Free Beyond Death (Book 2): Apocalypse by Silas Cooper Page B

Frank.
    “Yes, this is Chase Douglas,” Frank answered.
    “Hi Chase, my name is Ben,” he offered without offering his hand. “From what I’ve heard, I think you may have some information that could be very useful to us. Mind going through the story again?”
    “Yes, actually, I do,” Chase dared boldly. “I won’t say a word unless you save each person I came in with.”
    “Sorry, we can’t do that,” Frank interjected.
    “Wait,” Ben stopped him. “Maybe we could strike a deal. I’m in an especially good mood today. How about we let you pick one of them to save. Then you tell us. Or we can just kill you all. I have no problem either way. Luckily your assistant already gave us enough to go on. I would like to hear it again to be able to ask questions if I want, but I’m sure this little meeting isn’t really necessary.”
    Chase’s thoughts went to Jayda. He’d decided long ago to take any risk to save her life. He didn’t know if she even remained alive at this point, but they’d already called his bluff and he had to try. So he swallowed the words he wanted to yell at them about going and fucking themselves.
    Instead he muttered, “Save Jayda. She’s pregnant.”
    Ben looked to Frank and said, “Find the woman and bring her here quickly. We will wait. Also, bring his assistant. Might as well hear the story from both of them.”
    Frank nodded and walked off with his uniformed entourage. The room grew quiet. The silence was almost deafening as the guy at the desk, Ben, opened a file and read. On occasion he scribbled something with a pen. The other lab coats behind him stood at attention. Obviously military like he’d been. They knew how to take orders and how to keep quiet until orders were given to them.
    After an endless stretch of time he was sure was only a few minutes by the amount of times Ben had turned his pages, Frank walked in with Jayda and Lucas. He was thrilled to see them clothed and looking better than he’d expected. In fact, if possible, they both seemed to glow, maybe to have even gained a touch of weight. How long had he been out? It only could have been a few hours.
    The men took no time in getting right down to it. Chase and Lucas talked on, answered questions when asked, and even debated a few scientific points of speculation as they went. Food had been brought in at one point, and Chase ate and talked with his mouth full without care to manners.
    Lucas and Jayda had just picked, so he figured they’d already been fed well. He wondered if they’d gone to the food group. He was still unclear what that meant, but obviously they’d eaten.
    “Well, I have to say that I’m impressed with your findings given the resources you had at your disposal,” Ben finally said as he wiped his mouth. “I would like to work with you both, to add you to my team.”
    “Wait, you said just Chase and one other,” Frank interjected. “We only had clearance for one of them to begin with.”
    “Take them all back to the food area. Let them eat some more, and I will go talk to those who make the executive decisions around here,” Ben said with a forced calm to his voice.
    This raised an eyebrow on Chase, but he followed the guards willingly. He hoped he could have both Jayda and Lucas. He felt bad for Sherri, but he’d be grateful for what he could get at this point. Just a bit ago he thought himself dead, even though it hadn’t seemed to matter to him.
    When they got to what they’d called the food area, he observed what looked like a bunch of men and women in hospital scrubs like Lucas and Jayda wore sitting in a cafeteria. Each of them ate colorless food as if a chore. Uniformed men seemed to be forcing them to do so. To his relief, he saw Lucas find Sherri. For the moment, they were all alive.
    A few feet from him, a guard shouted at a woman. As she shook her head and cried, he ripped her from her seat. Food fell from her hands. She sobbed openly as the guard started to beat her.