The next day…
"So? He's the only one to survive the 3-month trial?"
"Yes."
A familiar-sounding female voice woke Wade from his sleep and he groggily looked around warily. Fortunately, he was still in the same spot where he fell asleep last night.
'Shit. Did they have to come in this early in the morning?'
Wade always woke up at the same time every day. He could feel that it was a few hours earlier than when he usually woke up. 5:00 in the morning was when Wade's brain decided to wake him up the most.
"However, you say that his usual sarcastic attitude disappeared after the first month of the experiment?" A smooth male voice asked with a tone of interest.
"Yes."
As the voices drew closer, Wade's heart had started to beat faster, as if it was ecstatic for the action that was to come. He had hidden behind the thick metal door. Theoretically speaking, if the door opened fully, he would be the one with the advantage should he attack. They would have their back to him for a brief moment as they came through.
'Come on. Come on. I'm waiting.' Wade held his knife in anticipation as he leaned down and prepared to attack whoever came through the door. As the eye and fingerprint scanners glowed green, they beeped happily and the alloy door opened with a bang. Through the doorway, three people could be seen.
There was Rose, who he had been expecting, and a man and a woman wearing lab coats with a couple of clipboards in their hands. The woman had short blonde hair and glasses which resulted in a decent look while the man had brown hair and a handsome face that Wade hated staring at.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! He has a knife! I'm out! I'm leaving! You said he was unarmed and chained! Liar!"
The blonde screamed and ran toward Rose as she saw the sword lying across his back and his unsheathed knife that he had gripped tightly in his right hand. After hearing the scream, Wade decided to go after the woman first as he lunged toward her. Everyone in the small group was unarmed making his life tens of times easier. The woman tripped and fell to the ground as she tried to run and as the other two members of her group watched, Wade tackled the fallen woman and after a moment of grappling, Wade won with an overwhelming victory. His left hand gripped her neck tightly while the knife in his right was suspended over her throat.
"Aren't you the test subject? Release her immediately or we'll call down the security team with the order to kill." Rose spoke with a slight tone of anguish in her voice while the man beside her stared in shock.
"Stop bluffing. There is no security team nearby and if there was, you'd have some way to contact them at least. From the looks of it, you don't even have a transceiver to contact them, much less a phone from the dress you're wearing. The man beside you doesn't have a way to contact them either. If I guessed correctly, you probably removed your phones and theirs on the way down to prevent any information about me from leaking out in any way. Now, tell me what's going on, or else this pretty little girl dies." Wade poked the blonde woman in the throat with his knife as he spoke.
"Very well."
"But if we allow him to know about the experimen-." Rose tried to stop the man from talking but he interrupted her with a frown.
"He can't do anything about it anyway. His skill level was B according to the Mercenary Association. We need to save my assistant, Anna. She's a one in a million talent that can't be found elsewhere."
The man sat down against the wall as he put the clipboard down next to him.
"Wade was it? Well, I'll tell you all about it. You can release Anna after you understand what's truly happening here. We're changing the world here with what we're making. First of all, introductions. My name is Jack Blant and the woman you're threatening right now is one of our top scientists, Anna Bard. We currently are a small company with an incredible invention. The healing drugs. We currently have two types of healing drugs. The concentrated type and the normal type. These healing drugs have no name yet but we plan to name them once we release them to the world through the global market."
Jack spoke with an air of magnificence as he spread his hands as if he had already accomplished his goal.
"Our company name is called LS or Lives Saved. You may think that our name may be a bit ironic for what we are doing here but you are all part of a bigger picture that we are creating. You're currently the only survivor of the concentrated type healing drug. The other test subjects didn't even get past the first month. Fortunately, the regular healing drug we designed to be used in hospitals works like a charm to get rid of minor injuries in 12-24 hours depending on the severity of the injury. The concentrated healing drug heals you fully in 1-7 hours but it has a more noticeable side effect than the regular healing drug. Both of these drugs cause mental pain although the concentrated healing drug has a much more severe mental pain compared to the regular one. However, this mental pain can improve your mental capacity if you can survive it for as long as you have, Wade."
As Jack explained the gists of the situation, Wade started to understand what was happening although he was still infuriated by being a test subject for this simple cause. He knew what he would do. It would benefit him greatly in the future if he succeeded. He asked his next question as he studied Jack's facial expression.
"Where are the other patients that survived the 3-month trial? Also, can you show me where you create this unique drug? I'm quite interested." Wade smiled eerily while poking Annie's neck with the knife for Jack and Rose to see.
"How's this. We'll bring you and Annie to see the laboratory where we create this drug and also where we hold the other test subjects if you release Annie afterward. Do we have a deal?"
