Prisoners of the Sticky Paper

Ameillia

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. The two men had given her the private bedroom in the loft above an old pawn shop. There was a room, kitchenette, and bathroom above the shop along with a small living room which had a couch and TV set. They could watch old movies on it, but there was no live programming out here beyond the city gates. They were staying in the ruins of a town called Silver Mountain which had been abandoned during the migration years ago.

Most items were left behind in a frantic hurry in cities across the country. Entire cities had been vacated. Homes were left to be weathered and scavenged as more and more people made their way to get to Bonneville which was the new settlement that people travelled thousands of miles to get to.

Genesis was now her only security as he was the only one out of the three of them to have prior experience here. He occupied this shop and traded supplies for food and other items the nomad groups scavenged from other abandoned cities. The supplies he would take from the settlement were usually medical supplies and medications needed by the nomad groups.

Many of the abandoned shops and homes were occupied here by people who had left the settlement. It felt peaceful and quiet here, something she never felt which living in Bonneville. Ameillia lay on the bed watching the night sky. Her memories flashed back to her as she went over how she got here in this old. Worn from years of weather and nomads scavenging and using it as a shelter. Memories that pained her. She could hear the knocking…

Knock Knock Knock, Scratch scratch…

It’s 3:01am, but she had only been asleep for about an hour. On her bedside table was a tablet with several screens on them showing different views from her security cameras.

Staring up at the camera, Genesis had his dark gray cloak pulled up with a white bandana covering his nose and mouth. Beside him was a shorter man who had a cloth mask fastened around his ears, that classic white and blue, standard face covering. His beard was wild and poked out around the edges of the mask.

White bandana… her guts wretched violently…

Quickly, grabbing her robe off the corner of her four-poster bed, she dashed to the back door. She let the pair in and immediately fastened the multitude of bolts and chains going up the door. The shallow breathing of the men was muffled through their masks, and came weezing between their coughing.

Fog was always in the forecast, causing the air to be muggy. It was abnormal to see people without masks, and limited time was spent outdoors due to the air quality. The congestion of people in the vast city caused major pollution, it was often uncomfortably humid. The masks the pair of them wore was not surprising, but the white bandana was a message, code to her.

Ameillia was standing over Genesis and cutting into his arm, fishing out a microchip implant from under his skin. Faces of other people flashed inside her memories, faces of anguish, of pain.

She could hear her heart beating hard inside her chest and every noise made felt louder than usual. Without saying a word, Genesis led the way through the kitchen, down the hallway, and down the stairs to the basement. Ameillia anxiously followed the pair, preparing herself mentally for what she was about to do.

The basement was made as a dead zone, which meant their implants could not be detected. They would fall off detection and would appear as though they were dead to anyone watching. After 5 hours of someone dropping off, a team would be sent out in search of a dead body and where they were last detected. Five hours would give them plenty of time to get their job done, and she would be at work before anyone would be notified by the computers. She started out in the monitoring office staring at screens all day.

In the cold, damp, unfinished basement, Ameillia, and Genesis moved an old piano, boxes, and rugs out of the way. Underneath was a trap door which required the three of them to lift. Makeshift stairs led down into the secret room below. Built with thick layers of material to block out radio waves and sounds coming from within. The tile and materials used were the exact same as Ameillia's office at the facility where she would oversee the life and death department.

Ameillia was the director with doctors and nurses under her, including Genesis who was the main undertaker. The overwhelming number of dead bodies had led them to do a mass incineration which she herself approved in their meeting. The people who she had helped escape would be written in the log of people deceased and written in as incinerated. Because of the overwhelming number of bodies, they were able to start delivering them to the city gates to dump them outside. Too many to burn so we started dumping them in the landfills outside the city gates. No one ever questioned the motion to start dealing with those who were also unidentified. They were written as deceased, and we would deliver them to their freedom in big trucks. No one looked further, this was mostly due to the fear of the sicknesses. People would die in their houses, in the streets, sometimes at alarming rates.

Genesis introduced his friend, “This is Tye,” Tye nodded and removed his coat and scarf. Ameillia greeted him as she motioned for him to sit in the chair. Straps were attached to restrain the client, and Tye gladly obliged, smiling at her. He looked back and forth between the two of them, anticipating and waiting for direction.

“Strap me in, doc.” Tye said, removing his mask. Deja vu fazed her, and she gazed into his eyes with a sting of familiarity. A momentary sharp pain pricked her heart as she turned away. She recognized him but was unsure why…

“We got another masochist on our hands.” Genesis laughed, gloving up after washing his hands. He placed a leather strap in between Tye’s teeth. “You’re going to need this friend. Our process is somewhat medieval, but soon you will be a free man. Tye is leaving tonight,” He informed her,” and I am going to go with him. You are more than welcome to join us.”

Ameillia considered this but didn’t respond to the invitation. Something about Tye made her want to stay with them, but she didn’t want to leave her position at work. They had helped so many people.

Tye had nothing but the clothes on his back from that first time she met him until now, he had told her that his group abandoned him in Bonneville. He was mysterious, and he never spoke of where he came from. It was odd to her, but she never pried him for further answers.

