The Coding Call

Chapter 6

Andrew was with his mother and father. They welcomed Andrew with open arms. Andrew cried in their arms. His mother comforted him in her arms. "The worst is yet to come." His mother replied. Andrew looked up at his mom and dad. Gone. They disappeared in thin air. The surroundings slowly faded to shaking walls. Then he woke up.

Andrew jolted up. Where am I? Andrew looked around. The floor and walls shook. The truck. I'm in the back of the truck! Andrew realized. He tried to stand up but couldn't. His eyesight was blurry. The darkness of the truck did not help. Andrew touched his face. A fury of pain shot through his face. He felt a nose that was not his. A nose swelled up twice the size of the regular. He felt a warm thick liquid across his fingers. Blood, and lots of it. Andrew crawled all around the back of the truck. He searched to see if he could find something that could help him. There were dark objects in the back of the truck. Andrew slowly crawled over to the objects. When he reached the objects he saw that they were not objects. They were bodies. Bodies of officers. The female officer and the officer hanging the Christmas decorations lay in the back of the truck. Andrew cried out in despair. He turned around quickly and threw up. The vomit was warm and struggled to come out. It hurt his throat to puke out. After a couple seconds of gagging and spitting Andrew laid down on the cold metal floor of the truck. He curled up in a ball and drifted off.

"Damn you're ugly" A dark male voice awoke Andrew. Andrew opened his eyes and undid himself from the ball he curled up into. His vomit stuck onto his face in chunks. Andrew saw a small skinny young man in the entrance of the back of the U-Haul truck. He wore a black suit with a black tie. His hair was straightened out perfectly.

"You can get up now. The bodies are gone." He said in a dark tone. He reached out his hand to Andrew. His eyes stared at Andrew. "No? Okay. You can stay back here. Stay like the rest of those officers. You want that Andrew?" the male said. Andrew slowly shifted up and stood up. He elevated slowly to not get nausea again. He was at eye level with the man. "Thought so." the man said. Andrew spat straight at his face. The spit smack across his face. It was filled with dark red blood. He furiously wiped at his face. Andrew stared in delight. A feeling he hadn't felt in a while.

The skinny man hopped out of the truck and signaled some guards in the distance. The guards shifted towards the truck. Once the reached the truck they grabbed Andrew. Andrew groaned in pain as he was lifted from his feet. Not again Andrew thought. Once he was outside he saw the sky begin to brighten. The smell of mildew was strong. This isn't the city Andrew noticed. The tall skyscrapers of New York were no where to be seen. The only scenery were of trees rocking back and forth, moved by the wind.

In the middle stood a large complex. A complex hidden in the woods? Andrew knew this was no good. The guards followed the skinny man into the complex. "You will learn to respect us Andrew." the skinny man told Andrew. They walked into a series of long hallways and through many secured doors that could only be opened with a keycard. It was a well secured building out in the middle of the woods. Andrew's eyesight was still slightly off and he still felt warm blood trickle down his face.

"We need to clean you up for the Welcoming Dinner." The skinny man told Andrew. "What's that?" Andrew croaked out. The skinny man did not answer. He continued to strut the long hallways, Andrew following.

"In here you will shower and change. Please know Andrew that if you try to escape these willful men will capture you. Nothing funny okay?" The skinny man asked. Andrew didn't answer. He kept an angry gaze at him. "Okay.." The skinny man replied. "Have a nice soap." With that the skinny man walked away. The guards opened the door and shoved Andrew inside. They slammed the door behind him and left him inside. Alone at last.

The room Andrew was put into included tile flooring and a showered sticking out of the wall. There was a sink and mirror in the corner of the room. Andrew shuffled over to the mirror. He stood in front of the mirror. He saw himself at last. And it wasn't pretty.

His face was extremely swollen. His nose stuck out of his face. His eyes with a coat of purple. Dried blood stuck beneath his nose. He was hideous. Well, I'm never getting laid Andrew thought. He chuckled at his own remark. He turned on the sink and washed away the dried blood. He scrubbed at his face with a towel provided. Andrew peered back at the shower.

The water was warm and smooth. He scrubbed his dirty and bruised body with the sponge. He washed out small chunks of asphalt and dirt from his hair. He cleansed his body from his older self. Andrew couldn't stop thinking about his vision he had when he was knocked out. The worst is yet to come. What is that supposed to mean? Andrew kept thinking. Tears leaked from his eyes and fell along with the shower water. After what seemed to be an hour Andrew dried off. He looked at his new clean self in the mirror. He was still beaten and bruised but the dried blood and vomit had left his face.

The guards came in to collect Andrew. They handed him dark dress pants and a black button down. Andrew looked at the clothing. Is everything in this building black? He slid the pant over his legs carefully avoiding the healing gash. He slid the shirt over his head. Andrew buttoned the buttons together and straightened the shirt out. He rubbed his wet hair with the towel.

"That's more like it!" The skinny man said when he saw Andrew. "You actually look human now!" He replied with a smirk. "Oh goodness I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Albert. The main collector and welcomer! I basically help new people get situated here." Albert informed Andrew. Andrew's brain was spinning. Welcomer? Of what? What is this place?!

"Follow me to your dorm Andrew" Albert told him. Andrew realized he had no choice. He couldn't escape the complex. He would be killed instantly. With his odds Andrew decided to play along. The time will come. An opening will present itself. For now, he waits.