Guest #K-47

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She always thought there would be a bright light, a colorful garden, or any number of the various bullshit stories that were spun by people brought back to life. Even her own musings of just ceasing to exist were wrong; it was blackness and silence, but she still felt like she existed.

Think Katie, think. Where are you and what the fuck is going on?

Pondering feverishly, she realized she had yet to take a breath since coming to. Katie made an effort to inhale, but nothing happened. Panic crept around the edges of her mind, and try as she might there was no movement of air into lung, oddly enough there was also no burning urgency in her chest from her organs crying for oxygen. There was just, nothing.

.....

It was April, the best time of the year for hiking and camping: Mild weather, and before the hoards of tourists took over the National Parks. Katie rolled her eyes at the thought of all of the families that came out in droves just to snap a look at my happy family photo. I’m so glad Ma never made us take dumb Christmas card pictures. The people that came, for the most part, didn’t even appreciate the wondrous landscapes that backdropped their photos. Not Katie. She had the heart of an adventurer, even in her childhood days. Preferring to venture off on her own, away from the beaten path, to find the peace that one can only find when surrounded by nature.

This particular adventure was a week long hike and camp around Lula Lake Land trust. Loaded up with her favorite pack, necessary supplies, and trusty knife, Katie spent the first day of her trek on the mapped paths. Satisfied with her knowledge of local animals and plants, day three was her first step in to uncharted territory.

Nature was overwhelming in the most glorious of ways when the time is taken to fully appreciate it. Katie was so immersed in this mindset that it took a rather loud grumble from her stomach to remind her that sustenance was most definitely needed. Picking a spot under a nearby tree, she plopped down to rummage through her pack for granola and handheld satellite GPS. The ancient-looking tech box made its familiar beep of a hello, and dark grey lines began to appear across the lit green screen.

What’s wrong with this thing?

Directly in the center of the screen, where Katie’s location should be dotted, was a large blank square that looked to be about 15 miles across. The only other times this had happened was when she accidentally stumbled on to government territory in her trip hiking up the coastline of North Carolina.

But I didn’t see any postings of private property or trespass warnings.

She was a pretty far reach from any marked trails, and without the help of her GPS, there was no option but to keep moving forward.

Keep traveling north, and you’ll come to the land of the living soon enough.

Now that her stomach was happy, it was time to put some more miles under her feet. There was still about 4 hours of daylight left, so she had three to move and one to start finding a spot to hang her hammock before nightfall. Moving with intent now, instead of the gentle meandering pace of the morning, Katie headed north, making sure to check her compass every so often for accuracy in direction. She was confident in her skills, and not keen to be a worrier; but as the hours passed, something in her gut pulled at her. The scenery was changing in a way that seemed unnatural, the trees too close together and the footing purposefully unstable.

There’s no way I’m turning back now. Time to power through.

At some points, she had to meticulously plot how to get over the tight-nit brush. She also noticed that the normal woodland creature sounds were diminishing. Forcing herself to stay positive, she repeated the same words over and over in her head:

It can’t go on like this forever. Only a little while longer and you’ll be through the toughest parts.

It didn’t take a while, or longer. It only took about 100 yards and she burst through the clustered trees in to a complete clearing. She turned and raised her middle fingers to the dense tree line as a victorious hurrah, and smiled to herself as she dropped her hands and made to dig out her GPS. As her hands fumbled in her pack, Katie turned to survey the clearing and was immediately unsettled at the empty space before her.

Probably half a mile diameter of neatly kept grass, in a perfect circle, all curtained by trees so thickly you couldn’t see through them. In the center of this weirdly perfect lawn stood an old barn.

If there’s a barn, then there’s most likely people. If nothing else I can figure out where in bum fuck nowhere I am.

From a distance, the barn looked rickety. Not quite a dilapidated and abandoned structure, but it had certainly seen better days. Every step Katie took towards it, nibbling in the pit of her intuition became stronger. The red paint upon closer inspection wasn’t chipped and peeling; it was painted in such a way that it only looked weathered from afar. The slanted and broken boards were held in place, not hanging in disarray. Its tall angled roof was metal and glimmered, not a spot of rust to be seen. Only steps away from the large bay doors, Katie could now hear the quiet high-pitched hum of electricity and what sounded like industrial air conditioners.

None of this makes sense. Why would someone build a place like this, and make it so hard to reach? It’s obviously still being used and from the looks of things, pretty important.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the footsteps of a security guard moving closer and closer.

.....

The exterior of the building was, in fact, a barn, but the inside was teeming with motion: computers of all sizes, different sterilized tubes and tabletops, white walls and floors that smelled of bleach and antiseptic, and about a dozen people all touting lab coats over their office casual wear of choice.

The scientist on shift, and in charge of K-47/female chuckled watching the screen before him. If nothing else it was always entertaining to watch the transition of the newcomers as they pieced together what had happened to them. The newest guest was currently in the “panic” phase of this transition, all of her thoughts were manically appearing on the monitor before him. Alongside the main monitor of chaotic thinking, another showed electrical signals and chemical readings. Wires in many colors connected the screens, others into power sources, and a small handful leading in different directions of the laboratory. The rest, all bundled together neatly in a waterproof casing, lead to a large and almost aquarium-like tube.

“Don’t worry” said the scientist as he stood to gather up his coat and bag that contained his dinner “you’ll figure it out soon enough.” With almost a loving pat to the lid of the tank labeled K-47/female, he turned to leave. Though the brain inside had no means of visual input, he made sure to leave his desk light on for Katie.