Haymaker: Part 1 of the Hayflick Series

Chapter 5

It was after Cruz had hung up the phone that he had realized that time was now of the essence.

With Al now enacting his part of the plan, they only had a short amount of time to get their hands on Thierry and get him the hell out.

"We're entering that room," Cruz said, his voice full of conviction. This got Thomas to stop pacing, and the man looked at him and nodded.

Jaeger slowly clambered to his feet, a bored look on his face. After recuffing him, Thomas and Cruz took their places by his side, and the trio walked down the hall and into the pair of guards' line of sight. Of course, their eyes were still glued to whatever was going on just past that door.

They approached slowly, and one of the guards eventually took notice of them. "Is that—?"

Thomas affirmed it with a nod. "The second immortal. We were told to bring him down here to... join in."

The second guard whooped. "Hell yes! Get him in there!"

Cruz could sense Jaeger's breathing catch ever so imperceptibly.

The first guard led them into the doors, which led to a booth. Scientists stood and milled about, the room absolutely chock-full. They were drinking, chattering, and, from the looks of it, making bets. Behind the glass of the booth, on top of a platform, a haggard-looking black man was strapped to a hand truck. A small crowd stood a ways back from the platform, talking like a class of excited children. Behind the hand truck, a game-show style wheel stood, slices labeled with various forms of testing, from chemical names he couldn't understand to "battlefield simulation" to "two wolves", and more, rather blatant methods of torture Cruz's eyes involuntarily skipped over.

Thomas put a hand up to his mouth, not to hide a gasp, but to keep from vomiting. Jaeger steeled himself as the guard they were with spoke with a short blonde in a lab coat and lanyard. As he spoke, her eyes drifted over to Jaeger, and then got wider with glee by the second. She pulled a microphone towards her mouth and spoke into the intercom.

"There's been a rather welcome interruption concerning tonight's proceedings." The crowd died down as the woman spoke with a tone of authority similar to Page's. "Get the wheel out of here. Get Thierry out of the hand truck." She turned off the intercom. "And get him onto the platform."

Cruz nodded, and heads turned towards the trio as they descended the stairs of the booth, onto the floor. The near silence began to crescendo once again — this time, the people were speaking about them. Now that they were closer, Cruz could identify the people in the crowd easier — as not just scientists and guards, but also businesspeople, tycoons, and rich people in general from just their appearances alone.

Someone in particular caught Cruz's eye. A younger-looking man with about neck-length black hair, in a turtleneck, jacket, and glasses, made brief eye contact with him. He looked impossibly familiar, and rather distraught. The typical businessman, but with an expression different from those around him.

Just as quick as their eyes met, the two men looked away from each other.

The three were directed by a guard to go to the far end of the stage. When they were out of earshot of the others in the room, Cruz spoke.

"Either of you got the slightest idea of what the hell is happening?"

Thomas said nothing — his expression of horror had morphed into one of silent, latent rage. Meanwhile, Jaeger offered up his guess. "They're gonna make us fight to the death."

"You sound very sure of that," Cruz remarked.

Jaeger let out a chuckle absent of joy or pleasantness. "If I were in their position, that's what I would have done."