The Machine - 5 - Infirmary
6 minute read
"Murder?" Cole screamed. "I didn't murder him!"
The large man wrote something in his notebook. "You've got a dead enforcer next to your blown-up machine part. I suggest you shut your mouth."
"This is crap." Cole squirmed on the gurney.
The large man nodded to the men carrying the gurney. "They'll take you to see the caretakers, and you'll have another enforcer in your room to keep you contained." He shoved the small notebook back into his pocket. "Take him."
"Wait!" Cole yelled at the large man as he was hauled out of the room. The two men jogged through the door, and as it closed, Cole watched the large man kick at the ground. He couldn't imagine what else they might accuse him off if they found signs of the repairman.
As the two men carried Cole through the twisting dark tunnels under town, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him. Most accidents killed shovelers. Maybe surviving was a worse fate. Without witnesses, would he be able to convince anyone? He had heard of shovelers being put on trial for sabotaging parts before, but even those were kept under wraps; he never knew the outcomes. Shovelers that abandoned their posts were kicked out of town. Maybe banishment was in his future.
His thoughts kept his mind occupied as he was carried to the infirmary, which was just another room connected to the tunnels, only this room didn't have any part of the machine in it, just half-occupied beds and a handful of toilets against a wall. The two men flipped the gurney over and Cole rolled out of it onto a mattress stained with fuel and grease and things he didn't even want to know. He groaned when he flopped onto the top, and sent dirt flying into the air. The men dropped the gurney and held onto his shoulders so he couldn't move.
"What the hell, guys?"
Both of them just shook their heads.
"Newcomer." A voice called out from the opposite end of the room. A bald man in a white jacket started walking toward Cole, and the two men holding him down gripped tighter.
The door to the infirmary flung open, and in its frame stood another enforcer. "Cole?" The enforcer growled.
One of the men let go of Cole's shoulder and signaled for the enforcer, who started marching forward, right behind the bald man in the jacket.
"Wait," the enforcer said.
The bald man turned. He had a conversation with the enforcer that Cole couldn't hear. They whispered, exchanged glances, and then simultaneously walked his way. The grips on his shoulders got even tighter.
"Cole?" The bald man said.
Cole nodded.
"Eli," the bald man said. "I'll be your caretaker today. Sounds like you had some trouble with your part?"
"Look, I don't know what they told you, but it was an accident.
Eli laughed. "You hurt?"
"I didn't kill anyone."
Eli leaned over. "Yeah, listen Cole, I don't really care about that. I care that there's an enforcer in my infirmary slowing me down, but other than that, my job is to get you back out there as fast as you can. We might be a little delayed given they have to rule out ... foul play ... but honestly, I could care less."
At least the man was honest. Cole knew caretakers didn't really care about individuals, and he had demised a while ago that they were on some sort of timed schedule; if a patient stayed longer than he should have, they'd be penalized for it. He knew a man who blew two fingers off, and he was back working no more than an hour after it happened, with a bandages around his hand that had to be changed every 10 minutes.
"Great," Cole said. "I really just want to get cleaned up if that's possible, I'm good to go now if I need to."
"Unfortunately, you'll have to stay here a bit longer because of the investigation." Eli looked at the enforcer. "But it's not going against my stats, right?"
The enforcer nodded slightly, almost indistinguishable from him just adjusting his neck.
"I don't want to get punished for something I didn't do." Cole felt a sudden urge of meaninglessness. If he wasn't shoveling, like he had all his life, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. They weren't going to take it away from him for some freak accident.
"Security will be here shortly," the enforcer said.
Cole slammed his fist on the bed and more dirt jumped into the air.
"You need to be scanned, too." Eli said.
In all of his times at the infirmary, he hadn't heard of it before. Usually a quick visual check and a few bandages were all that was required. Maybe some pain medications if you were lucky. He had heard they ran out of them recently, so he was grateful not to need them at the moment, not that a little pill would help his throbbing headache anyway.
"What's that?" Cole asked.
"New procedure, hang tight." Eli walked over to the corner of the room, and opened a pair of curtains that were draped over a wire running the length of the room. He appeared a few minutes later. "This way, please."
The two men let go of Cole's shoulders and stepped back. Cole stood up and the enforcer inched closer. "Yeah, I get it," Cole said. He headed towards Eli, who was eagerly waiting by the curtains.
"You're the first person to go through this scan," he said with a smile running across his face.
"Lucky me," Cole said. He could feel the enforcer's breath on the back of his neck as walked across the room. Eli was holding the curtains open and Cole stepped in. He was now in the corner of the room, behind a curtain, staring at a large glass box. "This it?" He asked.
Eli nodded, and walked over to a panel full of buttons. "First you'll have to disrobe."
Cole sighed, he was used to community showers, but that was with people he was familiar with. He barely knew where he was, let alone who Eli and this enforcer were. He sighed and tossed his clothes on the floor.
"Step in." Eli opened a door on the box and Cole stepped in. Eli went back to the panel and pushed a few buttons.
Cole shivered and kept his hands in front of him, trying as best he could to maintain some sense of privacy.
"Now, like I said," Eli closed the box. "You're the first person who has gone through this, so you'll have to let me know what it feels like."
"I thought it was just a scan?" Cole asked. The sound of a motor erupted from the bottom of the box, followed by a gurgling noise, and seconds later a purple liquid started pooling around his feet. "Eli?" Cole asked.
"Erm, yes. It is a scan, sort of." He pushed a couple more buttons and the edge of the box started to glow, and the liquid rose faster.
"Wait a minute-"
Eli gave a thumbs up.
Cole could hardly move inside the cramped box. He started banging against it as the lukewarm liquid rose past his knees.
"What the hell is this?"
The enforcer and Eli were both hunched over the control panel now.
"Guys!"
This liquid reached his chest and kept going past his throat. He lifted his chin to suck in the last bit of air he could, before it engulfed his mouth and ran over his eyes, leaving him blind and wondering if this would be how he died.