Num Lock

    CHAPTER 1


Harmless is a misleading word. Besides the fact that whether or not something is harmless is truly based upon opinion, it also depends on whether you mean in a physical or emotional way. What I had been put through had been deemed harmless, but after months, I had found ‘harmless’ to be sucking the soul from my heart.
The Program had been meant to set me up for the rest of my life. At the end, I would have gotten a scholarship, a job, and a social life instantaneously after graduating. What the Scouts, who had the job of ensnaring the unsuspecting children into the Program, had failed to mention was how they meant to consume my mind and put it to use without my consent. It was as if the lectures the Instructors preached held subliminal messages to bend my mind to their will, to have me only think the thoughts they decided I should have.
It was the Students like me that had the Scouts changing their procedures. Instead of grabbing teenagers, the Scouts started to rob the parents of their children while the kids still sat gurgling in their cribs. It seemed that teenage wills were quite strong, opinionated, and they starved to break through the norm and the Program was the norm where I came from.
I can’t claim to be the first to rebel against the Program, but it didn’t matter to me as long as I was out and isolated from any sort of influence of the Program. It wasn’t like I could go back to my parents; they were the ones who had signed me up to go to this living hell. I was only alive because of the fact that my parents found abortion to be unmoral, but I don’t know what they were hoping to receive by keeping me.
April 28th was the escape from it all; from the monochromatic School, from the Program, from the Instructors, from life as I had known it.
It had been so long since I had witnessed the sunset untainted by a television screen. So long since I had felt the texture of lush green grass uncovered by plastic encasings, since I filled my lungs with unventilated air, since I had spoken without feeling as if someone was proof reading my words before I uttered them, but I was out.
I wasn’t naive; I could feel them sniffing my tracks as I made my way down the only road that lead away from the School and towards civilization. I had no illusions of safety, I knew the history of the School’s escapes; none who entered left without permission, and those who tried, didn’t survive. The freedom was a drugging luxury that I wanted to savor for as long as I could. My stride was slow, my head was held straight forward, and my breaths were taken in sighs, and I was so unaware.
Gloved hands pulled me from my thoughts. My air was cut off by a hand sheathed in black leather. Shock paralyzed my body for seconds and then adrenaline took over and sent me into struggling spasms. The hands were replaced by arms which squeezed tight over my wreathing body and they dragged me off into the oblivion that was unconsciousness.
Intense heat brought me back to the world, groggy and with a headache. I opened my eyes yet there was no difference. Solid and pure darkness surrounded me, not a single beam of light penetrating through the curtain of black. Sweat was dripping into my wide brown eyes, my parted lips, my open nostrils. As a reflex, I meant to wipe off the sweat and hair that was plastered to my face but I found I was bound to whatever I was upon. I was awaiting the panic I was sure would set it, yet my body was suddenly infused with calm.


