CREEPYPASTA

In The End

Garren was lost. He'd sworn to remember the route, if only to keep his family safe, but the series of darkened and convoluted corridors they'd been led down all looked the same. The silent sobs of dirty masses lined the hallways, several times needing to be literally stepped over. A shared look with Alice told him that she was just as confused about the route they had just taken. Their fear and desperation must have been palpable by the time they reached their destination. Their four armed escorts separated; two taking sentry positions outside the office door they had just entered while one sat Alice and the kids on a bench against the far wall. Heavy-handed, the final guard placed Garren into a chair before a large metal desk where eye contact was made with the apparent leader of the group.

"Welcome," the large man extended his hand across the desk. His eyes were sharp but not without kindness. The smile on his face seemed sincere but with trust being the rare commodity that it was now the expression felt...wrong. In no position to anger their new hosts, Garren took his hand and shook it. Caution would have to be the business of order for now.

"Why..." Garren's voice conveyed none of the authority he had intended. "Why did you bring us here? We did nothing to your people." The smile did not recede with the man's hand. Garren stole a quick glance around the room. In addition to Alice, their two children and the two guards who stayed inside the room, there were four other men standing about the well-spaced office. Large, dingy windows lined the walls and looked out into a larger warehouse of some type which held another forty or fifty people.

"I brought you..." He motioned towards Alice and the eight and twelve year old children, "and your family here...well...if I'm being perfectly truthful, I brought you here for a couple of reasons. The first and most important would be to thank you. I've been told that were it not for your efforts Mister..." With a questioning tone the man paused with the customary expectation.

"Daniels." Garren reciprocated, "We're the Daniels'."

"Thank you Mr. Daniels. My name is Charlie but if you can find anyone that doesn't call me 'Chuck' instead I'd like to meet them." The chuckle seemed sincere. "Anyway, Mr. Daniels..."

"Garren is fine." Garren cut him off.

"Okay...great, Mr. Daniels...Garren...I've been told that because of you my little brother, Richard, is going to live to see another day. From the telling, your actions were really quit heroic." Garren shifted uncomfortably in his seat, stealing another glimpse at his family. "We...I...am indebted to you."

"It was nothing." Garren cleared his throat. "I just did what anyone would've done." Charlie laughed again and it still seemed genuine.

"You mean what anyone with medical training would've done." Charlie looked at the other men in the room before reconnecting with Garren. "But even then...well, I think we all know that's not true; not anymore. We don't live in a world of...heroes...anymore. The world's changed and the nature of humanity has changed with it." There was a pause and Garren wasn't sure if Charlie was waiting for him to speak.

"Um...you're welcome?" Garren looked at Alice. She looked terrified. "So...if that's it then. We can go...right?"

"Well" Charlie continued, "Like I said, I have a couple reasons. The second of which is the fact that our 'family' could use the help of someone with your medical expertise." He let that set in for second. "At the moment with have two people with nursing skills trying to maintain the health of more people than they can. We need a doctor." The stress in Garren's shoulders eased...just a bit. This might not turn out as badly as he had been anticipating.

"What makes you think I'm a doctor?" Charlie kept smiling; determined to not turn the exchange into a chess match.

"If you're not, Garren, then you've got one hell of a hobby. If Richard had been brought back here with those injuries...he'd be dead. But...I think you already know that."