Human experimentation in medicine -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction; Science fiction
The elevator gave a lurch. He fell against the door as the car ground
to a halt between floors. Frantically, he pounded the button, waited
through long eternities as the car sat, silent, motionless. Then his
fingers ran hastily along the cracks in the car door, seeking a hold,
trying desperately to wrench open the locked door.
He felt them coming, somewhere above him, somewhere below him. Then
something tore loose in his mind; some last dam of control broke,
and he was screaming his defiance at them, screaming his hatred, his
bitterness. They had him, they were going to kill him without trial,
shoot him down like a mad dog. He felt them flinch and cower back at
the stream of hatred roaring out of his mind, felt them move back. They
were afraid of him, but they were determined to kill him.
_A sound above!_ He flattened back against the elevator wall, wrenching
at the metal grating with superhuman strength, trying to twist open
the metal, to find some way into the shaft below. Someone was coming
down from above, down onto the top of the elevator; someone whose mind
was filled with fear, but who moved with determination. There was a
scraping sound from above, a dull twang of cable striking against cable.
_They could be cutting the car loose._
He leaped for the ceiling of the car, stabbing up with his fingers for
the little escape doorway. Sheer hatred drove his legs as he jumped
and jumped again, until the door flew up. His hand caught the rim, and
he dragged his body up. He jerked his shoulders through the small
opening, heaving and lunging through to the top of the car.
He looked up. He saw a face, a single face, hanging mistily above him.
Dimly he made out the form of a man hanging on the cable twenty feet
above. His legs were wrapped around the cables and one hand carried
the small, dully gleaming weapon. His mind screamed hatred at the man,
and he grabbed at the cables, wrenching them, shaking them like a
huge tree. He saw the man slowly moving down, spinning back and forth
helplessly as the cables vibrated. But he held on tenaciously, moving
closer.
_Daddy! Stop him! Daddy, don't let him kill you._
The face came into clearer view: a thin face, an evil one, twisted with
fear and pain. The figure moved slowly down the cables, slowly turning,
lifting the arm with the weapon, patiently trying to take aim. It was
a gaunt face, with high cheekbones, slightly bulging eyes, high flat
forehead, graying hair. _Remember that face, Jeff. Never forget that
face, that face is the face of the man who is butchering your father._
Hatred streamed out at the face; he crouched back against the wall of
the shaft, wrenching at the cables, trying vainly to shake the killer
loose. He had to get him first; he had to stop him. _He's so close;
he's turning; the gun is raising. I'll never get him--_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account