The Sector

Chapter Seven

"—turned his light off at ten o'clock," someone was saying. "We didn't see or hear anything from him after that."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," another voice murmured. "Everything seemed normal to me."

"No. He saw it." It was Frasier's voice. Seth's blood ran cold. "He was one of the best Occupants we've seen in months and now that's in jeopardy because some imbecile can't clean a god damn wall properly."

"How do you know he saw it though?" one of the others asked.

"It's my job to pay attention to things; to profile people. Trust me, he saw it. Don't let your guard down. I want every single Officer watching him like a hawk. If anything is off—if anything at all seems strange—bring him straight to me and I'll deal with it."

"What exactly do you plan to do, Frasier? Gianna would never let you kill him. He's too valuable. We need more like him in the gene pool. We can't give that up; not when we're this close."

"Let me worry about Gianna. We're close, yes, but it's too big of a risk to allow him to continue with his training if he suspects anything. He could figure it out, he could tell someone... Our whole project could be reduced to a pile of smoking rubble if word got out. No one would ever agree with what we're doing here."

"You don't know that, Frasier..."

"Yes I do. Why do you think we've kept them in the dark all these years?"

The room fell silent. Seth was scared to even breathe.

Frasier sighed. "Look, just keep a close eye on him, okay? Killing him will be our last resort, but we can't afford to give him special treatment simply because he would make an excellent addition to the gene pool."

There was a pause.

One of the other men sighed. "Is there anything else?"

"No. You can go."

Seth's stomach dropped. They would be coming back this way. He had to find somewhere to hide.

Soft sounds of movement drifted down the hallway as the men readied themselves to leave.

His eyes wide and adrenaline pumping through his veins, Seth rushed over to the closest door, yanked it open, and pulled it roughly closed behind him.

In his panic, he hadn't cared to stay quiet. The door made a soft thud against its frame when it swung shut again.

Seth made a face.

He backed away from the door, hoping and praying that they hadn't heard the noise. His breath caught in his throat when he heard footsteps drawing nearer.

There was a faint murmuring... The sound of doors being opened and closed.

Seth knew they were searching and it wouldn't take long before they found him.

He whirled, eyes probing through the darkness for another way out. He found none.

Taking the only chance he had, he rushed across the room to the desk that sat just in front of the far wall. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled under it...

... Just as the door to his room swung open, dim light creeping in.

He held his breath but his heart kept pounding. He wondered for a second if they could hear it. He felt like it was the loudest thing on Earth.

The men whispered quiet orders to one another. Seth scrunched his eyes shut, waiting.

Soft footsteps thudded against the cold concrete ground, drawing nearer and nearer until they were right beside the desk.

"Come on," one of the Officers said. "He's not in here."

Seth breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait..." It was the man by the desk.

And just like that, his small respite was lost.

The man edged closer, circling the desk. He stopped right in front of Seth, his boots scuffing the ground.

His knees bent as he lowered himself to the floor.

Seth's blood ran cold.

First, he saw his chin. Clean-shaven though he was, a dark shadow still covered his jaw and cheeks. Then came his nose; long, and pointed at the tip. It was bent slightly—probably from a childhood accident. Seth barely noticed it through the ringing in his ears.

Finally, Seth met the man's gaze.

Bile rose in Seth's stomach. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"He's—" Seth kicked the man square in the face before he could finish the sentence and scrambled out from under the desk. Just as he passed the man and made a break for the door, strong fingers curled around his ankle and he vaulted to the floor.

His cheek throbbed. Blood ran from his nose.

He kicked again and managed to shake the hand free, shooting to his feet and racing towards the door again. Frasier and the second Officer lunged at him, missing. His breaths were fast and heavy. Adrenaline coursed through his veins.

As he reached the door, a jolt of electricity pulsed through his back. He felt it through every nerve in his body. This was far worse than what the headset had done to him earlier. 

Convulsing in agony, he collapsed to the floor. He tried to drag himself out into the hallway and away from the men, but his muscles were useless. His fingernails scraped against the cement, trying to find traction where there was none and before a moment had passed, they were on top of him, pinning him down.

"God, Seth," Frasier sighed, shaking his head. "Why did you do that? Why did you go searching for answers to questions you shouldn't be asking? You had so much promise. I had such high hopes for you..."

"Go to hell," Seth spat back. Blood sprayed from his lips and spattered the floor. It reminded him of the blood on the wall.

The Officer on his right pushed his shoulder further into the ground. Seth cried out in pain.

"Enough," Frasier told the man.

The Officer relented, though Seth imagined he did it unwillingly. 

"Let him up."

The weight on Seth's back disappeared as the men stepped away, releasing him. As Seth stood gingerly up, dusting himself off, he noticed the green-eyed Officer slipping a small Taser back into his belt. Another one hung from the second Officer's hip, just the same.

"Can I ask you just one thing?" Seth said, turning to Frasier with a cool glint in his eye.

Frasier gave him a look as if to say, "Go ahead."

"Why did you do it? Why did you kill him?" 

Frasier was quiet for a moment. Then, simply, "He didn't meet the criteria."

His eyes flicked briefly to the Officers and then back to Seth again in a silent signal, and without another word spoken, they stepped forward, grasped Seth roughly by the arms, and marched him from the room.