Amoeba (The Experiments) (45 page)

“Sarge . . .”

“I’ll tell you what you were thinking.” Jake stood up straight and was instantly calm. “You were thinking about Cal. And I love you for that . . . thank you.”

“Whoa
,” Rickie said heavy and deep. “Sarge, like, I am touched. Oh, Sarge.” Happily Rickie sprang from his seat wrapping his arms around Jake’s waist and hugging him. “I knew you liked me, Dude, but now I know . . .”

“Rickie.” Jake grunted.

“Now I know you love me. Wait until I tell everyone.”

“Rickie. Yeah.” Jake pulled off Rickie’s arms and rubbed his head like a dog.

“But . . .” Rickie held up his finger. “You got to admit. You were a little frightened of the Rickie-meister, weren’t you?” Rickie didn’t give Jake a chance to say anything. “Coming at ya full force.”

“Rickie . . .”

“Afraid that perhaps I may have to unleash the dreaded and feared Rickie monster on ya.” Rickie titled his head with a drastic curious look. “Huh.”

With a closed mouth, Jake bobbed his head, then snickered slightly and growled.

^^^^

“I’m glad you and Jake talked,” Cal said to Billy as they walked slowly through the woods.

“Yeah, me too. I was really happy we could work it out. I have to tell you
, Cal, I was a bit, well, scared.”

“So was I. He’s handling it so well. I’m so proud of Jake.”

“You know what?” Billy stopped walking. “Me too. And we’ll do this thing, the three of us. Whatever is best for the baby.”

“I know.”

“And speaking of the baby.” Billy pointed to the cigarette in Cal’s hand. “Smoking.”

“I’ll quit. It’ll take time.”

“What about Jake? He’s gonna smell it on you.”

Cal waved him off. “I’ll just blame it on you.”

“Thanks.” Billy saw Cal starting to walk again. He reached out and grabbed her arm. “Cal, listen. I am really glad you and I can be like this again. And I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I just want you to know that if you ever just need me, I’m always a heartbeat away. Because I love you.”

Cal smiled softly at him stepping to him and putting her arms around him. “Thank you for that.” She whispered then kissed him on the cheek. “And we really should be getting back to . . .” Cal spun when she heard the crunching of fast moving footsteps. “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah, I wonder what . . . watch out.” Billy snatched Cal up and stepped back, pulling her out of the way from a fast running Lou.

“Cal!” Lou called out as he ran. “At this moment I would really appreciate you getting Jake!” Lou’s voice faded as he kept on running.

Cal looked oddly at Billy. “Boar?” Her curiosity was settled before Billy could answer. Billy pulled her out of the way again when through the trees came Paul, oOn the same route and in a determined pursuit of Lou. Paul ran fast straight ahead, eyes peeled in a hunter mode, war paint and all, tomahawk raised high, loin cloth flapping in his stride.

Billy let out a breath with wide eyes. “O
kay.”

Cal watched the two running figures disappear into the depths of the trees in a totally different direction th
an camp. “Oh brother.” She turned back to Billy. “All right. Now what were we talking about?”

“Heading back.”

“That’s right.” Cal smiled, and side by side with Billy headed back toward the bungalows.

With his arms crossed, Jake leaned on the wall just outside the bathroom door. “Cal.” He reached backwards giving a single knock. “Can we try to hurry up this throwing up thing please?”

Cal glared at the closed door, shot
it the middle finger, and then went to the sink.

Jake listened to the sound of the running water. “Now see
, Cal, you’ve been experiencing this sick thing for close to a week now. I would think you would be getting used to it. Buck up.”

After brushing her teeth Cal, again looked at the door. “Buck up? Did you just say . . .” She opened the door. “Buck up?”

Jake looked over his shoulder with a grin, lifting his hand and giving Cal a cracker.

Cal snatched it from his hand and bit it. “I hate you.”

“Cal, please.”

“Something is not right
, Jake.” Cal opened the door. “I am so sick this time. Really sick.”

“Cal.” Jake stopped her before she walked out. “When you were pregnant with Jessie
,” he spoke in a pacifying manner to her, “you were a young girl. You’re body is just not going to handle it as well when you’re old so . . .uh!” Jake grunted and all the air escaped him when he took a surprising shot to the gut by Cal who stormed off afterwards. Jake twitched his head. “Not bad.” He pulled the door closed and followed.

^^^^

Ollie and three other controllers stood by the metal Wes Craven door at the end of the corridor. Ollie extended his hand to Stan for him to pick last from the straws that protruded from his tightly closed fist.

Sweating, Stan drew and closed his eyes tightly when the straw was only an inch long. “Wish me luck.”

