"Payback" by Tanya Kolb

Payback  

by Tanya Kolb

I bolted upright in bed, gasping for air like a drowning man searching for his last  breath. The darkness was suffocating me. It was the same as it had been every night for the  last three days. I knew I would never escape it. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and  made my way to the bathroom. I flipped the switch on the wall and the light above the sink  burned my eyes. The face in the mirror was unrecognizable. The sunken, bloodshot eyes  didn’t look like mine. They were the same faded blue, but the life had been sucked out of  them. This face looked older than my 39 years. I was so much worse for the wear. There  was no going back. Every time I closed my eyes, the last few days played over in my mind  like a horror movie that I couldn’t escape. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.  

I fumbled my way to the living room and collapsed onto the couch. Leaning back, I  stared up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. I was a smart man. I was meticulous  and caring. How could this have happened? I kept my work and family separated all these  years. Now, I found myself not only a prisoner in my mind, but a prisoner in my home. I had  to figure this out. To do that, I would have to start at the beginning.

Three Days Ago – Friday October 3, 2025 

I drove to work, just as I had every other day for years. I kissed my wife before I left  home; the weather was cold, but beautiful. I arrived at the lab and swiped my badge at the  door. Jill greeted me at reception, as usual“Good morning, Devin” with a smile. I entered  the lab and checked the animals in their cages and got ready to start the day’s round of  experiments. Today, Eric and I would start injecting the monkeys with a new serum. This  round of testing was part of a secret project that we had been overseeing for the past 6  months for a government agency. Even we didn’t know all of the details on this one. We  followed the protocols and sent detailed results back to the benefactors. There hadn’t  seemed to be much change in the monkeys so far.  

“Eric, will you give subject A the serum first, please?” I asked. 

“”Ok” he answered.  

He did as I asked and we waited 2 hours and observed his reaction. There seemed  to be no change. “That may have been the placebo.” Eric suggested. 

“It’s definitely a possibility.” I replied thoughtfully. “Let’s give subject B a sample  and watch his reaction.” 

“On it.” He shot back and proceeded to give the injection. 

Again, after two hours, nothing had happened. Eric and I decided to give the 3rd and  final test subject the serum. As before, there was no change. We noted the findings and 

began closing up for the day. As we were packing up in the office, we began hearing a loud  banging coming from the cages. 

“What was that sound?” Eric asked. 

“Let’s go see what has them rattled” I suggested 

We made our way down the hall to see what had the monkeys worked up. We were  not prepared for what we walked into. Two of the cage doors were open and empty. Inside  the third cage, subject A was foaming at the mouth; his eyes were wild and angry. He  looked like a rabid animal. He had a grip on the bars with both hands and was trying to pull  them apart. He was snarling and growling. Eric immediately whispered in a low voice, “We  need to put him down.” I nodded in agreement. 

The other two were nowhere to be seen, but we knew we had to find them and do  the same to them before it was too late. Eric grabbed a device that we kept in the lab for  just such an occasion and quickly shot subject A with a lethal hit. He was neutralized  before he knew what hit him. As the dart hit, Subject C flew through like a blur and landed  on Eric. Before I knew what was happening, he was on him. He was ripping him apart as  Eric’s screams echoed through the lab. I froze for a moment. I was unable to process what  was happening. I saw the device on the floor. I picked it up and shot. I wasn’t sure if it hit  the target or not. I turned and ran. I didn’t look back. I got in my car and went straight home. 

When I got home, my wife knew something was wrong. I rushed to the shower and  tried to play it off like just a bad day. I stood in the shower with my mind racing. I knew the  body wouldn't be discovered until Monday because everyone else had already left. How 

was I going to explain? What would happen? Would they believe me? There were so many  questions. I let the steaming water rush over me. Tears ran down my face and down the  drain. I wished the day could drain away as easily. I knew I would have to try to hold it  together before I walked back into the room to face Olivia. 

When I turned the corner into the kitchen, my knees buckled and I fell to the floor.  Olivia lay on the floor in a pool of blood. Her body was mangled in a way that was too  familiar. I had seen that done to my friend Eric only hours before and a part of me died with  her. I knew that I had brought this home to her. This was my fault and I would never forgive  myself. I crawled over to her and wrapped my arms around her. It was still here, and it  wasn’t done paying me back.