Episode 8: Inside Guy

Episode 8

"Inside Guy"

(Colin)

I've been instructed by Charlie to find a Jeff lookalike. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to. Alex promised that he'd dispose of the bodies in the freezer room and track down Marcus and Ray. He's left me to do what I need to do, and that is to find that damn Jeff lookalike. Personally I think this is stupid, Charlie is playing too many games. I obviously can't say that, or else who knows what he'll do to me. I know Charlie is planning something big, I just don't know what it is. He's been sneaking around a hell of a lot lately, and its been making me worried. I just wish Charlie would tell Alex and I more, but I guess I can't blame him after what happened with his previous managers. He really wants that Brad guy dead.

I headed down to the bar on the ninth floor to scout out for a Jeff lookalike. I was instructed to get this guy to the basement without making a big scene. My curiosity with Charlie grows every day, but I keep telling myself not to ask any questions. I don't want to anger Charlie, and my manager position is pretty good, besides the constant sneaking around. Once I got into the bar at around seven o'clock, I sat down at a stool and ordered a shot. There were a lot of people around, it was getting pretty loud in here. There were people joking around and being obnoxiously loud, people were fist fighting, and some people were making out, slobbering all over each other; they probably won't even remember it in the morning. I sighed and kept scanning around the room, once in a while I would glance down and take a look at the photo of Jeff that Charlie gave me.

"Black hair, muscular, middle aged... hmm." I said to myself.

The bartender slid a shot over to me and I caught it. I lifted it up and downed it, giving it back to the bartender for another one.

I couldn't see anyone in here that really resembled Jeff all that much. Just a bunch of drunk teenagers and big hairy dudes. I know Charlie said that the lookalike doesn't have to exactly resemble Jeff, but I still want him to look somewhat similar. So far a bunch of teenagers and hairy dudes aren't going to pass. I took one more shot before deciding that was enough. I had work to do and I didn't need my senses dulled. I stood up and walked around the bar some more, checking different people out. I almost got hit as some drunk threw a punch at their buddy. I rolled my eyes in frustration, there were so many stupid people in here. After what seemed to be an hour of walking around the bar, avoiding drunk messes, I spotted a man sitting with his girlfriend at a booth. He had black hair and was in good shape. He looked to be in his early thirties, that was close enough. I walked over and sat down next to them, the Jeff lookalike and his girlfriend looking confused.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Colin," I said, grabbing his hand nervously and shaking it, "you are?"

"Trent, can I help you?" He repeated.

"Actually you can, I need a drinking buddy, you look like a good candidate." I answered.

"Sorry man, I'm just here to drink with my girl."

"Wow, so you're scared?" I taunted.

"No, I just don't want to do-"

"You're dating such a wimp." I chuckled towards the girl.

His girlfriend grinned, and this made Trent grumble in frustration. A waitress walked by, and Trent nudged her.

"Hey," he said, "get me the strongest stuff you have."

She smiled and nodded, then left to go get it.

"Atta boy." I patted him on the back.

"I'm not your drinking buddy," he said, "I'm just here to prove to you that I'm not a wimp."

"We'll see." I said.

This plan was going according to plan, if I can get this guy drunk enough to pass out or something, I could get him to the basement easily. I wonder how I'm going to get him out of here without his girlfriend seeing though. Not five minutes later, the waitress showed back up with a big bottle and some shot glasses. Trent opened the bottle with a big pop, and then started pouring. The bottle made a chugging sound, and I thought he was going to overfill the glasses.

"You ready?" He asked me.

I grabbed the glass and nodded at him, with that we lifted out heads up and downed the alcohol. It took everything in me not to gag or make a face. This stuff was really strong, I started wondering if I was going to even be able to beat this guy. I remember just saying to myself I didn't want to drink to avoid dulling my senses, but here I am. Trent poured again and I braced myself for more, I was really hoping this guy would pass out before me. I don't even know how I am going to get him down to the basement drunk as hell. After Trent poured, we did the same thing. We downed it, Trent's girlfriend observing quietly. I slammed the glass down and shook my head, I looked over at Trent, who didn't seem fazed.

"Shit." I said to myself.

