The Reader's Request Book [REQUESTS CLOSED]

A Better End - Part 2 of 3

The four men momentarily shared a few glances between themselves, before collectively nodding.

It was time.

Rising to their feet, the group wordlessly began to follow the worker. They journeyed through various corridors, passing by different sections of the hospital. Leaving their current position in the facility, they were led through corridor after corridor, entering areas normally restricted to the general public. The somewhat positive and informative posters, pamphlets and banners that draped the walls in the main areas slowly became rarer and rarer, becoming replaced with code of conduct signs, hazard symbols, and reminders of protocol to ensure safety. After passing through a set of security doors that were being guarded by a total of four security workers and two police officers, the group arrived in what could only be described as an observation room.

Long desks spread across the expansive area, covered in computer monitors which displayed; various displays of data that the four men didn't understand, email chains from people they'd never met nor heard of; and multiple security camera feeds of four locations: the observation room itself, what looked like a chemistry laboratory, a rather plain looking waiting room of some sort, and finally, a padded cell. Scattered across the desks were research reports, logs of notable events, collections of papers covered with a lot of legal jargon, and screenshots of what appeared to be microscopic views of cells. There were four doors within the observation room. One was the security door the group had just walked through, another was labelled as a staff break room, the third was labelled as toilets, and the final was labelled with multiple biohazard, chemical hazard, and danger to life symbols. The worker the group had been following led them through this door.

The following corridor was better described as a large white tube. As they walked through, gas pumps lining the walls and roof began to hiss, before releasing large volumes of antiseptic spray to decontaminate the new visitors. Upon exiting, the group uncovered yet another security checkpoint, which led to two different decontamination corridors. One was labelled, "LABORATORY," and the other was labelled, "HOLDING CELL." The guards manning the area didn't have to give directions; the group knew where they were going.

The group couldn't help but hesitate as they saw the appearance of the guards. Covering their body from head to toe were matt black hazmat suits, of which atop were various pieces of extremely thick, dark grey body armour. They wore helmets with tinted visors, making it nearly impossible to view their real faces, and there was a constant whir of mechanically aided respiration through the light oxygen tanks carried on their backs. They certainly weren't the most approachable of individuals...

The worker who had accompanied the four men departed, being replaced by two of the three security officers who escorted the group through the final decontamination chamber. They were led into an empty square room, harshly illuminated by the artificial white strip lights above.

One of the guards closed the door to the decontamination chamber, causing a small buzz to sound, paired with a subtle red flash from a little black box beside the handle, indicating that it had now been locked. Turning around, she then pointed to the opposite door while pulling out a small key card. "Only one door can be opened at a time in here, and the door to your friend's room can't be opened from within," the guard explained, her voice projected through an in-built speaker which gave it a slightly robotic sound. "We'll be waiting here throughout your visit, so if anything happens, or you want to leave, we'll be there to answer the door."

"Have you, uh..." the other guard cleared his throat awkwardly. "Have you been told what to... just... be careful, alright? Even though you are his friends, he may take uh... it might take some time for him to warm up to you again." The group of four nodded solemnly. They'd been warned that Lewis' memory was greatly suffering and understood the hard truth; that even though they had a plan for when they finally met him, they may not be able to complete it.