Man Hunt

Chapter Twenty Seven - A Cure

Instinctively, I reach for the tazer and aim it at the woman. However before I can pull the trigger, she exits through the doorway and turns the corner. The two of us sprint after her because if she gets away, then our presence will be compromised.

As we step out into the hall, I glance right and see the woman making her way up a flight of stairs. She glances back at us in horror as I aim the tazer at her. Without thinking, I squeeze my hand and watch as the woman is hit and falls in a fit of shakes halfway up the stairs.

She gasps as she falls, but by the time she has hit the floor, she has silenced. She lies on the stairs, her body lying limply. Although the woman is unconscious, her body still shakes as electricity surges through her body.

‘’Shit,’’ I mutter, the two of us approach her carefully.

She stops shaking as Aaron and I stand above her, her eyes are shut and her legs are bent awkwardly. Her mouth is slightly open and her soft breaths are audible.

‘’What do we do with her?’’ I ask.

‘’We’ll have to hide her body somewhere,’’ explains Aaron, bending down and picking the woman up.

As if she was a mere infant, he throws her over his shoulder and gets to his feet. As he does this, a small key card unclips itself from her skirt and falls to the ground.  I pick up the small square piece of laminated paper and shove it in my pocket.

At that moment, a man turns the corner and appears at the top of the stairs. He wears black trousers and what seems to be a lab-coat. He wears a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles and he has a pencil wedged in the hair between his ear and skull. He stares at us in what appears to be fear for a second and then turns and dashes away.

I glance at Aaron momentarily and then I bound up the stairs after him. He pants as he runs, it was obvious to me even before he began running that he would not be the fittest of people. His appearance suggests a lifetime spent behind a computer, and although that used to be me before this happened to me, I catch up with him quite quickly. My fitness has improved immensely here.

‘’Not so fast, stop where you are and say nothing or I will shoot,’’ I warn.

‘’Please Alice, don’t.’’

For a moment his response confuses me, how is it that he knows my name? Then I remember that he is among the people that have been watching me – stalking me from behind cameras my entire time here, and long before that.

‘’I’m sure you know by now that I will do it, so do yourself a favour and don’t make me,’’ I warn.

He has stopped however his back is to me, I cannot see his face.

‘’Do you understand?’’ I ask.

I see his head nod slightly.

‘’Speak,’’ I order.

‘’Yes,’’ he responses, his voice cracks with fear and I hide a smirk.

‘’Good, slowly turn around and come with me,’’ I order.

We walk back along the hall and descend the stairs. Aaron is moving towards us with a worried look on his face; however when he sees me leading the man down the stairs, his expression lightens. The woman is nowhere to be seen, he obviously took care of hiding her.

‘’What do you want with me?’’ quivers the man.

‘’We’re asking the questions around here,’’ I begin, pulling the man’s nametag from his waist, ‘’Nathan.’’