Ollie, with a smile, gave Stan a pat to the arm. “Our thoughts are with you.”

“Gee
, thanks.” Stan reached for the door. “Perhaps right now our thoughts should be with Cliff.” Taking a deep breath and turning on his flashlight, Stan emerged through the metal door and closed it. He couldn’t hear anything on the dark side he stood on. Not a peep, dead quiet. And that frightened Stan more.

With his flashlight shining out, Stan began to slowly take the steps. “Cliff
,” he whispered, walking down a couple more steps. “Cliff, is everything all . . .” Stan’s foot hit something oval on the wooden step, and with a thump-crash-bang, he fell forward and tumbled all the way down to the bottom. The flashlight flew from his hand and went out, but Stan could still see it. Feeling an ache in his knee and wanting to get the hell up and out, he reached for the flashlight, allowing his fingers to turn it back on.

Extending his hand further to grab hold of the flashlight he saw what the sideways beam of light hit. An eye. In horror
, Stan gripped the flashlight, and despite how bad his leg was hurt, he jumped up. It was then he noticed how damp his clothes felt. Running his hand down the front of his shirt he felt the oozing slimy feel, and he looked down to his hand to see it covered in semi-clotted blood. He spun around shining the light on the floor, seeing the pool of blood that he stood in the center of, and it wasn’t Stan’s blood. It belonged to the missing controller, Cliff. And Stan knew it was Cliff, because pieces of Cliff’s torn apart body were scattered about in no particular order on the floor.

Knowing that the combination of blood, body parts
, and a dark basement were not good, Stan raced to the steps. It was as he ran up them that he saw what he had tripped on in the first place. Cliff’s head. And with one more silent scream so as not to alert what was in that basement, Stan flew up the steps, and banged on that door until it opened.

^^^^

Upon entering the dining area with Jake, Cal slowed down. She looked at Judge sitting at a table all by himself, head slumped, picking at his Cheerio’s. “Jake, he’s getting worse.”

Jake looked over. “Well, he probably misses his family right now. Billy’s been doing that too. Judge will get over it or he’ll break.”

“Can you be any more callous?”

“Probably. Now go sit with Billy and Rickie, I’ll get you some food.”

“I’m not hungry, I’ll just have coffee,” Cal said as she walked to the table.

Jake merely laughed. “Right.” He walked to the food line
where Lou, the self proclaimed chef of the Island, stood. “Did you do it?” Jake asked him.

“Yep.” Lou reached behind him for a plate that was covered. “No salt. No seasoning. Plain scrambled eggs.”

“Thanks, I . . .” Jake turned his head to the banging of the dining room door as it flung open. “Christ, not again.” He rolled his eyes as Paul raced in, wearing his loin cloth, hitting the center of the room, and leaping on a table. “Lou.”

“Yeah.”

“Duck.”

Lou and Jake both did
, and just as they began to dive down, a high whistling sound brought the zooming arrow that landed in the wall directly behind the height of where Lou’s head would have been.

Jake stood up, set down the plate, reached out
, and pulled the arrow from the wall. He marched to Paul. “What the fuck did I tell you about shooting these things in here?”

“Sorry.” Paul took it back.

“You want to hunt him, hunt him outdoors where I am not. Got that?’

“Yes.” Paul nodded.

Jake walked back over, grabbed the plate, got one for himself, and took it over to the table where Cal sat with Billy and Rickie. “Fuckin lunatic people.” He set the plate down in front of Cal. “Eat.”

“I’m not hungry
, thanks.” Cal pushed the plate ahead of her.

“Eat.” Jake pushed the plate back. “Don’t make me feed you again.”

“Sarge,” Rickie called him.

“What?”

“If, like, the Cal-babe doesn’t want to consume food, you shouldn’t, like, make her. She’ll just puke it back up.”

“She’s pregnant. She needs to eat.” Jake saw the plate inching from Cal,
and he pushed it back.

“But like . . .” Rickie held up his finger. “If her body is rejecting it
, that should tell you something.”

“She’s a pregnant woman Rickie.” Jake snapped. “They do that sort of thing. Besides, what do you know
?”

“What do
you
know?” Rickie came back.

Billy held up his hand. “Excuse me
, but I know.”

Jake spun his
head to him. “And how do you know?”

“I know.” Billy nodded. “I have three sisters. So I know.”

“You think?” Jake asked.

“I know.” Billy nodded.

“Sarge, he knows.” Rickie pointed. “He has, like, three sisters.”

“He does not know
,” Jake argued.

“Sarge, he knows.”

“I know,” Billy said with certainty.