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  A cold gust of wind blew against my nape. I whirled around and saw a figure shrouded in darkness in an open doorway leading to the outside world. I heard the wild snarls of untamed dogs; adrenaline pumped into my blood as the thundering barks of the unrestrained creatures resounded through the building. I fled toward the other end of the room in surprised panic and the pounding feet of the dogs could barely be heard over their terrifying growls that exploded from deep in their chests. They were closer now; I knew I had to do something. At that moment, I rammed into a door that stood ajar and slammed it shut behind me.
           The scraping of the claws against the wooden door threatened my death. With all my weight, I pushed back against the door to keep the red-eyed intruders out when a piercing whistle rang through the air and within seconds, the hounds from hell left me on my own. I wiped away the sweat pouring profusely down my face. Reaching around for a light switch, I found one and flicked it on. A pure white light filled the room, burning the eyes that had grown too accustomed to the darkness of the previous room. Turning slowly, I braced myself to respond in fight or flight. One ornate chair, alone, sat in the middle of the room. It looked carefully placed, so carefully that alarms of caution sounded in my mind. It was as if someone painstakingly took measurements to get it perfectly in the exact center of the room. The walls were home to the most astounding collection of medieval style swords I had ever laid sight upon. Swords covered every inch of the wall to where it was impossible to detect what color the walls were. I walked forward with intense amounts of caution towards the chair and halted. My legs ached from my eventful sprint in the other room; my body urged me to sit, to rest. It took less than a second for the swords to drop once I sat, leaving scant centimeters between my face and the razor sharp tips of the weapons. I had no time to react before I felt myself suddenly falling.
             The floor had dropped beneath me and I was plunged into an unknown pit of darkness. I hit the dusty floor in a powerful jolt, enough to almost knock me unconscious, but with great effort I pushed myself up to take in my surroundings. The dust was thick in the air, making me cough. I thought I would not be able to breathe. Taking the front of my soft cotton T-shirt, I used it as a screen to trap the dust so I could breathe easier. It was dark, I could see nothing. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness to see if anything was down here. The room was small and shaped in some kind of trapezoid. I saw a small light, looked like one from a flashlight. I couldn’t detect where it was coming from, all I saw was a small circle of light on the wall. My body wanted to run, but my brain wanted to speak to whoever was coming. As the shadow got closer, I saw that they were indeed holding a flashlight but also had a shotgun in their possession and were coming down a hallway behind me. I heard a groan. Whoever it was dropped the flashlight, and the beam of light illuminated the room I was currently located in. A stack of bones covered the whole left side of the room. I took notice they were all human. However, on the other side of the room, there was a ladder.
             I headed toward the ladder, anxious to get away from the person who was there. No doubt was in my mind, he had been coming to kill me and put my bones in with the others. I climbed till I saw that I was in a different room. Thinking to myself
So this is where they get the 'hospital' out of this building.
I found myself in some kind of medical ward. Around 20 beds neatly lined the edges of the room, only a few had occupants. Someone came towards me, and I didn’t notice till she was around 5 feet away. “Are you all right, dear?”
             “Yeah, I’m fine...thanks.” I heard myself reply.
             The young woman shrugged her shoulders, turned and left. I walked toward the exit and glanced at the patients in the beds. Most were just bruised and scratched, but there was this one man. He didn’t look a day older than 20, nevertheless, his whole bottom half from hips down was ripped off. The sight was enough to make anyone throw up, but I held the urge. Seeing him left me wondering how long he was going to life for. I felt extremely sorry for the young man, and it reminded me to keep watching out for myself, for I could easily end up like him in this hell of a place. I don’t know what’s around the corner, so I have to keep my ears and eyes open at all times and never let my guard down.
             Exiting the room, I was in an unusually long hallway. Every door had a name tag on it, each depicting a doctor’s name, except the last one. I tried to open the door but it was locked and tightly shut.  My failure to take notice of the keypad to my left made me feel incredibly stupid. I went in search of a nurse that could tell me the code to open the door. I ran into the lady that inquired about my health and took it as my chance to ask her about the code. “Do you know the code to open the door at the end of the hallway?”
             “No dear, but you could ask Dr.Nukar. His office is the third on the right.”
“Thank you.”
I scanned the hallway with my eyes and walked in the door that said 'Dr.Nukar. Ph.D.'. The room was decorated in deep brown colors and inviting. A man in what looked like his early 40s warmly greeted me. “Hello. How can I help you?”
“I need to know the code for the key pad.” I explained to the man.
           “Ah...The key pad, eh? Alrighty, follow me.”
    He led me out of his office and we headed toward the door. He punched in a few numbers and the door slid open. I was surprised he asked no questions, but then again, no one had. The place looked like a waiting room with two cheap plastic chairs and one table. In front on me were two doors, one indicating male and one female. I realized I was in the bathroom and I turned to ask why there was a keypad to a bathroom but the doctor was gone. I got more worried when I realized that no one else knew the code for the bathroom but everyone would have to use it at one point.
