Jake Rodriguez

Slick your hair back, just like that. Okay, now just a little hairspray. Gorgeous, baby. You’re going to rock that presentation this afternoon. Tim won’t know what hit him. All you have to do is muscle up, puff out your chest, talk numbers… the new antidepressant will get put through to R&D before any of those reprobates have a chance to disapprove.

Where is my watch? “Julia? Honey! Have you seen my watch?”

“It’s on the counter in the kitchen, babe!”

Why does she sound so far away? Oh, that’s right, she had to leave early for yoga today. “Love you, honey! Be safe!”

“No time for kisses, babe! Sorry! Love you too! Can’t wait for our date tonight! Knock ‘em dead!” *slams garage door*

Wish I could.

Beep beep beep.

What the heck was that? Never mind. Button up the shirt. Ew, this one smells. White… no. Too passive. Blue… No. Black. Shiny black. Set off that tan you got in Cabo last week. Red tie. Power play. Jonathan would be proud. I can just hear him now: We’ll get through this together... God, I miss my big brother. How long has it been since he–

Beep beep beep.

Huh? I don’t have time for this. *slams garage door, gets in car, drives down freeway*

I wonder what caterer is coming today. I always love it when the steak place comes. But then I get a little gassy. Can’t have that for the presentation.

Beep beep beep.

It’s my phone. It has to be my phone beeping like that. *pulls out phone*

No notifications. But it is getting louder. “What was that?” A red flash of light? Just ahead, this exit… I should go help. They’ll understand at work. Another flash of light? I didn’t go through all those years working EMS for the fun of it. *turns steering wheel hard, takes exit 204*

The flashes are getting brighter and more consistent.

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Even when I plug my ears, it doesn’t quiet the beeping at all... Wait. Now it is growing quieter all of a sudden. I must have passed whatever it was. *turns car around*

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Excruciating. *hops out of car, walks toward woods*

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

I can’t think. What is this place?

X

Gross, what is in my mouth? *pulls tube from throat*

Where am I? Where are my clothes? Is this some kind of sick joke? What are all these machines all around? Did I faint on the side of the road? This isn’t like any hospital I’ve ever seen before. *yanks cords, more tubes, and wires from his arms*

Pants! Thank God! *puts pants on, starts a light jog through a hallway*

Find a window, find a door. “Don’t freak out, Jake.” Why are my legs so tired? *stops to breathe, sees reflection in hallway mirror*

I look thin. Where is my tan? And why did they buzz my head? “Julia!” God, oh God, where am I? *starts running again*

Beep beep beep.

No. I can’t handle that again. “Julia!” *begins breathing heavily, hears footsteps*

Who is that behind me? “Hey you! Where am I?” *hears shots, ducks into a corner*

This can’t be happening to me. I’m missing the presentation of a lifetime, and on top of it, I’ve been abducted by psychopaths. I’ll go to confession, I swear, God, just let me out of this now.

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

That’s it! I’ll find my way to the beeping forest, to the red flashing light. My car is there. At least I can get my car and drive away. There’s sunlight coming through a crack down there! *hears more shots, bullet grazes right shoulder, starts running faster*

“Stop it! I just want to get out of here!” What would Jonathan do? He was a Marine… think like a Marine!

“Stop running, Jake! We need you to stay here! You don’t understand!”

“Don’t understand that you’re trying to kill me?” Jonathan got killed in Iraq, so I guess being a Marine didn’t help him too much when all was said and done. *slams left shoulder into door, runs out into forest*

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Here come the flashes again. They’re so bright. I can’t hardly.

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

I just want to be back with Julia! I just want to–

X

Was that a dream? *driving down freeway, sees exit 205*

I wish I could shake how real that felt. Julia and I did see that weird thriller movie last night, and I had to take sleeping meds again. Not the first time I’ve had a crazy dream. Wait! *feels shirt pocket, feels pants pockets, pulls car to side of road*

“Where is it?” You can’t have a presentation without a presentation. I knew I should have backed it up to the cloud. Who even uses thumb drives anymore? Julia would totally laugh at this. *picks up phone out of cup holder*

“Phone. Call Tim Bell.”