Once again, Trent poured and we downed it. We kept repeating, and after the fourth glass I couldn't do it anymore. Trent was starting to look woozy as well, but I don't think he was anywhere near the level I was on. I needed to think of another plan, but I was feeling sick.

"You know what," I slurred, "you might not actually be a wimp."

He chuckled, making sure his girlfriend noticed how strong he was.

"But I still don't know for sure. I bet I could still beat you up."

Trent laughed and slapped the table.

"No you couldn't."

"Prove it, wanna take it outside?"

"Yeah let's go you fuck'n wimp!" He slurred, almost falling on his face when he stood up.

I stood up and we walked out of the bar, leaving his girlfriend there. She tried stopping him, but he was too drunk to listen. We took the elevator down to the first floor, and it was a really awkward ride. I was planning on taking him to the back where there were barely any guards to see and taking him out there.

The elevator doors opened and we fumbled our way through the lobby. The basement was just down the hall from the lobby, it wasn't far. It wasn't too busy in the lobby, it was late, and the people who were still out were in the bar. When I was absolutely sure nobody was looking, I grabbed my baton from my side and smacked him over the back of the head. He fell forward and I caught him, quickly lugging him off towards the basement. I unlocked the door and closed the door behind Trent and I. I made sure it was locked, and carefully brought Trent down the stairs. This guy was out cold, and he weighed a lot. I flicked on the lights and threw him on the ground. There were a lot of people down here, it was starting to stack up. Jeff and two other girls that must have been a part of his group, and another man. I tied Trent to a pole by his wrist, and left him there.

(Alex)

I spent all night in the freezer, and I was cold. I was busy bagging everyone up in garbage bags, making them look like normal trash. It took a lot of work, I hope I get extra food for this. I took the bodies one by one and threw them in the bin in the hallway. Once all of them were stacked up, I rolled the bin to the elevator and took it to the lobby, where from there I took it outside and tossed them in the dumpster. Men would come by later and burn the garbage, then all of the evidence would be gone. It was hard work and I knew for sure I would be smelling like the dead for a long time.

My next task was to track down Marcus and Ray, then throw them in the basement. I went to my office and looked up their names, I found their room numbers. They were both on the same floor, pretty close to each other. Room 84 and room 79. Easy enough. It was late, around midnight, they are probably in their rooms, sleeping. What better time to get them than now? I took the elevator up to the second floor and started looking for the room numbers. I got to room 79. This was Ray's room. I unlocked the door with my key card and snuck in. I quietly closed the door from behind me. It was very dark in here, but I could make out the outline of a sleeping person on their bed. Ray. I snuck over to him, he was out cold. I picked up a pillow and then placed it over his face, then applied pressure. A lot of pressure. Ray woke up abruptly and started flailing around. I pushed harder and held him down. This went on for about a minute, and then he stopped. I kept pushing just in case. After another minute, I let go. He was dead. I placed the pillow back and snuck out of the room.

I did the same thing in Marcus's room. He didn't see it coming, neither of them did. After finishing up in Marcus's room, I ran my hands through my hair and took another deep breath. This was a very dark night for me. I had to wrap up dead bodies in garbage bags and throw them in the dumpster like they were actual trash, and kill two people just because Charlie told me to. This was becoming too much for me to handle. I made it back to my office and opened up a drawer with had a bottle of whiskey from which I snuck from the bar. I sat on the ground and started drinking, trying to hold in the tears.

(Jeff)

More and more people have been added down here to Charlie's little, demented collection. First me, then Kayla and Bay, then some guy named Jack, and then another guy who's name I haven't learned yet. We all sat in complete darkness, and Jack decided to break the silence.

"So Jeff," he started, "we've all heard lots about you. Charlie's painted you as the big terrorist, did you know that?"

"Oh I'm not surprised." I responded.

"Don't worry, I don't think many people buy it. In fact, I'm thinking more and more people are waking up every day. It's only a matter of time before everything comes back to bite Charlie in the ass, and it will happen."

"How'd you get thrown down here?" I asked.

"I failed to follow Charlie's orders. He ordered me to kill Brad, one of his ex managers. I let him go, and he escaped this shithole."

"I remember him," I said, "I think he was an alright guy. I remember Lindsey too." I said, but stopped myself there.

