empty.

Before the double doors there was one final single door on the left. A light was coming from this one. As if I needed any further indication that the room was in use, I could see a shape. Something that resembled a person. They were sitting down.

I leaned against the wall and placed my head to the door and listened as best I could. There was the faint tapping of someone typing on the keyboard. I listened for what felt like hours, but I’m sure was for probably only seconds.

I didn’t want to risk there being more than one person in there. They could easily overpower me. But what choice did I have? I didn’t know where the double doors went. I didn’t know where Trix was being kept. I knew absolutely fuck all. I would have to ... convince someone ... to show me the way to both of these things. I took a deep breath, pressed the card to the reader and plunged down on the handle.