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only fired guns at the firing
range. Dad said if I was fighting for my life I had to be willing
to kill. He said when the time came it was just about death, yours
or the other person’s. Still, shouldn’t I be more freaked out? I
killed these guys and I feel nothing.’
    He stared at the gun in his hand. A moment
later he bent down to retrieve the second man’s gun. It was the
first time he really looked at his captors.
    The shorter man was a slightly balding
redhead. The one in back bore an uncanny resemblance to a young
Robert Redford. Both wore white surgical gowns over dark
clothing.
    ‘Not what I was expecting,’ he thought.
‘Maybe Rebecca was right. Maybe this isn’t random at all. Maybe we
are hostages. But if they’re after my Dad, why weren’t they
questioning me? Dad said they would shoot a video with me to prove
I was still alive. Who are these people?’
    He stepped over the bodies into the hallway.
The door to his cell was one of many that lined both sides of the
corridor.
    ‘So many doors,’ he thought. ‘I could shout
out for Jan, try to find out where she is. Stupid. That would give
me away. I’ll just have to check the doors one by one.’
    Josh stopped in front of the next door and
cautiously opened the window. Inside was a young woman in a torn
blue dress. She hung from the ceiling just as like he had.
Intravenous tubes pumped black and green fluids into her body.
Strange symbols were drawn in blood down her arms.
    ‘Who are these people?’ He shook his head and
closed the window. ‘Questions for later. I have to find Jan and get
out of here.’
    The next door on the right was open. It led
to a brightly lit room with three operating tables equally spaced
around the room. One bed was empty. Jan was in the second. His eyes
froze on the third.
    “Brian.”
    Josh ignored Jan’s pleas and stood over his
friend’s body. His legs had been removed. On a nearby metal tray
sat a surgical saw with pieces of flesh embedded in the teeth of
the blade. Brian’s face was stiff, open mouth frozen in a scream
that would last forever.
    “Josh, you’ve got to snap out of it,” Jan
said. “Help me.” It wasn’t the words that got to him; it was the
surprisingly calm tone. He forced himself to turn away from Brian
and untied the straps that bound her to the table. She wore a blue
dress identical to the one he’d seen on the other woman. The same
strange symbols were drawn in blood down her arms.
    “Are you okay?” He asked. “What were they
doing to you?’
    “I don’t know.” Jan slipped off the table.
“They said I was a candidate. Kept muttering something about
Eyeness and Activation. Who cares? They’re crazy people. I’ve seen
at least five of them. They come in shifts. Two left a little while
ago.”
    “It’s okay. I killed them.”
    Jan’s eyes went wide and she took a step back
from Josh.
    Josh passed her one of the guns. “Take this.
I know how much you hate guns. Don’t worry about being accurate. If
you see someone coming you don’t recognize, point and shoot. Have
you seen the others? Rebecca or Matt?
    “No.” Jan glanced briefly at Brian’s body.
She turned away and folded her arms over her chest. “They made me
watch. Wanted to see if it triggered something.”
    “Damn.” Josh swallowed down tears and stared
at the ceiling. “We need to focus if we want to get out of this.
Stay close and watch my back. Okay?”
    Jan nodded. She grabbed the gun with both
hands and followed Josh back into the hallway.
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    “We need to find a phone,” Jan whispered.
    “No, we don’t.” Josh looked up and down the
hallway, trying to think.
    “Josh, we have to get help.”
    He turned and placed the palm of his hand
against her cheek. “Jan. I love you. Trust me.”
    Now that Jan was safe, he realized he’d made
a tactical error. He led them back to his cell and searched the
bodies of the men he had killed. He found a set of keys and cursed
under his