Purgatech: Jess' Horror

Chapter 16

Dylan couldn't believe the amount of data that they were gathering from the users inside the house. He knew it was a windfall, exactly with what Marshall was looking for, but it still made him feel sick to his stomach.

Knowing that Jess was still in there and what her, Rob, and Grace were going through was bad enough. But seeing Erica on the feeds and that she hadn't moved in quite some time, Dylan instantly thought the worst.

He went over to Beth's workstation and laid his hand softly on her shoulder.

"You're still monitoring the feed in the attic?"

She nodded without saying anything.

"Any movement up there?"

She turned and shook her head no a few times quickly. Her eyes were rimmed red and she bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering.

"What about the medics? Did you call them?"

She sniffled and wiped to her nose at the tissue quickly. "They're already on the grounds. I told them to come in the back route like you asked. They're just waiting for our call to move in."

Dylan tried to manage a small smile and patted her on the back. "We'll let them know soon as were ready."

Dylan turned to walk away but Beth tried to stop him. "But Dylan. I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's too –"

"Don't." He snapped. "I mean... Let the medical professionals get in there and tell us what's going on with Erica, okay?"

She nodded and turned back to her computer.

Dylan couldn't think about it too much. He knew he should but he had to prioritize things and keep his head on straight. Not just for himself, but for the rest of his team in here and for those in the house still at the mercy of whatever they'd unleashed. If he didn't, he would fall apart completely and then he would be no good to anyone, especially not Jess.

When he brushed aside his thoughts, he saw the other techs engaged in a whirlwind of activity, Everyone sat hunched over their computers, talking into their headsets between one another. They were cataloging the data coming out of the gear of the team inside the house and Noah was backing up the feeds on disc so they would have all the evidence that they were gathering.

Dylan knew he was going to pull have to pull the plug on this thing eventually, but how was he supposed to know when that time came? Every night around 4 o'clock, Marshall left grounds and went to his cushy house in the suburbs. That was going to be the best time for Dylan to make his move unnoticed.

They had more than enough data to go on now. But did that even matter anymore? How long was he supposed to subject these people to the torment they were going through in that house just for the sake of making money? It was bad enough he was getting paid to do this. But knowing that Marshall was making money off the blood of others, Dylan knew he couldn't live with that on his conscience. He'd already done enough damage. Regardless of the consequences, he knew that he still had one card left to play.

As if sensing what was going on, the door to the tech room swung open and Marshall came striding in beaming from cheek to cheek. He clapped his hands together, moving into the middle of the room as though he was as though it was center stage.

"Bravo! Bravo to everyone of you for all the work you've done. What a great day this is, am I right?"

Noah turned to Dylan and gave him a wide-eyed look but didn't say anything.

"Now I know, you're all up to your elbows and work but truly, you should pat yourselves on the back for a job very well done."

When no one said anything still, Marshall turned to Dylan, his brow furrowed. "What? What did I miss?"