The Experiment

A short story

My alarm rang at 7 AM. I felt like hell.

I reached for my phone to turn the alarm off. After I’d made the horrible noise disappear, I threw my phone across the room. It hit the wall.

“I can’t believe they expect us to show up for work when we are sick,” I said out in the air. “It feels like one hundred elephants have run over my body.”

I sat up and looked at a mold stain on the wall.

“At least if I’d been run over by a hundred elephants, I wouldn’t be alive right now,” I whispered.

I walked over to my small bathroom.

“Will the lights work today?” I asked and turned the switch to turn it on.

The lights came on. Yet, it would have been better if it hadn’t worked. The bathroom was too dirty to be described.

I walked over to the sink and turned on the water. When I looked into the mirror, I almost fell to the ground. The dark circles around my eyes had become bigger. I looked more like a Zombie than a human.

“Maybe that’s what they are trying to do. Turn us into Zombies.” I said to myself and laughed.

I showed up at work five minutes late.

“You’re late.” The woman looked at my badge and frowned.

“It’s only five minutes. Who cares?” I said.

“I’ll get your supervisor to come and get you.” The woman said coldly.

“Fine,” I said stubbornly back.

“You were late and missed your shot.” My supervisor looked down at me.

I was sitting in his office. It felt like I was ten years old again and had done something naughty.

“I’m not sure I like the tests you’re running on me. They make me feel sick.” I said.

“The only reason you have this job is that we’re running tests on you. It’s the same for everyone else here. You know that.” The supervisor said and turned around, looking for something.

I studied the bold spot on the top of his head. The rest of his hair was grey.

“Do you want to keep your job and let us run tests on you? Or do you want to quit?” My supervisor turned around, facing me with a syringe in his hand.

I gulped. I needed this job. It was good money. However, I didn’t like how sick the drugs made me feel.

“I don’t want to take drugs anymore. I can’t do this anymore.” I said.

“Fine, you’re fired then. Remember the papers you signed. You can’t tell anyone about what has happened in here.” My supervisor answered.

Double fuck. On my drive home I got a flat tire. To make it better my spare was flat too.

“ I wonder if the world is punishing me or something,” I asked myself.

After cursing some more I sat down and watched the cars passing by. I didn’t have anyone to call that could come and help me.

I’d never felt more alone than at that moment.

Hours later a BMW pulled over.

“Do you need a ride?” The man driving asked.

I was in shock. Why would someone do something that friendly to me?

“Yes, thank you!” I said and tried not to give him a creepy smile.

“I didn’t just pick you up to be nice.” The man said as he started to drive.

“What?” I looked confused at him.

“Your test results recently have been remarkable.” He said and smiled. “Your supervisor didn’t know what he did when he let you leave.”

“Oh,” I said.

The conversation started to make me uncomfortable.

“ I want you to know that we care for you. We want to give you a better job if we are allowed to continue doing tests on you. We’ll double your salary. We’ll give you Fridays off.” The man said.

“What I said? What did my tests show?” I asked curiously.

“I can’t disclose that. Just let me tell you, you are special to us.” The man said.

They wanted to double my salary. I could really need the money. Nonetheless, the injections often made me feel sick.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, still unsure what to do.

“We’ll give you a 10k signing bonus. But you have to work for us for a year, and let us do every test we want to do.” The man offered.

I thought about it. If I worked there for only a year, I could save up money. Money that could change my life.

“I’ll take the job,” I said and smiled a timid smile.

One year of hell and then I would get my freedom.

Inspired by Microcosm and their recent writing prompt

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