The Next Generation (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 5

“We were just about to leave, ma’am,” Lucy replied coolly. 

“I know you two are probably interns, but you should know that you can’t just leave whenever. Come here.”

Lucy and Ben gave each other a look before walking over to the desk cautiously. 

“ID badges,” the lady asked without looking at them.

“W-we left them at home,” Ben stammered.

“It’s literally on your chest,” the secretary said, pointing to the badge. She then proceeded to rip it off of his shirt and attempt to scan the faulty barcode. She struggled with it for a second before looking up at the two of them and taking a closer look. “How long have you two been here?” she asked.

“We just started here today,” Lucy jumped in. 

“That explains it. You must not be in the system then. Anyways, you two next to check out before you leave for your lunch break. If your cards aren’t in the system yet, then your names won’t be either. I’ll need your names so I can write you in,” she explained without a second thought. 

Ben looked at his card and the name that Lucy had put on there. “Jaxon Taylor,” he read off, glaring at Lucy for making such a similar name to his own.

“Are you related to that Ben boy that died a few days ago?”

“I don’t know who you are talking about,” Ben replied nervously.

“Such a tragedy. I loved that boy to bits. Every day that he came in here for his treatments, it would break my heart. Such a sad story,” she reminisced. “Are you sure you aren’t related? You’re the spitting image of him besides your hair.”

“As far as I know, I have no relation to him.”

She sighed. “If you say so. That’s one heck of a coincidence then.” She then got to work writing their names down so they could leave. As she was finishing writing their slips, a man came into the room. He came up to the secretary and leaned down to ask her a question. 

“Do you know where the director is?”

“I think he is up in his office. Why?”

“We had a… situation in the morgue.”

The secretary turned to look at the man in confusion. “Explain ‘situation’.”

“We… had some bodies go missing.”

The secretary gave him a look of utter disdain. “How does someone lose a body?! And multiple ones at that! How many did you lose?!”

“Five…”

“I swear you people are taking years off my lifespan.” The secretary turned around to look at Lucy and Ben. “I’m sorry, this is an emergency. I need to take care of this, but you are not allowed to leave until I get all the necessary information.” She stopped for a second, conflicted with indecision. “Actually, I’m going to bring you two with me. You’ll have to learn about the morgue eventually so this will be a good chance to learn what not to do. Come.”

Lucy and Ben exchange worried glances and then followed the secretary and the man down to the morgue. Once there, they found the nurse that had opened Ben’s drawer, the man from earlier in the suit, and a variety of other doctors, presumably the ones that were in charge of each of the five missing patients. 

“Who are these two and what are they doing here?” the man in the suit asked, referring to Ben and Lucy.

“The boy is Jaxon Taylor and the girl is Ivy Carrenza. They are new interns that were trying to check out when this guy so rudely interrupted us. They aren’t in the system yet so I had to work the long way around checking them out,” the secretary answered.

“Interesting,” the suit man said with a glint in his eye. He was staring directly at Ben when he said it too. He walked over slowly to them, monologuing as he went. “That would explain why I have never seen you two before today, but last I checked, new interns only came in at a new semester. Why were you two so special that they made an exception for you?”

“We just moved here?” Ben answered nervously.

“Both of you?” the suit man asked with a smirk.

“We’re siblings,” Lucy answered.

“You two looked nothing alike, plus you have different last names.”

“We’re from remarried parents, obviously,” Lucy said with a scoff.

The suit man chuckled. “If you say so. By the way, why do you smell like fresh paint?”

Ben and Lucy stayed silent. The suit man suddenly jerked his arm and grabbed Ben’s hand. Ben jumped back and ripped his arm out of his gripped, accidentally ripping off some paint in the process. His silver skin gleaned brightly in the harsh white lights of the morgue. The suit man smiled. “I knew that serum didn’t kill you. If it did, then why would all of my test subjects disappear on the same day?”

Ben drowned and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. The suit man looked to Lucy. “Which one would you be then?” 

“I’ll never tell,” Lucy answered. 

“Really?” the suit man asked. “Not even if I threaten to harm your ‘brother’?”

Lucy’s face fell. The suit man smirked and reached into the waistband behind his coat and pulled a taser out from a clip on his belt. He aimed it at Ben and then looked over to Lucy. “Now if you don’t tell me who you are by the time I count to five, I’ll shoot. I’m sure that nice shiny metal skin of his will make a nice conductor.”

Ben put his hands up in surrender. “Don’t do it Lucy.”

Lucy looked conflicted. The suit man began counting. “One… two…”

Ben looked over at Lucy and tried to put on a brave face. “It won’t kill me,” he mouthed to Lucy. “I hope,” he gulped nervously. 

“Five.”