Wicked Target [Chapter 1]

A Sam Wick Thriller

Jun 11, 2021

Author’s Note

Hi,

Hope you are well in these trying times.

This is a new story that I have just completed and wanted to share with you.

One thing to note is that this is not an edited one yet as my editor is still busy with other stuff so my humble request to you as a reader is to let me know if you find (and you will find many) any mistakes or something that doesn’t make sense to you. I’ll update the chapters on an ongoing basis. Please share your feedback in the comment section.

I will send new chapters from this story every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (preferably morning ET time).

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Book Cover

Chapter 1

The man was sitting on a no-frills metal chair. He wasn't chained to the chair but showed no intent to get up. He should be yelling and shouting at the crime against him and his family, and yet he did not. The only thing keeping him in the chair was him acknowledging that there was no way out - for him or his family.

His body language was still - hands in his lap, posture straight. Nothing gave away the reality that he could be executed any second - maybe today, maybe tomorrow. The only thing that gave a glimpse of his mental state was his eyes— moist, gawking at the gray wall of cinder block straight ahead of him.

Seated at the center of the room, he was the sole occupant of that room. And the only possession he had was that chair.

He had not eaten anything for the last forty-eight hours. There was also a rice plate that he had kicked to one corner of the room.

He was touted to be the next big thing in tech innovation by the international media seven days ago. He had everything - a gorgeous wife, two little kids - aged three and seven, money, fame, respect, and most importantly, power.

Seven days later, he only had a chair and a rice plate.

Seven days ago, he was invited to a national business convention as a keynote speaker. And that's when it started. He was asked a question, and in his response, he said that the Chinese government was not doing enough to provide affordable primary healthcare to all residents. And that they are stifling technology innovation like medical data mapping using drones with their archaic policies. And that countries like Japan, South Korea, and the USA provided a much better support system for innovation.

That was just a tiny part of his overall long-winded answer. By the time that day had ended, an inquiry had been initiated on his company and investments.

Within the next seventy-two hours, he was relocated to this room.

They had taken his wife too. He didn't know if she was dead or rotting in a similar room like where he was.

His kids were gone too. He didn't even get a chance to see them one last time. He was a practical man. He understood his children wouldn't be able to survive the torture. But he was a father too. The mere thought of suffering that they would inflict on his children made him shiver with dread and pain.

All this for a tiny mistake.

Behind a thick pane of glass on the right-side wall of the room, two men stared at the man keenly, waiting for the inevitable. One of the men was the right hand of Chinese President - Dr. Jingsheng Li.

Watching the man inside the room and Dr. Li wondered - What goes through a man's psyche when he is closer to his death watching it approach him like a silent predator? What transpired when a man was dying- in those last moments and then what happened afterward? Was there a soul in reality that leaves a body to find another one, or was it an energy that dissipates in the air?

Science couldn't measure these things in numbers or data, and no scientific mind would even consider the possibility of a soul in a human body. Dr. Li was no different until he saw this man sitting calmly in the face of death.

What was going through his head? Was he thinking about his family? His wife? His kids? His life? Some intimate memory? How could he sit there so patiently, knowing he was going to die?

Dr. Li still wondered if he would go out with the same placid expression on his face as the man in the room. The same calm.

The room's temperature was dropping—cold air seeping inside the room through the nozzles in the walls.

This procedure was the brainchild of Dr. Li. He had tested it on monkeys, rabbits, rats, and even horses. Never tried it on a living, breathing person.

He was secretly pleased too. Research gave him satisfaction but seeing his accomplishment in action was a different high. He agreed that the death because of his research was going to be grotesque. But it won't matter. What would matter was the success of his research.

He had made some changes in the formula of the gas for this execution. A new form of nerve agent, one that became inert after fifteen minutes of exposure to the atmosphere.

Dr. Li would know soon if he was correct. The man in the room would help him.

Dr. Li looked at the other man in the room - the operator. He was seated, and his finger was near a button—one of many on the control panel. The only thing that was different for this one was its color - red.

