Page 137 of Johnny

I nod, then wave the gun at the wall. “Everyone, please get up. Jane here is going to open the secret

panel in the wall and then we’re going on a little field trip.”

The sounds of whispering and feet shuffling as everyone gets up.

“I have to warn you,” an older man says.

I turn to him. “Yeah? About what?”

“You can’t—”

“Shut up, Darrel!” a younger man yells. “For fuck’s sake! Don’t just roll over and tell him—”

I shoot that guy in the head and he splatters all over a computer monitor. Then I turn to Darrel.

“You were saying, Darrel?”

And I have to give this dude credit. All of them, really. They do not scream, no one faints, there’s

not even a collective horrified gasp. They are true, hardcore Way employees till the end.

“I… I… was going to warn you about the infectious nature of the inner… rooms.” He says ‘rooms’

like he doesn’t usually call them rooms. “I understand you might be looking for someone specific, but

even if you find them, you must not open the doors. They’re contagious. This is a level four biosafety

facility.”

“Is the air contagious?”

“Not in the hallways. But again, if you force us to open the doors to any of the… rooms, you will

die here, Mr. Boston.”

Mr. Boston. So he does know who I am. Interesting. Or sad. Depends on your perspective, I guess.

“These… patients are in the final stages of their… course.”

I do not even want to know what that means so I don’t ask. I just say. “Understood.”

Darrel nods. His fleshy jowls bobbing with his head. “OK,” he whispers. “I’ll go with you. But

only us two.”

I smile at him. “Darrel. Come on now, man. You know that’s not how this works.” I point the gun at

the whole crew and say, “Go on. Get in line. We’re all taking this trip together. How many personnel

are back there?”

“Just one lab tech. She has nothing to do with this—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Logan says. “She has nothing to do with this? Are you fucking kidding me

right now? She’s the one behind the wall doing whatever it is you people are doing back there.”

“She’s just a kid,” a woman says. “She’s just a tech, that’s all. She’s brand new. She just got here