“See.” Rickie said. “Billy, you know, so you answer the question. Should Cal-babe eat if she’s not hungry?”

“Yes,” Billy answered.

Jake
, impressed, held up his hand indicating to Billy. “He knows.”

Rickie fluttered his lips. “He’s just afraid of you
, Sarge. He does not know.”

“Hey
,” Billy spoke with resentment. “I know.”

Cal’s hand slammed on the table. “What do any of you know!” she yelled. “And Jake
, I am not . . .” The open shape her mouth made in her yelling was an open invitation for Jake, and he shoved a forkful of eggs in her mouth.

“Eat.” Jake returned to his breakfast.

Cal grunted, spitting her eggs from her mouth like a two year old.

“Oh nice, very nice. Look at you.” Jake grabbed a napkin wiping her mouth.

“Jake!” Cal yelled at him. “I am not a child and I am not hungry. God, I hate you some . . . “ Cal’s head tilted, her demeanor changed, and her eyes shifted elsewhere. “And does he look hot in a loincloth or what?”

“Cal
,” Jake scolded. “Keep your eyes on your food.”

“I can’t help it.” Cal looked at Paul. “I saw him running around like that, but I swear I never noticed . . .”

“Cal,” Jake warned.

“His body
,” Cal continued. “I wonder if his rear is as firm as it looks peeking out the flaps like it does?”

Jake tossed his hand in the air. “I’m clueless on that one
, Cal. Why don’t you just go and ask him?” Shaking his head he saw Cal standing up. “Cal!”

Rickie watched Jake’s expression
, wide eyes, his eyes on Cal as he grunted. Rickie snickered. “Sarge, like, guy, you can’t get mad. You told her to do it.”

Billy agreed. “You did
, Jake. And she does everything you tell her.”

Jake
, still grumbling, shifted in his seat and started on his breakfast. He looked up when Cal returned. “And?”

“Firm.”

“I needed to know that.” Jake lifted his fork to his mouth, rolled his eyes, and grunted when Cal sat down with a loud ‘whew’, a big smile, and a new found appetite for that food she had fought Jake about eating.

Greg rubbed his eyes holding the phone away from his mouth so Stan couldn’t hear his yawn. After his tiredness, not boredom, was done showing its signs, Greg brought the phone back down. “Use the gas, Stan. Yeah, that should throw you a remission and hold if off until we hit that mark. Yep, let me know.” Greg hung up the phone and looked to Dr. Jefferson who sat across from him.

“Not even two months into the experiment and three lives gone?” Dr. Jefferson shook his head. “Will there be anyone left for that last crucial month
?”

“Oh
, yeah.” Greg smiled. “It’s my hopes that we don’t lose a life for at least another month. It’ll keep the investors happy.”

“I agree. But if you don’t want to lose another life
, what are you going to do about Paul exorcizing Lou?”

“He’s fine.” Greg nodded. “We’ll go ahead and stop the hallucination
s about demonic Lou.”

“That won’t stop him now. You do realize he is too far gone.”

“Yep. But I don’t think he’ll actually get Lou.”

“Lou is impressively holding up to that second ranking of his.”

“I’ll say,” Greg commented. “He’s becoming quite adept in avoiding the antics of Paul. But enough about him . . .” Greg turned a sheet of paper over. “We’re going to go ahead and use the gas up at the control center. It’s the only way right now.”

“I thought that was a last resort.”

“We need it, though.”

“What about Judge?” Dr. Jefferson asked.

“Move ahead with that. Partially.”

“Not fully?

“Not yet.” Greg shook his head. “We’re about as full as I will allow. Another day or two and we’ll unleash.”

“Good. It’s been pretty drab since the Cal and Jake thing has been resolved. Any
more with that right now?”

“Not for now. It’s time to move on to bigger and better things
,” Greg said. “I would look for that other issue to arise in about six weeks.”

“About the same time as the remission ends?” Dr. Jefferson raised
an eyebrow.

“Precisely.”

“How clever.”

“Hey.” Greg rocked in his chair. “That’s me.”

“Before or after?”

“After. I think during . . .” Greg winked. “I think that during it, will ring a bell. But after . . . we hit the Cal and Jake gong.”

“How are you going to do it?” Dr. Jefferson inquired.

“I’m thinking Jake will do it on his own. But if not, that’s why we pay controllers.”

“Thus starting a secondary Jake mental endurance phase.”

“Thus starting one, yes.” Greg nodded. “The affair, the baby, this next thing, and if that doesn’t work, we can pull Cal for the hell of it.” Greg winked and smiled. “Trust me, we’ll break that big son of a bitch yet.”