“Calling Tim Bell, mobile.”

Beep beep beep.

What on earth! “What the heck is going on!”

“Jake?”

“Marsha, hi… sorry for that.”

“Everything all right?

“Mostly, yes. Please just tell Tim I’ll be a little late this morning. Left something at the house.”

“You bet. I’ll brew your coffee extra strong for that presentation this afternoon. We’re all rooting for you.”

“Thanks, Marsha. See you in a bit.” *wipes sweat off face*

Okay. Don’t think about the–

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

“Exit 204.”

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

*takes exit 204*

I have to see this for real. This can’t be happening to me. There are the red flashes, intensifying the farther I get down this road. Woods, just like the dream. *checks rearview mirror*

“Where is my hair?” *yells expletive, pulls over, rubs head with both hands, cries*

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Julia. I–

X

“Someone get this man some oxygen, now!”

Where am I? Who are these people? Is that my reflection there in the – what is that? A metal ceiling? My chest is open. Oh, God, my chest is open! *struggles on operating table*

“Sir, settle down. Settle down. You’re going to hurt yourself. Remain calm. Can we get some morphine over here? Pronto, people!”

My name is Jacob Rodriguez. My mother’s name was Sarah. My father’s name was Luis. I have a dog. I’m married to Julia Rodriguez. We want three children. My boss’s name is Tim Bell. His assistant’s name is Marsh–

X

“So, as I was telling you before, Levahna will give people an up without a crash. We’ll have to police it heavily, because I’m sure that teens will catch wind of it and figure out that it’s like marijuana but without all of the stigma. It’s a non-opioid, non-cannabinoid alternative to both low-grade pain meds and to antidepressants. Last stages of testing start next wee–”

Beep beep.

“Crap.”

“Everything okay, Jake?”

“Sorry, Tim, yes – just lost my train of thought for a minute. I’m finished, really. Any questions?”

“Just one.”

“Yes, Stacy?”

“You said it was an alternative to antidepressants and low-grade pain killers alike?”

“Yes, actually. It triggers a slight rush of dopamine that allows the body to relax and slightly numbs the sensation of pain. A few people in the trial run got the munchies, but the only other side effect that they found was–”

Beep beep beep.

*stops talking, stares as if listening*

“Jake?”

“Sorry. I skipped lunch. The only other thing they found to be a problem with the drug was memory loss. The lab techs are looking into the reasons now.”

Beep beep beep.

“If there are no more questions, ladies and gentlemen… I present, Levahna!” *people clap, shake Jake’s hand, several people make lunch plans*

I’ve got to find the source of that godforsaken beeping. I feel like this has happened before. Was that a dream? How did I get here? To work? I remember forgetting my presentation, and then… wait. Was I in surgery this afternoon? Was that a dream? And on the way into the building this morning, did I get shot at? What did I have for lunch? Did I skip lunch?

“Jake? You coming? We’re going to Hank’s Diner for drinks.”

“Yeah, thanks Stacy. I’ll be along in a minute.”

What’s this in my pocket? A note? *pulls paper from pocket, unfolds it*

“The forest, the flashes, the beeping sound. They are real. I can’t explain now, but if you want to find out, don’t go to the woods. Don’t go to Hank’s. They’re watching you. Drive toward the cabin you used to visit with Jonathan and your parents when you were a boy.”

Holy – I need some time. I need… What about Julia? What is happening to me? Don't go to the woods? *hops in car, drives away from town, past exit 204, then sees 201, 194, 176*

“I just need to make it to exit 141, then take that back road… we had so many good times up there.” *half an hour passes*

Well, I haven’t heard the beeping in a while. That should be a good sign. *phone rings, Julia’s name scrolls across screen*

“Honey?”