"It's time." Dr. Li said, shifting his gaze from the man in the chair.

The operator hesitated for a second. This was his first time seeing a man getting executed by a nerve agent.

"Don't overthink. Press the button." Dr. Li understood his dilemma.

The operator leaned over the desk and pressed the button. Then he rose slowly and turned his face to the other side. He couldn't gather the courage to see what was going to happen next.

"Be a man." Dr. Li ordered. His steely gaze shook the core of the operator. He turned his gaze back to the glass, fearing what he was going to see. What he didn't know was what he would feel when this would end.

The cold air seeping inside the room stopped and was replaced by a colorless mist. The man in the room didn't feel any difference. For him, nothing was altered, but for the two men watching him, a lot had changed.

The nozzles spewed the odorless, colorless death for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

The two men in the control room leaned forward.

One was interested in what he would see. The other one was forced to watch.

The man in the chair remained still for another second, and then his body dropped to the floor, taking the chair down with him. He didn't move after that.

Dr. Li was already checking his timer, set to fifteen minutes. A few more seconds passed with no response from the man.

The operator looked at Dr. Li and was about to ask a question when the man's legs shivered.

The man got up and watched the ceiling and then at the glass panel. His face was contorted, and he started to cry with pain. The calmness was gone.

The two men outside saw the effect of the nerve gas. A few more seconds, and the man's face turned blue. The man stood on his feet and ran towards the glass, but before he could reach it, his legs bent inward, and he fell with a loud thud.

He howled with pain. Li knew it wasn't because of the fall.

The man's body started convulsing violently, his limbs beating the floor, every muscle in his body was receiving signals to burst outwards. His lungs had begun to shut down.

The man began frothing, his body flapping, his hands hitting the concrete floor. Within a minute, the man stopped moving.

Dr. Li checked the timer and waited patiently.

At exactly the ten-minute mark, he grabbed the receiver on the desk and ordered to get the next test subject.

The operator watched anxiously. He had no idea who was on the other side of the phone. He was afraid that this was not the only death he was going to witness today.

The call made a door open somewhere in the facility. Two men dressed in chemical protective clothing and respiratory protection dragged a woman on the floor. Unlike the two of them, she was in plain clothing.

Her cries and screams echoed in the hallway and beyond.

Dr. Li and the operator waited while the trio walked to the door behind which lay the dead body.

At the fifteen minutes mark, Dr. Li pushed a button, and the door opened.

The two men threw the women inside the room without them going inside. The woman came running back, but the door was shut.

They heard a slight puff of air coming out as if the dead man in the room had exhaled. Dr. Li knew the whole hallway was now contaminated with the death in the room.

Or probably not.

The woman was still hammering at the door with her tiny fists. But it didn't matter. She stopped after a few seconds and looked around. A man was lying on his belly.

She remained near the door. Dr. Li could see she was avoiding looking at the dead body. Would she do the same if she knew it was her husband? He smiled at the fallacy of relationships and emotions.

The operator looked at her curiously. Would she die too?

He knew why she was in the room. To prove Dr. Li's hypothesis that the gas would become inert after fifteen minutes.

She was his second guinea pig of the day. The whole point was to see if his creation worked.

Dr. Li stood tense. The operator too. Waiting for the symptoms. Waiting to see if they would witness the second death of the day.

The woman seemed fine for a few seconds. And then she crumpled on the floor.

Then as if Dr. Li and the operator watched a replay. The woman didn't even take that much time that the man before her had taken. Dead within seconds.

The formula hadn't worked. The gas was deadly even after fifteen minutes.

Dr. Li needed more time to work on it. Finally, he took two heavy breaths, looked at his hands, and said, "The trial isn't a success."

"What do you need, Doctor?" The voice as if it came from the sky, but Dr. Li knew better. It was the bureaucrats sitting on the floor above him, watching the experiment.

"Another test subject." Dr. Li stated.

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