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could bring her back
to life with the liquid. It’s a magical creation; she came back to
life a few times but obviously was a little aggressive.’
    ‘ How fucking
dare you.’ Tom began to shake and screamed at Ken in his seat.
Tears fell from his eyes. Ken ignored his cries and tried to carry
on with the story.
    ‘ I had to
fake my own death because I needed to find this cure. It may not
make sense to you but people were aware of what I was doing. I had
to stay away from you to protect you from the media.’
    ‘ Well that
worked, didn’t it Dad. Your death was everywhere.’
    ‘ I’m
sorry.’
    ‘ No, you’re
not. Get me out of this.’ Tom said forcefully.
    ‘ I can’t do
that.’
    ‘ Let me out
now.’ Tom shouted.
    Ken grabbed a
pair of scissors and cut the cable tie. Tom’s hands felt numb. He
had been able to feel the difference since he was cured, he could
feel the injury on his leg and shoulder once again. Tom walked
across the room to get used to standing and walking again. He
smelled the dusky room and walked back towards Ken.
    Tom swung his
right hand towards Ken’s face. His knuckles struck the left side of
Ken’s jaw, forcing him to the floor. Tom knelt beside Ken and
gripped his collar, punching him again. After the second punch to
Ken’s shrunken face, Tom stood up and turned his back on
Ken.
    ‘ I guess I
deserved that.’ Ken wearily said.
    ‘ We are going
to finish this together, me and you Dad. Blow this place up… is
that possible?’
    Ken breathed
heavily while pushing himself off the filthy ground. He stood
upright. His shaking, withered hand felt his bloody mouth and
nose.
    ‘ Well, yes,
but we wouldn’t make it out in time. It’s not much of a countdown.
It erases files and then releases the chemicals created and then
the building explodes.’
    Tom searched
the room for a desk of some sort. He looked to his right and saw a
desk with televisions and buttons. He walked toward it. Ken
followed in his tracks.
    ‘ Tom, what
are you doing?’ Ken asked in desperation.
    ‘ Finishing
all this.’
    Tom reached
the desk. The screens were showing CCTV footage. The building was
completely empty. He looked through all the images; one stood out.
The black and white footage showed a chamber, with Danni, chained
to a wall. She didn’t look healthy. She was trying to break out of
the chains. Some of her hair had fallen out, showing her scabby
bald head in places. Her skin looked sweaty and bloody.
    ‘ You said she
was dead.’
    ‘ I didn’t
want to worry or stress you out Tom.’
    Tom chuckled
to himself at the irony of his Dad suddenly caring about his
feelings. He moved his hand over a pair of scissors that were on
the desk and secretly slid them up his sleeve. Ken continued to
speak.
    ‘ She is
pretty much dead anyway isn’t she? Like us, we’re dead, how are we
ever going to survive this? That’s why I don’t want to waste my
work. All these years, I’ve worked on this and now you want me to
waste all those years and all the risks I’ve taken by blowing this
place up?’ Ken began to sound hysterical.
    ‘ So...’ There
was a pause as Tom positioned the scissors up his right sleeve with
his finger tips, ‘Are you going to help me Dad?’
    Ken ignored
what Tom said, pulled him away from the desk and separated Tom from
it by standing in front of him.
    ‘ Don’t do
anything silly, now, Tom.’ Ken snarled.
    Tom let the
scissors slide down to his fingers into his palm. He gripped the
handle and prepared for the worst.
    ‘ Dad, don’t
be stupid. Blow this place up or I’ll have to do it
myself.’
    ‘ Tom, son, I
am not going to do that and neither are you.’ Ken lowered his voice
to a whisper, ‘This has taken me years to build. Don’t ruin it
now.’
    They stared
at each other, eye to eye. They weighed each other. Thinking what
to do and what consequences there could be.
    ‘ Dad, you’re
not like I remember you. You have changed into a heartless control
freak.’ Tom