Chapter Nine

She secluded herself from any more conversations after she said good-bye to Herman. The afternoon passed at a crawl. She was tipsy, though the sensation was short-lived and later gave her a headache. Bored of staring out at the ocean, she returned to her room to study the monster files again. Looking them over, she decided the photos were genuine.

The solitary confinement of the small quarters quickly shot her back onto the main deck. The people stayed together at the food court in a protective group. Darkness was beginning to fall. It was around six or seven o’clock when a loudspeaker from the observation deck announced, “Arriving at the complex in approximately fifteen minutes. Be ready to disembark. Follow our instructions. Do not walk freely into the complex. You will be told where to go. Please follow instructions or risk your personal safety.”

The island was a distant speck on the horizon.

Herman walked up beside her. “There she is, PAM herself.”

The rise in her stomach delivered a queasy spell. She leaned against the bar, pressing her forehead against the cool surface. Blood rushed to her head; then the sensation passed.

“Are you having seconds thoughts, missy?” Herman joked. “Oh, we’ll just catch the next boat out of here then.”

Go to hell. “Very funny.”

Richard had stepped down from the lookout tower and overheard Herman’s last statement. “You’d be an idiot not to be scared.” Then he spoke into the bullhorn he was holding. “Everybody, please line up at the east wing of the ship to disembark. We’re about five minutes from parking this thing. Stay calm. Single file. Follow instructions or risk your safety. You will be told what to do and when to do it, so reserve your questions.”

Richard muttered to Addey, “Follow me. Everybody else will be right behind you.”

This was journey’s end. The government’s job was about to be unloaded upon her shoulders. She could handle heavy-duty work—she had worked construction for two months during a summer to cash in on the I-29 repairs—but to work with monsters was a different toil altogether. The wolves below everybody’s feet, they were enormous, their strength beyond human, and they were wild animals.

Once you step on this island, it’s forever.

Hesitation spread like wildfire in the group behind her. A husky man with a balding head and a sour expression lingered closer and closer to one edge of the ship. “This is serious, isn’t it?” He swayed, his legs loose. The man was hammered. “There really is an island. This is real. This is real!”

A woman hugged the drunkard close. “It’s okay, Frank. We’re in this together. It’s for the good of society. We’ll be okay.”

“I didn’t volunteer for this!” Frank lashed out, shoving aside the woman so hard she flopped onto her side and hit the deck. “I’m not working with monsters!”

Frank crawled over the barrier and plunged into the ocean headfirst. Before he landed, Richard opened fire with his pistol. Puncha! Puncha! Seconds later, Frank rose up a bleeding buoy. Two shots had landed home in his chest.

“If anybody else has any ideas like the dead man down there, I suggest you save it.” Richard’s face was enraged. “Do as we tell you, and you will remain unharmed. We don’t need cowards here. They die within the first week. Live or die, people. You decide.”

The line was eerily quiet. Interest in what occurred around Frank’s body was widespread. Two scuba divers swam out to collect the man’s corpse. They bundled the man in a net and dragged him toward the island.

“Never waste a single scrap, do they?” Richard muttered. He holstered his pistol. “Keep moving; the show’s over. Fall in.”

The island was taking shape. The white sand shore was decorated with tall-standing palm trees. The breeze was soft but cooling with the sun falling into the horizon. The island was part resort, part complex. The resort section was a square with a wide-spanning pool, open bar—huge, as if they had taken six bars and combined them—minigolf course, hot tubs, massage huts, water slides and a food court. The complex reminded her of the levels of a multilevel hotel, though there were only two levels with a possible sublevel. Each level was gigantic and the walls were comprised of steel. There were adjoining sections to the levels, perhaps private quarters or storage.

Richard checked his watch. “All right, it’s eight o’clock. That gives us an hour to disembark and to assign rooms. We’ll give you a good night’s sleep, and then in the morning, you start work. Forgive me for not showing you around. The monsters are let out at different shifts of the day for a limited time, so get a move on, people. Time’s burning.”

The boat docked. People stepped down onto the wooden pier, and Richard stayed behind to usher every person off board. Men in beige vests and cargo pants—also armed—guided them down the pier. The entrance was a short walk away. They marched down concrete steps surrounded by sand. The scent of salt water carried from the shore. Other smells tainted the air. Blood. Meat. Death. Fecundity. Many scents were so peculiar, she couldn’t identify them, but she knew they were wrong.

Herman was right behind her. “This place is unbelievable. It’s a fortress."

“It’s more like a concentration camp.” She studied Herman. “Are you keeping your head straight?”

“Yep.” He rubbed his eyes. “And you, pretty?”

“I’m taking it all in.”

Why is he calling me pretty all of the sudden?

She’d read an article in Reader’s Digest about men who repeated sweet things to women until they submitted to them. It was a psychosomatic conditioning, the brain eventually taking the words to heart. But the man was nearly three times her age, and he stank of a nasty cigar.

