30
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 – 6:22 p.m.
The Morgue
The familiar smell of death mixed with alcohol, chemicals, old concrete, stale water and an old air freshener laced the air of the morgue as Mack made his way across the room. Using his trusty halogen flashlight, Mack had determined it would be wiser than turning on all the overhead fluorescent lighting. That would attract too much attention shining underneath the door should someone be on the other side. Moving the beam across the room and cutting a gash in the darkness, Mack’s eyes were treated to a variety of objects. Standing with his back to the main door, Mack’s light lit up a small storage room on his right. Just beyond that was a large walk in refrigerator, presumably where the bodies were kept. On the left wall a row of cabinets and drawers and a sink stood. At the far end was a large roll-up door through which the bodies of deceased individuals could be removed and hauled away. A ramp led from the roll-up door back up to the street level. A regular door was built into the wall next to the roll-up door through which technicians, medical examiners and others could enter on foot.
Mack wasn’t interested in any of this. He needed to find the body of the girl that had died that morning. According to his records, her name was Benita. Walking across the room, Mack’s ears picked up the telltale sounds of the faucet slowly drip, drip, dripping in the sink. An easy fix, Mack thought. Of course, the way hospital and government budgets were, that was the least of their worries. Mack continued walking occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming his way. Reaching the walk-in refrigerator, Mack grabbed the handle. It was cold to the touch, even through the gloves he was wearing. Giving it a tug, a hissing sound burst forth from the interior as the seal was broken. A cloud of cold air roiled out of the refrigerator and into the room. Mack disappeared as he entered the dead zone. The door sucked shut behind him startling him. Regaining his composure, he turned his light on three bodies that were lined up on gurneys side by side. Walking to the first one, Mack prepared himself as he pulled back the sheet. Gasping, he stumbled backwards into the wall.
***
Spike thought about his day that was just beginning. Not only had he started out on the wrong foot with Gretchen, but he’d also been roped into going into the morgue, his most feared place. Moreover, it was only 25 minutes into his 12-hour shift. It was going to be a long night.
The elevator chimed as it reached basement level. The doors slowly rolled open exposing a long hallway running the entire length of the hospital from south to north. On either side of the hall were several doors leading into several rooms. Some were used for storage, others for outdated equipment and still others for old medical records. The morgue lay at the very end of the hall. The elevator doors started to shut and Spike put his hand between the door and the wall. The automatic detector on the elevator stopped the doors and re-opened them. Spike stepped out. A few seconds later, the elevator doors shut and the quiet whine of it ascending the shaft registered in Spike’s mind. Spike suddenly felt scared, lonely and terrified. Looking down the long corridor, Spike felt as if he were in some horror movie and that at any minute the door at the far end would open releasing some gruesome dead creature that would slowly approach him to end his life. Frantic, he would try to recall the elevator, but to no avail. With no way out, Spike felt he would die at the hands of something inhuman. Shaking his head to clear his mind of such ridiculous thoughts, Spike rubbed his arms vigorously trying to encourage the myriads of Goosebumps to leave. They didn’t. Taking a deep breath, Spike began walking down the corridor.
Spike’s tennis shoes were quiet in the hall, but a slight echo could still be heard as he came ever closer to the dreaded door. Spike passed one door after another. He felt as if the door to the morgue wasn’t getting any bigger. As far as he was concerned, he was walking in slow motion and the door was constantly receding. Picking up the pace, Spike told himself that he had to do this and get it over with. The door was inching ever closer. Finally, Spike stood at the threshold. Reaching out, he inserted his key into the lock and turned it opening the door. The darkness inside filled Spike with instant fear. Quickly reaching for the light, lest some thing from the nether world should attack him before being doused with light, Spike’s trembling fingers found the switch and clicked it on. Some of Spike’s hair stood on end although he’d combed it down upon arriving at work. Quickly surveying the room for anything out of the ordinary, Spike made a beeline for the refrigerator. He wanted to get this task done quickly.
***
Mack kept himself from falling over by grabbing the rail on the gurney. Still shaken, Mack looked again at the corpse. Re-focusing his thoughts, he quickly realized that he was not looking at his mother. The similarities in the face of the corpse to those of his mother were astonishing albeit the corpse’s skin was bluish in color from the cold compared to his mother’s decayed flesh as she lay resting in her grave. Mack had to blink his eyes a few times to reassure himself that this was not his mom. After confirming that, he covered the body and moved to the second one. Slowly removing the sheet, Mack’s eyes met the face of a lovely woman. She looked to be in her late twenties. She had straight black hair and a fair complexion. Her face had a somewhat disturbed look to it although she was dead. Mack pondered her facial expression for a moment before removing a scalpel from his backpack.
