Chapter Text
4:32 AM
John POV
Roger had finally gotten the car to start working in the morning. Though we are going half the speed than we should be going, probably making the trip at least three times slower than we should have been going. Everything has just been so weird; everyone’s been acting so weird. I woke up in the middle of the night with a dream fresh off my mind.
It’s a bit strange in itself that I had a dream, typically I just have a dreamless empty sleep. But the weirdest shit was the dream itself. Vividly I remember getting strangled by someone? I was in a big field, and the person holding me looked almost like, Brian? But I don’t want to think about it that much and creep myself out more than I already have.
When I woke up from my dream I decided not to go back to sleep. Every time I try to close my eyes to sleep, I get such an uncanny feeling; I just can’t get myself to sleep no matter how tired I am. I found my notebook that I usually write songs in. But as I tried to release all the thoughts from my mind nothing came out. I just put it down and left it for later, preferring to stare at the ceiling than do anything else.
Everything that happened felt like a fucking acid trip. I have no idea what's going on half of the time, so instead I just decide to stay quiet and let it play out by itself.
But now I feel like I actually should do something instead of just being a bystander. Something feels wrong, and not in a normal sense of feeling wrong. More like that there's something controlling not just me but everyone else too. I just don’t realise what it is exactly. So, I chose that I would try to find what it is, especially with everyone else that I’m trapped in this car with.
Before I knew, it was about time to get going. As being the first one up I took on the task to wake everyone up and take the driver's seat as everyone stared groggily out the windows. Looking out to the rain drops going down the car window as if they were kids again. Nobody made any move to make any conversation, so I just kept quiet as everyone else did. I think Roger fell back asleep five minutes after I woke him up. I turned on the radio to try to get the mood up and see if there was anything good this morning.
There wasn’t much music playing, it was mostly just news. And the music that was wasn’t particularly something I don’t think anyone would willingly listen to. I don’t typically listen to the news on the radio, but it felt right this morning and so that there was something to clear up the uncomfortable silence. And also, for once the news sounded pretty interesting.
“In the Roslin Institute in Midlothian Scotland they have managed to clone the first mammal using an adult somatic cell and using a nuclear transfer. Making a certified Reproductive mammal clone in the form of a sheep named Dolly. This is a huge discovery in medical history and the Government is currently talking to the scientists that have found this discovery. This could possibly change the lives of millions of Americans and people around the world that are in need of replacement organs or body parts. But many people are concerned what this could lead to if we were to begin cloning humans. Several people from The UK have joined the US Government and several other programs in more research of this phenomenon-”
I turned down the radio, it felt too familiar. The American’s always freaked me out with the things that they do in their government, even in ours. Everyone's always trying to change the shape of the human brains so that they can be better during wars or whatever the hell they’re trying to do. Even though I feel this way I can’t ignore the fact that at a point in time I was like one of those scientists there.
It’s so stupid now that I think of it now from when I used to work in the tech industry. It’s such a daunting place really and you don’t even realise how much shit you’ve gotten yourself into until you’re already knee deep. I’m quite ashamed of it and prefer not to think about it that much.
Instead, I focused on the long barren road stretching in front of me. We were definitely way under the speed limit since our little hiccup a few hours ago. I started thinking about things in the many programs that I’ve seen, who knew you could see so much just by fixing a giant office building's broken lights. I know I shouldn’t feel guilty for somethings, but I just can’t help but feel it- I know I didn’t do it, but if I had said something than-
Just as I was about to let that thought graze my mind Roger woke up.
“Hey, well it seems like I’m finally not alone in this damned car!”
“Ah, yeah, you think we could take a pit stop to the bathroom.”
“Uh sure I think it says here on that build board says there’ll be a gas station in three miles? Whatever that means, but we’ll be there soon.”
“That’s a strange billboard.”
“What an astute observation, Rog.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll just rest my eyes, wake me up when you get there.”
“Right, sleeping beauty.”
I will say that I am being snarky, but that really was a strange build board. It was some advertisement from the government to be a test subject or something for a new experiment. The words on the board said “Join us. Help YOU, help US.” Quite an ominous sign in my opinion if you’re trying to get people to sign up to your program and not scare them all away, but what do I know. I’m not a professional sales designer. But it does remind me of something awfully familiar-
Just then I found the entrance to the small, as per usual half rotting barely running, gas station. I pulled the car over to fill it up with gas and lightly shook Roger to get him to use the bathroom. Once the car was all filled up (Why is gas so expensive here!) I stayed outside to stretch my legs and walk around till Rog got back from the loo.
I paced around the area, I found it strange how there was hardly anybody else whenever we stopped. Then I saw someone, they look pretty suspicious if I’ve ever seen someone that will probably pull you into the shadows of the back alleyway. As I was about to turn the other way they approached me. It was someone with long black hair in their face, I couldn’t really tell if they were a man or a woman.
“You look awfully familiar.” They had a raspy voice, the one of a long-time chain smoker.
“Well, I think that I have a pretty common face.”
“Oh Really, I think that we’ve met before. You look like someone that fixes things. Do you want to know a secret?”
“I actually think that I have to be going-”
“You see how I look, ‘they’ did this to me. They put it in me, and I didn’t even know, I don’t think they know how much they even do it. They did all of it. For years on me, LSD, Heroine, Morphine, Mescaline, Temazepam, -”
“Look, my mates in the car are waiting for me and I really have to get a move on, I hope you get better,”
“They’ll do it to all of us. We don’t even know it, who knows if we ever will. You know that you know too much for your own good, don’t end up like everyone else that did. You’ll end up like me, or worse, your friend too. No one is spared, give mercy, you can’t do it yourself, but you can’t do it together either. Find a way.”
By this point they were just half whispering, half yelling directly into my ear. I didn’t exactly understand what point they were trying to get across, but it was- something. They were holding me by the shoulders of my shirt and pulling me close. I could see Roger coming out of the old shop, I was hoping that he would come and help me out of this situation.
“I’m going to leave you, if I die, it wasn’t by my own hands no matter what they say. Take this, if it helps you remember me. I have to hide before they see me.”
When they said that they indeed did not leave and instead stared directly into my eyes, still holding me in the same position. Roger noticed this and ran up to me to hopefully get me out of this situation.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!”
They just put me down, glared at Roger and slipped me something into my hand. They quickly ran off to behind the gas station.
“What was that weirdo's fucking problem?” Roger scoffed as he turned to me, eyeing the thing that they had given to me. I quickly stuffed it into my pocket before there were any questions to be asked. Roger turned back to look at the place that the person had run off to then looking back at me.
“Did they hurt you or anything or were they just baked?”
“I’m good, I don’t know about them though...”
“Just don’t rub too much sympathy to the druggies around here. You know America doesn’t play with the shit around here”
He chuckled slightly. I was surprised with the amount of energy that he had right now, it was about six thirty and he seems good as new. Just a few hours ago he looked and acted as if he was about to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. Freddie and Brian though? I still don’t know what’s up about them.
“Just tell me if anyone trys and weird stuff again, tell me.”
“Yeah, I’ll catch up with you in a bit, just give me a second.”
Roger nodded and I turned around to look at the object that I had beem given. It looked to be a lanyard with a card and ID attached to it. It seemed pretty normal, I assumed that the person on the card was a younger, much more well kept version of the person that had given it to me. Then I looked at the name, it read Wynn Simons. That name is so familiar, I felt like I really have met that person before…
Fuck.
I know exactly who that is.
But why are they here?