Chapter 7 - THE PEOPLE WITHOUT NAMESThe first patient Lucie saw was an elderly woman sitting beside a locked glass door.
She wore a hospital gown.
Her gray hair had been braided carefully over one shoulder.
She was holding a small photograph.
Through the security monitor, Lucie watched the woman repeatedly press the photograph against the glass, as though someone outside might recognize the people in it.
"Who is she?" Lucie asked.
Julien leaned toward the screen.
"Her name is Madeleine Rousseau. She's seventy-four. She was transferred here after a dispute over her medical records."
"Does her family know?"
"They think she died eighteen months ago."
Lucie stared at him.
"What?"
"Helix Meridian falsified death records for some of the patients. Others were reported missing or transferred to facilities that didn't exist."
Mara looked at the floor.
"I signed some of those transport authorizations."
Lucie turned toward her.
"How many?"
Mara's voice trembled.
"I don't know."
"How many?"
"Dozens."
Lucie felt anger rise inside her.
"You knew people were disappearing."
"I knew something was wrong."
"And you kept taking the money."
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
For once, she offered no excuse.
Lucie looked back at the screen.
Madeleine was now speaking to a younger patient.
A teenage boy.
He couldn't have been older than sixteen.
"Who is he?"
Julien's expression softened.
"Samuel."
"What's his last name?"
"He doesn't know."
Lucie felt something tighten in her chest.
"He doesn't know?"
"He was brought here as a child. The records say his identity was lost during a transfer."
Mara whispered, "That's a lie."
Julien nodded.
"His identity was deliberately removed."
Lucie looked at the boy.
He was helping Madeleine stand.
Even while trapped, he was comforting someone else.
Something about that small act made the situation unbearable.
"We're getting them out."
Valois looked toward the countdown.
"We have less than an hour."
"Then stop wasting time."
Julien explained that the medical ward's electronic locks could be released from a control station on the lower level.
But reaching it required passing through a corridor monitored by Bellamy's private security personnel.
Mara knew another route.
An old service passage used for laundry deliveries.
"It connects to the medical ward through the original ventilation maintenance area."
Lucie looked at her.
"Why are you helping us?"
Mara swallowed.
"Because I spent years telling myself I wasn't responsible for what happened to those people."
"And now?"
"Now I know silence was part of the crime."
They moved through the narrow passage.
Julien walked slowly, supported by Valois.
Lucie stayed ahead.
The air smelled of dust and disinfectant.
After several minutes, they reached a locked gate.
Mara entered a code.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
ACCESS REVOKED.
"Bellamy knows," she whispered.
Lucie examined the gate.
A small maintenance panel sat beside the keypad.
Julien knelt with difficulty.
"Give me your flashlight."
His fingers moved across the exposed wiring.
For a moment, Lucie remembered watching him repair their father's old radio when they were children.
He had always been patient with broken things.
People, too.
The gate clicked open.
Julien smiled faintly.
"Some habits never die."
They entered the medical ward.
The patients turned toward them.
Madeleine approached the glass.
"Are you here to take us somewhere else?"
Lucie shook her head.
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
Lucie looked at the frightened faces beyond the door.
"To take you home."
Madeleine began crying.
Samuel stepped forward.
"Are you really the police?"
"Yes."
"Then can you find my mother?"
Lucie's throat tightened.
"We'll try."
Samuel nodded.
He seemed satisfied with that small promise.
Then the lights went out.
A mechanical voice announced:
"Containment failure. Secondary isolation activated."
Steel shutters dropped between the patients and the corridor.
Julien shouted.
"Lucie, get back!"
She jumped away just before the final shutter slammed shut.
On the other side, Samuel began pounding against the metal.
"Please! Don't leave us!"
Lucie pressed her hands against the barrier.
"I'm not leaving!"
Then Bellamy's voice filled the ward.
"Lieutenant Serrano, you have demonstrated admirable compassion."
She looked toward the ceiling.
"Open these doors!"
"I will. In exchange for one thing."
"What?"
"Your brother."
Lucie turned.
Julien stood behind her, pale and exhausted.
Bellamy continued.
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"GIVE ME JULIEN SERRANO, OR FORTY-THREE PEOPLE WILL NEVER SEE DAYLIGHT AGAIN."
End of Chapter 7 — Cliffhanger: Bellamy offers to release the patients only if Lucie sacrifices her brother.
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