The End of the Beginning

I’ve never been able to amend a death in my life. I’ve never been able to give one meaning or attach a reason to it. Now, with Samir, I will. I’ve always been fighting death. It’s always been my life’s thief. It feels great to finally be in a position to steel something back…

“Where is the morgue?” asked William.

“Only in the center of the entire building,” grunted Jake.

The two men were walking as inconspicuously as they could through the white corridors of the domed headquarters building. So far, no one had even given them a second look. At every turn William expected to run into Hernandez, an act that would surely see him finished.

“Do you know where the chief is?” asked William.

“Last I checked he was in his office.”

“When did you last check?”

“Two hours ago.”

“Two hours ago,” William squeezed out in an exacerbated whisper. “Do you want me to get caught or something?”

“A little,” smirked Jake.

William felt as if he were stepping through a field of landmines. He didn’t show it though. His focus on the truth was getting him through with a straight face. His senses were hyperaware. Every person he passed, every sound he heard, was scrutinized to the point of almost giving himself a headache.

“Have you gotten word from Colonel Morrison yet?”

“No,” said William. “I’ve tried calling him twice now, nothing has gone through. The call drops every time.”

“Must be to busy with the ceremonies.”

After a few more corridors and turns they arrived at the morgue. But, to get inside they had to go through a security checkpoint. William did not have security clearance. Jake stepped up ahead of William and began addressing the guardsman at the checkpoint.

“Hello. I’m here with a trainee from UNIRO Medical. I’ve agreed to allow them access into the morgue to see its basic functions for an academic project.” The guardsman, who was sitting at a small workstation with a built in desktop computer, looked William up and down.

“Very well,” said the tentative guardsman. “I’ll just need his glass tag scanned.”

William did not like that idea but he had to follow the protocol. Once scanned everyone in ISAF would be able to see he was in the building. Also, if the guardsman read over his identification information with any sort of detail he would see William was not in UNIRO Medical.

“Of course,” smiled Jake. “Captain, your tag please.”

William removed his glass tag from around his neck and gave it to the guardsman to scan. He tried to look as calm as possible, but on the inside he was screaming. The guardsman scanned the glass tag and handed it back to William.

“Okay,” said the guardsman. “Make it quick.”

William nodded and began to step through the body scanner directly before the morgues double glass doors. Jake did the same.

“Stop,” ordered the guardsman abruptly. William felt his eyes squeeze in tension and his body wrench in an instant cold sweat. “Captain Emerson, you are - ” The white overhead lighting suddenly turned red and an alarm started sounding. It let out a shrieking high pitch whistle.

“Fire alarm!” cried the guardsman, somewhat surprised.

“Go see what’s up!” shouted Jake. “I’ll get him outta here!”

The guardsman agreed and sprinted down the hallway and around the corner. Jake grabbed William by his back and pushed him through the double glass doors. William almost fell on his face from the shove. Jake jogged over to the freezer unit that held Samir.

“Did you know the fire alarm was going to go off?” screamed William.

“Yep!” yelled Jake as he entered a code into the freezer unit’s electronic door lock. He turned the handle to the metal door, threw it open, and grabbed the tray holding Samir’s body.

“There, you happy?! You got your five minutes! Start searching!”

“How did you know it was going to go off?”

Jake did not answer. He unzipped the clear plastic body bag encasing Samir. William pulled out his UV flashlight. Samir’s body was white and freezing cold. Ice crystals dotted his skin. William saw the cleaned fatal wound that had ultimately killed him on his head. William looked the body over quickly and whispered, “I’m sorry.” “Hurry up!” shouted Jake.

William began waving the flashlight up and down Samir’s body, first across his legs. Nothing. He looked over his torso and groin. Nothing. He looked around his head and neck. Nothing. He looked over Samir’s left arm. Nothing.

“Damnit Emerson, I told you there is nothing,” noticed Jake angrily. “There is nothing weird about…”

Jake stopped out of shock. On Samir’s right forearm William’s UV light had found something; four fluorescing symbols, all very similar, yet each slightly different.

“Holy shit,” mumbled William.

“What… What is that,” Jake sputtered. “Why weren’t those noted in the autopsy report?”

“I don’t know,” William said, shaking his head. He took out his glass tablet. He took three pictures of the glowing symbols. Running down Samir’s arm from just below his wrist were four linear triangles alternating in their orientation, either pointing up or down. The first one pointed up towards his elbow, the second pointed down with a line through its peak. The third one was a reverse of the second one. The final one, plain like the first one, pointed down.

“What do they mean?” asked Jake, still slightly astonished by the find. “I’ve never seen symbols like that before.”

“I’ve never seen them either,” said William.

“You finished with your pictures?” asked Jake, still looking dumbfounded.

“Yeah. Yeah. Let’s go.”

Jake zipped Samir back up and slid him back into his freezer unit. William put away his glass tablet and UV flashlight and made for the doors. Just as they left the morgue the alarm stopped and the lights returned to normal. Jake escorted William to the front lobby of the building. Neither of them said a word to each other.

As William grabbed for the lobby doors handle he heard someone say his name from far behind him. He looked back. It was Hernandez. William swore his heart stopped for a split second. His stomach fell into his legs and his fingers shivered. Jake wasn’t doing much better. Hernandez was scowling at him and Jake from about thirty feet down the hallway leading out of the front lobby. He was surrounded by a group of ISAF guardsmen.

Hernandez touched his ear, no doubt calling for the front door to be locked so that they could not leave.

“Stop those men!” cried one the guardsman around the chief, beginning a full on sprint down the hallway towards them.

Guardsmen behind the lobby’s front reception desk abruptly stared at William and Jake. As they got up from their chairs to apprehend them the fire alarm inexplicitly turned on again. High-pressure fire sprinklers in the ceiling did as well. Within seconds the hallway and lobby were filled with dozens of streams of pounding water, disorienting and soaking everyone caught in them. The guardsmen behind the desk yelled in shock as they were knocked to the ground from the ferocity of the sprinklers release.

William and Jake lost sight of Hernandez behind the many water streams between them. Together they darted out of the chaotic building and just kept running.