Part 198: Locke and Belmont
Belmont led the way into the cabin, as Texas shoved Locke forward. The bald man took in his surroundings; he wanted to remember every detail. The walls were a tope color; definitely the design resembled something from early 50’s Nuclear War bunker designs. Even the pictures on the wall were people hanging out on patios, eating bar-b-q and smoking. Belmont turned on the light switch to his office. His desk looked old as well, not to mention the rotary dial phone. Locke wondered if the phone actually worked; or if it was remnants of whatever built this place. Texas then shoved the bald man into a chair in front of the desk while the blonde leader gently sat down in the chair behind the desk. “You didn’t build this place, did you?” Locke asked.
“Very observant, Locke,” Belmont said, pulling out a box of cigarettes, “May I call you Locke? The others seem too.”
“Yes, Locke is fine.”
“May I smoke too?”
“I am amused that you are asking me permission to smoke, “ the bald man smiled, “Since this is clearly your office and you will smoke whether or not I say you can.”
“So true, “ Belmont lit up, “I was just trying to be polite.”
“So, now that I know you are polite, where do we go from here?”
“You answer a few simple questions and then you may join your friends in the bunker.” Belmont said as if was obvious.
“I will do my best but I have a bad feeling, that I will not have the answers to your questions.” Locke confessed.
“Well, then . . . let’s start with something simple; how did you find the Hatch?”
“I was scouting for a friend of ours, she was taken,” the old man whispered, “My . . .companion wanted to go back to our camp so I tossed him the flashlight. He missed it and when it landed on the ground, it landed on something metal. We looked down and started to move the mud to reveal a metal dome.”
Belmont leaned forward on his desk staring at the old man. “You found the hatch . . .by coincidence?” he asked.
“I don’t believe in coincidences.” He immediately replied.
“Nor do I, Locke.” The leader leaned back in his chair,” You said a friend of yours was taken? Taken by who?”
“Ethan was his name. A complete psychopath. He wanted Claire for some strange reason and even killed one of our party to try and get her back. Then in a fit of rage, one of my friends killed him.”
Belmont smiled, “This friend have a name?”
“No,” Locke smiled.
“You are very good at this, sir. Telling me all that I need to know and yet, not telling me. At any rate, this friend of yours who shot Ethan . .if I ever meet him, I will have to shake his hand.”
“Why?” the bald man blinked.
“He did us a favor.” Belmont dabbed his cigarette into a ceramic ashtray that was shaped like an airplane, “ Ethan was a sly bastard. Stayed in the shadows, almost as hard to kill as Raven.”
“Ethan . . . didn’t work for you?”
“He used too. But he left . .him and his man Porter. They were hoping to take control of the Liberation, using their own master race of super soldiers. His main goal was to take control of the failed experiments. The ones who minds would not be tamed.”
Locke began to put two and two together. “The children with the black and red bandanas.” He whispered.
“Amusing, isn’t it?” the blonde man chuckled, “Those idiotic kids believed that if they covered their mouths, they would be able to hide from us. It’s amazing to watch them be raised on superstition, brought up by a psychopath, as you called him.”
“Ethan didn’t want Claire . . .he wanted Claire’s baby?”
“You catch on quick, Locke. Yes, if your friend was pregnant, he truly wanted the child. Children are like wet clay when they are born. Easy to mold into what you want them to become as adults. Like Walt, actually.”
“Where is he?” Locke immediately asked.
“He is safe, I promise. He is too valuable for anyone to mistreat him. He is special, don’t you know?”
“He is to his father.”
“Who, if I know Kreegan, is surely dead by now.” Belmont smiled.
“If that is truly, I will make sure that man suffers.” Locke hissed.
“If given the opportunity, I am sure you would, sir.” The blonde stood up, “But lets get back to the subject at hand. What do you know about this Island?”
“It’s a special place.” The bald man answered without hesitation.
“It’s more than that,” the leader took a seat on the desk in front of him, “It has the ability to grant desires and other things. You know this, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Belmont reached behind and pulled out a dot-matrix wide printer sheet of paper. “We have been tracking you, Mr. Locke,” he pointed to the diagram, “We didn’t have your name, of course. To us, you were just strange reading #3.”