“Sorry, Jake. It’s not Julia. But I am a friend. I see you’ve taken my note seriously. Pull over. Get out of your car. Take off your work clothes. You still have your shorts and hiking boots in the trunk, I trust?”

“Yes, how did you–”

“Put them on. There is a red stake in the ground near your car. Enter the woods there, and follow the stakes through the woods to the cabin. It’s an hour-long hike. I’ll be waiting for you inside.”

This man sounds familiar.

“Trust me. We’re getting close. Julia is safe. Don’t answer any more phone calls. We’ve sent someone to get her and bring her to us here, where she will be kept out of harm’s way.”

“Why do you sound so familiar?”

“Stop and think about it, Jake.”

The call, the dreams, the presentation. The presentation. *runs hand through hair* Where is my hair? The beeping, the flashes, the broken timeline of the day… where was I yesterday?

“Wait.” *pulls shirt over head, inspects torso, gasps*

“What is it, Jake?”

“My tattoo. I got a tattoo in college on my ribs. It’s not there.”

“Yes. Continue.”

I’m not dead. This is not at all what Sister Mary Elizabeth taught us about the afterlife… if I ever believed a Catholic, it was her. So sweet. Jake, snap out of it. I’m not dreaming, because my dreams have never been this vivid before, or this lucid. His voice... “You there – whoever you are on the other end of this conversation?”

“Still here.”

“You tell me what’s on your rib.”

“Now you understand. I got Jonathan’s handprint tattooed on my ribs before he went to Iraq with the Marines. Good thing too, because it would have been the only thing I had left of him.”

“What do you mean, ‘Would have been’?”

“Jonathan’s here too, Jake. He’s the one who figured out what was going on. He went dark in Iraq because that call–”

“Jonathan’s alive? Jonathan’s alive! Do you mean the call on September 22nd last year? The weird one when he asked if I had been drinking?”

“That’s the one. He wanted me to call you because he figured it would be too much at once for him to call. He’s the one who’s gone to get Julia. Your parents are safe too.”

“Our parents.” *breathes in heavily, stops breathing, exhales*

“Yes, Jake. Our parents.”

“So then your name is Jake. Jake Rodriguez. Who am I?”

“You are Jake Rodriguez, too.”

“I don’t really want to know any more, but I think I have a guess already.”

“We’re all clones, Jake. That should be a good enough start for you. You think you have a tattoo because somehow in the cloning process, they linked our consciousnesses. Your head is buzzed because you’ve only been out in the world for 24 hours. Some of us have been killed, because we’re actually a test group. Mom and Dad didn’t know. Neither did Julia. But Tim is in on it, as are Marsha and the rest of the people at work.”

*starts breathing erratically, throws up*

“It’s okay, man. We’re technically brothers… This is hard, I know. But we’ll try to figure it out together. There are three of us up here so far. You’re one of the lucky ones. Seven have been killed. We haven’t been able to get close enough to the lab to figure it out – that’s what’s behind the beeping sound and the red flashes. They lure us in, someone comes by with a silenced gun, and then they have means to dispose of the bodies in the lab... Get changed. Follow my instructions. We just made dinner.”

“That sounds good. I skipped lunch.” *swishes water in mouth, spits.*

“Of course you did, Jake.”

*someone in the background laughs and says, “Every Jake skips lunch!”*

“Just get up here quickly before they find out where you are.”

“On my way–”

“Neal. The others call me Neal. Because there are three of us. I like it. James and Teddy are here, too. You can have a new name too, if you like.”

“I’ll be there shortly, Neal.” *gags again, tries to shake it off*

“Can’t wait to meet you man. We’ll get through this together.”

“Jonathan always used to say that.” *voice cracks*

“I know, bro. I know. And you get to see him soon. We’re going to be okay.”

We’re going to be okay. It’ll be okay. I’m okay. “I’m okay. See you soon.”

*hangs up phone, slips on shorts and hiking boots, pulls on t-shirt, disappears behind treeline*