Man Hunt

Chapter Twenty Nine - The Execution

I shut my eyes once more; the light is far too bright. I let out a slight sigh and the light switches off. Cautiously, I open my eyes and once my eyes have adjusted to the lighting, I observe what I can of the room around me – which is not a lot considering I am confined to the chair I am thrown across.

Beyond the light above me – that is thankfully now turned off – is a plain yet dirty white ceiling. Along the ceiling are long fluorescent lights that light the room I am in. From where I sit, I cannot turn my head far enough in any direction to find out anything else about it.

‘’Alice,’’ whispers the voice again.

‘’Yes?’’ I reply cautiously.

As I do, a man comes into view above me for a few seconds. He is standing directly over me, glancing down. He wears a long white lab coat; his hair is confined by a small hair net and on top of that is a doctor’s hat. Covering his mouth is a mask I associate with what a doctor would wear in an operating room.

Beneath his lab-coat, the muscles on his arms bulge beneath the fabric – evidence of an active lifestyle and that he should really be wearing a bigger coat! He has kind eyes, a shade somewhere between blue and green that I know I have seen before although I cannot place it. The skin on his face – what I can actually see – is an olive colour, a slight suntan.

Although his skull is covered, I can see the short brown hair on either side of his head, a tight and tidy cut. I also notice that his ears are curved unusually into small cup shapes and his jaw bones protrude out beneath the mask he wears to protect his mouth.

Despite the fact that his mouth is covered, I can tell that the man is smiling to some extent, because I notice the appearance of a small dimple on the left side of his face. I should feel scared, but there is something comforting about the look in his eyes. This man isn’t going to hurt me.

‘’Close your eyes,’’ he orders, ‘’I’ll talk, you listen.’’

I nod my head ever so slightly.

‘’We are probably being watched on cameras, so don’t make it obvious you are awake,’’ he begins, ‘’you don’t know who I am, but I know who you are. I am friends with your parents, I know you father well.’’

At the mere mention of my parents, I feel as though I have just been punched in the gut and winded, however I retain my blank expression – obeying his warning. However at the same time, as he says this, his voice clicks in my head. My mind takes me back in time, I remember this man visiting my father on numerous occasions – of course I had paid little attention because I had assumed it had been regarding his line of work.

Considering what this man is involved with, I now wonder what it was to do with. Is my father involved in this in any way? Does he know I’m here?

‘’I’ve been working on this project for almost a decade now. It wasn’t always like it is now, but you’d be surprised what people are willing to do ‘in the name of science’. When a billionaire came on board, and we learned more about Exo-C, most of the others were blinded by the money promised to them if we found a cure.’’

I listen carefully as he explains what Nathan did not. The missing pieces of the puzzle are beginning to click in my head now. It is making more sense to me.

‘’They developed the cruel game you were put through, and I had no choice to go along with it. I was swimming against a relentless tide. As you can probably tell by now, they are very willing to make sacrifices,’’ he explains.

Nathan’s words flash across my mind as he speaks of the sacrificed teenage lives, ‘a drop of water in the ocean’.

‘’Why are you helping me?’’ I question through gritted teeth, ensuring my lips are pressed firmly together in case we are in fact being watched on cameras.