“The twisted bastard has an order he’s killing us?” Niel yelled.

Any caution felt ridiculous at this point. Maybe in April’s stupid TV shows, the captives talk it out and figure out how to get out of the situation. But we don’t have the luxuries of Hollywood. Fuck it if the guy who took us hears us talking.

“Yup,” I said, even though I knew he already knew this. “And it seems like April’s accidental death knocked him out of order. So who will he kill next.”

A soft groan came from Kelsey’s bed. The man continued to leave her alone, but her condition deteriorated further every day. I couldn’t see her actual state in the center’s darkness, but every once in a while, a light would flicker on in one of the offices to illuminate and show me that she didn’t look well. Kelsey also hadn’t woken up since the man brought her back. At first, I thought he just used his knockout fluid, what I assume is chloroform, but she stayed out for so long. 

“He showed me,” Kelsey said, “three.”

“What’s their names?” I asked.

Kelsey opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The girl slumped in her bed and returned to the unconscious world. Niel cursed.

“We won’t ever get the information from her like that,” Niel said. “Ask her to name off the colors of the chart, and that can give us a start.”

While I didn’t work directly with Niel, I never knew that the dude thought things through like this. The lab guys had a general personality at our center, but I didn’t think much of it before now. They were the ones who were okay being separated from all the other people in the center as they worked in their small freezing bubble. The area the lab did most of the work was slightly cold compared to the -30° Celsius temperatures inside the freezers. I always heard them laughing, joking, or talking about videogames. And even while all of that happened, most of them took good care of themselves physically. About half of them exercised regularly, and for the other half, the work in the freezer was enough to get some heavy breathing in.

“I guess that will help a little,” I said. “But Kelsey needs something more to keep her alive longer.”

“You read my mind, Ben,” The man said right next to me. 

I jumped in the bed and heard the wheels on the bottom squeak as it shook. The man wheeled an IV pole, most likely from one of the medical rooms, over to Kelsey with a bag hanging from it. I can’t tell what it is, but Kelsey seems to barely notice as the man sticks her with a fresh needle and starts the IV fluid.

“Before you start threatening me, Niel,” the man said, “you might want to consider that I’m trying to help her. She will be getting extra doses of saline, and I will bring all of you the proper food to maintain your lives. You are like my children now. I must kill you if you fail me, though.”

Those were not the words I hoped to hear after him saying he would bring us food. What kind of sadistic prick would compare us to his children if he planned to kill us?