The third floor was what could only be described as a laboratory for ghouls. Aisles of now empty cages, testified to the nature of the research that had gone on here. As they walked down the side of the room, Hannah and Miriam were horrified at the conditions the occupants of those cages must have endured. Stacked three high, the cages were no more than three feet wide by five feet long by three feet high. A filthy, thin mat covered the bottoms, most now covered with the same white ash they had encountered in the stairwell. The animals that were caged here must have lived out their lives in abject terror.
At the end of the room was the operating arena, with a stainless steel table over which a large spotlight cast it’s glow on the surgery that was being performed there. On the table, was the white powdery ash in the form of some unfortunate animal. The straps that held it down were now charred and dangling off the sides. Along the wall were cabinets, their doors open, contents strewn on the floor. Mind-numbing medical instruments hung on peg boards.
Hannah started back to the stairwell. “Let’s get out of here, I can’t take anymore. Whoever was here before us made certain we wouldn’t find what we’re looking for.” She was chewing her lips, unconsciously and continually, while wiping her hands on her pants with stiffened fingers.
“We’re going to check every cage. . .every single one. . .then we’ll get out of here!” Miriam’s voice was wracked with emotion. Perhaps they wouldn’t find the empathic alien, but maybe they would find some living thing. Maybe there was only one survivor. If there was one, it would have been worth the trip to all of them. Miriam only hoped it would not be one of the perpetrators of the carnage, because she would be forced to deal with them with her bare hands - gladly.
Taking one side of an aisle, Hannah taking the other, Miriam had to get on her knees to check the bottom cages and step on bars to check the back of the top ones. She could hear stifled sobs coming from Hannah. Clipboards were hanging on the doors of the cages, or had fallen to the floor. The papers they held contained a lot of medical terminology, numbers and calculations that Miriam, though a daughter of two physicians, could not decipher. Up and down they went, cage by cage. Reaching the end of one row, they started down the next. In the deadly silence of the room, the sounds of their movements were enhanced to the point the noise was grating on their nerves. Both women’s bodies were trembling uncontrollably.
A gagging sound from Hannah brought Miriam to her side. In the back of one of the top cages, curled in a fetal ball was an animal. It appeared to be one of those hairless Mylak dogs that some people kept for pets because they didn’t shed and were rather docile. Miriam could see the bones of the spine where the gray skin was stretched tight. It was obviously dead. She was about to get down when she thought she saw one of the floppy ears twitch. At first, she assumed it was a moving shadow cast from the overhead light. It happened again as she stared, unmoving, noting that Hannah had also seen the movement. Was it possible that the poor animal was still alive?
Standing on the bars of the bottom cage, Hannah pulled the thin, stained pad forward. Bile rose in her throat when she saw a tiny foot. It was the foot of a small child. Balancing herself and bracing with one arm, she lifted it out of the cage, handing it to Miriam. The flesh was cold and hard as frozen meat, unnaturally so. Above where the child had been, Hannah noticed a now non-functioning air-conditioning duct. Perhaps hypothermia, though a killer in most instances, had kept it alive?
A choking sob erupted from Miriam’s throat. It was a little girl, scar tissue covered her tiny body. The little dog-child had been in the position for so long, it’s little arms and legs could not be straightened out. Pushing her finger between the shoulder and neck, Miriam felt for, and found a faint pulse. On the clip-board hanging from the door, one phrase caught Miriam’s eye, “electro-chemical potential of the brain is inexplicable.”
As Miriam carried the child to the operating arena to find something to wrap it in, Hannah finished checking the last few cages. Although Hannah had never been married or had children, her maternal instincts were instantly and violently aroused. Several times she had to wipe the flow of tears from her eyes as her body shook with irrepressible sobbing.
|