How to Live a Happy Life
by Clifford Piel
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Table of Contents parts: 1, 2, 3 |
part 2
He sat up too fast and the room spun. After a few deep breaths, he slowly dropped his legs over the side of the bed. The floor was cold, a bit lumpy and uneven, and looked like polished stone.
The head of the bed was pressed against a wall. Toward the right was a narrow hallway. He walked slowly toward the hallway, using the white-painted wall for balance and found it was cold with a coarse and jagged texture. The corridor was dark but promised light farther ahead. After another dozen steps, his exploration was cut short by an iron gate that looked curiously like jail cell bars. What the hell?
He pushed and pulled at the gate, but the deadbolt lock held strong. He turned back and re-entered the room, spotting a toilet in the far corner. He really had to pee, so he lifted the toilet lid and peered down into a black hole. Oddly, there was no plumbing attached to the toilet, just a dark void with what sounded like a trickling stream and the repugnant stench of backed-up sewage below.
Once he had relieved himself, he shut the lid and began inspecting the room further. There was a TV, bed, and a table next to the other side of the bed that held a pitcher of water and a glass. He filled the glass and guzzled. The water was so cool and refreshing he did it again. He sat on the side of the bed and, noticing a remote on the side table, he turned on the television. The face of an elderly man appeared on the screen. He had dark, glossy eyes, a head of thinning gray hair and a gray goatee.
“Hello. My name is Albert Jenkins, co-founder of the Life Renewal Corporation,” the on-screen man said. “Whether you are here as a donor or a recipient, you will reap the benefits our community has to offer. We are all here because we want to live but, more importantly, our goal is to clean the world and rid mankind’s dependence on oil and coal. We have an all-natural energy source we have made huge advances with. Our facility is already running off of this new energy. Soon we will power surrounding cities, states, the country, and eventually the world. A much less populated world, I might add.” Albert paused then, as if in reflection and to allow his audience to catch up.
“So for now, we must cover our most basic rules. For your safety, you must be accompanied by one of our staff whenever you leave your room. I know that may feel like an imposition, but we ask that you believe in us. Change comes from within and, as long as you believe in us, we will believe in you and make your dreams of a happy life a reality.
“Please listen to the staff, for they are here to make your transition easier. If you have questions, ask your coordinator. If you follow our simple guidelines and allow us to care for you, then you, your friends and family will all be overjoyed. We will meet soon, and welcome to the Life Renewal Corporation. Your life is about to change for the better.”
The screen turned black. What did Annalise do to me?
Jeremy startled when the gate squealed on its hinges. He jumped to his feet as a woman entered the room. She was young, around Jeremy’s height and age, dressed in what looked to be a white one-piece outfit. The sleeves were long and her pant legs were tucked into black boots. Her black hair was tied tight to the nape of her neck.
Jeremy, still a bit unstable on his feet, used the bed for balance. “Who are you? What is this place? Where’s Annalise? Did she send me here?”
“I’m Angela, your coordinator as well as your nurse.” She held a clipboard and looked at it. “You are Jeremy Jones, twenty years old. You have dark hair and brown eyes. You’re five feet six inches tall and weigh a hundred forty pounds. Married two years to Annalise.” She gave Jeremy a sympathetic look. “The two of you are so young to be married. She must really care to get you help here.”
“I don’t need help!” he snapped. Annalise did this. He knew it. Time to get a divorce. “Let me the hell out of here.”
Angela lowered her clipboard and held it in front of her. “We all need a little help sometimes, and the Life Renewal Corporation is the place to get it. Three years ago I needed help and now I have this wonderful career that I’m well compensated for. With your sacrifice, you are going to help energize the new world. I suggest you embrace this opportunity.”
His breaths were getting harder to come by. “Sacrifice?” he practically gasped. Something was off here, as well as with all those strangers that were in his house. “What do you mean by energize the new world? And what opportunity?” Fear and anger were battling for dominance now.
“Didn’t you read the pamphlet, the dozen or so papers you signed before coming here? It’s all in your package.” She shook her head. “For such an important decision, so many of you don’t read the information packets.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never signed anything and I want to leave. Now!” He stepped toward her, hoping for intimidation. “Where are my clothes?” I need to get out of here. Just go!
Angela looked nervously at her clipboard, seemingly at a loss of how to respond.
She doesn’t know what to do. “I’m leaving!” He stepped around her and headed to the gated corridor, noticing a black hooded figure blocking the way. Doesn’t matter. Door is open. “Excuse me. I’m leaving.”
The person, who was smaller than Jeremy, didn’t respond.
