Cryonic by Travis Bradberry Read Free Book Online Page A

must have sent data to the men in white coats because a couple of them came into the room shortly thereafter. They dismissed Elliott’s pain as a side effect of being reanimated. Those two were clearly the incompetent members of the bunch. They didn’t even bother to take a good look at him. The other men in white coats were probably too busy scheming how to make frozen soldiers to pay Elliott any attention.
    The side effect explanation calmed Elliott down. We reminded him of the horrible burning sensation we all experienced upon being reanimated and postulated he was having some sort of after-effect from that. I lay awake for a couple of hours. In time, Elliott’s grunts and groans subsided, and Janet and Barry fell asleep. I didn’t see how I could possibly rally those three to rise against the Chinese. They seemed too complacent, too slow to question. I hoped Alex breaking the bad news to them would provide enough motivation to buck authority.

7.
    I was still lying there thinking when the tootling started. It was the oddest sound. Definitely not something I would associate with an alarm. I sat up in bed, and the lights in the room turned on. The noise was coming from the machinery near Elliott’s bed. I rushed over. He’d taken a turn for the worse. He was barely conscious and sweating. His skin was puffed and clammy.
    A man in a white coat came in robotically, unconcerned by the alarm. As soon as he saw Elliott draped across the bed like a wet rag, he did an immediate one eighty and headed out the door. He came back with the entire team of lemmings who rushed into the room behind the man in charge. He pulled the body-scanning device from his pocket, and it projected a hologram of Elliott. I looked over at Barry with a raised brow, hoping to recycle my Star Wars joke, but the grave look on his face shut me down. I felt bad for wanting to goof around while Elliott was gravely ill, but I knew the men in charge were about to work some magic on him. As the hologram scrolled through various perspectives of Elliott’s innards, the men in white coats pensively grunted and pointed.
    True to form, the man in charge shouted instructions at one of his minions who left the room and returned with a large metal pen. The man in charge took the pen and placed it against the side of Elliott’s neck. It made a loud popping sound like the flashbulb of an old-fashioned camera. He looked at Elliott’s face and grunted with self-approval. Then he tried to leave the room.
    â€œIs Elliott going to be all right?” Barry asked.
    The man in charge paused in the doorway and spun around on one leg to face Barry. “Mister Elliott has a viral infection.”
    â€œWhat kind of virus?” Barry prodded.
    â€œIt is nothing for you to be concerned about. We can cure any virus quickly. You will see very soon.”
    â€œBut what does he have? He seems very sick—” Janet chimed in.
    â€œNo more questions!” the man in charge roared. He turned and left the room.
    â€œHe sure is a barrel of laughs,” Barry quipped.
    â€œYou ought to see him when he’s really pissed.”
    â€œWho is he?” Janet asked.
    â€œLook guys, it’s a long story. I mean, we can get some information in the morning. Let’s get some rest. I’m sure Elliott will be fine.”

8.
    Later that evening Barry and Janet fell ill. At first I could hear them writhing in their beds, breathing heavily through their noses. Then they started moaning and grunting just like Elliott had.
    One of the men in the white coats returned and gave them each a shot in the neck. He didn’t speak any English so I couldn’t get any answers out of him.
    Being stuck in a room with three violently ill people made me antsy. I may not have had much to live for, but something visceral kicked in, a survival instinct if you will. It made me want to get the hell out of there.
    I knew the door was locked, as it had