Endurance Page 6

  ‘So...’ There was a pause as Tom positioned the scissors up his right sleeve with his finger tips, ‘Are you going to help me Dad?’

  Ken ignored what Tom said, pulled him away from the desk and separated Tom from it by standing in front of him.

  ‘Don’t do anything silly, now, Tom.’ Ken snarled.

  Tom let the scissors slide down to his fingers into his palm. He gripped the handle and prepared for the worst.

  ‘Dad, don’t be stupid. Blow this place up or I’ll have to do it myself.’

  ‘Tom, son, I am not going to do that and neither are you.’ Ken lowered his voice to a whisper, ‘This has taken me years to build. Don’t ruin it now.’

  They stared at each other, eye to eye. They weighed each other. Thinking what to do and what consequences there could be.

  ‘Dad, you’re not like I remember you. You have changed into a heartless control freak.’ Tom stared at his father’s emotionless face. ‘Mum will be turning in her grave and I wish you were dead.’

  Ken’s smug look turned into one of irritation and fury. Ken raised his hand to grab Tom by the throat. In one quick motion, Tom grabbed Ken’s arm with his left hand, and with his right hand, stabbed the scissors into Ken’s throat and kicked him in the stomach. Ken stumbled and fell on his back; he jerked the scissors out of his neck and tossed them aside. He looked frantic, trying to stop the blood gushing from his neck. It spilled out at a rapid pace, but that didn’t bother Tom. He was so used to death and blood now.

  ‘You belong in hell. You won’t be joining Mum in heaven and I’m sure she’s ashamed of you.’

  He continued to watch his father struggle and squirm on the floor. Ken removed his bloody hands from his neck and stared at Tom. Ken slowly began to lose air, his breathing slowed. He gasped and struggled to get air. He wriggled on the floor in desperation; he looked at Tom and reached his hand out to him. Tom pushed Ken’s hand onto the floor. Ken’s breathing stopped. His body looked rigid, his eyes wide open and full of fear.

  Tom stared at the corpse that lay before him. He calmly turned to the computer and searched for a button. It didn’t take long, he found a plastic lid. He lifted it up and a red button was underneath. His hand hovered above it. He paused for a moment.

  Is there any other way to end this?

  Tom didn’t hesitate for long. He pressed the button and a loud alarm sounded repeatedly, his ear drums almost burst at the sound. Red warning lights turned on at the double doors that were chained and locked. He took a last look at Danni. She saved his life and now he wanted to put her out of her misery. He walked away from the desk and stood next to his father’s bloody body. His dead eyes were still open. He wondered why his father turned into a sociopathic monster. Tom thought back to the time he, Ken, and his mother, Sarah, had spent at Disney World in Florida as a child. It was his happiest memory of the three of them together. In his mind, Sarah smiled and held Tom’s hand while Ken held a camera to his face nonstop, taking photos of Sarah and Tom and their surroundings. He imagined himself in the parade, smiling characters and smiling spectators and his feeling of joy; an emotion which now felt rare to him. He stared at the castle, and the memory faded. Tom returned to the unknown warehouse where he was faced with his father’s lifeless eyes. He continued to stare for a moment. He walked toward the chair where he was recently tied up. He sat down casually; his back slumped and his legs wide open. He awaited his death.

  He thought of Anna and how different his life could have ended. He could have gotten married, had children, moved into a big house, gotten a job, and more importantly, had a great life and died a happy man. He thought of Anna at her best, he had flashbacks of the day at Jubilee Gardens. As he does, the room began to shake.

  Should I let myself die or should I try and get out of here? I’m cured; I could leave London alive and maybe try to move on from all of this. Meet someone new, make a family, create the dreams I have dreamt of. Lucy or Dan could be alive? I might reunite with one of them.

  He looked to Anna’s body and calmly walked over to her and knelt, balancing on his toes and then squatted back, on his heels. He stared at her face; he can hardly tell the face belonged to Anna, but the facial structure was the same as ever. Tears began to roll down his face.

