Page 16 of Marked for Execution

My body tensed, but I nodded. The Doc had been working on something down there, disappearing for days at a time. He was supposedly trying to find a cure to this hellscape we call life, to find the reason why bloodsuckers came to be, and to reverse it enough to take things back to the way they were naturally supposed to be.

Some days, I just think he was out of his damn mind.

With some reluctance, I walked toward him, and he smiled wickedly in triumph. I didn’t trust this fucker, but he was the only doctor we had. He mainly treated the new residents upon arrival, and the groups that went out on runs.

“Good, good. I’m going to need you to help me with something. I’m sure you can spare the time. You just came back from an outing, correct?”

“Yeah. Whatever you say, Doc.” He must have emerged from his hole more than once today to know that. I filed that fact away in my mind.Something’s up.

He led me toward his underground bunker, and the cold concrete stairs chilled me to the bone with each step. It felt like death every time I was here. Cold. Stagnant. Sterile, with a hint of something dark lurking in the corners.

When we reached the bottom, there were tables and chairs with straps, some without. No one realized it, but this bunker of his had tunnels that reached every corner of this damn place. He didn’t know I knew, but I had gathered enough intel to piece it together. Some of the residents whispered about hearing muffled noises in strange locations coming from the ground during the day. Most chalked it up to the water turbine, but when things became too coincidental, one would be a fool not to start connecting the dots.

“Can you sit down in that chair, please?” He flapped his limb to the one with the straps before he dropped his arms and raised his eyebrows with excitement. “Unless you prefer the table?”

Grinding my molars, I sat in the stiff chair.The last time I was on the table, I lost track of time.I didn’t like that one bit.

He threw his head back and cackled, the seal of his bunker door soundproofing anything that happened down here.

He strapped my arm in and I stared at his face with unhidden disdain. That blood streak from his forehead now ran down his temple. The left rim of his goggles was wet and shifting on his skin. My eyes scanned his face but saw no wound.Who’s blood is it?

“Save that hate for the bloodsuckers; I’ve got a bigger purpose here, you know this.” He hadn’t wiped the smile off his face yet.

“What’s happening?”Dare I even ask?

“Oh, you’ll see. I’m going to need a sample of your blood, my friend. I’m so close to a breakthrough but I'll need to use you for my baseline. I ran out of Reed’s donations the other day. Samuel was busy judging by the cries coming through his doors, and Gunner was nowhere to be seen.”

The doc lifted his lip at the mention of Samuel and his choice of extracurricular activities, but all I could concentrate on was the fact that he just named off the main people in my team.

Seems they had been on his radar, but every time I brought that fact up, he assured me that he took blood samples from random residents here as well.

“This would be easier if I knock you out, you know.” His words were laced with mirth. I bet he got off on that power.

My paranoia grew. He had knocked us out a few times without us realizing. There was just somethingoffabout him. I refused to let him do it to me again. I had talked to my men and made sure they were doing the same.

“No. Let’s get this over with,” I ground out, annoyed at his delay tactic.

He laughed before he turned toward his table and grabbed an empty syringe. “Alright; suit yourself.”

A sharp pain accompanied the needle's entrance, and I clamped my teeth down. I watched as he pulled a vial’s worth of blood from me.

“Good, good. Alright, if you see Samuel, tell him I need to talk to him about something.” The doc was already back at his table of metal wares before he exited through one of his tunnel doors, slamming it shut.

“Didn’t even unstrap me, fucker.” Removing the leather belt from its loop, I released my wrist, rolling it.

Walking up the concrete steps, I shouldered the bunker door open and climbed out. Not the way I saw today going. I wondered what he really did with the blood he collected. The door fell with a hard slam. The sound bounced between the houses, but no one came out to look. Seemed everyone on this side was used to the crazy Doc’s bunker.

Shaking my head, I turned the corner toward Samuel’s, since I forgot what I would do earlier. The evening cooled the outside temperature, and the sounds of insects began to fill the air.

“Asshole!”

I turned around, sure they were addressing me.What did that say about my position in this community?Not that I cared.

I saw a small figure walk up, arms crossed.

“Sili.” I know she hated the nickname, but her firecracker attitude matched the small pepper my mother used to use in some of our meals. It was perfect for her.

“You never told me where the weapon store is. How am I supposed to know where to go?”