"So Jeff, we've all heard the stories from Charlie about how bad you are, but what's your real story? Why does Charlie really hate you?"

"It's real simple actually," I started, "I didn't fall for his bullshit, plain and simple."

"It seems that anyone who gets in Charlie's way is either killed, or sent down here to rot." Bay said.

"Not me," said a voice from the darkness, "I didn't do anything."

"Who are you?" I asked to the man.

"Trent." He said, "I was attacked by a manager, Colin I think his name was. He threw me down here for no reason. I have no idea why I'm here. I was just a normal citizen of Lockwood."

"Well," Jack said, "Charlie must have his reasons."

"So what you guys were saying is true?" Trent asked, "Charlie really is a bad guy?"

"Yes. He's the biggest threat to society, he's worse than the stranglers." Jack replied.

"Damn, I had no idea."

"What do you think Charlie has planned for all of us?" Kayla asked, "why are we down here? Why doesn't he just kill us?"

"I think he likes to see us suffer," I said, "he's a psychopath."

We sat down in the room for hours, just talking to each other. I liked having the company, but at the same time I was sad for these people. Especially for my daughter. None of these people deserved to be in here. If anyone deserves to rot down here, it's Charlie. Trent told us about how a manager who he was pretty sure was Colin, approached him and got him drunk, then attacked him and dragged him down here. He says he has a girlfriend named Pat, and he misses her a lot. He's worried sick for her, and wonders if Lockwood will go after her as well. If Trent is who he says he is, I wonder why he's down here. Why would Charlie order for this man who's done nothing to him, to be sent to the basement? Jack also told us about his rebellion. Which is why he's in here. He and a bunch of other soldiers have caught on to Charlie's corruption, and they want him removed from power. They're preparing something big, and I hope it works. I'll be cheering them on from down here. Jack seems so sure that his plan will work, and I hope it does. I really hope someday Charlie is exposed for who he is, and Lockwood turns on him. Maybe one day the tables will turn, and he'll be thrown down here.

"You're planning a rebellion? That's so cool!" Kayla shouted.

"Not so loud!" Jack snapped.

"It's soundproof in here, no worries." She said.

"You never know who's listening." Jack replied, looking around the room.

"How many people are in your resistance?" She pestered him, clearly intrigued.

"A lot, a lot more than you'd think. Almost one hundred. Lockwood is waking up, and Charlie's corruption will soon come to an end."

"I hope so, but if you do take Charlie down, leave him alive so I can finish him off." Kayla said with fire in her eyes.

Jack chuckled.

"I really like you kid, you're a firecracker. Charlie ought to be afraid of you."

"He better be, but I'm sure he already is."

A few more hours passed, and I was pretty sure it was nighttime, because everyone was getting tired. I wasn't though, the thought of my daughter being locked up in here made me sick, I needed to get her out. I can't just sit in here uselessly and wait for death, Kayla needs to be free. I'm fine with staying in here if I have to, but Kayla needs out. So I started thinking of a plan.

"Charlie comes down here every once in a while." I said.

Everyone looked at me.

"Next time he comes down here, we should ambush him, and get the hell out of here."

"How do you expect to do that?" Trent asked.

"He has a keycard to all of the doors. I've seen it on him before. It only makes sense that he would, he's the leader. If we can somehow snatch it off of him..."

"We're all tied up, I don't know how we'd snatch anything off of him." Bay said.

Before I could say anything, the doors opened at light shone at us, blinding me for a few seconds.

(Colin)

I headed back up to Charlie's suite with the news that the Jeff lookalike has been found. I hope Charlie's pleased with me, because this was not an easy task. I almost failed and ended up passing out myself. I was still a little woozy from the drinking contest, but I seemed to have my bearings back up. I knocked on Charlie's door, and it took him a few minutes to answer, I almost turned around and left.

"What is it? I'm trying to sleep." He said.

"Sorry sir, I just wanted to let you know that the Jeff lookalike has been taken care of."

Charlie seemed to have woken up after I told him that, he pulled me into his room.

"Not so loud Colin, remember this is a confidential mission."

"Sorry." I said.

"Nevermind that. What does he look like? Does he look close enough like Jeff?"

"Yes, he looks close enough. He's in the basement right now. He barely knows anything, he is probably still knocked out."