Locke looked at him as he picked up the paper and held it like the Sports Page. “The Island has been sending out it’s energy waves in your direction,” Belmont continued, “It’s given you interesting abilities. It’s told you when it was going to rain. More than likely it directed you to the hatch. And the most interesting reading of all, the Monstro sparing you.”
“Monstro?” the bald man paused.
“Yes, the security system #3. He guards the majority of the Island. He had you dead to rights and then he spared you. Why?”
“Perhaps cause I wasn’t afraid of him?” the bald man speculated.
Belmont then threw the paper behind him, getting a little frustrated. “Monstro doesn’t feed on fear, Locke. If you can’t explain Monstro, what about Mecha?”
“Mecha?”
“The metal one! Security System #2! He grabbed you with his cords and was trying to pull you down with him. He doesn’t do that. I should know, he killed three of my men, basically threw them up at 100 feet in the air. Why would Mecha be interested in YOU?”
“I don’t know that one either.”
Belmont then punched the old man across the jaw. Locke reeled from the blow and then caught his breath. As the blonde man walked back his desk, the older man dabbed the blood from his busted lip with his tongue. “I thought . . you were being polite?” Locke grunted.
“I try, Mr. Locke but even I am have my limits,” Belmont sat back down, “The Island uses it’s security systems to take a liking to you. Then those freaks in the Hatch know your name and I am under the impression, the Island told them about you. What else has the Island told you?”
“I don’t know,” he confessed.
“Does it speak to you in dreams? Hallucinations?”
“If it did, I would be been too weary from lack of water to realize it.”
“How did those things in the Hatch know your name?” He demanded, “WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?”
Locke looked at him and shrugged. It was his subtle way of telling Belmont he had no idea of what he was saying. The blonde man glared at him with an almost intense hatred. “You’re either very brave . . .or very stupid,” he hissed.
“We’ll soon see.” Locke smiled.
“Yes, we will, “ Belmont snapped his fingers, “TEXAS!”
Locke didn’t look behind him cause he couldn’t. Then he grunted as the arms of the massive giant wrapped around him. He grunted again as he was picked up by the albino. Locke then felt his arms pinning against his chest. Texas was placing him in a massive bear-hug and it was quite obvious this freak of nature was stronger than normal. Then the pain began to hit. He felt as if his arms and his ribs were breaking at the same time.
Amid the crashing of the chair until the vise like grip, Locke began to scream at the pain Texas was causing him.
“Very observant, Locke,” Belmont said, pulling out a box of cigarettes, “May I call you Locke? The others seem too.”
“Yes, Locke is fine.”
“May I smoke too?”
“I am amused that you are asking me permission to smoke, “ the bald man smiled, “Since this is clearly your office and you will smoke whether or not I say you can.”
“So true, “ Belmont lit up, “I was just trying to be polite.”
“So, now that I know you are polite, where do we go from here?”
“You answer a few simple questions and then you may join your friends in the bunker.” Belmont said as if was obvious.
“I will do my best but I have a bad feeling, that I will not have the answers to your questions.” Locke confessed.
“Well, then . . . let’s start with something simple; how did you find the Hatch?”
“I was scouting for a friend of ours, she was taken,” the old man whispered, “My . . .companion wanted to go back to our camp so I tossed him the flashlight. He missed it and when it landed on the ground, it landed on something metal. We looked down and started to move the mud to reveal a metal dome.”
Belmont leaned forward on his desk staring at the old man. “You found the hatch . . .by coincidence?” he asked.
“I don’t believe in coincidences.” He immediately replied.
“Nor do I, Locke.” The leader leaned back in his chair,” You said a friend of yours was taken? Taken by who?”
“Ethan was his name. A complete psychopath. He wanted Claire for some strange reason and even killed one of our party to try and get her back. Then in a fit of rage, one of my friends killed him.”
Belmont smiled, “This friend have a name?”
“No,” Locke smiled.
“You are very good at this, sir. Telling me all that I need to know and yet, not telling me. At any rate, this friend of yours who shot Ethan . .if I ever meet him, I will have to shake his hand.”
“Why?” the bald man blinked.
