Chapter 10
Tuesday, November 8th, 1983
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Albert Chang sat in the back of a moving vehicle. A dark pillowcase over his head obstructed his vision so that he saw nothing but the thick material in front of his face. He had no idea where he was going and eventually, he lost track of how long they’d been driving.
Nervous sweat prickled at the back of his neck. His company had caused the death of hundreds of people thanks to SE RX-2. As the chairman of KV Perkins, he hadn’t been surprised when two soldiers showed up at his door in the dead of night. Someone had to be held accountable for the tragedy. And since the CEO and all the other board members were dead or missing, that left him holding the bag.
The soldiers had ordered him to get in their vehicle. He’d agreed, even though he wasn’t told where they were taking him or who he’d be seeing. It wasn’t like he’d had a choice. The guns in the hands of the tough looking soldiers made it clear he’d be going with them whether he wanted to or not. Albert didn’t realize until he was hooded and being driven away that he hadn’t seen any names or US Legion patches on the soldiers’ uniforms. He was in government hands, wasn’t he?
As they drove, he ran through all the excuses he could make and people he would blame for the massive SE RX-2 fuck up. He assumed he wasn’t going to be killed. If he was, they wouldn’t have bothered to keep their destination a secret. But maybe he was being sent to a top-secret military prison where he’d be tortured and assigned to work hard labor for years. That was not how he wanted to live out the rest of his life. He had to be ready to shift blame to someone else so that hopefully he could avoid such an extreme punishment.
The vehicle stopped and the engine shut off. When the front doors opened, Albert swallowed hard. This was it.
Someone opened his door and gripped his arm to help him out onto the ground. The pillowcase stayed on his head as he was walked forward. Albert noted that there was concrete under his shoes and not grass. He hoped that meant he wasn’t being marched out to a field to be shot in the back of the head and buried in an unmarked grave.
They paused and Albert heard the sound of a heavy door opening. When they moved forward again, they were inside of a building. Finally, his hood was removed.
Albert rapidly blinked at the light before he took in his surroundings. A man who appeared to be in his early thirties stood in front of him. He too was dressed as a soldier. And like the others, he wore no identifying insignia on his uniform.
“Welcome, Mr. Chang. Please follow me.”
The two soldiers who’d driven Albert to this location remained behind as he followed the man down a short hallway. Albert curiously looked around. They were in some kind of industrial facility. He didn’t recognize anything. But he could hear the faint sound of howls coming from somewhere in the building.
The noise didn’t appear to concern Albert’s escort. He stopped at a door and knocked.
“Mr. Chang is here, sir.”
“Send him in,” a crisp authoritative voice called out.
The soldier opened the door and gestured for Albert to go inside.
Albert stepped over the threshold and the door was closed behind him. He was in a dark, sparsely furnished office, lit only by a small lamp on a credenza on the far side of the room. A man sat behind the office’s desk. He was mostly in shadow. But Albert could see that he wore a military uniform and was tall, with broad shoulders.
“Have a seat, Mr. Chang.”
The person didn’t introduce themself or move into the light. Still, Albert obeyed and sat in the chair in front of the desk.
“I apologize for the secrecy.”
“No apologies necessary,” Albert said. He put on a jovial tone, pretending as if this was an ordinary meeting and he didn’t mind that he’d been abducted in the middle of the night. Albert smiled, hoping that his pleasant mood would establish a good rapport between them. Unfortunately, his efforts didn’t appear to have any effect on the man behind the desk.
“I’ve been informed that your company is responsible for the recent tragedy in Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
“Yes, that is correct.” Albert licked his lips before he began his bid to keep himself out of prison. “It was a colossal error caused by scientists who didn’t follow company safety protocols for human testing. I wasn’t aware of the project until the day of the... event. However, I can assure you that KV Perkins will not be producing SE RX-2 or anything like it ever again. And we will ensure that all future product trials will be conducted with the strictest safety protocols.”
“Your assurances are admirable. But that’s not why you’re here.”
Albert frowned. “It’s not?”
“No, Mr. Chang. You’re here because I want that enhancer. My team will take over developing it. You hand over all of your company’s research on SE RX-2 to me and permanently end your progress with the product. In exchange, I’ll ensure that the government doesn’t tank your corporation in retaliation for the Tulsa outbreak.”
Albert was stunned. The US Legion - or whoever this was - wanted the product that turned people into face eating monsters?
“Do we have a deal?”
Albert snapped out of his stunned freeze and nodded. “Absolutely.” He’d hand over anything this man wanted if it meant he wasn’t going to be breaking rocks for the next forty years. KV Perkins continuing to operate once the city of Tulsa recovered was a bonus.
The man leaned forward. The light from the lamp finally reached him, catching and gleaming on his short hair.
“There’s one stipulation.”
“Yes?”
“You are to never speak of this meeting or reveal that you gave the specs for SE RX-2 away. If you do, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”
Albert nodded again. “Perfectly.”
“Good.”
They shook hands to seal the deal. Then the man leaned back in his chair until he was once again enshrouded in darkness. Albert could just make out the satisfied smile on his face before he spoke.
“I think SE RX-2 is exactly what my experiment is missing.”