Chapter 9 - The List of the Living
The armed guards turned toward the opening corridors.
Shadows moved behind the metal doors.
At first, Marta could not distinguish faces. Then men and women began stepping into the emergency light.
They walked slowly.
Some supported one another. Others shielded their eyes as though they had not seen bright light in years.
Robert looked sick.
“This was beneath my company?”
Elena faced him.
“Your company was built to protect it.”
“You said my father created Meridian.”
“He inherited it,” Victor replied. “Just as you were supposed to.”
Robert turned on him.
“I knew nothing about this.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“That was the condition of your protection.”
Sofia raised her weapon toward the approaching prisoners.
“Stay back.”
No one stopped.
Adrian’s voice came through the speakers.
“They are not coming for you.”
The prisoners moved past Sofia’s guards without attacking. Instead, they gathered before the monitors.
One elderly woman touched the screen where Adrian’s face appeared.
“You found the door,” she whispered.
Marta looked at Elena.
“Who are these people?”
Elena’s expression hardened.
“Engineers, witnesses, accountants, journalists. Anyone who discovered enough to become dangerous.”
Henrik stepped forward.
“And children?”
Elena did not answer.
Marta understood before the words were spoken.
“Children born here.”
A little girl emerged from the crowd holding an old notebook.
She approached Marta without fear.
“Are you Elena’s daughter?”
Marta nodded slowly.
The girl handed her the notebook.
“Your father told me to give you this.”
Marta opened it.
The first pages contained names, dates, and chamber numbers. Some entries had red lines through them.
At the back was a handwritten list titled:
THE LIVING.
Marta scanned the names.
Her mother.
Her father.
Sofia.
Victor.
David.
Robert’s father.
And one name that made her stop breathing.
MARTA ELENA KOVACS — SUBJECT 27.
She looked up.
“What does Subject 27 mean?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Sofia answered instead.
“It means you were never outside Meridian.”
Marta shook her head.
“I was a child.”
“You were born in this facility,” Sofia said.
The memory came without warning: white walls, a metal door, her mother singing in darkness.
Marta had always believed it was a nightmare.
It had been real.
Robert took the notebook from her and flipped through the pages.
“There are financial codes beside the names.”
Henrik leaned over his shoulder.
“They match offshore accounts.”
David gave a weak laugh from the floor.
“That is why they kept the prisoners alive. Their identities were used to move money.”
Victor stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I discovered it six months ago.”
“And you said nothing.”
David looked at Marta.
“I was trying to find proof.”
A loud metallic impact came from the chamber feed.
Marta’s father suddenly fell against the wall.
Adrian turned.
Someone else had entered the chamber.
A man wearing a white medical coat stepped into view.
Elena’s face became empty.
“No,” she whispered.
May you like
The man smiled at the camera.
“Subject 27 has returned,” he said. “Prepare the recovery room.”
