The Facility - Cheap Labor Has Been Redefined by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 27

The funeral was held on Saturday. Ajna sat in the front row next to her mother as well as Edward’s parents. Her long black hair hung over her face as she leaned forward weeping openly. The eulogy was delivered by a local minister to a room filled with visitors, friends, and co-workers. She still couldn’t believe Edward was gone, even as the funeral associate handed her the urn. Edward’s wedding band had been returned by the detective and Ajna sat clutching it in her hand as it hung from a chain around her neck. Although a wake was traditionally held after a funeral, Ajna simply wanted to be left alone. She had to live with her mother as she could not bear the thought of going back and wandering around the house alone. Her mother tried to console her. But, what Ajna really needed was time to grieve, no matter how long it took.

Back at her mother’s house, she sat on the couch with her knees pulled upholding the sealed brass urn. Ajna had emotionally shut down. However, over the next few weeks, she would occasionally burst into tears with little to no warning. As a doctor, Ajna knew this was all part of the healing process. But, knowing this didn’t make it any less painful. Eventually, she would put the house on the market and considering its location, it would be expected to sell quickly. Her job only allowed for five days of bereavement. But given her emotional state, Ajna was allowed to take another week as sick time. It was during this time that Ajna would decide to leave the Portland area. Everything about Portland seemed to be a painful reminder of the only man she would ever truly be in love with. And within the next few weeks, she would accept a position at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. She would live with her mother in a relatively isolated community far from the Portland war zone, among people who constantly looked out for each other. And occasionally, Ajna would visit the Bigelow Mountains to the north. She’d sit on a rock on the south side of Bigelow pond near an abandoned cabin and marvel at the timeless beauty of the ever-changing mountainscape. She would continue living her life never knowing what really happened to Edward. She would never know that the ashes contained in the urn were actually those of a nameless stranger who’d been sacrificed for the protection of a corrupt system. And like many others, Ajna would never know about the facility near Jay, Maine where people had been warehoused for their organs – their lives stolen for the benefit of the privileged few.

The facility would soon be abandoned. When the handful of people responsible for its existence were no longer able to communicate with it, their reaction was both quiet and swift. The military was sent in to seal off the area while men in hazmat suits combed through the building. Body disposal was a priority as the now unidentifiable dead were bagged and readied for transport to an undisclosed location for destruction as biological hazards. Shortly after, a scrub team would clear the building of every piece of equipment – every surgical tool, medical file. Every scrap of paper was retrieved and incineration. After the building had been gutted, the doors, windows, and vents were sealed with welded half-inch steel plates. Over time, it would become nothing more than an eyesore in the Maine wilderness.

After few days after leaving, Tony’s body had been found by a hiker floating in Marcy Pond in the Adirondack High Peaks of upstate New York. His car and wallet could not be found and the only evidence was a bruise on the left side of his neck. Unable to find his family, the state eventually buried him in an anonymous unmarked grave. Lana’s family believed she was living in Italy, where she may have worked in a restaurant in Milan. She had become obsessed with the suspicion that she was being followed by the CIA. A few weeks later, her body was discovered in a small apartment in Pisa. Her death was ruled a suicide. She was only a dispatcher. But, knowing what terrible things had happened in the facility was more than she could live with.

Those who made up the staff scattered themselves across the country. Some tried to take on new identities. But, all of them simply wanted to get their lives back on track after participating in one of the most despicable acts one nation could impose on its own people. They’d been hired as federal agents and all of them needed jobs. But, no one told them what they’d be doing until they got there – when it too late. It was only when they found themselves waist deep in the theft of human organs that they began to question the moral wisdom of a government that treated its people as nothing more than a source of income. And even though they were too terrified to speak to anyone about the facility, there were others who decided that the risk of exposure was too high. Each of the staff would eventually be found – their existence erased from public record. Their silence would not be purchased or negotiated. After all, people disappeared all the time.