Part 1 Lockdown Room

They were trapped. Four dark walls surrounded them like a cage. A flickering lightbulb dangled from the ceiling. Each wall was coated in an unappealing pale-yellow paint that made the room look both dirty and eerie in the dim lighting. There were no windows, or vents, no way to escape. Save for the single door leading in and out.

Joe rattled the door, it was bolted. At least seven AI locks protected the door from opening on the inside. The state started switching to AI locks after the riots. Of course, they are using AI locks, now we will never escape! Joe thought hopelessly. AI locks were nearly impossible to open, unless you were an amazing hacker. Unfortunately, nobody here was that good.

“Great!” she sighed, “We are never getting out of here!”

Joe thought about how she ended up stuck here. It had been Callum’s idea to try and escape the residence building. He approached Brea and Mitchel first with his plan. Brea was his sister and Mitchel was his best friend, he wouldn’t leave without them.

They planned to leave the government residence building Wednesday morning, when the wardens were doing their breakfast run. Joe was Brea’s best friend, practically sisters, and Brea refused to leave without her. Callum had grudgingly let her come along. It wasn’t hard to convince them to try to leave after the state’s new emergency measures. Their city had gone from a socialist utopia to a totalitarian hell.

Joe sat down, resting her elbows on her knees, collapsing her forehead to her hands. When she looked up again, she had a panicked expression on her face. “What do you think they’ll do to us in here?” Joe whimpered.

Brea and Mitchel looked at each other, hesitantly. Callum stared at his shoe vacantly. “What?! What are you guys thinking?” Joe asked.

Nobody said anything. Brea, Mitchel, and Callum threw nervous glances at each other. “I deserve to know!” Joe demanded.

Callum hesitated, “Have you heard stories of the surgeon?”

“No,” Joe said, staring at him blankly, “What are the stories?”

“Let’s just say he is rumored to perform some interesting experiments on traitors to the state,” Callum replied. He looked away darkly.

That’s right, they were now traitors to the state. Hard to believe after they had all done their part. Joe thought about her life here in the government residence building. They had all given up so much over the years. Their existence was reduced to a number. As a kid she was told she could pursue her dreams in the residence building. They even called her by name. But that was when the state’s idea was still young. Now each person had to live off their designated government rations, was designated a number and was required to fulfill their duty to the state. The state assigned people jobs. You had no choice whether you got to be an engineer, or a garbage picker.

The new government emergency measures meant even less freedom, which was hard to imagine. You were assigned a partner and required to have one kid together, of a specific gender decided by the state, by the age of 35. This was a step too far. But there was little hope of leaving the state. Nowadays just for trying to leave the residence building you were considered a traitor to the state. Joe reminisced her parent’s stories, when joining the government residence building was optional.

Joe stared at the brightest object in the room, a large square mirror hanging on the far wall. The mirror was smudged with fingerprints, dirt and what looked like feces. “Do we really need to stare at ourselves in this state?” she stated sarcastically, shaking her head. Why put a mirror of all things in a lockdown room.

Suddenly, the locks on the door started to unlatch, one by one. Joe’s heart thudded. This is it! Someone is coming to save us! She shuddered remembering what the rest of the group had said. Or someone is coming to experiment on us. “Don’t think about that now,” Joe whispered, closing her eyes.

“What?” Brea said throwing her a questioning look.

“Nothing, nothing!” Joe quickly whispered back. Everyone glanced nervously at each other.

Finally the door opened, slowly, with a creek and a thud. You could tell the door was heavy, made from something like metal. A small man stepped out from behind the door wearing a white lab coat. A stethoscope was draped ceremoniously around his neck and a tool belt was wrapped around his waist. The surgeon.

He looked too old to be alive. His skin so thin on his face you could see nearly every vain protruding. His thin long nose stuck out like a mountain, a compliment to his long sagging ears. Stubby tuffs of white hair covered the sides of his head. The rest of his head was bald and shiny.

“Ah yes. The sate traitors. I will deal with all four of you.” He spat, “But first Brea you are coming with me. Oh and you may want to stare at yourself after I’m done with you.” An unpleasant smile covered his face.

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An excerpt from a story I am working on. Thanks for reading :)