“Jeremy,” Angela called from behind. He turned and she held up her hands peacefully. “Careful. That one has lost her soul, and they can be very strong.”
Still fuzzy in the head, Jeremy said, “Did you just say she lost her soul?”
“Yes. The ones in black are the soulless. For some reason, the new soul was rejected. With no souls, they’re like zombies until someone tells them what to do. This one has been instructed to guard the exit.”
Soulless zombies? What the...? Fiction and reality crossed paths, and his mind numbed as it often did when he didn’t want to face the world. Instinct took over, and he shoved the “zombie” blocking the passage. The figure barely moved, but the black hood slipped off, revealing a young girl underneath. She was in her early teens with long dark hair, a pale face and vacant eyes. She seemed very distant, as if she was loaded on drugs.
“Get out of the way!”
She didn’t move.
“Jeremy, let me help you,” Angela practically begged.
Jeremy backed up several steps and ran into the girl in black. She took a slight step back, just enough for him to squeeze by her at the open gate. She snatched at his hospital gown, pulling it off of him. Now naked, he was free, but also seized by panic. He had no idea where he was, or where he should go.
Like the room, the hallway walls and ceiling were all white-painted rock. The ground was cold stone on his bare feet. Single bulb lights were fastened along the corridor walls. The air was cold and smelled like paint and wet earth. With a large gulp of air, Jeremy began to run. He held his arm out toward the wall in case he had to use it for leverage. As he scrambled down the hallway, he couldn’t help but to think he might be in a cave. Maybe this is some secret underground facility.
Panting and feeling like his head was going to explode, Jeremy began hearing voices he could not understand bouncing through the tunnel. A corridor to his left led to a door a dozen yards ahead. He wanted to go that way, but if the door were locked...
He veered right and, as he ran, he noticed several smaller darkened tunnels that seemed to branch off like veins from the main corridor. He still didn’t know where to go or where he was, so he continued down the main passage until someone shouted, “Find him!”
Startled, he ducked into one of the small offshoots, gasping for air while trying to quiet his breathing. The hanging light and painted walls came to an abrupt end where the walls began to narrow and the ceiling dropped so low he was forced to crawl, scraping his knees and back and arms as pebbles and dirt cascaded down the walls and ceiling. He winced at the burn of his abrasions. Cry later, Jeremy. You need to find a way out.
Minutes later he finally connected with another larger and lighted tunnel. He paused, realizing he was still naked, but that couldn’t matter. Not now. Not until he was safe.
Panting, sweating, heart thrashing, head pounding, mouth begging for water; he peered into the corridor. He couldn’t detect any footsteps or voices so he entered the passage toward his left. He ran another twenty yards before ducking into another opening on the right, a room with a single dim light in the back.
Three long tables took up most of the space. The closest table to the door had separate mounds of pants, shirts, socks and shoes. The next table had black boots, and the table beyond was covered with stacks of white, black, beige, red, and blue clothing.
“What the hell is this?” he mumbled to himself.
The sound of voices began to grow louder as they bounced off the tunnel walls. Jeremy dropped under the table nearest the back wall. The floor was the same, all natural stone from what he could tell, but he also felt something else, something that didn’t belong on the floor. He realized he was squatting on top of a piece of plywood. He felt around the edges and it was about a three-foot square. He moved from the plywood and nudged it over a few inches. A cool draft of sewage greeted him.
Although the stench was nauseating, he slid the plywood fully out of the way. The hole wasn’t very big, but neither was he. His less-than-average size could finally pay off. You really want to escape through this secret lair’s sewer system?
Someone entered the room and he froze. “Conner, check the back,” a female voice commanded.
“Got it, Chief.”
The name, the voices, sounded familiar, but Jeremy didn’t dare move as Conner was closing in, flashlight in hand. He was wearing black boots and a one-piece red jumpsuit.
Conner crouched down, allowing his light to sweep under one of the other tables. “Smells like the old days in here,” he said. “We had an outhouse where I grew up.” The light was now coming toward Jeremy, and he readied for a headfirst dive into the sewer.
“Conner, let’s go, we got the divinectomy detail in five.”
“All clear.” Conner stood, abandoning his search.
Jeremy caught a glimpse of them as they paused at the doorway. What the hell? That’s the scotch-drinking kid and the chick that kept yammering on about how the LRC changed her life. Nicole, I think.
After the two made their exit, Jeremy expelled a relieved sigh before crawling out from under the table. Uncomfortable with his nakedness and vulnerability, Jeremy quickly slipped into one of the red uniforms. A little big but at least he was dressed. He grabbed random socks from the mound and found a pair of black boots.
Getting dressed helped him relax a bit, and he finally allowed himself to peer out into the hallway.
