NUMB

Day Six - Jet

Saturday creeps in and I don't even know where my week has gone. I think we might lose Brian soon. The guy is way too jumpy to be working here. Beck yells more than he talks at him and I can tell that he's at the end of his rope with the kid.

I'm just coming out of the break room when there's the sound of a truck idling beneath me. I look over the railing and see a black unmarked van parked at the gate. The lights are all off, but the engine is still running. The muffler is puffing out a steady cloud of exhaust fumes. Jackson comes out of the break room a moment later and grins.

"Alright, finally something to do."

"There's nobody in there," I point out. The cab is empty and I haven't seen anyone wandering around outside tonight. "Is that normal?"

"Yeah, the driver will be back soon. We just wait until the lights come on and then open the gate." Jackson stretches his arms over his head. "It gives us something to look forward to though! Sure beats just standing around twiddling our thumbs."

I nod absently, scan the grounds for any sign of movement. The van is a good size. Could be used to haul laundry out maybe? Or they're going to pick something up? Do they transport the new arrivals in in a van? I really didn't do enough research on this place before I signed up. Eventually, someone comes around from the front of the building. He gives Jackson and me a two finger salute as he walks up to the van, pulls his keys out and opens the back doors.

A few minutes later, two more men come around the building. They're pushing a flat cart type thing, stacked with what I hope is not what I think it is. They look like body bags. A cart piled high with at least six of them. Jackson doesn't even look like he's fazed by this at all. Like this is a completely normal thing to be happening at ten 'til nine on a Saturday night.

The driver helps the two guys lift the bags into the back of the van. The sound of the doors slamming shut echoes off the stillness of the night. Jackson goes to punch in the code to open the gate when the headlights of the van come on. The two guys with the cart disappear back around the building.

"What did they just put in there?" I ask as the van drives through the gate.

Jackson shrugs once as he punches in the code again to shut the gate behind the van. "I don't know. Laundry I guess? I never asked." He shoots a look at me for a second before shifting his gaze to something else. "Whatever it is, it's not my job."

I stare at the back of Jackson's head, mouth hanging open. The Wardens don't give a shit about what is happening around here. They just hauled six dead bodies out in the middle of the night and Jackson didn't even blink at it.

I take back what I said earlier about this being a prison. It's not a prison at all.

It's a death camp.