***
Spike scurried across the room toward the refrigerator door. Just then the sound of the compressor on the refrigerator came to life and Spike almost used his underwear as a portable outhouse. Keeping control of himself, Spike looked around for anyone or anything suspicious and then continued walking toward the refrigerator door. Upon arriving he stopped. For several seconds, Spike tried to mentally prepare himself for what lay inside. Finally, he was ready. Tugging on the door, Spike pulled once without success. The door started to open and then sucked back shut. He pulled again, harder this time and after a second or so, the sound of the seal releasing radiated across the room. Spike stumbled backwards and then regained his balance. A heavy fog rolled out of the door. Spike couldn’t see a thing.
***
Mack’s head jerked up in one quick motion when he heard someone trying to open the door. Quickly shutting off his flashlight, he grabbed his backpack and pulled the sheet back over Benita’s head. Ducking down below the level of the gurney, Mack moved to his left and scooted as close to the third gurney as he could. Squishing himself under the edge of the gurney, Mack sat perfectly still. The icy cold of the floor was already beginning to wick through his pants and his butt was going numb. The sudden barrage of light into the refrigerator made Mack squint. He figured he’d be seen easily with that amount of light shining in. Then, to make matters worse, the overhead fluorescents in the refrigerator came on. They flickered and hummed overhead trying to warm up in the cold environment. Someone stepped into the refrigerator. Mack could see their legs, but nothing more. Whoever it was was moving slowly. Mack watched as they walked to the gurney on the far side and stopped. Mack could hear the moving of the sheet. It was quickly replaced. The person then moved to the second gurney and again the sheet was pulled down. This time Mack heard a gasp.
***
Leaving the door open and all the lights on, Spike entered the refrigerator. It was cold in here; much colder than a normal frig. Slowly walking to the first gurney, Spike pulled back the sheet. An old woman laid there, her face peaceful and serene. She’d lived a full life, and then this. Spike shook his head and covered her face. Rubbing his hands together to remove the chill, he stepped around the gurney and reached for the second sheet. Upon pulling it down, Spike’s heart jumped into his throat. Gasping, Spike stood staring at Benita. One of her eyes had been pulled out, the optic nerve cut and the eye laying on the gurney next to her head. Traces of brain tissue were dribbled inside and outside of the eye socket. Looking closer, Spike could just make out a small hole in the back of the empty socket next to the optic nerve where someone or something had penetrated the brain. Looking up, Spike frantically scanned the frig and the room beyond the open door to see if whatever disfigured her was coming for him. Seeing nothing, Spike quickly pulled the sheet down far enough to expose her arm. The IV cannula had been removed already. Spike cursed having wasted a trip down here and having had to witness this horror. Pulling the sheet back up over her head, he turned to leave when his foot hit something soft. His mind instantly told him that it wasn’t the gurney, but something less dense. Looking down, he was able to just make out what he thought was a shoe. Thinking that one of the deceased’ shoes had fallen off, he gave it a kick. It moved a little, but felt solid, almost as if someone were still wearing it. His heart raced faster realizing that maybe whomever or whatever had done this to Benita was still here. Not wanting to delve any farther, Spike turned to run out the door.
***
Mack jumped up as Spike flew through the door. Shoving the gurneys aside, Mack squeezed through them and ran out the door into the warm room. Ahead of him not more than ten feet away was Spike running for the door to the long hall. Mack, being more fit and in better shape, was able to easily overtake Spike before he reached the door. Reaching out and grabbing him by the back of his shirt, Mack pulled Spike to a complete stop. Screaming, Spike began flailing trying to elbow whatever had a hold of him. Mack shoved him against the door face first and twisted his arms around behind him. Spike’s thin frame crunched as he was pressed against the door like a pancake. Mack donned a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on Spike’s wrists. Spike struggled but to no avail. Twisting Spike around to face him, Spike saw his captor face-to-face.
“My God, no!”
Mack reached down on his belt and pushed a preset button. The room filled with beautiful colors and both men disappeared.
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