Their allies had dropped them off outside the gates and returned to their duties within the city. They were taken out with the trash. Faking their deaths was easy due to the number of supporters willing to help. It was dark and the smell was terrible when they made that first journey away from civilization. For years bodies and garbage were dumped over the wall and away from civilization. There were piles of it in humongous landfills surrounding her only known world. Wild animals surrounded the outside of the Bonneville, and they would feed on human flesh and garbage from the landfills. It was plentiful and ripe for a scavenger, and the people of Silver Mountain would hunt the animals that the landfills attracted.

Genesis

Genesis had finally convinced Ameillia to leave, and he couldn’t be more thrilled. They had been working together as coworkers and as allies in secret. He had been a criminal but was able to get a job working the morgue and in the disposal of the dead. That’s how he had started the rebel group and devised a plan. Seeing her always triggered memories of all the times he was arrested and re-chipped. She had been a doctor and eventually gained her favor.

Ameillia’s basement was like being back at the facility…he started to get paranoid again… he knew he could trust her, but he often had flashbacks... Wit diminished…Same tile…Same cupboards...Same scalpels...He tried to block it out

Genesis was tied down to a surgical table, there were about thirty of them in the large room, and some had others strapped in them. A nurse walked by, checking machines, scratching notes with her pencil and clipboard. He could not remember what happened the night before except being swooped up in a raid.

Genesis shook the flashback from his mind. He wiped Tye’s left arm off with alcohol and started feeling for the implant, he held the device through the skin and looked up at the doctor. Ameillia already had the scalpel and tweezers ready, and she didn’t hesitate as she brought down the scalpel to Tye’s skin.

Tye groaned through the leather scrap, sweat pouring from all their heads as Ameillia sliced a hole in his upper left arm and fished the implant out of him using the tweezers. The man was screaming in pain through his gritted teeth until she got it out. Teeth marks were indented in the belt. Genesis cleaned the wound and bandaged him up. The system the pair had come up with was helping people, and he could see the confliction Ameillia was facing.

“Would you like a turn in the chair?” He inquired; he was hopeful he could convince her. “I promise I’ll be quick with it.”

“Not until a few more days, I will have to declare you both dead. Less suspicion and eyes out for us!” Ameillia started cleaning everything up, she was always vigilant.

Tye

Tye, or Trevor was his real name, did not know if he would make it back to his real home or not. He lost all his gear when he got picked up by the law enforcement of Bonneville. His partners, the people he was working with had abandoned him and went back without him. They left him here in this other world with nothing but the clothes on his back. He believes they must have presumed him dead when they could not get ahold of him, and the mission had failed. That all felt like a dream now that he was outside Bonneville. They had made an exhausting journey to escape and walk through the landfill to get here. Ameillia and Genesis made him feel like family, and they were all he had now. His real life was far beyond this world, and he didn’t know how to tell them the truth.

Meeting Ameillia sent a fire through him, but he wasn’t sure why. It felt like he had known her for ages. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep on the couch while a movie played on the television. He tried to remember his home and how he left it, and his heart stung with guilt.

Trevor pretended to sleep, waiting for his wife to fall asleep. He didn’t even have to watch the time anymore. His body had naturally adapted to the approximate time of 12:12am. The time when he would have to go down to meet with his managers, his trainers, and sometimes he even got to see the bosses. It was rare but it was always nerve wracking, as they never met face to face unless something was horribly wrong.

Tonight, felt different, as it was his first real mission. This time, there was true danger of failure. His heart pounding in his chest, neck and shoulders rigid with stress as he played out his task on repeat. Failure was not an option, it was real this time, and if he didn’t succeed he may not have the opportunity again.

12:12

The exact time he needed to get up and get going so he could arrive on time by 1:00am. He looked over at his wife, asleep, unknowing of his duties, of who he really was, and felt a deep sense of guilt. Lifting himself up slowly, he carefully slipped out of bed and proceeded with the routine. As much as he hated doing it, he also knew it was for the best. Placing his finger on her temple, he enchanted her into a slumber she could not awaken from. She would only wake upon his return. What would happen to her if he did not return? He didn’t know the answer and wondered if she would become the next Sleeping Beauty.

Kissing his right index and middle finger, he blew her a goodbye kiss, the way he always did when he said goodbye. “I love you, Kalie, rest easy until I return, my love.” Quivering, he put on his boots and coat, and made his way to the car.

That was how he left his wife in his world, his home, to complete an important mission. He took on a new identity and traveled here through what he can only describe as a dream. He sighed and let the memories of the last few days flood him with pain and curiosity.

Genesis took the straps of his arms, this man who he had only known for a few days had become a wingman to him. Tye knew nothing about this place, he was a visitor unable to make his way back home.

“You can stay here,” Ameillia said to him, motioning through a curtain and opening it to show him. Behind the curtain hung up by ropes, there was a cot for a bed. Genesis wouldn’t be able to go back to work anymore, his implant had been removed, he hadn’t been there all week.

“Both of us?” Genesis asked looking at the single cot and back to him.

Ameillia motioned for them; Genesis had just unstrapped him from the chair. Following the woman. The way her body moved sent chills up his spine like he had taken a cool glass of water, but his throat was bone dry. Tye couldn’t tear his eyes away from the subtleties that were like second nature to him. She reminded him of his wife at home, the woman he may never see again. There were differences and he kept telling himself it couldn't be her; it wouldn't be possible.

Tye sat up and gazed over at the door to where Ameillia lay sleeping. He wondered about her and knew that anything was possible, now that he knew the possibilities.