  He had a dilemma and didn’t have time to think. He looked around for an exit, the double doors were chained and locked but to his right, he saw a floor with an open hatch.

  An inferno blew through the warehouse; it smashed its way through the wall. The wall exploded and the full blast of the fire entered the room. It neared Tom at such a speed that he was forced him to dive toward the open hatch. The heat hit him quickly; it became hotter by the second. As he dove, he reached as far as he could, and hoped his reach was long enough. The hatch looked like a mirage, as it shimmered from the heat. The flames reached his toes and began to crawl up his body. He screamed. His throat became numb from his shrieks and he ran out of air. His skin peeled from his muscles.

  His burned body fell closer. He was close enough to see what was down there. It was either an emergency exit or an underground tunnel.

  The flames overtook him and the building was blown to smithereens. The building collapsed and became part of the destruction around it. Smoke, ash and flames floated into the atmosphere; the soaked skies became darker, filled with smoke and ash creating a dust cloud over London.

  Silence echoed throughout the city.

  Part 2

  10

  I attempt to open my eyes. My upper eye lid is stuck to the lower. I force them shut; then force them open. They become unstuck, but my lashes stick to my cheek. I use my index finger and thumb to pull my upper eye lid away from my eye, which allows the lashes to return to their natural position.

  I try to focus, my sight is blurry. I’m welcomed to an uncomfortable burning sensation.

  My sight regains some of its clarity. As I continue to stare straight up from my position, I identify a fierce ball of light, burning my eyes. I remember, the hover craft shooting at me, chasing me, trying to kill me… It killed Anna!

  Tom screamed in fear. He reached to his right and grabbed the nearest object. A pint glass of water sat on the table beside him. He clutched the glass, using his stomach muscles to sit on his knees with the heels of his feet on his backside to balance him, which allowed him to throw the glass up at the light. As the glass smashed on the ceiling, the light disappeared and water flicked onto his face.

  Tom looked up to the ceiling and saw the remains of a light bulb.

  Confused and disoriented, he looked down to his clothing; he wore a white suit, an all in one paper suit. He looked at his surroundings, staying still on the bed he was on.

  The walls and all the objects were white. The walls were plain; the bedside table had a vase and a dead plant. The leaves from the plant were scattered on the top of the table. They were brown and looked like ash. The stem in the glass was a lifeless green and yellow.

  In frustration, Tom wiped the water off his face, but as he did, he stopped himself. He felt his face, it felt different. He used his fingertips to stroke the side of his head, from his forehead down his cheek to his chin. It felt lumpy and uneven. Tom jumped out of the bed and looked at his arms. He had severe burns. As he felt his burns, he had a flashback of killing his father. He saw his father squirming on the floor in desperation, scissors poking out of his neck, blood running out like a river. His father’s death left his mind and a smouldering inferno entered, it destroyed the walls around him, it blasted toward him, the heat was excruciating.

  He jolted from the memory. He felt his face again, feeling the right side and then the left. The right felt lumpy, whereas the left didn’t. He felt his nose, which was nonexistent on the right side with some remains on the left. Tom let out a cry of resentment.

  ‘What the fuck? What the fuck is this? Where am I?’ Tom shouted and continued to scream.

  He moved toward the corner of the room to his left and leaned against it
with his shoulder, facing the corner. There was a thunderous knock on the door.

  ‘Mr. Williams, are you okay?’ asked a female voice behind the door.

  Shaking, he lifted his right trouser leg; there were some brown burn marks and no leg hair. He lifted his left side up, it was a mess. Although his leg felt normal, it wasn’t. Holding his prosthetic leg in disbelief, he used his muscles to tense the leg that no longer existed. It felt as if it was still attached to him. He then moved his big toe, followed by the others. As he moved parts of the leg that no longer existed, he looked at his prosthetic leg which didn’t move in the slightest.

  Tom began to scream and to punch and head butt the wall repeatedly.

  ‘Mr. Williams, calm down right now!’ the woman said sternly.

  Tom continued to punch and head butt the wall, harder and harder.