Charlie paced the room, scratching his chin and smirking every once in a while. I was seriously wondering what he was up to now. When are these games going to stop? I really want to ask him that, but I'm too scared to. I just stood there awkwardly while Charlie schemed to himself. He finally stopped pacing after a few minutes and looked at me.

"Alright," he said, "everything is going well. I need you to do one more thing for me Colin."

"Yes sir?" I sighed, trying not to sound upset.

"I want you to put this bag over his head," he grabbed one from his desk, "then I want you to record yourself executing him. Really sell the idea that he's actually Jeff."

I really wanted to ask Charlie why this time, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't question him, I'm on his good side and I don't want to get on his bad side. I don't want to end up like Brad.

"Yes... yes sir." I repeated.

Charlie walked over to his desk again and pulled out a camcorder and handed it to me.

"When you're done, come back to me immediately."

With that, I walked out of Charlie's room and went on to do my next deed for him. This was becoming too much, I was tired. I just wanted a break. When I became manager, I thought I was going to just do simple jobs to help run Lockwood, not do all of this murdering. This job is overrated. While I was in the elevator by myself, I thought about stopping all of this. I wanted to walk out on this job so badly. The only problem is I have no idea what will happen to me if I do. I know too much, and Charlie isn't just going to let me walk out. I think I've come too far, and now I don't know what to do. I looked at the camcorder in my hand and my body tensed up. I yelled in anger and threw it against the elevator doors. Thankfully, it didn't break. I picked it back up before the doors opened, and carried on with my business. I really needed to get that out. I made my way to the basement and opened the doors.

(Jeff)

A man walked down the stairs, but I could tell by the way he was walking, it wasn't Charlie. He didn't limp. The man closed the doors and sealed off the light once again. He made his way down, and turned on a spotlight. Blinding me quickly once again. Once I recovered my vision, I saw the man clearly. He was definitely a manager. Just the way he was dressed, it was different from the other soldiers, and it was how Brad used to dress.

"Come to finish us off? Please do." Jack taunted.

The manager ignored him, and started fiddling with some camera he had in his hand. What the hell is he doing?

"You gonna film us suffering for Charlie?" Jack asked, "You sick bastards."

The manager sighed, and it looked like he wanted to cry. Once he was done fiddling with the camera, he pulled this bag from his pocket, and put it over Trent's head. Trent struggled and started screaming.

The man started recording Trent, who was struggling to get out of the bag. It was useless, both of his hands were tied. Then I watched in fear as the man pulled a pistol from his holster with his free hand. He pointed it at the man's head.

"Jeff Jones," he said, "you are going to pay for your crimes against Lockwood."

"What? What?" Trent screamed.

It all happened so fast. I didn't get a chance to try to stop the manager. There was a flash, and a loud bang. My ears rang and I cringed from the pain it had caused my ears. I looked back up to see Trent, slumped over with blood trickling from his head and out of the bag. The man turned off the camera and sighed again.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. "I'm Jeff!"

He turned to me and made a frowning face.

"I know." He said.

Then he walked back up the stairs and opened the door, letting himself out and closing it once again. We were left in here alone again, but with one less person.

(Brad)

The next morning, Walkerton was gone. Just like he'd promised. James was shocked when he found out he had left.

"He just doesn't strike me as the type of person to run away from danger." He said.

"That's his choice," I said, "I'm not going to get in his way of freedom."

"Do I get a choice?" He asked.

"Yes."

James thought about it for a few moments then turned back to me.

"I'll help, but only because I don't want to go off by myself. I probably wouldn't last long without a group."

I chuckled and pat James on the shoulder. He was a funny guy, it'll be nice to keep him around. It is still a real shame Walkerton had to leave us though. That's his choice though, and I understand and respect it. I wouldn't go back to Lockwood willingly to rescue someone I didn't know. I need to do this though, because I can't leave Jeff behind.

Later in the day, while Ryder and Elise were busy arguing, the man named Ned came up to talk with me.

"Don't trust either of them." Is what he whispered to me.

"I kind of figured." I responded.

"Seriously," he said, "that redhead girl, Elise. She wants to get Jeff back so she can kill him. She's dangerous, and she's trying to deceive you."

