The Den Of Nightmares

Chapter 4: The Secret

Brooks awoke in his cell, sore and hungry. He looked around for anything he could use to escape, but there was nothing. The only way to keep his sanity was to keep believing he could get out of this nightmare. The wall suddenly moved and opened revealing a table with a chair and a plate with bread and a cup of water. Brooks rushed over and sat down grabbing the roll of bread. He couldn't remember the last time bread looked so good, he hadn't eaten since he arrived.
"Eat up," said a voice through a speaker. This separate room was attached to his cell, on one of the walls, there was an opening with bars that resembled a window. Brooks stood up swallowing the last bite of his bread and walked over to the window. A man was laying on the floor in what looked like another cell. He was very skinny and was wearing rags.
"Hey you, are you ok?" Said Brooks
"Wake up, I need to talk to you"
The man's head turned to face him and smiled. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was long and greasy.
"Are you real?" Asked the man.
"You can't be, it's impossible."
Brooks laughed,
"I'm as real as it gets, how long have you been here?"
"It's been 3 months I think, but it feels like a year"
The guard burst in and tased Brooks with a cattle prod dropping him to the floor. He then shouted through the window at the other inmate.
"Your next, you know the rules, no talking." The man cowered in the corner of his cell with his head between his knees like a dog. Brooks was strapped to a wheelchair and led down a dark corridor. They soon arrived at a massive steel door with warning labels on the front. The guard released a latch and the massive door swung open, revealing a body-size isolation chamber. The room was dark and smelled horrible, like rotting flesh.
"This is how it works, I put you in there and can communicate with you through an intercom. I will ask you some questions, if you answer correctly, you will be out of there in no time."
"But if you don't, well it's going to be a long weekend for you"
The guard chuckled and then strapped Brooks in, closing the lid to the capsule and engaging the lock. Lights flashed inside and a machine started up, removing the oxygen. The guard looked at a handheld display he was holding that showed oxygen levels and biometrics. Brooks started to gasp as he felt the air slip out of his lungs. Minutes went by that felt like hours, they kept the oxygen level up just enough to keep you alive, but you felt like you were suffocating the whole time. Some men had died from a panic attack and cardiac arrest. The guard enjoyed watching Brooks struggle to breathe in a sadistic sort of way.
"How long have worked for the U.S. government?"
"Six years" replied Brooks.
The guard was soon joined by Warden Green, he looked at the capsule checking to make sure it was operating correctly.
The two talked for a minute which only made Brooks nervous, and then both nodded their heads.
"Hello Brooks, I need your cooperation here, I want to know who authorized your team to strike the Russians?
Brooks at this point was sweating profusely, his hands clenched as he continued to struggle in his restraints.
"Your mom" replied Brooks as he chuckled then coughed.
The warden did not look pleased as he leaned right over the top of the capsule.
"You'll wish you hadn't said that" he turned to the guard and nodded. The guard tapped on the handheld screen and lowered the oxygen level even more.
"We'll be back tomorrow, maybe then you will feel like talking"
The guard and warden left the room and sealed the door. Brooks now was gasping for air even more and was in agonizing pain.
As he lay there, all he could think about was who these clowns were and why him, he was a nobody, just a grunt.
The warden and guard returned to the main command center. The walls were covered with monitors showing all surveillance cameras in the compound. Warden Green sat down at his desk and sipped a cup of hot coffee, looking through a stack of documents in a file labeled "Brooks". The phone rang, it was a call from the Russian president.
"Mike how is everything going"
"Mr. President, we have him in the Cave right now. It won't be long sir, we'll get him to talk."
"That's good Mike. I don't want him to be a problem, it wouldn't look good for us."
"I know Sir, he will talk, or he will die!"
"I pay you good money to get answers Mike, or should I say, Igor, don't disappoint me. Mother Russia would be very disappointed if I were to report back to them of your failure."
"No, you don't have to worry, I will take care of him, he'll never see the sun again sir."
"Let me know when the job is done, someone is going to pay for messing with our homeland."
"Yes sir" replied Mike as the phone call ended, he looked up to a Russian flag hanging on the wall and saluted.
"I'll make him talk then I'm going to kill him." The warden balled his hands into a fist and slammed them down onto his table.