  ‘Right, Mr. Williams, you’ve given us no choice, we’re coming in.’

  An unlocking sound came from the door; it swung open, hitting the wall. Two men quickly entered the room. They wore white jackets with blue trousers. At the entrance stood a woman, she wore the same type of clothing.

  Tom turned from the wall and swung his right fist at the first man and hit him on the left side of his jaw. The speed of the man’s pace and the strength of the punch knocked him onto the floor. Tom saw the other man pull out a police bat from the back of his trousers and charge towards Tom. Tom kicked him with his prosthetic leg in the stomach; which winded the man, he remained standing as he hit Tom on his left cheek and his nose which knocked Tom forcefully to the side. Tom looked up, his eye watering and his nose bleeding. The bat neared his face again; Tom ducked and ran toward the man. Tom grappled with him, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist, digging his shoulder into his lower stomach, and forcing him into the wall.

  Tom heard the bat bounce off the floor behind him. He grabbed the man, pulled him away from the wall, shoved him forcefully back into it again, and punched him repeatedly in the face. As the man slanted down the wall, unconscious, the other man began to stand. Tom grabbed the bat off the floor and walked toward the man who struggled to stand. Tom hit the man on the top of his head, and knocked him out. He landed on the floor face down.

  Tom looked at the two men on the floor and looked at the door, ready to make his exit. He was stunned to see the woman at the door holding a syringe was Lucy.

  ‘What the fuck’s going on Lucy? Where’s Dan?’

  ‘I don’t know what…’

  ‘Lucy, it’s me, Tom!’

  ‘Mr. Williams, please calm down and get back into bed.’

  ‘Lucy, Stewart is dead and so is Anna. We’re next if we don’t move.’

  ‘Get into your bed now!’ Lucy said, clutching a bat in her shaking right hand and a syringe in her left.

  ‘Fuck sake, Lucy.’

  Tom walked up to Lucy, but as he did, she swung the bat and hit him on the head. Tom staggered to his left. As he regained his focus, Lucy tried to stab him in the neck with the syringe. Tom grabbed her arm and knocked the syringe out of her hand onto the floor. He continued to hold her arm, grabbed her white jacket and threw her across the floor to his right. She slid and stayed on the ground curled up.

  ‘Please don’t hurt me,’ cried Lucy.

  Tom didn’t say anything; he was confused about why Lucy didn’t know him.

  He left the room and entered the shadowy corridor, which was as dull as the room. It looked grey with nothing in sight, except shadows.

  He looked around to determine his best route of escape. To his right was a man in an army uniform with a gun. Tom decided to run to his left. The man shot at Tom, but missed.

  As Tom neared the end of the corridor, another man appeared. He darted from behind the wall at the end of the corridor and shot at Tom. He missed the first shot but then hit Tom in the chest, halting him in his tracks. Tom felt the piercing pain, followed by another two. The third shot hit him in the throat; Tom struggled to catch his breath. He was hit with another bullet on the pectoral muscle, knocking him flat onto his back.

  Tom clutched his throat, trying to breathe; then looked down at his body, realizing there was no blood from the wounds.

  As his vision blurred and the room darkened, he saw Lucy standing over him looking down. She paused before pulling a syringe from her pocket. She knelt down, plunged the syringe into his neck, and injected the liquid.

  11

  Tom lay in bed, unconscious. Three men stood around him. The two men on either side of the bed wore white and blue uniforms; the bald man at the end of the bed wore a brown suit.

  ‘He’s a very sick man. I thought he was getting better, but obviously not; we’re back to stage one,’ the suited man said.

  ‘Should we keep him sedated?’ asked one of the other men.

  ‘No, we’ll keep him tied down for now. I suppose we should have expected this; good days and bad days. I’ll speak to him when he comes round.’

  The other two men departed, leaving the suited man and Tom alone.

  ‘Mr. Williams.’

  Tom heard the voice echo throughout his head.

  ‘Mr. Williams, if you can hear me, I need you to try and focus. We need to have a chat about this situation and remind you why you are here.’

