Marcid

Forty-Five - Hansen

All he needed to do was find the body.

It seemed impossible. Find the body. And then what? He was only told so much. The scientist, Carson, had decided to tag along. He didn't say why he wanted to come with. Hansen occasionally glanced at Carson sitting in the passenger seat; endlessly writing down things on his clipboard. His pen was running out of ink from what Hansen could observe. He would crash sooner or later if he didn't keep his eyes on the road. "Sir," Hansen spoke up. He could barely let the words escape his throat. "Why do we need to locate the girl's body? She's already dead." He grimaced at his own words as a pang of guilt hit his stomach like a bad meal. The pen stopped scratching against the paper clipped to the clipboard as soon as Hansen uttered the words. Carson nearly let out a scoff of disbelief.

"She could be useful. Some experiment in the building could bring her back. We could use her against the boy. Don't you get it? The girl had healing abilities. Who knows what good she would be if one of the patients brought her back to the world?" Carson's condescending tone made Hansen tighten his grip around the wheel. "Honestly, I thought you of all people would understand." Carson huffed out a sigh of annoyance. Hansen didn't let himself speak; he didn't want to snap at the older man. He was supposed to respect his older peers. The road seemed endless as Carson scribbling on his clipboard. Hansen didn't even know what he was writing about. He didn't care. He had one objective. Find the body. It was all he needed to do. It would be a hell of an adventure to find a thirteen-year-old's dead body. He wouldn't be surprised if the body was already decomposing; worms and other sort of insects gnawing into her skin. The thought made goosebumps prickle at his skin and the hair on the back of his neck rise. Hansen softly cleared his throat before working up the courage to speak.

"What are you writing?" He needled. Carson's writing slightly slowed when Hansen spoke. Carson shrugged, brushing off the question with a grumble. He still sounded upset by something. His action made Hansen's stomach twist into knots. "Just say one word," he coaxed. "Christ." He hissed under his breath. He felt the annoyance rise, Carson's ignorance making Hansen's blood boil. He hated when others ignored him. He would feel guilty for even ignoring someone for even a second. Why would he ignore someone in the first place? He occasionally glanced at Carson, who ignored him entirely. So much for putting effort in the conversation. "Just say something." Hansen murmured. Carson let out a little quiet sigh, shaking his head. He continued to scribble on the clipboard, though he gave swift glances towards Hansen. Hansen pretended to not notice. He loosened his grip on the wheel, focusing on regulating his emotions instead of focusing on the road. He let out silent breaths. In and out. Deep breaths. He felt his heartbeat slow ever so slightly despite the thought of having to find a dead body always crawling back into perspective. It was insane to Hansen that he had to find a dead teenager's body. It was irrational to him that someone would do something like that. Despite Carson explaining why they needed to locate the dead girl, Hansen felt that his intentions were a bit different than what he says they are. He fully expected Carson to make one of the powered kids bring her back to life, there was no doubt of it. But then what? She would be a zombie, would she not? She could heal herself. He wondered if using their abilities drained their energy in some sort of way. He felt guilty for even working for the company. The money was good. It made him financially stable. Would he do something so terrible just for the money? He would, realistically. Even if the guilt started to overflow inside of him; he would stay regardless. Nothing is more important than money. Not even saving kids from being killed the second they turned eighteen. They all had potential to be something extraordinary in the world, regardless of their powers. Carson and all the other scientists, and even society itself simply needed to understand that.

"Sir." Hansen said under his breath. He observed Carson's reaction to his word. Carson turned his head slightly to face him, the scribbling coming to a stop.