Both?
She rinsed the wound with more of the numbing fluid and then finished patching me up. She helped me stand and offered me an aspirin from the PHUCK tin.
She grinned. “You’ve officially been PHUCKED. Now, let’s keep moving.”
We weaved through the creepy bodies, avoiding the gross liquids bleeding from them, and making it to the other side of the tunnel which, unfortunately, plunged us into darkness.
We paused to switch on our headlamps when suddenly, we heard a sharp call from the dark.
“Who goes there?” A man yelled.
Boone stepped forward. “We’re travelers, just passing through!”
Our heads moved around, looking for the source of the voice. Slowly, a man crept forward. He looked entirely normal, dressed just like us, only… his eyes. They were unnaturally silver. He didn’t have a head lamp, I noted. What had he been doing in the complete dark?
“The only people that come down this way are looking for something very specific. Unless you’re lost?” he asked.
We didn’t speak, which only made him smile wider, turning from friendly to unsettling.
“From the looks of you, I’d say you’re not lost.”
Chapter 56 - Callahan
Gary is your friend.
We were at a standstill, five against one, although the man in front of us looked harmless. It was just his eyes that made him different. He scanned our line and zeroed in on me.
“You’re from a bunker. Which one?”
I stiffened.
How had he known that?
“237.”
“Ah! The Young Lady and her DADDY bunker. That was an interesting one to read about. While it’s not the worst one they created, it’s still disturbing. At least you have all your human parts,” he chuckled.
“You know about the bunkers?” Boone asked. “Who are you?”
“Gary. I came from Bunker 330. How did you get out when it is still an active bunker?” He turned his head curiously to the side, still focused on me.
“I— What do you know?” I didn’t trust Gary. He nodded, as if reading my mind.
“It’s fine. You’re looking for the TEST headquarters. I can take you there. You will find everything you’re looking for there.”
“Test?” Cherry asked.
“Teach, Elevate, Study, Transform. TEST. Come on, we can talk while we walk. You’re not far now.” Gary turned and walked into the darkness, not waiting for us to follow. We exchanged looks and begrudgingly, started after him.
“It started in the 1950s,” Gary started the moment we grew close. “I’m no historian, but I have lots of time to read, and I’ve read a lot.”
“Is that what you did in your bunker?” I asked. He laughed.
“No sir. Your bunker was a social experiment, mine was more physical. We weren’t encouraged to learn.”
“Is yours still active?” I was the only one speaking to Gary. Everyone else listened, looking very confused at our conversation. Gary laughed again.
“No sir. We rose up, rebelled, and killed all the scientists. Only a few of us survived, and once we escaped to the surface we parted ways. We thought it’d be safer that way. Less likely to be caught and found and dragged to a different bunker to be tested on.”