Might as well go in I thought to myself as I walked into the female bathroom.
It was a mess. The floors and walls were caked with dirt and blood. The smell almost knocked me to the floor. Rotten flesh with a hint of sweat. Just then I noticed the door had closed and locked behind me. I tried to pull it open and smashed it with my fists. Nothing happened, no one heard me. I knew I didn’t have a choice so I walked into the bathroom. I peaked into the first stall, and to my extreme horror, I saw a bloody corpse of a black girl crushed behind the toilet. A gaping hole in her chest was surrounded by dry flaky blood. She must have been dead for several days.
Rushing out of the stall, I tried to get some good air. The smell was nauseating. Flies buzzed around my head like vultures waiting for their next meal. I swiped at them with my hand and they scattered. Walking towards the next stall I pushed open the door and stood back. The upper half of a male torso sat in the bowl of the toilet. Blood smeared the stall walls and the water was colored deep maroon. "Uhh..." I groaned.
It was painful to look at. I wondered what could have massacred this man. I couldn't bring myself to think a sane person was capable of this feat. One last stall. The square door taunted me, wanted me to open it and see the next horror. Throwing open the door I let out the breath I held tightly. A man was hunched over the bowl of the toilet. He made no noise so I stepped forward and pushed his shoulder lightly. No response. I pulled him back as hard as I could. I threw up. The mans head was stuck in the toilet while the rest of his body was falling into me. Blood was spurting out from his neck and onto my shocked face. I threw up again on the dead body. It fell to the unsanitary ground with a sickly sounding thud. A pool of red blood formed at the end of the neck. My legs gave from beneath me and I tumbled to the floor. Scrambling on my hands and knees I managed to make my way to the wall closest to me. I was still gagging and I had to get myself under control. I rested my back against the hard stone wall.
Minutes passed and I finally got myself to a normal condition. I tried not to look at the body. I tried not to see the whole bathroom. My brain did register a door to my right.  A picture of a bed hung in the middle of the door. My legs ran to it. I threw open the door, wanting badly to get out of that room.  Leaning against the closed door, I noticed the lights were off. I felt safe for the first time in hours. As I got close to drifting off to sleep, the lights flickered on. Heavy eyelids opened themselves slowly.
The stark white walls hurt my eyes. The whole room was furnished with a platinum table. One gun was placed upon it. Tired as I was, my body somehow straightened off the door and moved towards the gun.
I don’t know how to use it.
All I knew about guns was what I learned from movies. Lifting the solid weight of the gun into my hand, I saw ammo underneath. Pocketing the ammo, I kept the gun with me. There was a door on the other side of the room. Nowhere else to go.
I kept the gun in front of me, pointing straight. Padded white walls and white carpet was all that was in the room. Creeping in, I tried not to make a sound. I had no idea what could be lurking in the corners. Movement caught my eye, forcing me to turn my head to the left. In the far left corner crouched a man in a white but slightly stained straight jacket. Dark hair fell onto his face, making him unrecognizable. I was unable to detect any emotion in his face. Slowly, he raised his head. His jet black hair fell away from his face and instantly I knew who it was. Blayne, my best fried from 10th grade, who was thought to be dead for 2 years now, was alive. I gasped. I was incredous. I couldn't believe it was actually him. Dropping my gun, I quickly made my way towards him.
He was looking straight at me, making eye contact, but I saw no recognition in those electric blue eyes. Has he forgotten me? I kneeled next to him and searched his face for any sign of remembrance. Blayne looked more scared than a puppy but seemed ready to defend himself. I reached behind him, undoing the bonds that held him in place. How bad I wanted to tell him who I was, to have him remember me. But something stopped me, told me it was wrong. His stunned expression told me all I needed to know, he did not remember me. Blayne was free from his prison now that I had taken away his jacket. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Why did you help me!?” He practically screamed at me, not at all the calm and collected man I once knew.
My mouth felt glued shut. Why did it feel so physically impossible to answer his questions? I ran and grabbed my gun, fighting the sudden urge to pump Blayne full of the iron bullets. Thinking he wouldn’t follow me, I ran back into the other room.





CHAPTER 2





A deafening cry sliced through the still air. I jumped away from the ghastly scream and covered my ears to protect them. The horrid noise came from my left, seemed to be coming from behind a door.  The piercing cry stopped as suddenly as it started, leaving me to wonder what happened, and hoping it wouldn't happen again.  I sat in my cell for minutes, just trying to get over the fright that the scream injected into my soul.
         That girl… Who was she? Coming in here like she knew me. She was going to give me those pills again… The pills made the screams come… But that scream. It wasn’t the normal scream, and that girl, she didn’t give me any pills… What if the girl had screamed?
         I tried to get up, but my legs, unstable because lack of use, crumpled under me. After a few false tries, I got the hang of it. Walking towards the door on unsteady legs, I pushed it open a bit. I saw her, that girl, and the man that gave me my screaming pills. He was holding her with a smiling face. The girl looked to be struggling but I can’t be sure… Her legs were flailing, kicking out at odd angles. She scratched at the pill man’s hands furiously. His wicked laugh made her eyes go wide with fright.
         I couldn’t watch it any longer and I rashly ran out towards them. The pill man saw me first but he stood there, choking the girl; watching me. Her body was becoming limp in the man’s hold.