Read Online Cryonic by Travis Bradberry - Free Book Online Page B

but he was way past the point of not getting enough oxygen to his brain. The alarm finally went off because his heart stopped, but his oxygen levels had reached zero long before that.”
    â€œAll right, so he visited the other side for a little bit. He fired back up pretty nicely after that. Same thing happens to drowning victims.”
    â€œI wish that were it. I took a look at his vitals after he attacked that first doctor. He didn’t have a pulse. He wasn’t breathing, either.”
    â€œMuscle spasms?” I was joking, but part of me hoped Alex would agree.
    â€œDid Janet and Barry look like they were having spasms? Or how about Elliott when he chased Dr. Feng down the hall?”
    â€œIs that why you were being such a coward in there?”
    â€œI don’t know. I don’t claim to be a particularly courageous person. The whole thing got under my skin.”
    â€œWell, if I start breaking out in sweats and sores you can just go ahead and take me out before I start biting.”
    â€œI’ll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn’t come to that,” Alex said as he walked into the other room. He stepped back into the doorway and pelted me with something. “Here, put this on.”
    I held what Alex had thrown at me. It was a navy blue jumpsuit that buttoned in the front. I reluctantly removed my hospital clothes and slid on the jumpsuit. Alex returned from the bedroom wearing the same.
    â€œSweet, we’re twins!” I exclaimed sarcastically.
    â€œThis is standard issue for civilians. We’ll be a lot less noticeable on the streets in these.”
    â€œWell, we’re ready to take out the trash.”
    â€œCome on, let’s go. I know a place where they won’t be looking for us.”

13.
    Alex led me back across town to a high-rise residential tower directly across the street from the facility we had escaped that morning. He assured me his friend Celeste’s apartment was safe because she had told him they’d already searched the building for us, but we snuck in through a back entrance just to be safe.
    When he knocked on a fourth-floor door, an absolute beauty answered. Celeste was tall and lithe with wavy jet-black hair and bright blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled. Her roommate Carson was another story. Alex had attempted to prepare me for him, but no description was adequate. Years before, Carson had been labeled a dissenter by the Chinese for trying to organize a labor strike. His attempt to get a day off for US citizens earned him a trip to a reeducation camp, where they lobotomized him and tinkered with his brain until he returned a model Chinese citizen. The three of them had been friends forever, and Celeste roomed with Carson so that she could keep an eye on him.
    Carson was like an overzealous den mother offering us rice and asking all sorts of questions about where I’d come from and what my interests were. The four of us sat down for a bite and some tea, and I couldn’t resist picking his brain.
    â€œSo what is it you do, Carson?”
    â€œRoyce, I’m so glad you asked. I’m a supervisor at the waste management facility.”
    â€œWhat sort of supervising do you do there?”
    â€œI ensure the workers process the waste efficiently and accurately to support the great republic.”
    â€œIs that so? And processing trash is pretty important to the great republic, is it?”
    â€œOh yes. A clean society is an effective society.”
    â€œYou sound like a pretty big fan of this great republic.”
    â€œI love the republic above all else.”
    â€œAnd why is that?”
    â€œThe great republic is creating peace and harmony throughout the world by integrating its cultures. The great republic provides for all the needs of its citizens. We have ample employment, shelter, and nourishment for our bodies. I am grateful to the great republic for everything it has given to me, and I dedicate my