GLASS BACK [COMPLETED]

15

"Do not shoot it. Piss him off and we all die." David whispered, putting his hand on Rick's shoulder. "That came from Tacarria."

The figure appeared to be an old man, maybe a janitor. He wore dark overalls with the name Tacarria etched in red. He wasn't transparent but he appeared to be intangible because his hand went through the wall.

"So it's a ghost?" Rick asked as David slowly nudged them over to the right.

"Ghost? You could call it that. But it's not dead. In fact, It probably never died. That's the type of crap Tacarria does. They told us it was alive. I've dealt with it before while looking for you two. All it does is clean up random stuff."

"Clean up? What type of ghost cleans up things?" asked Henric. They moved slowly and quietly to the right as the ghost approached them. The scratch marks on the wall and broken glass disappeared as it walked towards the elevator, almost soundless except for it's shallow, heavy breathing. They finally realized the ghost wasn't coming after them, it was going after the dead clone. When it reached the elevator they were about twenty feet away, but instead of running, they watched. They watched as the ghost kneeled down and picked up the clone's body, they watched as the blood rose off the ground and flew into the ghost. When it stood up it turned to look at them and the body in its arms began to glow. Seconds later and it vanished, leaving behind only the bracelet, which clanged as it hit the floor.

"Shows over, let's go." said David, who was now in front. "That's all it does as long as no one bothers it."

They didn't hesitate a second time. They made their way down the hall to section D, bypassing other clones running from all directions. One dropped to the ground in front of them, and everyone but Henric jumped over him. Another clone tried to wrestle the gun away from Rick, but David surprisingly swung and knocked him out.

"Thanks, that was close. You okay too, kid?" They looked back and saw Henric several feet away, looking at a clone's body.

"He's still breathing. We can help him!"Henric replied to them.

"Are you stupid?" the clone himself rasped. He lifted up his wrist, showing the bracelet. It was blinking 00:00:00. "My times up kid."

"I can help him die faster," said Rick, pointing his gun at the clone. Henric shielded him.

"NO! What's your problem?!"

"He's not a person he's number. Just dna and code, no originality. He looks just like the one I shot at the elevator."

"Well what about me?" Henric asked. Rick stared at him for a moment before raising the gun, aiming at Henric's forehead.

"You're no different."

"FREEZE!" someone behind Henric shouted. A soldier in dark blue gear shone light on the four of them.

"Drop the weapon!" he shouted again.

"Wait hold on! I'm from Bickerstaff too." Instead of pulling out an ID or badge, he pushed deeply into his left palm and held it up. There was a blue light blinking under his skin. This seemed to calm the soldier. He lowered his gun and observed each of them. He noticed the dying clone on the ground and shot him in the head, much to Henric's dismay.

"No!" he screamed. The soldier noticed the bracelet on Henric's wrist and trained his gun on him.

"Tell me what's going on." the soldier told David.

"I'm David Jones. Early recon. I was sent by Bickerstaff to oversee the scientists personally. After everything went to shit, One of the scientists sent me after his two kids. That's why we're here."

"Why does this one have a clone bracelet then?"he motioned to Henric.

"Because the scientist made him personally, I was there! He didn't even have that bracelet until half an hour ago. He took it from the gallery in the museum." David wiped sweat from his forehead.