"I know," I laughed, "she's a pretty bad liar. I'm going along with it though, because we're going to need as many people as we can get to break Jeff out of Lockwood."

"What're you gonna do when you rescue him?" Ned asked, "What do you do when Elise tries to kill him?"

"I'll figure that out when we get there. I won't let her kill him, don't worry."

"Thank you," Ned said, "I just want Jeff to get out unharmed."

"We'll make sure he does. She won't lay a hand on him."

With that, Ned walked away, looking satisfied enough from my response. I hung around the camp just talking with James when finally Ryder and Elise stopped arguing.

"Alright everyone," Elise said, "we need to start working on a plan to break Jeff out of Lockwood. Ryder and I were thinking about creating a distraction while some of you break inside."

"No," Ned said, "that won't work. We need a safer way to get in. Creating a simple distraction won't work, you can't distract all of Lockwood, there are too many soldiers."

"Okay, then I'm guessing you have a better plan then?" She snapped.

"Yes actually, I do."

"Let's here it."

"It's simple really, Lockwood doesn't know who I am, or Elise. They know who Ryder is, who James is, and they definitely know who Brad is. They haven't seen me or Elise yet. We've never been to Lockwood, and we've never caused them trouble. Well, when I was in Jeff's group we did cause them a lot of trouble, but they've never seen me directly."

"So what's your point?" Elise asked.

"My point is that Elise and I, will head over to Lockwood normally, and act like normal civilians in need of help. They'll take us in. Although we need to be prepared because once they take us in we can't leave. From there, we can break Jeff out from the inside out."

"That's actually a good plan," I said, "Ned is right. We can break Jeff out from the inside. I know an inside guy named Jack. He's planning a rebellion with a bunch of other soldiers in Lockwood. They're tired of Charlie's tyrannical rule over Lockwood, and they want to put it to an end. If Ned and Elise can get inside and contact Jack, he can help from there."

"Hmm," Elise said, scratching her head, "how are we going to contact Jack once we're inside?"

"Room 97," I started, "that's where Jack's room is. Knock on his door and tell him Brad sent you."

I was surprised I remembered the room number after all this time. Good thing I did, because this little bit of information is what's going to save Jeff.

"Does anyone have any objections to this plan?" Ryder asked, "Because I think it's a damn good plan."

"No, seems good to me." James said.

"Elise?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Good plan. I'll come with you to Lockwood Ned." She said.

"Here, you'll need these." Ryder said, walking over to Ned and handing him a walkie talkie, "Once inside, tell us. We'll be on the other end to help you."

"Excellent, but before we go, I want to visit some old friends who I think could help us out." Ned added, "Brad, how much gas is in your truck?"

"A lot, Lockwood always packs the thing with extra gasoline canisters incase we get lost."

"Good, because we're going to need to go on a long trip."

"Where are we going?"

"Toronto."

I never thought when I woke up today that I'd be driving to Toronto. But here I was, in the drivers seat, driving to Toronto. James sat beside me in the passenger seat, Ned and Doug sat in the back two seats, and Ryder and Elise sat in the box of the truck outside. Elise seemed pretty pissed that a dog got better seating than she did, but Ryder didn't complain, he thought it was cool to sit back there with the wind blowing in his face. We were taking the highway all the way back to Toronto. Ned insisted it was crucial that we visited these old friends of his. I hope after this long trip, they're still there, because I don't want this trip to be for nothing. He said they should still be there, because they like to protect the city.

"Trust me," he said, "they'll be there. They're like the protectors of the city. It's so cool."

"Well I'll take your word for it."

"We've had a fight with them before. When we first got to Toronto, a long time ago. We thought the military would have secured the city like the radio said, but they never did. Instead we found different protectors. They didn't like that we ended up setting up base in their city, so we got ourselves into a bit of a war. It wasn't pretty, but it's nothing compared to this Lockwood war we're in."

"Wait I thought you said these people were your friends!" I yelled.

"They are now. After our many feuds, we came together so we could fight a much bigger enemy. Kind of like what we're doing now, Ryder and me teaming up to fight Charlie."

"Well I'm glad you're finding some positivity in this whole mess Ned. It's good to have your spirits up. What did you say your friend's name was again?"

"Hilda."