Jack sighed with annoyance as he offered Wade a tour.
"Acceptable. I'll take it."
When they left, Wade followed them while keeping an eye on Annie for any sudden movements that would leave him susceptible to any attacks.
"Follow me."
Jack walked through the thick metal door and up the familiar dark stairs that Wade had seen when he had first been captured. As he pushed open the wooden doors leading out of the keep, Wade was surprised by how much the castle had developed while he was gone.
There were about 5 buildings inside the castle now. Even though about 90% of the land was still barren, it was a start to whatever they were building. 2 of the buildings looked as if they were some sort of private prison with electric fences surrounding them and iron bars in the windows. The other three buildings were 2-floor office buildings but Wade thought that it probably had a basement or some sort of underground floor like his keep had.
"Those three buildings are our laboratories and office buildings. We signed a contract with Rose and her family company because the other companies tried to take more than they should from the agreement. Rose was the only one who offered us a somewhat fair deal and although we thought it was slightly unethical, we agreed to it. After all, you can't use a drug without human experimentation right?"
Jack laughed nervously as he continued with the tour.
"The other two buildings are well, our prisons. In one, we have Rose's political opponents that she manages to kidnap and in the other, we have people like you. Assassins, mercenaries, anybody that Rose deems a threat to her business, family, and friends. Now you wonder why we separate them. That's because, to prevent some sort of confusion and collaboration, we use the regular healing drugs on the political gentlemen while we use the concentrated one on the assassins and mercenaries. You see, nobody cares about the men who do the dirty work while they all care about the ones who are on top of the hierarchy."
"You have an interesting mindset there. As much as I'd like to refute that, it's true."
Jack started laughing as he heard Wade's response.
"Many people run this mindset as an excuse to try to get to the top of the hierarchy as well. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that 70% or more of the world uses this mindset. I'm sorry I laughed, I just thought everyone can see from my point of view but they can't. Now let's continue with the tour."
When he finished speaking, Jack started walking toward the office and laboratory buildings. Wade was bored of this tour from the very beginning and was only using it to find out various information that he needed to escape. The only thing left to find out was where he was and how could he get back to Los Angeles to prepare for the future.
When they reached the laboratory buildings, Wade asked a question with a slight tone of curiosity as he continued walking.
"Ah, yes. Mind telling me where the hell am I?"
"Somewhere in a desert in Germany. Rose didn't tell us exactly where this place is but once you leave the castle gates, it's a complete desert. No food, no water, no nothing. This is why nobody ever comes here. It's the perfect place for us to run our experiments and for Rose to keep captives."
"I see. Well, thank you for the tour but I'm going to have to cut it short right here. Let me visit those political captives you've been keeping in there. I want to see the difference between my previous situation and theirs."
Wade wanted to use this excuse as a way to free Rose's enemies and at the same time, gain some connections in the process.
"Of course. Rose, I heard you had a meeting later on today so while you go do that, I'll lead Wade to see the other prisoners."
Rose left the rest of them here as she walked out of the castle gates and soon, a couple of vroom noises could be heard as a vehicle sped off into the distance. When she could no longer be seen, Jack started leading them toward one of the prisons.
Wade could sense something suspicious was happening as they neared the building. He felt as if an eerie feeling of death surrounded him when he walked towards it. No sounds could be heard and it was as if instead of a prison, it was a graveyard.
"I'll open the gate from this side." Jack entered a small security office in front of the electric fence's gate as he spoke. Inside, instead of unlocking the gate, he was grabbing a gun that was hidden under the desk. After sliding it into his pocket, he pushed the combination needed to open the prison's gate.
"Done?"
Wade felt that it took a bit longer than usual for Jack to push in the combination and open the gate this time than it did when he escaped his torture chamber. It added to his feeling of suspiciousness and he gripped his knife a bit tighter than usual.
"Yeah, I just forgot the combination for a second. Nothing important."
However, his response made Wade tense for a brief moment before he relaxed.
"Now, let's go meet the prisoners, shall we?"
"Yes, yes. I'm getting bored with this long tour already. I need some other people to talk to."
Wade was bored out of his mind and he replied mindlessly.
"Don't worry. When you're dead, I'm sure you can talk to the other people who died the same way as you. You guys will even have lots to talk about, I'm sure. The questions you asked to put me into some thought. I know you want to escape but I'm afraid that won't work out. The freedom you desire is gone. All the hope you've had for the past 3 months amount to nothing right now. Freedom right now is jack shit. Remember that. Freedom amounts to nothing in front of a man with a gun."
Jack laughed maniacally as he drew the pistol and pointed it at Wade with confidence burning in his eyes.