  Tom tried to wake up. The voice continued to echo through his head. ‘Get up, Tom!’

  Tom jerked awake and sat up. He tried to move his hands but they were secured in brown leather cuffs to either side of the bed.

  ‘Good. Mr. Williams are you listening carefully?’

  ‘Where am I?’

  ‘Right. Listen to me. You’re not well, you’ve been here a long time now, we made progress but you have now reverted.’

  ‘Where the fuck am I?’

  ‘Mr. Williams, occasionally you have memory lapses when your illness worsens. I’ll remind you. You’re in a mental institution. We’ve made progress with you, but now you seem to have reverted back to this stage.’

  ‘Mental institution? You must have the wrong guy. I’m completely sane. Let me out of here.’ Tom struggled weakly as he tried to break the cuffs. ‘Let me out right now!’

  ‘Mr. Williams I need you to calm down and listen to me.’ The man leaned toward Tom and asked, ‘What is my name?’

  ‘I don’t fucking know who you are, I’ve never seen you before.’

  ‘Mr. Williams, this is very disappointing. You’ve been here for more than a year and you don’t know who I am.’

  ‘I have not been here more than a year.’

  ‘Yes, you have. Do you want me to show you all the records and tests? You have been here more than a year after you decided to kill thousands of people. You killed parents, grandparents and children. Do you even remember what building it was? Sorry to sound harsh, Mr. Williams, but you obviously do not remember the drastic actions you decided to take.’

  ‘What? No I didn’t do that! I was in…’

  ‘Let me guess. You were in a lab. Your dad was there, Anna’s and Stewart’s corpses were hung upside down; you killed your dad and made the building self-destruct by pressing a red button. Does that sound about right?’

  Tom paused and stared at the man.

  ‘What? How?’

  ‘We know each other better than you think. I would shake your hand but… obviously your hands are tied. I’m Doctor Miller. I have been fully involved in your recovery. I’ve helped you.’

  ‘I don’t know what’s going on, just please let me go.’

  ‘I’m afraid that’s never going to be possible. You, Mr. Williams, have been deemed by the courts a danger to the public. Although, I would love to get you back out there working and earning a living.’

  ‘If all this is true, how do you explain Anna’s, Stewart’s, Danni’s, and my father’s deaths?’

  ‘They never existed. Well, not how you imagine them. You killed your father in the blast. Anna is still alive, but the last time you saw her, you refused to believe it was her. Stewart was an old school fr
iend as were as Dan and Lucy; you haven’t seen them for years.’

  ‘Lucy works here! I saw her, she injected me with…’

  ‘That is a woman named Lucy, yes, but she only works here. She isn’t your old school friend.’

  ‘Well how did I recognize her from here if I’m thinking about someone else?’

  ‘You are altering your reality to fit your fantasy. Since a woman named Lucy works here and happens to have the same name as a girl named Lucy you remember from your school, you’ve managed to work this Lucy’s face into your quite elaborate fantasy.’

  Tom lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

  He thought of the trauma he’d been through. Anna’s death had felt so realistic. He remembered cutting down her corpse and holding her dead body. He remembered the destruction, the smell of smoke returned to his nose. He even felt the pain of the burns on his flesh. He remembered meeting Graham and Danni on the underground and watching Graham go crazy. He clearly remembered murdering his own father, in order to save others. After thinking things through for a bit, he looked over at Doctor Miller who stood to his left.

  ‘That’s it. Take a deep breath in through your nose, out through your mouth. That’s it. You’re back in the real world now.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘You entered a fugue state. You do it quite often, you ‘zone out’ on us. We’ve determined you aren’t having seizures, but believe you think you are having some sort of flashback to perceived events in your falsified past. What did you think of during this state?’

  ‘I dreamt…’

  ‘A memory? Was it what happened in your past before?’

  ‘No. I dreamt of a long distant memory of me at Disney World Florida with my parents.’

  ‘Oh brilliant, this is a good start to your recovery, Tom. Keep having these real, happy memories and we can move on from this mad obsession you have with this fake memory.’