The concrete walk changed into a solid patio. Electric fences were camouflaged between the palm trees. The back part of her mind had considered running, but it was useless. They were on an island, the ocean—what ocean, she didn’t know—separating them hundreds of miles from civilization.

Herman asked her, “I never asked you this, but what did you do before this? Your job.”

He’s trying really hard to get to know me. “I was a cleaning lady at a hotel. I was working my way through college.”

“You don’t have to justify it. There’s no shame in paying your bills.”

That’s one thing that changed for the better, she thought. She had no more bills to pay. 

A large set of double doors was opened to let them. The main entrance. Armed guards awaited them, equipped with M-16s. Once inside the building, the lobby wasn’t anything to behold. There was no front desk, no seating area, just a square outlet to four hallways. She assumed this was their living quarters.

Richard returned from the dock, making announcements with each step. “Okay, people, listen up. This, I’ll only say once. This is where you now live. You each get a private room. Toilet. Sink. Bed. Cable TV—even the nudie channels. And you’ll have changes of clothing as well. Every need you have will be fulfilled by the staff here. One of my assistants will split you up into groups and deliver you to your rooms. Rest up. Tomorrow, you will be given a tour by the director of the complex himself, Carl Brenner. He’s worked here for the better part of thirty years. He’s been in your shoes and has stayed in them. If anyone has a right to complain, he does—and he doesn’t complain. Not once.” He cleared his throat, waiting for any questions. “Okay, listen up for your name and line up in front of the appropriate officer.”

Names were rattled off. Richard called hers, and she stood in front of him. Herman was right behind her. Four more individuals were called out. “Okay people, follow my lead.”

They were guided to the west wing of the building. The setup was much like that of a college dorm. Tack boards brimmed with posters, reading, Get Eight Hours of Sleep; Stay Alert! You Are Never Safe On The Job; They Are Monsters, Not Humans; Fed, Satisfied Monsters Are Less Dangerous; and Do Not Attempt To Escape. You Will Be Shot On Sight.

Uplifting, she thought. Motivational.

“The job you have here will depend on your previous life experience,” Richard explained as he walked them onward. “Some of you will work night shifts, while others will be on the day shift. There are over a thousand workers in this place. This isn’t the only residence quarters on the premises. Jobs range from hard labor to sit-down work. Regardless, you will get your hands bloody. Now’s the time to get over it.”

They passed a lounge stocked with ten soda machines, six vending machines, a large-screen television, seating accommodations for a hundred people and a sizable video arcade. On the opposite side, there was a library.

“This lounge has all the accommodations you’d ever want. There are no computers—or at least no Internet. Sorry, folks. There are also no outgoing phone lines. If you haven’t caught on,” he joked, “this is secret government stuff.”

 “Emily Hawkins,” he called out, “you’re in room 113. You can walk about this floor freely, but be advised, you won’t get through security to anywhere else, and you can’t access the elevator. They’re hooked up to a computer system, and only a select few can get special access to other floors, and people, you are not that select few. This is for your safety. I’m sure you don’t want to walk on the floor where the vampires stay.”

Nobody disagreed.

The others in the line were assigned rooms, and that left Addey and Herman. He smiled at them, though it was a put-on. “Last but not least, you two are neighbors. Herman, your room is 119, Addey, 120.” He handed them each a key card. “Don’t lose this. They’re hard to replace. That is all. Have a good night.”

She called out to him, “Hey, wait. What are we going to do in the meantime?”

“Chill out. Play video games, enjoy a soda, get used to your room, whatever. At six o’clock sharp in the morning, you’ll be woken up. That’s it.”

Richard moved on, leaving her standing there, a confused stump. His form grew smaller down the narrow corridor until he vanished. Herman stepped in front of her when that happened. He’d been watching the man leave too. “Hey, this ain’t so bad. You see all those vending machines. And my grandkid got me into those video games. I saw a row of gaming consoles—and holy crap, we get our own rooms.”

“Shut up.” She felt herself growing weak. “I’ve got a killer headache. I just want to be alone.”

He nodded at her. “No, I get ya. Hey, sorry I called you ‘pretty’ earlier. It’s a habit I have. If I like somebody, I call them that—if they’re female, I mean. I’m not trying to romance you or anything. I’m much too old. And I don’t know about you, but this is stressful as hell. Jabbering on and on is therapeutic.”

She offered him the best smile she could muster. “Yeah, I understand. No problem. Herman, good night.” She extended her hand. “Friends, is that fair?”

He shook her hand. “I appreciate that. Good night, Addey.”

Herman entered his room with a swipe of the key card. The light on the lock mechanism changed from red to green. “Sleep if you can, Addey. I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be crazy.”

The door closed. She was the last of the group in the hall. The uncomfortable sensation quickly ushered her into the room.

Here goes the rest of my life.

She hadn’t turned the lights on yet before she began to weep.