The Wired Man

25

Personal Entry: The Wired Man

"You were a litmus test of sorts."

"So I was a guinea pig?" I said.

"We thought it was best if you didn't know."

"Who is 'we'?"

"A group of concerned citizens."

I smiled and sucked part of my cheeks under my molars. "And you're the leader of this terrorist organization?"

"No, just an old man trying to make up for his mistakes."

"An old man spewing cryptic bullshit is more like it," I said. "I thought you had answers."

I turned away and bobbed my leg. It was all so surreal that I could barely think. Who were these people, and what business did they have putting me here?

"Wait a minute," I said. A silence fell over the car and I clenched my fists. "What did you do to Shauna?"

He clenched his jaw. "It was necessary."

My nails dug through the thick pad of skin on my palm. My brother's wife was dead and I was a fugitive, all because of these crazy assholes.

"Necessary?"

I lashed out and latched onto his thin, pulsing neck. I pressed down as hard as I could on his throbbing jugular. These people had taken everything from me, imprisoned my brother, and murdered my sister-in-law. For what? Some stupid experiment.

The driver slammed on the brakes and sent me flying forward into the back of the passenger seat. The man in the long coat threw my hands off his neck and coughed.

"I'm a dead man either way, so go ahead. Kill me."

I fought my way out of the car and fell out onto the side of the road. Anywhere was better than being in the car with that asshole. I broke into a clumsy jog and tried to stave off more tears. Who were they to do that? They tore it apart, all apart. It was my life. My fucking life. They had no right.

"It won't do you any good," he shouted.

The driver started running for me, but the man got out and shoved him back. I ignored him and kept on running. Salt water stung my cheeks. I stopped, grabbed the side of the highway divider, and slung my leg over it.

"Look at yourself. You have a chance to change the world and instead here you are, throwing a tantrum," he said.

I turned around. I wanted to go back there and smash his skull against the curb until he fixed it, but instead I ran toward the edge of the skyway.

"I've bet they've figured it out by now, so don't count on getting far."

"You think I want to get away?"

I ran into the divider that separated me from the fifty-foot drop to the ground. I didn't need any of this. It was my life and I would do what I damn well pleased.

"Don't be a fool!" he said. "You have the chance to recreate the world."

"I never asked for this."

"Neither did I."

"But why me?"

"Because society is worth more than your happy little life."

"You had no right," I shouted.

"I had a duty."

His gaze pierced right through me with deadly force. It wasn't a game to him; he was doing what he thought needed to be done. I was a necessary evil.

I stepped back from the edge and walked back to the car. The crunching of gravel collapsed the silence. He opened the car door for me.

Out of the night, a loud buzz filled our ears, and a bright beam of light overtook us. I threw my arm up to shield my vision and saw a military assault helicopter hovering above us.

"Come on," the man shouted.

All three of us piled back into the car and the driver peeled out, fishtailing back onto the road. The violent whipping slammed me into the door.

"You had to be the one," the man said.

Another swerve sent me flying into him.

"What are you talking about?"

"That button you clicked, it didn't just terminate the connection between you and your brother. It started a chain reaction," he said. "We needed to make sure society was ready."

"Ready for what?"

The humming whiz of a machine gun peeled out from behind us and bullets ricocheted off the car.

"When the time comes, you will have a choice."

The driver jerked onto an exit and stomped on the gas. The bright beam of light disappeared behind one of the dilapidated buildings lining the side of the ramp.

"You're not making any sense," I said.

"I can't tell you what to do."

"What choice? What are you talking about?"

"I don't have time to explain, but you will know what to do."

The man lunged at me and grabbed me by the collar.

"Do what you think is right."

The man bashed the driver on the shoulder and the car pulled off into an abandoned parking lot a short distance from the off ramp. It was dark, and rusty fragments littered the edges. The man made some goofy crisscross sign across his chest, then reached inside his blazer. He pulled out a long-barreled revolver. The damn thing looked like a museum piece. He cocked back the hammer and put his finger to his lips to shush me.

Confused, I backed away into the corner. Once the car stopped, he put the barrel to the back of the driver's head and squeezed the trigger. A loud crash echoed in the small space, and a spray of red mist enveloped the windshield.

"What the fuck?" I shouted.

The man held out the revolver to me. "It's up to you now."

I snagged the pistol from him and threw it on the floor in front of me. He shrugged and took out a thin device the size of an antique cell phone. He pressed a button on the front and the device sprung open. It had a flashing red dot at the top of the now-extended end. He put the red dot behind his ear and gave me a weary smile, then his whole body seized up until he fell limp.