“He did us a favor.” Belmont dabbed his cigarette into a ceramic ashtray that was shaped like an airplane, “ Ethan was a sly bastard. Stayed in the shadows, almost as hard to kill as Raven.”
“Ethan . . . didn’t work for you?”
“He used too. But he left . .him and his man Porter. They were hoping to take control of the Liberation, using their own master race of super soldiers. His main goal was to take control of the failed experiments. The ones who minds would not be tamed.”
Locke began to put two and two together. “The children with the black and red bandanas.” He whispered.
“Amusing, isn’t it?” the blonde man chuckled, “Those idiotic kids believed that if they covered their mouths, they would be able to hide from us. It’s amazing to watch them be raised on superstition, brought up by a psychopath, as you called him.”
“Ethan didn’t want Claire . . .he wanted Claire’s baby?”
“You catch on quick, Locke. Yes, if your friend was pregnant, he truly wanted the child. Children are like wet clay when they are born. Easy to mold into what you want them to become as adults. Like Walt, actually.”
“Where is he?” Locke immediately asked.
“He is safe, I promise. He is too valuable for anyone to mistreat him. He is special, don’t you know?”
“He is to his father.”
“Who, if I know Kreegan, is surely dead by now.” Belmont smiled.
“If that is truly, I will make sure that man suffers.” Locke hissed.
“If given the opportunity, I am sure you would, sir.” The blonde stood up, “But lets get back to the subject at hand. What do you know about this Island?”
“It’s a special place.” The bald man answered without hesitation.
“It’s more than that,” the leader took a seat on the desk in front of him, “It has the ability to grant desires and other things. You know this, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Belmont reached behind and pulled out a dot-matrix wide printer sheet of paper. “We have been tracking you, Mr. Locke,” he pointed to the diagram, “We didn’t have your name, of course. To us, you were just strange reading #3.”
Locke looked at him as he picked up the paper and held it like the Sports Page. “The Island has been sending out it’s energy waves in your direction,” Belmont continued, “It’s given you interesting abilities. It’s told you when it was going to rain. More than likely it directed you to the hatch. And the most interesting reading of all, the Monstro sparing you.”
“Monstro?” the bald man paused.
“Yes, the security system #3. He guards the majority of the Island. He had you dead to rights and then he spared you. Why?”
“Perhaps cause I wasn’t afraid of him?” the bald man speculated.
Belmont then threw the paper behind him, getting a little frustrated. “Monstro doesn’t feed on fear, Locke. If you can’t explain Monstro, what about Mecha?”
“Mecha?”
“The metal one! Security System #2! He grabbed you with his cords and was trying to pull you down with him. He doesn’t do that. I should know, he killed three of my men, basically threw them up at 100 feet in the air. Why would Mecha be interested in YOU?”
“I don’t know that one either.”
Belmont then punched the old man across the jaw. Locke reeled from the blow and then caught his breath. As the blonde man walked back his desk, the older man dabbed the blood from his busted lip with his tongue. “I thought . . you were being polite?” Locke grunted.
“I try, Mr. Locke but even I am have my limits,” Belmont sat back down, “The Island uses it’s security systems to take a liking to you. Then those freaks in the Hatch know your name and I am under the impression, the Island told them about you. What else has the Island told you?”
“I don’t know,” he confessed.
“Does it speak to you in dreams? Hallucinations?”
“If it did, I would be been too weary from lack of water to realize it.”
“How did those things in the Hatch know your name?” He demanded, “WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?”
Locke looked at him and shrugged. It was his subtle way of telling Belmont he had no idea of what he was saying. The blonde man glared at him with an almost intense hatred. “You’re either very brave . . .or very stupid,” he hissed.
“We’ll soon see.” Locke smiled.
“Yes, we will, “ Belmont snapped his fingers, “TEXAS!”
Locke didn’t look behind him cause he couldn’t. Then he grunted as the arms of the massive giant wrapped around him. He grunted again as he was picked up by the albino. Locke then felt his arms pinning against his chest. Texas was placing him in a massive bear-hug and it was quite obvious this freak of nature was stronger than normal. Then the pain began to hit. He felt as if his arms and his ribs were breaking at the same time.
Amid the crashing of the chair until the vise like grip, Locke began to scream at the pain Texas was causing him.
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