A fresh set of male voices forced him back into the room, his back against the wall. They were just outside, and he could hear them clearly.
“Some guy changed his mind, so now I have to look for him and miss the show.”
“Supposed to be like fifty of these things happening tomorrow.”
“I heard. Have you ever seen one of the divinectomies? The person literally changes in front of your eyes.”
“Couple times. Seeing an actual soul sucked out of its body is creepy, but awesome.”
A soul sucked out of its body? Curiosity was a self-destructive reflex. Jeremy was paralyzed with both fear and intrigue. That one has lost her soul. Angela’s words repeated in his mind.
He was scared, but he oddly never felt so alive. He had a reason to live now, to find out what was going on. After the two men were out of hearing distance, he stepped out into the main passage in hopes of catching up to Conner and Nicole while still staying far enough behind that they wouldn’t notice him.
The tunnel curved for a stretch, and soon he heard what sounded like several conversations at once. He reached an open foyer where dozens of elderly people were gathered, dressed in suits and gowns, as if they were there for a formal ball. They were all lined up to enter through a door, but he didn’t see Conner or Nicole.
A firm hand landed on his shoulder and he nearly shrieked.
Jeremy spun to face a man with eyes too severe for someone in their early twenties. He was dressed in a red jumper and held a walkie-talkie. “You been assigned?” he demanded.
Jeremy was at a loss. “Uh... no.”
“Why the hell you here? Get out there and monitor the halls. We still got a guy to find.”
Jeremy didn’t know how to respond. What was the protocol? Say, ‘Yes, sir’? Or should I just turn and go? The wrong response could make him look out of place and give himself away.
The walkie-talkie squawked and a voice said, “Sarge, still no sign.”
Sarge lifted the radio. “Keep looking.”
To Jeremy, Sarge said, “Find him,” and he stormed off.
Jeremy was burning up after the fear of nearly being caught. He slowly blew out a deep breath, but his relief was short-lived when he noticed several of the elderly folks were looking at him. He couldn’t afford the attention so he headed back down the main corridor and cut into an alcove a dozen yards ahead. The smell of deep earth and the absence of light told him that this particular corridor rarely had visitors. He kept moving, squeezing sideways in some places and ducking low in others until he rounded a tight corner where light seeped through a small hole in the wall.
He peered through the hole into what looked like a mad scientist’s laboratory. The smell of bleach and soap was strong, as if someone had recently scrubbed down the entire lab. Two lab technicians were dressed in white baggy suits, their faces hidden behind tinted face shields.
They were standing over a naked young man who was laid out on a metal table. They strapped down his arms and legs with leather restraints before securing a strap over his forehead. They taped electrodes to his chest and temples and attached wires to them.
A glass dome big enough for a man to stand inside hovered above the patient. A flexible accordion-like tube was connected at the top. The tube snaked around to a clear cylinder in the center of the room that looked like a giant glass water heater.
The two lab techs then approached an elderly man lying on the floor a few feet away. Above him was an identical glass dome, also with an accordion-like tube attached. The old man was covered to his neck with a white sheet, providing an outline of his skeletal frame. A thin layer of scaly, brown-mottled skin covered his emaciated face. The remaining strands of hair on his head were white.
The man licked his thin lips as he took in several short, labored breaths. “You’ve gotten old, waiting to die,” he grumbled, seemingly to himself. He wheezed for more air. “Oh God, please forgive me.”
Just then, one of the techs stabbed a needle into the old man’s arm, instantly calming him. The second tech pulled the sheet away and the old man lay naked, revealing the bones under his saggy, blotched skin. The two men stepped away, and the glass dome lowered over the old man. The base of the glass slipped into a seam, and with a hissing suction locked in place.
Although he didn’t know what was really going on, Jeremy wanted to stop whatever was about to happen. You know what this is. A soul is about to get sucked out of its body.
The technicians returned to the patient on the table again. He was now more conscious and fighting against his restraints. They ignored him, double-checking their work. A motor above whirled, and both techs stepped away. A mechanical arm lowered the glass dome until it connected with the seam around the table. A vacuum hiss and the pop of the dome’s locking mechanism ensured there could be no escape.
Jeremy watched the technicians leave through a door off to the side, where another person walked in. The newcomer had a head of dark mop-like hair and wore a white lab coat. He couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen.
The teenager moved to a console near the door and flicked a switch before he headed toward the elderly man on the floor. He looked outward, as if to an audience. Jeremy then noticed the crowd, sitting and watching behind three large plate-glass windows. They were the elderly people in the suits and gowns.
Copyright © 2023 by Clifford Piel
